Resources for RS

Hi!
I've recently started gcse rs and we're having a test soon and I have no idea on how to revise or what resources to use, so it would be a big help if anyone could give me advice!

Thanks!

heyaa i did my gcse rs in 2021 (got predicted grades) but still achieved a 9.
what exam board do u do? also, which religions are u focusing on? I did Islam and Christianity

ahh well that's a shme since i did a diff exam baord to u.
however, i'll just give u general tips on what i did because it's baso the same subject.

Assuming u are in yr10 right now, the fact ur focusing on your gcse's is the 1st step - great!
however one mistake I did, pls do not overload urself with hard core studying, trust me it will cause u to burn out and i'm realising this whilst doing a-levels.

So anyways, in yr 10, printed the spec and kept that copy safe and looked at it whenever I wanted to see what bits we have covered in school.
I wrote out notes after lessons because rs is mostly learning the beliefs, eschatology for Christianity etc etc. Trust me, u don't want to be reading the textbook before ur actual exams. Your notes should be concise and easy for you to understand.
U could also do mindmaps, i didn't do this ngl, but it helped me with history and i thought it would very well apply to other subjects where there are a lot of info to remember.

Now, quotations!! I am not sure whether u need them for edexcel, but you need to know quotes specific to each sub topic in RS. Flashcards here are your best friend! don't go writing out the whole bible or Quran on flashcards, your textbook will have a few quotes on them in which u can pick and choose and write them accordingly.
I tried to find quotes which kinda linked to multiple parts of the course, so I didn't have to remember too many quotes!
I tried testing myself on these quotes throughout the course of year 11, i didn't think i'd remember them if i tried to in year 10.

Essays and exam questions. These are soo important. I used to go on the exam board's website print out questions and do them in my own time at home. Scan them (bc we were in lockdown) and get my teacher to mark them. Ur teacher wont magically help u get the top grades, you need to put the effort. RS is also based on essays, and the more practice u do, the better u would get at it (plus ur hands wont ache so damn bad in the exam!)

Also, if u don't do as well on these tests your doing at school, don't let this put u down. It sounds cliche, but i'd take this a lesson learnt in a way to improve so u don't make mistakes in the actual exam. It's all about u managing ur time honestly.

All the above applies to topic tests as well as ur actual exams
U've got this! x
(sorry for the long read I got a bit carried away haha)

PLEASEE I think year 7 and 8 are wasted bc my school also barely taught us stuff and no one took tests during those years seriously
But nah i think schools should rrly focus those 2 years on helping students find their exam technique if they want their students to do the best in their exams.

Anywhoo. With quotes the CGP books are rrly good. They have quotes and they go through what you can talk about. Because lets be real, ur not gonna have a whole paragraph and bam, put a quote in it. You need to explain how the quote links to your point in the paragraph (in a PEEL format is great)
CGP does these revision guides. Have a look at the one relevant for ur course but this is an example
https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Grade-GCSE-Religious-Studies/dp/178294642X/ref=asc_df_178294642X/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310775890077&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14968139523025192579&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045992&hvtargid=pla-563158822539&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Now with writing notes i used to get information from an actual textbook rather than a revision guide as it misses some stuff out. I used this one but then again look at a specific one to ur course or ask your teacher if u don't know: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edexcel-Religious-Studies-GCSE-Specification/dp/1471866599/ref=asc_df_1471866599/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310977458808&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15384836785560158476&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045992&hvtargid=pla-618066097407&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Now I was a more 'study from a book' typa student. I didn't rrly use websites. However this website i've heard does good notes and has your exam papers there too: https://revisionworld.com/gcse-revision/rs-religious-studies