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Getting ahead for Y10 💪

Hi guys,

Im going into year 10 next academic year 2024-2025, ive finished year 9 and im rlly nervous about starting my gcses..

Do you guys have any things that i can do to get myself ahead of everyone in my class and stand out to my teachers..this is so i don’t get stressed and i stay on too of the work and content !

Tyy

Reply 1

Orange Blossom

Original post by amaniii

Hi guys,
Im going into year 10 next academic year 2024-2025, ive finished year 9 and im rlly nervous about starting my gcses..
Do you guys have any things that i can do to get myself ahead of everyone in my class and stand out to my teachers..this is so i don’t get stressed and i stay on too of the work and content !
Tyy

Hi I would suggest watching yt videos. Freesciencelessons, cogniti, gcsemathstugor, mr salles, mr bruff. And I don't know if you have the textbooks already, but I would suggest going on BBC bitesize to gain an overview. Hope that helps :smile:

Reply 2

Orange Blossom

Sorry that should be cognito. Also, history revision success is good. I think quizlet do free flashcards for the subjects too.

Reply 3

amaniii

Original post by Hannahblossom

Tyy, would you suggest textbooks are the only source of good material or is there any difference or benefit to get the study guides instead of textbooks??

Thx for ur reply !

Reply 4

Orange Blossom

Original post by amaniii

Tyy, would you suggest textbooks are the only source of good material or is there any difference or benefit to get the study guides instead of textbooks??
Thx for ur reply !

I always got the revision guides as well. If you are doing English Lit definitely get the Oxford Literature Companion books.

Reply 5

University of Kent

Official Rep

Original post by amaniii

Hi guys,
Im going into year 10 next academic year 2024-2025, ive finished year 9 and im rlly nervous about starting my gcses..
Do you guys have any things that i can do to get myself ahead of everyone in my class and stand out to my teachers..this is so i don’t get stressed and i stay on too of the work and content !
Tyy

Hi @Amanii ,

I would say beforehand to get some revision guides and as @Hannahblossom mentioned, YouTube videos are great.

One major bit of advice I would give myself is to really read and revise according to the specifications you get. I did not really think they were important but it was too late into year 11 that I realised how helpful they were.

Another bit of advice is to make sure you plan set times to revise and relax. When you do revise, write down exactly what you want to achieve (at the start as you are learning the information new so you wont be revising as such but plan time in which you will get work done such as homework homework but do not do any after a certain time). You can try this out as it allows you to begin a habit of doing 'little and often' which I find can help massively when you have multiple subjects to revise for about 2 years. I think this would help prevent burnout as much as possible too and closer to your exam times you can spend more time resting to get your sleep in (which is going to help majorly) than if you were to cram.

I do understand and get that its a lot of information to need to remember so little and often might work the best especially if you return to the same information every few months. I cant remember what this technique is called but I hope this makes sense!

Also, one last tip, active recall is a great way to revise (it may not work for you but worth a shot).

I hope this helps and good luck! 🙂

Alia
University of Kent Student Rep (BSc Psychology)

Reply 6

Orange Blossom

Original post by University of Kent

Hi @Amanii ,
I would say beforehand to get some revision guides and as @Hannahblossom mentioned, YouTube videos are great.
One major bit of advice I would give myself is to really read and revise according to the specifications you get. I did not really think they were important but it was too late into year 11 that I realised how helpful they were.
Another bit of advice is to make sure you plan set times to revise and relax. When you do revise, write down exactly what you want to achieve (at the start as you are learning the information new so you wont be revising as such but plan time in which you will get work done such as homework homework but do not do any after a certain time). You can try this out as it allows you to begin a habit of doing 'little and often' which I find can help massively when you have multiple subjects to revise for about 2 years. I think this would help prevent burnout as much as possible too and closer to your exam times you can spend more time resting to get your sleep in (which is going to help majorly) than if you were to cram.
I do understand and get that its a lot of information to need to remember so little and often might work the best especially if you return to the same information every few months. I cant remember what this technique is called but I hope this makes sense!
Also, one last tip, active recall is a great way to revise (it may not work for you but worth a shot).
I hope this helps and good luck! 🙂
Alia
University of Kent Student Rep (BSc Psychology)

This is a great answer OP! Also, I found personally that actually 'teaching' other people your content is a great way to internalise it. For example, if you get to the point where your family member/friend/whoever can ask you to tell them about a subject and you basically reel off what you know, it honestly helps . so . much. If you can't do that, pretend that someone else is there and simply teach it to them lol. It will feel weird and it might not work for you, but seriously give it a try, more than one try as well, because when you say stuff aloud it's been proven that you remember things better.

Reply 7

*LifeHappens*

Original post by amaniii

Hi guys,
Im going into year 10 next academic year 2024-2025, ive finished year 9 and im rlly nervous about starting my gcses..
Do you guys have any things that i can do to get myself ahead of everyone in my class and stand out to my teachers..this is so i don’t get stressed and i stay on too of the work and content !
Tyy

Hi, I would recommend getting to know your courses (like make sure you know what exam board you are doing and read through the GCSE specifications for each of the subjects you're doing so you know what you will be taught.

You could start off by getting a good foundation knowledge of some of your subjects like science by watching the freesciencelessons/cognito videos on the first 1 or 2 topics of bio, chem + physics. It could also help by buying the cgp/oxford revise version of revision guides and just read through them and understand basic concepts.

During these holidays, just do some bits of revision here and there but don't worry too much because once you start your courses, you will be able to better understand which areas you should allocate more of your revision time for etc.

It's also helpful to just have a look through past papers just to understand question format and this will help when you start learning proper content in september so you know what type of questions you will be asked. If you want you could also watch some GCSE tips youtube videos which can give you a good overview of how you could go about revising each subject.

Good luck!

Reply 8

Annonymous613

Original post by amaniii

Hi guys,
Im going into year 10 next academic year 2024-2025, ive finished year 9 and im rlly nervous about starting my gcses..
Do you guys have any things that i can do to get myself ahead of everyone in my class and stand out to my teachers..this is so i don’t get stressed and i stay on too of the work and content !
Tyy

Hi,
I'm also going into Year 10 next academic year, and I am also pretty nervous...
I have chosen for my GCSEs...
1) English Lit. and Lang.
2) Maths
3) Triple Science
4) History
5) BIblical Hebrew
6) Modern Hebrew
7) History
I am considering taking Further Maths, have researched a bit, but I don't know whether it is considered an actual GCSE...

I started revising for Maths and Science in Y8, and first of all, I really recommend purchasing the CGP "How to Revise" Book - this really helps, and it includes how to revise for each specific subject.
Secondly, Youtube videos really help, for example, Cognito (Maths and Science, and they also have a website), Mr Salles, Mr Bruff, and also here are a few good websites with notes: MME, Cognito, PMT (physics and maths tutor, but also has loads of other subjects with relevant courses), and CGP give little quizzes on their websites.
I also recommend purchasing the relevant CGP revision guides, these highlight what you really need to know, they have useful diagrams, and over all really help.
Thirdly, it is definitely a waste of time to copy out notes for one source into something else - this may help slightly but there are way more effective ways of revising - and I am saying this from experience, because I have been researching how to revise for ages and trying to get the best plan to get all 9s. I would recommend using flashcards and mind maps, and implementing active learning, like using the type of learner you are to learn things. Use flashcards for things like formulae: write down a question, and then the answer on the back. Also practice past papers, and LOOK AT THE MARK SCHEME! This will show you exactly what the examiners expect of you.
I also suggest reviewing after each lesson in your spare time what you have learned in class, but if you feel that's a bit too far, you don't have to!
I hope this helps!