How to go from 5/6 to 8/9

Hi im in year 10 and i've just got my mocks back im not rlly happy with them as I rlly want to get 8/9s in the real thing What can I do to improve?

Textiles
Combined science
Geography
Spanish
English lit
English Lang
RE
Maths

Reply 1

always-anxious

Chat Forum Helper, Study Forum Helper

Hello. I wasn't happy with my mock grades either, but I got top grades in actual gcses so there's no need to worry as you have plenty of time to improve. Here's what I did in those subjects to get top grades :smile:

Combined science: I used anki flashcards for active recall of content. Then I did every possible past paper I could. From the past papers I looked at the questions I got wrong and I did topic questions based on the questions I got wrong

Languages (I did French not Spanish btw): There's a website called Memrise, which I used to revise key words + phrases. Then I watched youtube videos on how to approach the different papers.

English lit: Stacey Reay on youtube does great analysis and her videos helped me get a grade 9. Also, I wrote essay plans for each possible character/theme/poem.

English lang: Admittedly, I didn't revise for this and got a 7... although I would recommend answering practise questions and giving then to your teacher to mark so you're constantly improving

RE: You need to memorise the structure of each type of question (indicated by the number of marks for the question). Then you just need to revise the content and write this in the format that the question requires you to. Ben Wardle on youtube has good content videos

Maths: Corbett maths 5 a day + as many past paper questions as you can. With maths, there's only so many questions they can ask you so you tend to see the same kinds of questions repeating just with different numbers.

I hope this helps... I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have :gthumb:

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 2

Super Sprinkles

For all subjects excluding English, checking the specifications can give a clear indication of what you must know or be able to do in the exams. Make sure you're revising actively (e.g. using flashcards, brain dumps alongside summarising information, explaining a concept to a five year old, exam questions then eventually at least two past papers for each paper in each subject under timed conditions to get used to the stress & time management) rather than brainless note-taking, highlighting etc. It's quality of revision over quantity.

Most memory/STEM subjects you just need to watch youtube videos on subtopics that you're weaker at then answer exam questions from Physics and Maths Tutor and mark them to get better - it's a memory game and practice makes (near) perfect unfortunately.
Helpful maths resources: TL Maths, Corbettmaths
Helpful science youtube channels: Malmesbury Education for required practicals (AQA) Cognito, Freesciencelessons

For English literature, plan 3 points for the key themes and 3 adjectives for the key characters and match these with quotations. 'Explode' quotations in detail by talking about connotations of a word (e.g. fire -> wildfire = out of control) symbolism of an event/scene/order of events/object & characterisation and the effect of these on the reader/audience. ALWAYS link your points to the writer's purpose. I also liked having 2/3 phrases which I could use in my essays for all/most of my texts (e.g. burst the blissful bubble of ignorance and apathy to others, domino effect, harrowing, on the surface... but actually...)
For English Language, read widely and know what each question is asking you for (no point talking about language on a structure question!). For the writing questions, pre-plan a story so you can quickly get your ideas down in the exam, find & use roughly 5 high-level vocab that are applicable to almost any prompt (e.g. noxious, rearing an army of ___, naysayers, umber, gilded, crepuscular, verdant) use LOTS of rhetorical devices, vary your sentence lengths and use a range of punctuation.
Helpful English youtubers: Mr Salles, Mr Everything English, Stacey Reay, Mr Bruff

For Spanish, find 3 high-level phrases which you can always put into your writing/speaking. Learn how to form and hear different tenses.

For geography, make sure you understand the key concepts and can explain them enough to get 2/3/4 marks. Practice planning & writing the long answer questions. Learn a couple statistics for your small case studies and approx 10 for the bigger ones.
Whether you do AQA or not (I didn't) this video is highly helpful for the long-answer questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fQJ1S6Ydis
If you do Edexcel B, I have lots of resources to share with you (as sadly there's not many good resources online) just message me :smile:

Helpful geography (AQA-based but still helpful for Edexcel B) youtuber: JCGeogSupport

I did GCSE Photography, but afaik there's also coursework in textiles. Make sure you're sticking to your timetable and getting work done as it's difficult to catch up - although this may mean spending many hours doing it at home on the weekends (it did for me).