starting y10
hi i am starting y10 in September which means i am starting GCSEs. I was wondering if anyone had any advice about making revision resources, organisation of work e.g. folders and day folders or any other things that you wish you did before starting the courses. Specifically any art, computer science, history or modern languages advice as i am taking those subjects - as well as your usual subjects e.g. maths, english, science. I am hopefully aiming to get high grades, which should be fine as i am doing well in school already. Any advice would really be appreciated. thanks!
I am also starting year 10 and also want some tips
Original post by valentina.w6
hi i am starting y10 in September which means i am starting GCSEs. I was wondering if anyone had any advice about making revision resources, organisation of work e.g. folders and day folders or any other things that you wish you did before starting the courses. Specifically any art, computer science, history or modern languages advice as i am taking those subjects - as well as your usual subjects e.g. maths, english, science. I am hopefully aiming to get high grades, which should be fine as i am doing well in school already. Any advice would really be appreciated. thanks!
Hi, I'm also starting Year 10 and I'll share some stuff I've done to prep for GCSEs in these holidays. Firstly, I have my GCSE textbooks for all my subjects, also I think I might buy expandable folders of Amazon that can fit about 1000 pages in them for each subject, I have been printing off the specifications for my subjects, I have also created a GCSE folder on my laptop with all the subjects in it and I will add past papers and answers to those folders, and I have also printed the course outlines for all the subjects and I am preppring for Year 10 based on those, also I watched Yt vids on revision, revision websites and tips for Yr 10 and I have bookmarked a lot of websites that aid with revision and I have created this sort of resource sheet with headings for all my subjects and the resources I can use for them like any textbooks/workbooks I have, websites for more revision material, Yt channels to help with the subject, and past paper websites
hope that helps in some way and I'm wishing you lots of luck for the beginning of Yr10 in September!
thx and good luck
Hi, I've just finished GCSEs. In terms of folders I've found that smaller folders are more practical to use on a daily basis, however for content heavy subjects such as history and english make sure you have a larger folder at home you can transfer work into after finishing each topic. Having tear out pads of paper is a really useful investment. Also, just general advice: make notes and flashcards as you go! Your future self will be begging you to lol.
Hey - year 11 here! I remember exactly what I was like last year, when I was in your position, and if I could go back in time and tell myself anything it would be that any revision is good revision. That might sound like weird advice, but trust me - whatever you happen to do to revise, it's better than not doing anything at all and regretting it when you have to cram it all in the night before your exams.
In terms of how I revised, in year 10 I did 'consolidation' tasks whereby I would look back over all of my work at the end of each topic and revise/teach myself the things that I didn't understand. This saved me so much time and energy when I got to exams, as it meant that I had a decent grasp of everything that I needed to know for them, as opposed to revising an entire subject area the night before my exam. Do little bits every day, else you will burn out and really struggle with revising ever again without finding it tedious. I'd reccomend 40-50 minutes per night, and when you get to exams make sure to take proportionate breaks so as to not overload your brain with information. I also learnt that, if there was anything I didn't understand, my teachers were always there to help and support; don't feel awkward about emailing them or popping into their classrooms to ask for advice, especially if you are really stuck with something that you need to be able to understand!
In terms of actual revision material, definitely download the specifications for each of your subjects; this will help you to tailor your revision to solely what will appear in your exams, so you won't waste time by revising irrelevant material. It might sound obvious, but just make sure that you have the right specifications for your exam boards, as Edexcel specs may differ from AQA specs even in the same subject, for example. If you choose to revise from the specifications, use flashcards and make each topic area into a question (ie. if the spec says 'nobel gases are unreactive and do not easily form molecules because their atoms have a stable arrangement of electrons', your flashcard question could be something along the lines of 'why are nobel gases unreactive?' and then you could answer the question on the reverse side). Because I initially wrote my notes in a notebook before transferring them across to flashcards, I made sure to highlight the parts in my notes that were in the specifications so that I could focus on those parts in my revision.
I'd reccomened Cognito and Freesciencelessons on YouTube for science revision videos, as they simplify all of the topics to make them understandable, and it progressively gets more complex as the video goes by to make it easy to follow. You could more or less rewrite word-for-word what the videos say, and it would still work as an adequate revision method. Equally, although his videos can be quite long, Mr Everything English as great for analysing texts and giving useful hacks to make your exams easier. myShakespeare.com is a good website for simplifying Shakespeare texts into modern English and analysing their literary devices.
I have notebooks for all of my subjects - English lit, English lang, poetry (I don't necessarily need a seperate one for poetry, but I wanted to seperate it from the other English subject areas), maths, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, history, RS, business studies - and I keep them in a folder block on my desk. I also have a few folder envelopes for flashcards, which I made in year 10 for my end of year exams and decided to keep for this year, too. I didn't bring my notebooks into school (that would have made my bag really heavy), but instead I brought my schoolbooks home with me in the evenings so that I could write up important notes into my notebooks, where I felt it was needed.
Use past papers sparingly, as they're a finite resource! I did one past paper per subject in year 10 (in preparation for my end of year exams), so I just did exam-style questions through the rest of the year in order to save the real papers until I really needed them for revision. That said, they will become your best friend leading up to exams; the exam board are lazy so they'll regularly regurgitate questions (maybe they'll be worded slightly differently) as opposed to writing new ones each year. This means that these papers can help you to learn the wording that the exam boards use, so that you understand what they're asking you to do in each question when you get to the real things. Approach past papers in proper exam conditions - with a timer - so that you can begin to time manage each question; you'll soon realise that GCSEs are just as much about who can write quickly than they are about knowledge and your acedemia. This is something which I'm still learning to do, so don't worry if you struggle to answer every question within the time limit. Mark your past papers honestly - there's no point in giving yourself an inflated grade because you "would answer it properly in the real things" (I'm speaking from experience here: many of my friends marked their past papers unfairly and then got confused when their grades drastically dropped in actual exams).
Set grade goals now for your GCSEs; this will likely help to motivate you to revise and try hard in your exams. If you have mocks at the end of year 10 (I know - it's a long way away!), approach these much like you would an actual GCSE exam, as these are likely your first shot at the proper papers under real exam conditions.
If there's anything else you want to know - I've probably failed to mention a lot of things - then just let me know
Best of luck for year 10, make sure to enjoy it!
In terms of how I revised, in year 10 I did 'consolidation' tasks whereby I would look back over all of my work at the end of each topic and revise/teach myself the things that I didn't understand. This saved me so much time and energy when I got to exams, as it meant that I had a decent grasp of everything that I needed to know for them, as opposed to revising an entire subject area the night before my exam. Do little bits every day, else you will burn out and really struggle with revising ever again without finding it tedious. I'd reccomend 40-50 minutes per night, and when you get to exams make sure to take proportionate breaks so as to not overload your brain with information. I also learnt that, if there was anything I didn't understand, my teachers were always there to help and support; don't feel awkward about emailing them or popping into their classrooms to ask for advice, especially if you are really stuck with something that you need to be able to understand!
In terms of actual revision material, definitely download the specifications for each of your subjects; this will help you to tailor your revision to solely what will appear in your exams, so you won't waste time by revising irrelevant material. It might sound obvious, but just make sure that you have the right specifications for your exam boards, as Edexcel specs may differ from AQA specs even in the same subject, for example. If you choose to revise from the specifications, use flashcards and make each topic area into a question (ie. if the spec says 'nobel gases are unreactive and do not easily form molecules because their atoms have a stable arrangement of electrons', your flashcard question could be something along the lines of 'why are nobel gases unreactive?' and then you could answer the question on the reverse side). Because I initially wrote my notes in a notebook before transferring them across to flashcards, I made sure to highlight the parts in my notes that were in the specifications so that I could focus on those parts in my revision.
I'd reccomened Cognito and Freesciencelessons on YouTube for science revision videos, as they simplify all of the topics to make them understandable, and it progressively gets more complex as the video goes by to make it easy to follow. You could more or less rewrite word-for-word what the videos say, and it would still work as an adequate revision method. Equally, although his videos can be quite long, Mr Everything English as great for analysing texts and giving useful hacks to make your exams easier. myShakespeare.com is a good website for simplifying Shakespeare texts into modern English and analysing their literary devices.
I have notebooks for all of my subjects - English lit, English lang, poetry (I don't necessarily need a seperate one for poetry, but I wanted to seperate it from the other English subject areas), maths, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, history, RS, business studies - and I keep them in a folder block on my desk. I also have a few folder envelopes for flashcards, which I made in year 10 for my end of year exams and decided to keep for this year, too. I didn't bring my notebooks into school (that would have made my bag really heavy), but instead I brought my schoolbooks home with me in the evenings so that I could write up important notes into my notebooks, where I felt it was needed.
Use past papers sparingly, as they're a finite resource! I did one past paper per subject in year 10 (in preparation for my end of year exams), so I just did exam-style questions through the rest of the year in order to save the real papers until I really needed them for revision. That said, they will become your best friend leading up to exams; the exam board are lazy so they'll regularly regurgitate questions (maybe they'll be worded slightly differently) as opposed to writing new ones each year. This means that these papers can help you to learn the wording that the exam boards use, so that you understand what they're asking you to do in each question when you get to the real things. Approach past papers in proper exam conditions - with a timer - so that you can begin to time manage each question; you'll soon realise that GCSEs are just as much about who can write quickly than they are about knowledge and your acedemia. This is something which I'm still learning to do, so don't worry if you struggle to answer every question within the time limit. Mark your past papers honestly - there's no point in giving yourself an inflated grade because you "would answer it properly in the real things" (I'm speaking from experience here: many of my friends marked their past papers unfairly and then got confused when their grades drastically dropped in actual exams).
Set grade goals now for your GCSEs; this will likely help to motivate you to revise and try hard in your exams. If you have mocks at the end of year 10 (I know - it's a long way away!), approach these much like you would an actual GCSE exam, as these are likely your first shot at the proper papers under real exam conditions.
If there's anything else you want to know - I've probably failed to mention a lot of things - then just let me know
Best of luck for year 10, make sure to enjoy it!
@bethr_20
I definitely agree! I'm also in Year 11, and wish I'd known about Year 10.
@valentina.w6
If there's one thing I'd say, it's that the workload might get too much. Don't stress over it. Tell your teachers if they're all setting deadlines that are ridiculous for you, trust me they probably don't know that you have 10 assignments due on the same day! I tried to cope with deadlines but it got to an unbearable point so I talked to some teachers (that weren't even my subject teachers anymore 😂 but I felt comfortable talking to them) and they told me to let the teachers know, and the teachers started extending deadlines by a few days and even a week if I asked nicely and explained the situation.
For anyone in Year 10, if you need any support feel free to ask here, and you can ask your friends, family, older siblings and teachers!
I definitely agree! I'm also in Year 11, and wish I'd known about Year 10.
@valentina.w6
If there's one thing I'd say, it's that the workload might get too much. Don't stress over it. Tell your teachers if they're all setting deadlines that are ridiculous for you, trust me they probably don't know that you have 10 assignments due on the same day! I tried to cope with deadlines but it got to an unbearable point so I talked to some teachers (that weren't even my subject teachers anymore 😂 but I felt comfortable talking to them) and they told me to let the teachers know, and the teachers started extending deadlines by a few days and even a week if I asked nicely and explained the situation.
For anyone in Year 10, if you need any support feel free to ask here, and you can ask your friends, family, older siblings and teachers!
Original post by valentina.w6
hi i am starting y10 in September which means i am starting GCSEs. I was wondering if anyone had any advice about making revision resources, organisation of work e.g. folders and day folders or any other things that you wish you did before starting the courses. Specifically any art, computer science, history or modern languages advice as i am taking those subjects - as well as your usual subjects e.g. maths, english, science. I am hopefully aiming to get high grades, which should be fine as i am doing well in school already. Any advice would really be appreciated. thanks!
Heya!
I would recommend creating a study planner and following it. That way you'll be able to manage your time efficiently. Use techniques such as active recall and pomodoro when revising - helps you with remembering material better and keeps your focus up.
Use different revision methods such as flashcards, spider diagrams, mind maps and etc. Personally, I had a notebook for each subject where I would record everything. Also, don't just stick to one book - make use of all free resources available to you online! For example, Study Mind offers tons of free resources such as revision notes and past papers for bio, chem and physics
I hope this helps!
Milena G.
UCL PFE
Study Mind
I’m in year 10 as well. To be honest, I think that you’ve over prepared (even though you can never over prepare). What I mean by this is simple. Enjoy the start of year 10, get involved in loads of clubs and LEARN. That’s what I’m doing anyway.
Original post by valentina.w6
hi i am starting y10 in September which means i am starting GCSEs. I was wondering if anyone had any advice about making revision resources, organisation of work e.g. folders and day folders or any other things that you wish you did before starting the courses. Specifically any art, computer science, history or modern languages advice as i am taking those subjects - as well as your usual subjects e.g. maths, english, science. I am hopefully aiming to get high grades, which should be fine as i am doing well in school already. Any advice would really be appreciated. thanks!
my computig teacher did not teach me one thing so I was left all alone in year 11, what I did was I bought a computing revision note passport with all the info and learnt that- i learned everything from it and it was so helpful- I got an A* (grade 9) in that subject- does anyone want the link to it?
Yes please!
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- french writing and reading mock exam advice
- What should I be doing in Y10
- Doing GCSEs early?
- How do you pass math GSCE??
- Year 9
- did you guys study/revise during year 10
- can i get all 9s in my gcses?
- To those that got grade 9s in GCSEs, what did you do in year 10?
- Year 11 college application
- Should I be worried? ENGLIT
- New change
- Help me apply to economics!
- Independent Study for GCSE should be compulsory
- personal statement
- How can I get better at maths?
- Woodhouse College Application
- Target Oxbridge 2024-2025
- Need help for GCSE Triple
- Are these Y10 Mock Results good enough for straight 9's by GCSEs?
- A-Level Choices
Latest
Trending
Last reply 2 days ago
went from 3s to 9s with (literally) night before revision - ask me anythingGCSEs
59
Trending
Last reply 2 days ago
went from 3s to 9s with (literally) night before revision - ask me anythingGCSEs
59
