The Student Room Group

gcse advice

hii guys! hope ur doing well
im going from year 10 to year 11, so that means I have to lock in for my gcses
my predicted grades are:
maths = 9
bio = 9
phys = 9
chem = 9
eng lit = 5
eng lang = 7
geography = 8
dt = 7
computing = 6

im hoping I can get to all 9s in my GCSEs, but I really dont know if I cant do it, considering I have just under a year
do you guys think its possible? any tips would be much appreciated
it’s absolutely possible, especially if you work throughout year 11! I personally at the end of year 10 was predicted 9888888865 and started revising properly in march of year 11. My results are in on the 22nd and Im predicted 9999888866 so if you work hard your grades will go up, also likely more than mine because I had some stuff to work against in year 11.
My tips would be to stick to a plan, make sure to review year 10 content frequently (spaced repetition flashcards are great for this) and do lots of exam question practice. Best of luck!
(edited 2 months ago)
Original post by studious_
hii guys! hope ur doing well
im going from year 10 to year 11, so that means I have to lock in for my gcses
my predicted grades are:
maths = 9
bio = 9
phys = 9
chem = 9
eng lit = 5
eng lang = 7
geography = 8
dt = 7
computing = 6
im hoping I can get to all 9s in my GCSEs, but I really dont know if I cant do it, considering I have just under a year
do you guys think its possible? any tips would be much appreciated

Hello! I have just received my CIE IGCSE results, my advice and grades are as seen below (ones in brackets are my predicted grades) :

Bio 0610 - A (A)
Chem 0620 - A (B)
French 0520 - A (A)
Mathematics 0607 - B (B)
First Language English 0500 - A* (A)
English Literature 0475 - A (C)
Geography 0460 - A (A)
History - A (B)
Chinese As A Second Language 0523 - A (A)

I am pleased with these grades, and it can also prove that you can get even better grades in just under a year! One of the biggest things I've learned is that every teacher grades differently, e.g. your teacher grading your paper can grade much harsher than your examiner.

For English Literature, this sounds very harsh and rigorous, but I tried to do as many practice essays under timed conditions as possible (I literally used up 5 A4-sized notebooks!). Not only does this give you an idea of how actually writing the paper is like, but also gives you some possible points to use in your essays as the essay questions used are pretty repetitive.

For English Language, I did a lot of past papers. My biggest piece of advice is to bring a minimum of 3 differently coloured pens/highlighters, this way, it will be much easier to spot and differentiate your different points. Further, utilise AI wisely for paper 2; I used it to generate synonyms for various adjectives in the descriptive writing essay.

Lastly, for Geography, try studying with a buddy, it is much easier to memorise geographical processes and other steps of using geographical tools. Additionally, if you forgot to memorise a case study, use your place of residence. I remember one of my essay questions was about the weather and I answered without a case study memorised, so I used Hong Kong (my place of residence), since there was a lot to talk about: tourism, weather (the typhoons here)... .

I would like to wish you the best of luck in your future exams! You got this :smile:
Original post by she.studies
Hello! I have just received my CIE IGCSE results, my advice and grades are as seen below (ones in brackets are my predicted grades) :
Bio 0610 - A (A)
Chem 0620 - A (B)
French 0520 - A (A)
Mathematics 0607 - B (B)
First Language English 0500 - A* (A)
English Literature 0475 - A (C)
Geography 0460 - A (A)
History - A (B)
Chinese As A Second Language 0523 - A (A)
I am pleased with these grades, and it can also prove that you can get even better grades in just under a year! One of the biggest things I've learned is that every teacher grades differently, e.g. your teacher grading your paper can grade much harsher than your examiner.
For English Literature, this sounds very harsh and rigorous, but I tried to do as many practice essays under timed conditions as possible (I literally used up 5 A4-sized notebooks!). Not only does this give you an idea of how actually writing the paper is like, but also gives you some possible points to use in your essays as the essay questions used are pretty repetitive.
For English Language, I did a lot of past papers. My biggest piece of advice is to bring a minimum of 3 differently coloured pens/highlighters, this way, it will be much easier to spot and differentiate your different points. Further, utilise AI wisely for paper 2; I used it to generate synonyms for various adjectives in the descriptive writing essay.
Lastly, for Geography, try studying with a buddy, it is much easier to memorise geographical processes and other steps of using geographical tools. Additionally, if you forgot to memorise a case study, use your place of residence. I remember one of my essay questions was about the weather and I answered without a case study memorised, so I used Hong Kong (my place of residence), since there was a lot to talk about: tourism, weather (the typhoons here)... .
I would like to wish you the best of luck in your future exams! You got this :smile:

Great results, congrats!
Original post by studious_
hii guys! hope ur doing well
im going from year 10 to year 11, so that means I have to lock in for my gcses
my predicted grades are:
maths = 9
bio = 9
phys = 9
chem = 9
eng lit = 5
eng lang = 7
geography = 8
dt = 7
computing = 6
im hoping I can get to all 9s in my GCSEs, but I really dont know if I cant do it, considering I have just under a year
do you guys think its possible? any tips would be much appreciated

as much as getting all 9s seems amazing, it isn't needed for any job. Any grade you get will be good as long as you work hard through year 11!! I would say to focus on more difficult subjects and subjects u want to do for a level as they are more important!
Reply 5
Original post by DerDracologe
it’s absolutely possible, especially if you work throughout year 11! I personally at the end of year 10 was predicted 9888888865 and started revising properly in march of year 11. My results are in on the 22nd and Im predicted 9999888866 so if you work hard your grades will go up, also likely more than mine because I had some stuff to work against in year 11.
My tips would be to stick to a plan, make sure to review year 10 content frequently (spaced repetition flashcards are great for this) and do lots of exam question practice. Best of luck!

thank you!! i will work hard
Reply 6
Original post by she.studies
Hello! I have just received my CIE IGCSE results, my advice and grades are as seen below (ones in brackets are my predicted grades) :
Bio 0610 - A (A)
Chem 0620 - A (B)
French 0520 - A (A)
Mathematics 0607 - B (B)
First Language English 0500 - A* (A)
English Literature 0475 - A (C)
Geography 0460 - A (A)
History - A (B)
Chinese As A Second Language 0523 - A (A)
I am pleased with these grades, and it can also prove that you can get even better grades in just under a year! One of the biggest things I've learned is that every teacher grades differently, e.g. your teacher grading your paper can grade much harsher than your examiner.
For English Literature, this sounds very harsh and rigorous, but I tried to do as many practice essays under timed conditions as possible (I literally used up 5 A4-sized notebooks!). Not only does this give you an idea of how actually writing the paper is like, but also gives you some possible points to use in your essays as the essay questions used are pretty repetitive.
For English Language, I did a lot of past papers. My biggest piece of advice is to bring a minimum of 3 differently coloured pens/highlighters, this way, it will be much easier to spot and differentiate your different points. Further, utilise AI wisely for paper 2; I used it to generate synonyms for various adjectives in the descriptive writing essay.
Lastly, for Geography, try studying with a buddy, it is much easier to memorise geographical processes and other steps of using geographical tools. Additionally, if you forgot to memorise a case study, use your place of residence. I remember one of my essay questions was about the weather and I answered without a case study memorised, so I used Hong Kong (my place of residence), since there was a lot to talk about: tourism, weather (the typhoons here)... .
I would like to wish you the best of luck in your future exams! You got this :smile:

Thank you so much! Those are great grades, and well deserved too! I will definitely be using these tops :smile:
Reply 7
Original post by jrholland07
as much as getting all 9s seems amazing, it isn't needed for any job. Any grade you get will be good as long as you work hard through year 11!! I would say to focus on more difficult subjects and subjects u want to do for a level as they are more important!

Thank you! I know A Levels are more important, but id like to do well in my GCSE's too.. I dont know if it's the way I grew up, or being in a competitive environment but ive always been expected to get good grades. Oh well, I will try my best!
Original post by studious_
hii guys! hope ur doing well
im going from year 10 to year 11, so that means I have to lock in for my gcses
my predicted grades are:
maths = 9
bio = 9
phys = 9
chem = 9
eng lit = 5
eng lang = 7
geography = 8
dt = 7
computing = 6
im hoping I can get to all 9s in my GCSEs, but I really dont know if I cant do it, considering I have just under a year
do you guys think its possible? any tips would be much appreciated

i think honestly its more than possible. With ur current grades there rlly isnt much to improve on but do not take this for granted as in yr11 it could get a lot harder. well somewhat harder. However Ik u need to pattern crrtain subjects i did myself like CS, English lit and lang.

So to fix CS, lit its just memorisation. Go to the spec and look at it top to bottom and also watch CraigNDave. There's also websites like CSNewbs for paper 1. For paper 2 i want u to learn the exam reference language if ur OCR or learn python by practising it on an IDE.

Now, to fix english language, u dont have to do a lot. watch Mr salles and copy his structures for the questions for lang paper 1 and paper 2. Then practice doing past papers in timed conditions. Also either use his timings or find what works best for u, bc timing is everything in this exam. furthermore u might want to switch up the order in which u answer questions which can help with timing and stamina. Also if u have a willing teacher, send them ur exam papers and get them marked, or do a certain question u struggle on and get them to mark it via email or in person. They will give very good feedback. remember for both papers ur q5 means a lot and if u cook on q5 then ur basically set. This is why i did so well in lang papers. Other than that keep rinsing past papers and you'll see the difference.

Now for english lit, least of ur worries is memorisation, bc the examiners acc award mark for references to the text or stage directions. and u dont need big quotes u just need to embed quotes. moreover, u need to get used to single word analysis and quote analysis as a whole. so when u find a quote, analyse the quote as a whole and relate it to writers purpose so emg, this quote presents x as angry or sum. then zoom in on a technique and name it and relate it to writers purpose. then u wanna link it to context if there's AO3 for context or what not. Genuinely best advice for english lit is to get ur teachers to mark papers and give feedback and to watch mr salles. Also try to make ur own interpretations for some quotes as it makes u seem unique from others. And pick like 3 or 4 themes to talk about or if its a theme question use 3 or 4 characters. if u rlly want the top marks in english lit, well you need to have above and beyond explanations and RLLY GOOD VOCABULARY. lookup Glow up your grades for english on yt and use the vocab u see in her videos and also get used to words like Dogmatic or bellicose, barbaric, opulent. And if the text is meant to tesch u a lesson then say its a didactic text. Also if a certain character represents the viewpoints of a certain author, then say x is a mouthpiece for so on. oh yeah and say a certain character is a social construct for whatever. Like sheila is a social construct for feminism?. I forgot english LMAO. but still use this advice and trust me u can improve these subjects rlly quickly.
Original post by studious_
hii guys! hope ur doing well
im going from year 10 to year 11, so that means I have to lock in for my gcses
my predicted grades are:
maths = 9
bio = 9
phys = 9
chem = 9
eng lit = 5
eng lang = 7
geography = 8
dt = 7
computing = 6
im hoping I can get to all 9s in my GCSEs, but I really dont know if I cant do it, considering I have just under a year
do you guys think its possible? any tips would be much appreciated


Just ! Put your head down and work !!!!!! I promise u if u start to work from the start of year 11 ! It's going to pay off !!!!!!! Make notes and go to extra lessons if possible
Original post by studious_
hii guys! hope ur doing well
im going from year 10 to year 11, so that means I have to lock in for my gcses
my predicted grades are:
maths = 9
bio = 9
phys = 9
chem = 9
eng lit = 5
eng lang = 7
geography = 8
dt = 7
computing = 6
im hoping I can get to all 9s in my GCSEs, but I really dont know if I cant do it, considering I have just under a year
do you guys think its possible? any tips would be much appreciated

look on ebay for notes! To help with english lit there are quite a lot of character analyses for Macbeth + J&H and a lot of poetry anthologies available! I found these a lot more easier to use than textbooks x
hi my name jemlie
Original post by studious_
hii guys! hope ur doing well
im going from year 10 to year 11, so that means I have to lock in for my gcses
my predicted grades are:
maths = 9
bio = 9
phys = 9
chem = 9
eng lit = 5
eng lang = 7
geography = 8
dt = 7
computing = 6
im hoping I can get to all 9s in my GCSEs, but I really dont know if I cant do it, considering I have just under a year
do you guys think its possible? any tips would be much appreciated
I absolutely think you can get all 9s!!!
In yr 10 end of years i got:
Maths- 7
English lit- 6
English lang- 7
Physics- 8
Biology- 7
Chemistry- 8
Religion- 6
Geography- 7
Computing- 6
Art- 9
To be honest, even after these grades i still was expecting all 9s as my brother also had gotten such grades so i had this self confidence that i could also get them which i guess happened ish.

During the yr10 summer i only did light revision over previous topics and only made revision notes on some topics i liked which i ended up never using.

However a month before my November mocks i started making serious notes for paper 1s on sciences, rpe quotes, geography which reflects on the grades i got tbf.
I was predicted in my first mocks:
Maths- 6
English lit- 3
English lang- 5
Physics- 9
Biology- 8
Chemistry- 8
Religion- 9
Geography- 8
Computing- 6
Art- 7

I would definitely say that these grades were graded harshly as my school tends to do that for students to have more “motivation” which i guess worked as I got a reality check.

I then realised that i had been severely ignoring English and maths so i ended up going to an amazing English tutor and a decent maths tutor.
I would really recommend an english tutor because it is way harder getting good in English due to the technique than it is in maths which can easily be done with repetition of papers.

I then started making my paper 2 notes a month before my February mocks for sciences, geography, rpe quotes and English notes. (Really recommend doing your english notes with friends especially at such a late stage like i did as it speeds up the process)
Either way i made the mistake of not making full use of my December holidays as i was a bit too lazy after mocks.
The only thing i think at this time you should do is start going through the syllabus of your subjects backwards as schools tend to finish the syllabus a few weeks before GCSEs. Maybe make some extra notes on subjects you did bad on in the previous mocks.
I then achieved in my February mocks:
Maths- 8
English lit- 7
English lang- 7
Physics- 7
Biology- 9
Chemistry- 9
Religion- 9
Geography- 9
Computing- 8
Art- 8
(BTW my school tested the different papers in the 2 mocks, so in my first mocks i did paper 1 of my subjects but mock 2 i did paper 2)

After these results i started gaining more confidence and realised what worked for me. IT WAS ESPECIALLY the time i started realising i had no time to properly do my English notes as it was taking too long so I completely abandoned my notes on paper 2 English literature.

I really recommend the time from end febuary to end march to fully use this time to finish all your revision notes as in April I completely committed to question papers which really helped me clean up on maths and other subjects. I pretty much finished all the papers in every subject available in this month. I also really recommend doing this on an iPad as you can use the app Noteful and delete all the questions you got good in and keep the ones you got wrong as you can go over these questions the day before your exam as a lot of questions are just repetition.

I then ended up achieving today:
Maths- 9
English lit- 9
English lang- 9
Physics- 8
Biology- 9
Chemistry- 9
Religion- 9
Geography- 8
Computing- 7
Art- 9

I’d just like to say that your revision notes CANNOT be long and needs to be very condensed on the material as i only got these grades by using my notes and reading it the day before every exam.
I memorised my religion quotes before every mocks which basically meant i didnt need to memorise anything for my actual exams.
The only thing which i didnt do properly was English lit as both of those papers were on Mondays so i revised only during the Saturday and Sundays since i made my notes. In fact i only memorised my quotes the day before and on the day. The funny thing is i got hundred percent in my paper 2 eng lit even though it was the exam I hadn’t memorised quotes for ever.

BTW IM HAPPY TO GIVE MY NOTES FOR FREE SO SEND ME UR EMAIL.

How I revised:
Maths- purely papers
English lit- made notes on every theme and character for every book by picking out 3 scenes which correlated with these individual theme and character. ALOT overlapped so it’s easy dw. For poetry I actually dont know as i only memorised quotes the day before by predicting what the poem could be.
Eng lang- my English teacher made me redo every single paper like 3 times before it was a perfect answer which basically helped me know what a model answer looked like
Religion- honestly recommend Ben Wardle on YouTube, a lot of people hate his voice but if you put it on 2.1x then it’s fine bc my grade was entirely cuz of him.
Geography- I made condensed notes from different sources online and the textbook and made my own revision guides
Sciences- i recommend investing in save my exams as i used them to make my own personalised revision guide while also using the specification to make sure i only had relevant information
Computing- to be honest i was thinking i was gonna get a 9 but i never made notes or practiced it but i would recommend just getting the Cgp textbooks

SO MY ADVICE

get save my exams for sciences

Get Cgp of computing and geography

Make your own eng lit notes with friends

Get eng tutor

Do maths papers

(edited 2 months ago)
hi! I've just gotten my igcse results. the ones in brackets were my pgs (predicted grades):

eng lit: A* (B - my teacher DESPISED me)
eng language: A (A)
math: 9 (9)
econ: 9 (8)
history: 9 (9)
combined science: 9-8 (8-7)
chinese foreign language: A* (A*)
food prep and nutrition: 9 (9)

so overall i do think it's possible to get all 9s! i did as well with the exception of one 8 and one 7 (equivalent to an A), and i only really started hardcore studying in y11 late term 1, but that's just me! i found past papers the most helpful, as well as writing notes + flashcards. i don't think it's necessary to get a tutor for any, but i did have a tutor for both math and chinese, and that significantly helped my grade because i got a lot of revision material from them.

overall, if you're motivated to study, you'll be okay! your grades right now are amazing as well, don't put too much pressure on yourself ❤️ what i would recommend is the podomoro technique (during exam leave, i did around 5 hours (on an unproductive day) and 7-8 hours (on a more productive day) of podomoro sessions. i also found listening to lofi music really great because i didn't get as bored (I have a TINY attention span.)

have a great day, and don't stress too much! at the end of the day, they're just numbers and they aren't a representation of you in any way xx

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