GCSE options- opinions & tips please
I'm narrowing down my GCSE subject choices for the upcoming year, with compulsory picks being Maths, English Lit/Lang, and Triple Science. For my optional subjects, I'm considering Classical Civilisation, Latin, Geography, and Religious Studies. Any tips on achieving 8s/9s in these subjects would be greatly appreciated. If you are currently studying these subjects, please share your experiences- it would be really helpful!
Additionally, there's a chance I might take the Further Maths extra qualification after Y11 mock exams, pending teacher approvals. I'd be thankful for any info about Further Maths—I know it's a challenging subject, but I am willing to take it assuming that teachers will offer it to Set One.
May God bless you !
I'm narrowing down my GCSE subject choices for the upcoming year, with compulsory picks being Maths, English Lit/Lang, and Triple Science. For my optional subjects, I'm considering Classical Civilisation, Latin, Geography, and Religious Studies. Any tips on achieving 8s/9s in these subjects would be greatly appreciated. If you are currently studying these subjects, please share your experiences- it would be really helpful!
Additionally, there's a chance I might take the Further Maths extra qualification after Y11 mock exams, pending teacher approvals. I'd be thankful for any info about Further Maths—I know it's a challenging subject, but I am willing to take it assuming that teachers will offer it to Set One.
May God bless you !
hello, I can certainly help you with latin and geography!
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for latin, there are two main components - language and literature. for language, I would advise learning every single compulsory latin word from your exam board and its English translation. I would also make sure that you know tenses and sentence structures completely, as well as working with subjunctive/indicative, and the different declensions. then I would find old papers and do as many translations of latin pieces as possible - this greatly helps. for latin lit, know the latin texts back to front, as you would with English lit. make sure that you can produce, at the very least, broad translation into English of the lit piece you will study. (my exam board -EDUCAS)
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for geography, its mostly about knowing the content very thoroughly, and there is a lot of it! you must also be able to apply this content into questions so that you can evaluate the evidence or explain it further in some cases. (my exam board -AQA)
I do both these subjects and have gotten 9s so if you have any more questions do ask!
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for latin, there are two main components - language and literature. for language, I would advise learning every single compulsory latin word from your exam board and its English translation. I would also make sure that you know tenses and sentence structures completely, as well as working with subjunctive/indicative, and the different declensions. then I would find old papers and do as many translations of latin pieces as possible - this greatly helps. for latin lit, know the latin texts back to front, as you would with English lit. make sure that you can produce, at the very least, broad translation into English of the lit piece you will study. (my exam board -EDUCAS)
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for geography, its mostly about knowing the content very thoroughly, and there is a lot of it! you must also be able to apply this content into questions so that you can evaluate the evidence or explain it further in some cases. (my exam board -AQA)
I do both these subjects and have gotten 9s so if you have any more questions do ask!
I'm planning to take geography as well. Any suggestions on how I can prepare well for geography- any particular books, online sites, tips, etc? I appreciate your help.
one more query- any advice on computing science, please?
many thanks
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Do you think I should start learning the vocabulary list now?
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What do you mean by knowing the literature 'back to front'? Will I have to memorise the texts?
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Do you recommend any note websites/content creators/books for geography?
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Is geography easier than history for most students? This question depends on experience, so if you didn't pick history you don't have to answer it.
Thank you again for your help : )
one more query- any advice on computing science, please?
many thanks
I'm not choosing computer science myself, but many of my people I know who are currently studying the course use the BBC Bitesize and GCSE Computer Science Guru websites for revision. I hope that helps 🙂
I'm narrowing down my GCSE subject choices for the upcoming year, with compulsory picks being Maths, English Lit/Lang, and Triple Science. For my optional subjects, I'm considering Classical Civilisation, Latin, Geography, and Religious Studies. Any tips on achieving 8s/9s in these subjects would be greatly appreciated. If you are currently studying these subjects, please share your experiences- it would be really helpful!
Additionally, there's a chance I might take the Further Maths extra qualification after Y11 mock exams, pending teacher approvals. I'd be thankful for any info about Further Maths—I know it's a challenging subject, but I am willing to take it assuming that teachers will offer it to Set One.
May God bless you !
Hey, if you do decide to take rs, MAKE YOUR NOTES ASAP so you can focus your revision on remembering quotes. Watch Ben Wardle videos for your notes and then start learning quotes because the actual information is easy and you will 100% remember the bases of each topic, BUT QUOTES ARE KEY. I do AQA rs and started revision and note making a week before my mocks so remembering quotes was hard.
In general RS is so easy (the content is soooo simple) so take it. Also a lot of the topics interlink
I'm narrowing down my GCSE subject choices for the upcoming year, with compulsory picks being Maths, English Lit/Lang, and Triple Science. For my optional subjects, I'm considering Classical Civilisation, Latin, Geography, and Religious Studies. Any tips on achieving 8s/9s in these subjects would be greatly appreciated. If you are currently studying these subjects, please share your experiences- it would be really helpful!
Additionally, there's a chance I might take the Further Maths extra qualification after Y11 mock exams, pending teacher approvals. I'd be thankful for any info about Further Maths—I know it's a challenging subject, but I am willing to take it assuming that teachers will offer it to Set One.
May God bless you !
stick quotes on post notes around your room for rs and english lit
do corbett maths 5 a day every day or few days for maths based on your current working at grade
watch free science lessons and make flashcards and do exam questions for science
get the aqa revision book for geograohy and make flashcards
interweave your revision with active recall for example do topics 1 and 2 and then review what you have learnt with active recall then do 3 review 4 review and then review them all once again instead of doing topic 1 2 3 and reviewing a few days later
In general RS is so easy (the content is soooo simple) so take it. Also a lot of the topics interlink
Thanks for helping, you're very kind...
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Do you mean making notes now (before I've started the course), or as soon as I finish a topic?
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RS exams include many long answers that need to be written in short time frames. Did you get use to this or is difficult to actually finish the paper? I have extra time- will it help?
RS is looking like a definite option as I find it quite easy to memorise verses/quotes as a practicing Christian myself. I think I will be studying Christianity and Islam, so it is possible that I'll enjoy & understand and the Christian content quickly.
I'm narrowing down my GCSE subject choices for the upcoming year, with compulsory picks being Maths, English Lit/Lang, and Triple Science. For my optional subjects, I'm considering Classical Civilisation, Latin, Geography, and Religious Studies. Any tips on achieving 8s/9s in these subjects would be greatly appreciated. If you are currently studying these subjects, please share your experiences- it would be really helpful!
Additionally, there's a chance I might take the Further Maths extra qualification after Y11 mock exams, pending teacher approvals. I'd be thankful for any info about Further Maths—I know it's a challenging subject, but I am willing to take it assuming that teachers will offer it to Set One.
May God bless you !
I took geograhy for GCSE.! I didn't get a grade 8/9 but i got a 7 with the only revision being the night before so i feel like i could have tried harder. It isn't that hard tbh, thought i did find it boring but if you enjoy it then go for it.
Is there any reason why you're taking further maths as an extra qualification? Because if your planning to do it for alevel, i'm sure it doesn't matter - it didnt for my school
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Do you mean making notes now (before I've started the course), or as soon as I finish a topic?
•
RS exams include many long answers that need to be written in short time frames. Did you get use to this or is difficult to actually finish the paper? I have extra time- will it help?
RS is looking like a definite option as I find it quite easy to memorise verses/quotes as a practicing Christian myself. I think I will be studying Christianity and Islam, so it is possible that I'll enjoy & understand and the Christian content quickly.
Yes, so at the end of every topic (or even lesson), make everything! You wont be anle to start before because you havent started yet!!
At the start of year 10, writing all of my answers in only 1 hr 45 seemed absolutely impossible and I was literally so scared, but over the course it gets wayyyyyy easier. I literally did my rs mock exam on friday and I had 15 minutes left over, and if you have extra time you will be fine. You are meant to spend 25 minutes on each question and if you follow that, dont even worry.
I am muslim, so when I revise and learnt about Islam it was super straight forward due to my prior knowledge, and Islamic quotes are easier for me, so it will be the same for you (my friend is christian and she also finds christianity easier). We are lucky that our schools do Christianity and Islam as in some ways they are kinda similar.
At the start of year 10, writing all of my answers in only 1 hr 45 seemed absolutely impossible and I was literally so scared, but over the course it gets wayyyyyy easier. I literally did my rs mock exam on friday and I had 15 minutes left over, and if you have extra time you will be fine. You are meant to spend 25 minutes on each question and if you follow that, dont even worry.
I am muslim, so when I revise and learnt about Islam it was super straight forward due to my prior knowledge, and Islamic quotes are easier for me, so it will be the same for you (my friend is christian and she also finds christianity easier). We are lucky that our schools do Christianity and Islam as in some ways they are kinda similar.
I’m on a grade 7-8 but if I had made my notes earlier and actually memorised them, I’d be on a solid 9. So dont be like me and leave note making till the night before 😬😬
one more query- any advice on computing science, please?
many thanks
hi, no worries!
a book that I use to revise is the Oxford GCSE geography guide - this is for AQA in particular but I find it very useful. As well as this, I would recommend Seneca Learning to you, not just for geography but for most subjects. I find it very useful for summing up.
I am also going to copy you a list of books that may be useful for geography in general, just to widen your horizon:
Prisoners of Geography: Our World Explained in 12 Simple Maps - Tim Marshall
3. Life: The First Four Billion Years- Martin Jenkins
4. Can we protect people from natural Disasters? (Earth Debates)- Catherine Chambers
5. Canoeing the Congo: The First Source-to-Sea Descent of the Congo River- Phil Harwood
6. Horrible Geography- Anita Ganeri
7. No One is Too Small to Make a Difference- Greta Thunberg
8. There is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years- Mike Berners-Lee
9. Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About
10. Global Politics - Tim Marshall
11. Divided: Why We’re Living in an Age of Walls- Tim Marshall
12. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World- And Why Things Are Better Than You Think – Hans Rosling
13. Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan- Richard Lloyd Parry
14. The Almighty Dollar- Dharshini David
15. The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World- Oliver Morton
16. When the Rivers Run Dry: Water- The Defining Crisis of the Twenty- First Century Fred Pearce
As for computer science, I do OCR, and I really love it!
Again, I would recommend Seneca when learning content, and I would also very much recommend the CGP revision guide for computing as it has everything.
Practicing code is also key for computing, so you have to be able to learn and apply the code you know in given contexts.
I would recommend taking a look at past exam papers to see the kind of stuff you will need to know and be asked to do.
hope thats okay!
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Do you think I should start learning the vocabulary list now?
•
What do you mean by knowing the literature 'back to front'? Will I have to memorise the texts?
•
Do you recommend any note websites/content creators/books for geography?
•
Is geography easier than history for most students? This question depends on experience, so if you didn't pick history you don't have to answer it.
Thank you again for your help : )
hi, sorry, I didn't see this until now!
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I don't think I see what year you are in, but given that you are choosing your GCSEs, if you are in y9, then you don't have to learn the vocabulary list now (as per my experience). I only started learning the vocab in year11, and I got a 9 in my language exam (96%). but that depends on how fast you learn things too - I used quizlet to learn all the vocab.
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by knowing the lit texts back to front, I mean that you should know what the passages mean off my heart, basically, in the exam, you'll have the full latin texts, and will have to write essays on certain parts, so you should know what it all means in English.
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for geography, as I said, the 9-1 geography Oxford revision guide is very very helpful as it has all the notes that I covered in class. as well as this, BBC Bitesize has a lot of useful resources, and Seneca learning is very useful as it has all the notes, and quizzes that are very helpful for revising.
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as I do geography and history, i think it would depend on the student on what they find easier. geography would be easier for those who can memorise a lot of content and case studies with no problem, and history would be easier for those who can remember long series of historical events and can write really fast, as history exams involve a lot of fat writing in not a lot of time. personally, I find geography easier, and my friends who do both would agree because a lot of the topics have overlaps.
hope thats okay!!
•
Do you think I should start learning the vocabulary list now?
•
What do you mean by knowing the literature 'back to front'? Will I have to memorise the texts?
•
Do you recommend any note websites/content creators/books for geography?
•
Is geography easier than history for most students? This question depends on experience, so if you didn't pick history you don't have to answer it.
Thank you again for your help : )
Hi, I did OCR Latin GCSE
I would say you dont need to start learnjng the vocab list yet - i made a quizlet of the whole thjng and did that every now and then, but in lessons you will start learning it just through practising grammar
For the literature, i would say it helps enormously to memorise the english translation as jt means you can easily answer most of the questions
One thing I've noticed about Class Civ, is that some 1-mark questions may cause you trouble and lower your grade (every mark is essential!!). These questions challenge your memory, asking things that you would have to pay close detail to during your lessons - your teachers may slightly mention it once in the whole curriculum (well, at least in my case!).
So I'd advise - if you want to take Class Civ, strengthen your memory and pay attention to even the slightest details as it could come up on your GCSE in the future. (e.g. asking how many ships Cleopatra sent for the battle of Actium or even a minor character's name in the Iliad).
Good luck with GCSEs, and I hope you pick the options you love.
If there's anything you want to ask for Class Civ (e.g. exam techniques, style, stress, etc...), feel free to mention me below!!
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