How to get a 9 in GCSE DT?

shreyv2000

I am in year 11 and I do AQA DT.
I need general tips on DT as it is my worst subject currently, I want a grade 9 but I am at like a 7 rn.
My NEA is due in a month but I dont know how to revise theory as there are almost no past papers online and my notes are bad
I got 75 on my january trial exam, which is a 7, I also got 76 in my end of year last year, so I'm worried that my performance is declining. The extremely high grade boundaries dont help. I cant afford to spend much time on my NEA powerpoint as I have to revise on my other exams but it used to be around a level 7 before I improved.

How do I increase my grades quickly as my NEA is way too long and theory is confusing to revise for.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

arc.ne

hey, i got 9 at DT gcse - i basically just revised by making midnmaps of the content. idk if you've hear of it, but theres this website called seneca - i used to dislike it, but for gcse dt it actually had everything that was on the spec so it was quite good. maybe try using that. make sure youve searched aqa gcse dt. if youve got a good mark on your NEA, it massively reduces the pressure for your exam so its definitely worth maximising marks if you have the time. other than that its quite content heavy and relatively specific so just keep doing some regular recall rather than just reading notes (e.g rewriting in a different format etc)

Reply 2

jamsparkle

i got a 9 in DT - kind of flopped the NEA (genuinely one of the hardest things ive ever done) and ended up scraping a 9 with 91/100 on the written exam

grade boundaries are ridiculous because the nea boundaries are really high, so you should really focus on making sure that you get as high of a mark as possible, since its very possible to score low enough on the NEA that you are already unable to get a 9 even with full marks on the written exam

the written exam is difficult because it's essentially 2 papers worth of content put into one paper - i second seneca (normally i hate seneca but there's not really much out there and it's quite useful), and i remember using a big cgp book to help with revision. if you do geography then a lot of the long answer questions on environmental impact are quite similar and you can draw on that knowledge also

Reply 3

Greenhouse999

Original post by shreyv2000

I am in year 11 and I do AQA DT.
I need general tips on DT as it is my worst subject currently, I want a grade 9 but I am at like a 7 rn.
My NEA is due in a month but I dont know how to revise theory as there are almost no past papers online and my notes are bad
I got 75 on my january trial exam, which is a 7, I also got 76 in my end of year last year, so I'm worried that my performance is declining. The extremely high grade boundaries dont help. I cant afford to spend much time on my NEA powerpoint as I have to revise on my other exams but it used to be around a level 7 before I improved.
How do I increase my grades quickly as my NEA is way too long and theory is confusing to revise for.

I wouldn't worry about going down by one mark in the last year,
It is very likely that the more recent paper was slightly harder or you made slightly more mistakes.
For revision I like doing past papers,which I tend to find on revision world

Here is the link for the DT section
https://revisionworld.com/gcse-revision/design-technology/gcse-design-and-technology-past-papers-0/aqa-gcse-design-and-technology-past-papers

I third seneca as well!
Thank you,

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 4

shreyv2000

Original post by jamsparkle

i got a 9 in DT - kind of flopped the NEA (genuinely one of the hardest things ive ever done) and ended up scraping a 9 with 91/100 on the written exam
grade boundaries are ridiculous because the nea boundaries are really high, so you should really focus on making sure that you get as high of a mark as possible, since its very possible to score low enough on the NEA that you are already unable to get a 9 even with full marks on the written exam
the written exam is difficult because it's essentially 2 papers worth of content put into one paper - i second seneca (normally i hate seneca but there's not really much out there and it's quite useful), and i remember using a big cgp book to help with revision. if you do geography then a lot of the long answer questions on environmental impact are quite similar and you can draw on that knowledge also

unfortunately I got a 78 on my nea so i think an 8 is more reasonable now

Reply 5

Greenhouse999

Original post by shreyv2000

unfortunately I got a 78 on my nea so i think an 8 is more reasonable now

I still believe in you to get that nine that you deserve!

Reply 6

shreyv2000

Original post by Greenhouse999

I still believe in you to get that nine that you deserve!

Thanks 🙂

Reply 7

jamsparkle

Original post by shreyv2000

unfortunately I got a 78 on my nea so i think an 8 is more reasonable now

i think i got 82?? not sure exactly but it was in the range of yours - good luck with your exams though, and if you don't get the 9 it's not the end of the world :smile:

Reply 8

shreyv2000

Original post by jamsparkle

i think i got 82?? not sure exactly but it was in the range of yours - good luck with your exams though, and if you don't get the 9 it's not the end of the world :smile:

I think the 8 is fine ill get 9s on most other subjects anyways and its quite reasonable to study for

Reply 9

17ki

i didnt put that much effort into my nea but managed 82, is it still possible to get a 9 overall? how much time did u spend revising theory, like could i do it all in the time between phys paper 2 and the dt theory exam?

Reply 10

jamsparkle

Original post by 17ki

i just did all the seneca in one day i think

if ur confident enough with physics you can probs ditch it a little (that's what i had to do bc i had a history paper on the same day)

Reply 11

17ki

Original post by jamsparkle

i just did all the seneca in one day i think
if ur confident enough with physics you can probs ditch it a little (that's what i had to do bc i had a history paper on the same day)

okay good, i have like 4 days after physics to decide dt so hopefully its fine😭 realistically aiming for an 8 tho since id need like 93

Reply 12

shreyv2000

Original post by 17ki

im working on it now by 2023 boundaries you would need like 93 its still possible. but by 2019 boundaries you would need like 83. What do you think the boundaries would be like this year?

Reply 13

Greenhouse999

Original post by shreyv2000

im working on it now by 2023 boundaries you would need like 93 its still possible. but by 2019 boundaries you would need like 83. What do you think the boundaries would be like this year?

Roughly the same,
They can only fluctuate either way by a few marks

Reply 14

shreyv2000

Original post by Greenhouse999

Roughly the same,
They can only fluctuate either way by a few marks

same as 2023 or 2019?
cause in 2023 it was this, with 175 being a 9 200 175 161 147
and pre covid it was this, with 165 being a 9. 200 165 151 138

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 15

17ki

Original post by shreyv2000

im working on it now by 2023 boundaries you would need like 93 its still possible. but by 2019 boundaries you would need like 83. What do you think the boundaries would be like this year?

i mean im hoping its closer to 2019 for my sake, and they are expected to go down to 2019. i think i could get 83 in theory but 93 is a reach

Reply 16

17ki

Original post by shreyv2000

same as 2023 or 2019?
cause in 2023 it was this, with 175 being a 9 200 175 161 147
and pre covid it was this, with 165 being a 9. 200 165 151 138

the grade boundaries since 2017 were
2017: 163 marks

•

2018: 165 marks

•

2019: 165 marks

•

2020: Exams were cancelled, no official grade boundaries published.

•

2021: Exams were cancelled, no official grade boundaries published.

•

2022: 166 marks

•

2023: 175 marks

These marks are out of a total of 200, which means last year it was literally 10 marks higher than normal, so im gonna assume thats an anomaly

Reply 17

Greenhouse999

Original post by shreyv2000

same as 2023 or 2019?
cause in 2023 it was this, with 175 being a 9 200 175 161 147
and pre covid it was this, with 165 being a 9. 200 165 151 138

Too aerly to say
If i were I would take the higher(harder) grade boundaries and aim for this, that way regardless of the grade boundaries you are still likely to get your nine

Reply 18

IntelligentGuy

How much marks do u guys think I need for a 9 (in theory paper), if I got 87 in my NEA?

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 19

shreyv2000

Original post by IntelligentGuy

How much marks do u guys think I need for a 9 (in theory paper), if I got 87 in my NEA?

in 2023 it was 175 for a 9 so you would need about 88 in your theory to get a 9 but the grade boundaries might go up so its safe to aim for like 90% ish ig