My GCSE study blog 2024!!😼🎀

Also forgot to update i got a 9 in english lit for my recent paper 1 mock YIPPEE !! 😀 I was worried because I wasn’t sure my line of argument was very strong but it’s all good💪🏽, on the other hand we got our bio papers back and it was a little atrocious but not that bad I guess 😭 I got 45/70

niceee, i have been kind've of struggling with English Literature ever since we "started" it in year 10. i also have dyslexia, my writing is kind of crap lol. iirc i got a 4 in the first mocks i did with English Lit but for some WEIRD reason i got a 6 for Language - most of my marks came from q5 which i found to be quite easy. i've definitely been on a journey of trying to get anything above a 6 for literature as the paper 2 exam (AIC + Poetry) is LITERALLY next monday (omds... i havent done that much revision on it im cooked.) i fell short in the February mocks and got a 5 for literature i think you needed like... 35/64 for a 6?? and i got 34. it's mainly Macbeth and remembering key quotes for certain themes about characters that i struggle with but i was really stoked to see Lady Macbeth appear in this years GCSE and over the last weekend i STUDIED Lady Macbeth and wrote 4 essays about her so yay ^-^. anyways how have the exams been for you? (reminder: basically every exam i have minus history and maths(foundation) i do AQA, whereas the other two are Edexcel) i've done:
-- english literature (paper 1) - Macbeth question seemed very generous considering i found the mock questions to be more harder, ACC question worded quite weirdly for me but still got an intro + 3 paragraphs about Scrooge so we move (got a 5 in mocks, predicted a 6)
-- religious studies (paper 1) - our school has actively said that whether we pass or fail RS it doesn't matter (skull) but i think i did fine?? (i got a 4 in my mocks, predicted a 5 so i'm not really worried.)
-- spanish (speaking) - did this in like april i think but it went SUPER well except the last question my teacher asked me for the general convo section (sobbing) however she did say i aced the roleplay and photocard sections :3 (im in foundation however in my mocks i got a 4, predicted a 5 so hopefully that happens!!!)
-- biology (paper 1) - me and my friend were talking about how suspiciously easy the exams were going and sitting this further proved our suspicions. AQA being really generous this year(!!!) (ORIGINALLY was in higher and for paper 2 (the feb mocks) i got a 6-4 however in the november mocks i got a U (skull) which brought my overall science grade to a 3-3 so they moved me down to foundation. HOWEVER i was predicted a 5-5 going into the GCSEs so (insert praying hands emoji))
-- religious studies (paper 2) - the way my hand literally felt like it died?! i, unfortunately, did not have enough time to complete sections E & F's 12 markers (i only did a brief intro to gain 1-2 marks) a shame but i smashed through everything else. (our sections we studied were B, D, E + F)
-- chemistry (paper 1) - SAT THIS TODAY!!! and i absolutely smashed it. the generous as fudge questions with an insanely generous 6 marker at the end of the paper. really happy, probably my best written exam i've sat so far. i answered every question properly, thank god!
-- history (paper 1: crime & punishment / policing in whitechapel) - it went fine, the two 16(+4) markers they gave were, as i've stated before, VERY GENEROUS. i obviously did the one where it asked about if the work of the police has grown to be more significant from (i think?) 1889-present day. i just wrote about the Met Police, Jack the ripper and the introduction of the CID (as hinted in the question). but yeah, a decent paper!
hope everything goes well for everyone and gl for Lit paper 2 on monday!!

first of all so glad to hear lit paper 1 went well for you!!! (And also lots of luck for lit to right back at ya ;] )
I do Macbeth and An inspector calls, low-key I don’t like taking about exams because I feel like I’ll jinx myself 😭😭 but that paper was REALLY decent like I’m so sooo glad it wasn’t anything a bit hard like Macduff/ kingship, they ate with that lady Macbeth question, I’m glad I managed to write a nice amount for each, it’s wonderful to hear that what you studied came up and hopefully you do well (I’m sure you can get your dream grade), also it seems you are naturally talented at language so wishing you best of luck for that too - you’ll ace it!
now since you have me a run down of yours I’ll try and reply and also give a similar rundown!
- English lit 1: generally quite nice, I feel like I wrote a good amount that related to the question with just enough judicious interpretations of the quotes I chose, unfortunately idk the marker so I don’t want to get ahead of myself, I’m hoping they won’t be mean or consider my writing not up to par😰 Wonderful to hear you also find the exam quite well so don’t even worry about securing that 6/7 😋
- RS paper 1 (Christianity) - I do edexcel so this was the first paper I did, not much to say but found it quite well, nothing too bad and 12 markers were also decent, also your school not caring if you pass or fail RS is crazy😭 Maybe cuz it’s not a main subject? But again your predicted a 5 so you’ll do fine
- French (speaking) - did it WAYY back in April, quite solid ( FAR better than my February speaking exam) , I actually hate french 💀 so I can’t wait to get it out the way, I’m kinda more worried because I need a 7/8 so it doesn’t look bad on my report card but we’ll see. ALSO CONGRATS FOR ACEING THE ROLEPLAY AND PHOTOCARD! I also found the convo find up until the end when she asked me like 2 questions I’ve never heard of before😭 buts it’s fine we roll💯💯
- Bio combined higher - everyone I know also thought the paper was quite nice? Like no required practical 6 marker or nothing, it’s scaring me cuz I feel like they have something up their sleeve that’s gonna horrify everyone (hopefully not but it’s starting to be too generous to be true - maybe grade boundaries will be through the roof😰) - praying you get the grades you need though!
- RS paper 2 (Islam) - haven’t done it yet but amazing to hear you smashed it - don’t worry I get that hand thing too 😿😿
- Chemistry combined higher - was also quite nice! I was really really worried cuz chem is always my worst but I feel like it was quite decent, again I’m repeating myself but seriously good job man! If you answered every question and knew what it was asking just be sure you’ll hopefully achieve top grades
- history paper 1 - NO WAY!!! we literally did the exact same paper (I do crime & punishment and Whitechapel )
I don’t wanna curse myself but the paper was quite good, that 12 marker on transportation? DELICIOUS, honestly loved the points they gave , I was worried about this exam but It was not that bad, for the 16 marker I actually did question 5 instead of 6, I looked at the policing question and it as like damn- I don’t have much solid knowledge but the first option - ATE (hopefully) the time period was medieval and that , along with early modern, is my strongest so you best believe I wrote two pages just on the Normans, then a para on social attitudes as the question suggested and last but not least relgion and heresy
And Ofcourse good luck on Monday too. <3

idk why but when i saw transportation, my brain kind of just... shut down? LOL. i did not revise for transportation because i honestly didnt think it would come up however i was proved wrong. but yeah ur so right, the 16 markers ate hands down. why was i so scared of these gcse exams when the mock papers were like x3 as hard as the ones we r sitting rn?? LOL🤣

also with your french speaking, i feel the same for my spanish 😭 the general convo was fine until the last 2-3 questions where she asked me about me about bullying and i accidentally said "Me encanta el bullying porque es entretenido" and I FEEL SO STUPID 😭 - the person listening is gunna think im a such a weirdo dnndqnodon

LMAOO FR and history there’s 2 more papers so ur all good 💯🗣️

technically 3 if u consider Elizabeth and Cold War are two seperate papers :/// however Weimer Germany still the goat in history idc

For paper 2 I do Cold War & Henry VIII and his ministers , since they are two completely different topics and time periods I guess you could say paper 2 is actually 2 papers😭
And for Paper 3 I don’t do Weimar Germany I do USA conflict at home and abroad (Civil Rights and Vietnam War) which is quite I nice paper I think.

just came to say that i did literature paper 2 and it was BRUTAL 😭 the AIC question was fine, i did the Inspector question as I prepped him the most. HOWEVER... the 30 marker for Kamikaze completely THREW ME OFF OMDS i was NOT expecting Kamikaze to come up so i just waffled with it and The Emigree, i did 2 paragraphs for each (so 4 in total). the unseen poetry section was also brutal but i managed to rush it and get both the 24 marker and 8 marker done, defintely got at least 3/8 tops though because ts was rushed as hell LOL 🤣

just came to say that i did literature paper 2 and it was BRUTAL 😭 the AIC question was fine, i did the Inspector question as I prepped him the most. HOWEVER... the 30 marker for Kamikaze completely THREW ME OFF OMDS i was NOT expecting Kamikaze to come up so i just waffled with it and The Emigree, i did 2 paragraphs for each (so 4 in total). the unseen poetry section was also brutal but i managed to rush it and get both the 24 marker and 8 marker done, defintely got at least 3/8 tops though because ts was rushed as hell LOL 🤣

ALSO DONT STRESS ABOUT THE 2 long paras I DID TVAT TOO! everyone I asked did that one on the beginning and one on the end because there’s simply not enough time to be analysing 6 bloody quotes

the unseen poetry section was so... vague. like i had nothing to write about the two? i just said one difference is that one uses a metaphor to describe life and one uses a personification to describe the natural world LOL

FORREAL my analysis was hella bland in unseen 😭😭😭

ALSO whats with Mr. Birling gate? :sob: hopefully that drags down the grade boundaries i beg...

Also forgot to update i got a 9 in english lit for my recent paper 1 mock YIPPEE !! 😀 I was worried because I wasn’t sure my line of argument was very strong but it’s all good💪🏽, on the other hand we got our bio papers back and it was a little atrocious but not that bad I guess 😭 I got 45/70