All 8s and 9s at GCSEs ask me anything

Hey,
Just wanted to offer some advice to year 10s and 11s to help you get through your GCSEs with a bit less stress.
Background
I took 11 GCSEs: 9's in Maths, Biology, Chemistry, English literature, English language, French, History, Computer Science and 8's in Russian, Further Maths and Physics.
Subject-Specific Advice
Mathematics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Practice, practice, practice: This is the key to success in mathematics.
Topic tests: I focused on the last 3 questions of relevant Corbett Maths sheets. If I made any mistakes, I completed the entire sheet.
Exam preparation: For larger tests, I completed as many practice papers as possible. Consider doing closed-book past papers without time constraints to familiarize yourself with the material. However, closer to the exam, practice under timed conditions and meticulously review your work, identifying areas for improvement.
Additional resources: My teacher recommended UKMT papers
Biology, Chemistry, Physics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Science with Hazel legitimately saved my science grades
Active learning: Take notes while watching her videos and actively engage with the material. Learn the defenitions and processes she shows as this saves you studying markschemes.
Consistent practice: Complete as many practice questions as possible. Pay close attention to mark schemes, especially for questions you answered incorrectly.
Subject-specific strategies:
- Chemistry: Focus on memorising mark schemes, as they are often the same
- Physics: learn mark schemes for experiments and longer questions. Additionally a strengthened understanding of mathematical concepts and formulas.
- Biology: Develop a deep understanding of a few key topics rather than a superficial knowledge of many. Pay attention to mark schemes for processes and experiments, and practice answering a variety of question types, including those that may seem unexpected.
English Literature and Language (IGCSE Edexcel)
Coursework: obviously try and get the highest possible grade, but especially here. Use resources like spell checkers and AI tools for feedback, but avoid relying on them for writing just incase this is detected. Aim for a score of 26/30 or higher otherwise I would ask for a redo.
Multiple texts: For all of the poems and texts you have to know, memorize a concise introduction that can be adapted to different exam questions, and watch Mrs Rumseys videos
Essay writing: Learn a 5 (ish) paragraph essay structure for each character, as there is typically a character question and there are a finite number of characters which there aren't for themes. This can also be adapted to theme-based questions if necessary. write and have marked as many essays as possible - practice in time conditions, even on homeworks. The best thing I did was speed planning - 5 minutes to plan an esssay for a question, you can get these marked by AI tools. Review the markschemes of essays and the examiners reports.
French (GCSE AQA) and Russian (GCSE Edexcel)
Oral skills: Prepare and memorise high band oral answers, aiming for 50-75 words per answer. Use high-level vocabulary and grammar. Get feedback from your teacher.
Written skills: Learn how to write your oral answers, they will be easily adaptible to the writing questions. Practice translating the question
Listening: This is going to be awful - maybe practice helps but don't stress to much.
Reading: Familiarize yourself with vocabulary listed in the specifications. Use online resources like Quizlet to practice. Practice the translation but the rest should be fine.
History (GCSE AQA)
Revision tips: Summarize your textbook, check what you need to know with the specification. Create timelines for each module and highlight key dates, people, and places. I recorded my notes and tried to learn the content how you would learn a song. Create flashcards for dates and practice them regularly until you know all the dates because honestly all you need is the dates, timelines and to structure your answers right. Familiarize yourself with question types and develop structures for answers, I learnt gap fills but you could do this in other ways.
Engaging with the subject: Being interested in the subject proabably helped me most you can do this with resources like Wikipedia, YouTube, books, podcasts, and documentaries.
In Class: Pay attention to the flow of events as you learn, minimizing the need for intensive review later.
Computer Science (GCSE OCR)
Programming skills: Practice programming regularly and make it interesting by creating projects, this can get you half the marks pretty much because of paper 2
Exam preparation: Allocate a lot of time for the essay question and plan it carefully. I used resources like CGP workbooks as there weren't many papers to review, Use the OCR clarification document rather than the specification - make notes or flashcards to learn this, and I used Mr Brown CS's whole paper summaries and Craig 'n Dave for specific topics.
Feedback and practice: Get feedback on essays and practice under timed conditions. Also use AI tools to test your knowledge.
General Advice
- Take Mocks seriously, but don't stress about results
Don't ignore mocks or start revising too late but I mainly used it to make resources for my actual exams rather than stressing about memorising specific facts etc. . It is good exam practice though and is helpful to workout if you find exam conditions a disadvantage to your performance. So try to revise and do well so you can figure out where you stand and use marks to work out difficult topics but the actual grade does't matter, for example I got a 5 in my English literature mock and ended up with a 9, I also got an 8 in my compsci mock and ended up with almost 97%.
- Revise for topic tests
If you revise for topic tests and do sporadic revision throughout the year you won't have to be as stressed during exam period. You will also have resources to revise from rather than having to waste time making rushed resources or finding other people cr**py resources.
- Have a social life
Having friends that cared about there grades but also wanted to have a chat and have fun honestly saved my life during year 11. As this meant we could meet at cafes or revise before exams and also didn't discuss the exams once they happend.
- Be interested
Being interested in my subjects and going to 'greater depth' occasionally really helped make learning and memorising easier as you had a better understanding of these topics. This does take longer so I only really used this on topics I was struggling with.
- Utilise your teachers
Having good relationships with your teachers is so helpful at GCSE, as going to clinics and office hours of your teachers will give you more time to ask questions, gather memory tips and have exam practice marked. It also meant that during christmas, easter and study leave I could get exam practice marked.
- Use the resources you have -- PMT, save my exams, youtubers, textboks and revision guides (CGP and Hodders edu)
- look at examiners reports.
- don't worry - you don't need to do that much or that well to get an 8 or 9
Hope this advice is helpful to you all, If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Wishing you all the absolute best and keeping my fingers crossed for you all come May. Good Luck!!!!
- 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

I don't have an tips on how to drop the subject - you are proabably best of going to your head of year. But I would advise dropping a subject if you get really behind in it in order to focus on your other subjects, you could proabably use a few actual (not faked) bad tests to convince your teachers and parents. However, inorder to have the best chances going forward I would try and ensure you still have 9 subjects that you study. Also don't drop English or Math subjects and avoid dropping a language if you only take one. Also, your teachers will proabaly have an issue with what you will do when you should be in the lesson.

If your parents are in agreement have you tried getting them to email your teachers and say it's making you fall behind in your other subjects or something? Good luck though

Hey,
Just wanted to offer some advice to year 10s and 11s to help you get through your GCSEs with a bit less stress.
Background
I took 11 GCSEs: 9's in Maths, Biology, Chemistry, English literature, English language, French, History, Computer Science and 8's in Russian, Further Maths and Physics.
Subject-Specific Advice
Mathematics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Practice, practice, practice: This is the key to success in mathematics.
Topic tests: I focused on the last 3 questions of relevant Corbett Maths sheets. If I made any mistakes, I completed the entire sheet.
Exam preparation: For larger tests, I completed as many practice papers as possible. Consider doing closed-book past papers without time constraints to familiarize yourself with the material. However, closer to the exam, practice under timed conditions and meticulously review your work, identifying areas for improvement.
Additional resources: My teacher recommended UKMT papers
Biology, Chemistry, Physics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Science with Hazel legitimately saved my science grades
Active learning: Take notes while watching her videos and actively engage with the material. Learn the defenitions and processes she shows as this saves you studying markschemes.
Consistent practice: Complete as many practice questions as possible. Pay close attention to mark schemes, especially for questions you answered incorrectly.
Subject-specific strategies:
- Chemistry: Focus on memorising mark schemes, as they are often the same
- Physics: learn mark schemes for experiments and longer questions. Additionally a strengthened understanding of mathematical concepts and formulas.
- Biology: Develop a deep understanding of a few key topics rather than a superficial knowledge of many. Pay attention to mark schemes for processes and experiments, and practice answering a variety of question types, including those that may seem unexpected.
English Literature and Language (IGCSE Edexcel)
Coursework: obviously try and get the highest possible grade, but especially here. Use resources like spell checkers and AI tools for feedback, but avoid relying on them for writing just incase this is detected. Aim for a score of 26/30 or higher otherwise I would ask for a redo.
Multiple texts: For all of the poems and texts you have to know, memorize a concise introduction that can be adapted to different exam questions, and watch Mrs Rumseys videos
Essay writing: Learn a 5 (ish) paragraph essay structure for each character, as there is typically a character question and there are a finite number of characters which there aren't for themes. This can also be adapted to theme-based questions if necessary. write and have marked as many essays as possible - practice in time conditions, even on homeworks. The best thing I did was speed planning - 5 minutes to plan an esssay for a question, you can get these marked by AI tools. Review the markschemes of essays and the examiners reports.
French (GCSE AQA) and Russian (GCSE Edexcel)
Oral skills: Prepare and memorise high band oral answers, aiming for 50-75 words per answer. Use high-level vocabulary and grammar. Get feedback from your teacher.
Written skills: Learn how to write your oral answers, they will be easily adaptible to the writing questions. Practice translating the question
Listening: This is going to be awful - maybe practice helps but don't stress to much.
Reading: Familiarize yourself with vocabulary listed in the specifications. Use online resources like Quizlet to practice. Practice the translation but the rest should be fine.
History (GCSE AQA)
Revision tips: Summarize your textbook, check what you need to know with the specification. Create timelines for each module and highlight key dates, people, and places. I recorded my notes and tried to learn the content how you would learn a song. Create flashcards for dates and practice them regularly until you know all the dates because honestly all you need is the dates, timelines and to structure your answers right. Familiarize yourself with question types and develop structures for answers, I learnt gap fills but you could do this in other ways.
Engaging with the subject: Being interested in the subject proabably helped me most you can do this with resources like Wikipedia, YouTube, books, podcasts, and documentaries.
In Class: Pay attention to the flow of events as you learn, minimizing the need for intensive review later.
Computer Science (GCSE OCR)
Programming skills: Practice programming regularly and make it interesting by creating projects, this can get you half the marks pretty much because of paper 2
Exam preparation: Allocate a lot of time for the essay question and plan it carefully. I used resources like CGP workbooks as there weren't many papers to review, Use the OCR clarification document rather than the specification - make notes or flashcards to learn this, and I used Mr Brown CS's whole paper summaries and Craig 'n Dave for specific topics.
Feedback and practice: Get feedback on essays and practice under timed conditions. Also use AI tools to test your knowledge.
General Advice
- Take Mocks seriously, but don't stress about results
Don't ignore mocks or start revising too late but I mainly used it to make resources for my actual exams rather than stressing about memorising specific facts etc. . It is good exam practice though and is helpful to workout if you find exam conditions a disadvantage to your performance. So try to revise and do well so you can figure out where you stand and use marks to work out difficult topics but the actual grade does't matter, for example I got a 5 in my English literature mock and ended up with a 9, I also got an 8 in my compsci mock and ended up with almost 97%.
- Revise for topic tests
If you revise for topic tests and do sporadic revision throughout the year you won't have to be as stressed during exam period. You will also have resources to revise from rather than having to waste time making rushed resources or finding other people cr**py resources.
- Have a social life
Having friends that cared about there grades but also wanted to have a chat and have fun honestly saved my life during year 11. As this meant we could meet at cafes or revise before exams and also didn't discuss the exams once they happend.
- Be interested
Being interested in my subjects and going to 'greater depth' occasionally really helped make learning and memorising easier as you had a better understanding of these topics. This does take longer so I only really used this on topics I was struggling with.
- Utilise your teachers
Having good relationships with your teachers is so helpful at GCSE, as going to clinics and office hours of your teachers will give you more time to ask questions, gather memory tips and have exam practice marked. It also meant that during christmas, easter and study leave I could get exam practice marked.
- Use the resources you have -- PMT, save my exams, youtubers, textboks and revision guides (CGP and Hodders edu)
- look at examiners reports.
- don't worry - you don't need to do that much or that well to get an 8 or 9
Hope this advice is helpful to you all, If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Wishing you all the absolute best and keeping my fingers crossed for you all come May. Good Luck!!!!
- 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

Hey,
Just wanted to offer some advice to year 10s and 11s to help you get through your GCSEs with a bit less stress.
Background
I took 11 GCSEs: 9's in Maths, Biology, Chemistry, English literature, English language, French, History, Computer Science and 8's in Russian, Further Maths and Physics.
Subject-Specific Advice
Mathematics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Practice, practice, practice: This is the key to success in mathematics.
Topic tests: I focused on the last 3 questions of relevant Corbett Maths sheets. If I made any mistakes, I completed the entire sheet.
Exam preparation: For larger tests, I completed as many practice papers as possible. Consider doing closed-book past papers without time constraints to familiarize yourself with the material. However, closer to the exam, practice under timed conditions and meticulously review your work, identifying areas for improvement.
Additional resources: My teacher recommended UKMT papers
Biology, Chemistry, Physics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Science with Hazel legitimately saved my science grades
Active learning: Take notes while watching her videos and actively engage with the material. Learn the defenitions and processes she shows as this saves you studying markschemes.
Consistent practice: Complete as many practice questions as possible. Pay close attention to mark schemes, especially for questions you answered incorrectly.
Subject-specific strategies:
- Chemistry: Focus on memorising mark schemes, as they are often the same
- Physics: learn mark schemes for experiments and longer questions. Additionally a strengthened understanding of mathematical concepts and formulas.
- Biology: Develop a deep understanding of a few key topics rather than a superficial knowledge of many. Pay attention to mark schemes for processes and experiments, and practice answering a variety of question types, including those that may seem unexpected.
English Literature and Language (IGCSE Edexcel)
Coursework: obviously try and get the highest possible grade, but especially here. Use resources like spell checkers and AI tools for feedback, but avoid relying on them for writing just incase this is detected. Aim for a score of 26/30 or higher otherwise I would ask for a redo.
Multiple texts: For all of the poems and texts you have to know, memorize a concise introduction that can be adapted to different exam questions, and watch Mrs Rumseys videos
Essay writing: Learn a 5 (ish) paragraph essay structure for each character, as there is typically a character question and there are a finite number of characters which there aren't for themes. This can also be adapted to theme-based questions if necessary. write and have marked as many essays as possible - practice in time conditions, even on homeworks. The best thing I did was speed planning - 5 minutes to plan an esssay for a question, you can get these marked by AI tools. Review the markschemes of essays and the examiners reports.
French (GCSE AQA) and Russian (GCSE Edexcel)
Oral skills: Prepare and memorise high band oral answers, aiming for 50-75 words per answer. Use high-level vocabulary and grammar. Get feedback from your teacher.
Written skills: Learn how to write your oral answers, they will be easily adaptible to the writing questions. Practice translating the question
Listening: This is going to be awful - maybe practice helps but don't stress to much.
Reading: Familiarize yourself with vocabulary listed in the specifications. Use online resources like Quizlet to practice. Practice the translation but the rest should be fine.
History (GCSE AQA)
Revision tips: Summarize your textbook, check what you need to know with the specification. Create timelines for each module and highlight key dates, people, and places. I recorded my notes and tried to learn the content how you would learn a song. Create flashcards for dates and practice them regularly until you know all the dates because honestly all you need is the dates, timelines and to structure your answers right. Familiarize yourself with question types and develop structures for answers, I learnt gap fills but you could do this in other ways.
Engaging with the subject: Being interested in the subject proabably helped me most you can do this with resources like Wikipedia, YouTube, books, podcasts, and documentaries.
In Class: Pay attention to the flow of events as you learn, minimizing the need for intensive review later.
Computer Science (GCSE OCR)
Programming skills: Practice programming regularly and make it interesting by creating projects, this can get you half the marks pretty much because of paper 2
Exam preparation: Allocate a lot of time for the essay question and plan it carefully. I used resources like CGP workbooks as there weren't many papers to review, Use the OCR clarification document rather than the specification - make notes or flashcards to learn this, and I used Mr Brown CS's whole paper summaries and Craig 'n Dave for specific topics.
Feedback and practice: Get feedback on essays and practice under timed conditions. Also use AI tools to test your knowledge.
General Advice
- Take Mocks seriously, but don't stress about results
Don't ignore mocks or start revising too late but I mainly used it to make resources for my actual exams rather than stressing about memorising specific facts etc. . It is good exam practice though and is helpful to workout if you find exam conditions a disadvantage to your performance. So try to revise and do well so you can figure out where you stand and use marks to work out difficult topics but the actual grade does't matter, for example I got a 5 in my English literature mock and ended up with a 9, I also got an 8 in my compsci mock and ended up with almost 97%.
- Revise for topic tests
If you revise for topic tests and do sporadic revision throughout the year you won't have to be as stressed during exam period. You will also have resources to revise from rather than having to waste time making rushed resources or finding other people cr**py resources.
- Have a social life
Having friends that cared about there grades but also wanted to have a chat and have fun honestly saved my life during year 11. As this meant we could meet at cafes or revise before exams and also didn't discuss the exams once they happend.
- Be interested
Being interested in my subjects and going to 'greater depth' occasionally really helped make learning and memorising easier as you had a better understanding of these topics. This does take longer so I only really used this on topics I was struggling with.
- Utilise your teachers
Having good relationships with your teachers is so helpful at GCSE, as going to clinics and office hours of your teachers will give you more time to ask questions, gather memory tips and have exam practice marked. It also meant that during christmas, easter and study leave I could get exam practice marked.
- Use the resources you have -- PMT, save my exams, youtubers, textboks and revision guides (CGP and Hodders edu)
- look at examiners reports.
- don't worry - you don't need to do that much or that well to get an 8 or 9
Hope this advice is helpful to you all, If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Wishing you all the absolute best and keeping my fingers crossed for you all come May. Good Luck!!!!
- 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

How did you revise for further maths? I'm struggling to find many good resources, and I asked my teacher and she just said that there aren't many so just look through your exercise book. Ive done lots of past papers which are obviously extremely helpful, but other than that, do you know of any good resources? I'm predicted a 7/8 in further maths and a 9 in maths at the moment. Lots of people have said to me that I shouldn't bother revising for further maths because it's just an 'extra subject' and i should just see how it goes. However it is very important to me especially because I want to continue with maths next year for a levels. What advice do you have? Thank you

heyy well done im sitting my computer science gcse soon and im doing my mocks atm but im so stuck mostly on paper 2 do u have any tips on how to revise/understand the content

Hey,
Just wanted to offer some advice to year 10s and 11s to help you get through your GCSEs with a bit less stress.
Background
I took 11 GCSEs: 9's in Maths, Biology, Chemistry, English literature, English language, French, History, Computer Science and 8's in Russian, Further Maths and Physics.
Subject-Specific Advice
Mathematics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Practice, practice, practice: This is the key to success in mathematics.
Topic tests: I focused on the last 3 questions of relevant Corbett Maths sheets. If I made any mistakes, I completed the entire sheet.
Exam preparation: For larger tests, I completed as many practice papers as possible. Consider doing closed-book past papers without time constraints to familiarize yourself with the material. However, closer to the exam, practice under timed conditions and meticulously review your work, identifying areas for improvement.
Additional resources: My teacher recommended UKMT papers
Biology, Chemistry, Physics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Science with Hazel legitimately saved my science grades
Active learning: Take notes while watching her videos and actively engage with the material. Learn the defenitions and processes she shows as this saves you studying markschemes.
Consistent practice: Complete as many practice questions as possible. Pay close attention to mark schemes, especially for questions you answered incorrectly.
Subject-specific strategies:
- Chemistry: Focus on memorising mark schemes, as they are often the same
- Physics: learn mark schemes for experiments and longer questions. Additionally a strengthened understanding of mathematical concepts and formulas.
- Biology: Develop a deep understanding of a few key topics rather than a superficial knowledge of many. Pay attention to mark schemes for processes and experiments, and practice answering a variety of question types, including those that may seem unexpected.
English Literature and Language (IGCSE Edexcel)
Coursework: obviously try and get the highest possible grade, but especially here. Use resources like spell checkers and AI tools for feedback, but avoid relying on them for writing just incase this is detected. Aim for a score of 26/30 or higher otherwise I would ask for a redo.
Multiple texts: For all of the poems and texts you have to know, memorize a concise introduction that can be adapted to different exam questions, and watch Mrs Rumseys videos
Essay writing: Learn a 5 (ish) paragraph essay structure for each character, as there is typically a character question and there are a finite number of characters which there aren't for themes. This can also be adapted to theme-based questions if necessary. write and have marked as many essays as possible - practice in time conditions, even on homeworks. The best thing I did was speed planning - 5 minutes to plan an esssay for a question, you can get these marked by AI tools. Review the markschemes of essays and the examiners reports.
French (GCSE AQA) and Russian (GCSE Edexcel)
Oral skills: Prepare and memorise high band oral answers, aiming for 50-75 words per answer. Use high-level vocabulary and grammar. Get feedback from your teacher.
Written skills: Learn how to write your oral answers, they will be easily adaptible to the writing questions. Practice translating the question
Listening: This is going to be awful - maybe practice helps but don't stress to much.
Reading: Familiarize yourself with vocabulary listed in the specifications. Use online resources like Quizlet to practice. Practice the translation but the rest should be fine.
History (GCSE AQA)
Revision tips: Summarize your textbook, check what you need to know with the specification. Create timelines for each module and highlight key dates, people, and places. I recorded my notes and tried to learn the content how you would learn a song. Create flashcards for dates and practice them regularly until you know all the dates because honestly all you need is the dates, timelines and to structure your answers right. Familiarize yourself with question types and develop structures for answers, I learnt gap fills but you could do this in other ways.
Engaging with the subject: Being interested in the subject proabably helped me most you can do this with resources like Wikipedia, YouTube, books, podcasts, and documentaries.
In Class: Pay attention to the flow of events as you learn, minimizing the need for intensive review later.
Computer Science (GCSE OCR)
Programming skills: Practice programming regularly and make it interesting by creating projects, this can get you half the marks pretty much because of paper 2
Exam preparation: Allocate a lot of time for the essay question and plan it carefully. I used resources like CGP workbooks as there weren't many papers to review, Use the OCR clarification document rather than the specification - make notes or flashcards to learn this, and I used Mr Brown CS's whole paper summaries and Craig 'n Dave for specific topics.
Feedback and practice: Get feedback on essays and practice under timed conditions. Also use AI tools to test your knowledge.
General Advice
- Take Mocks seriously, but don't stress about results
Don't ignore mocks or start revising too late but I mainly used it to make resources for my actual exams rather than stressing about memorising specific facts etc. . It is good exam practice though and is helpful to workout if you find exam conditions a disadvantage to your performance. So try to revise and do well so you can figure out where you stand and use marks to work out difficult topics but the actual grade does't matter, for example I got a 5 in my English literature mock and ended up with a 9, I also got an 8 in my compsci mock and ended up with almost 97%.
- Revise for topic tests
If you revise for topic tests and do sporadic revision throughout the year you won't have to be as stressed during exam period. You will also have resources to revise from rather than having to waste time making rushed resources or finding other people cr**py resources.
- Have a social life
Having friends that cared about there grades but also wanted to have a chat and have fun honestly saved my life during year 11. As this meant we could meet at cafes or revise before exams and also didn't discuss the exams once they happend.
- Be interested
Being interested in my subjects and going to 'greater depth' occasionally really helped make learning and memorising easier as you had a better understanding of these topics. This does take longer so I only really used this on topics I was struggling with.
- Utilise your teachers
Having good relationships with your teachers is so helpful at GCSE, as going to clinics and office hours of your teachers will give you more time to ask questions, gather memory tips and have exam practice marked. It also meant that during christmas, easter and study leave I could get exam practice marked.
- Use the resources you have -- PMT, save my exams, youtubers, textboks and revision guides (CGP and Hodders edu)
- look at examiners reports.
- don't worry - you don't need to do that much or that well to get an 8 or 9
Hope this advice is helpful to you all, If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Wishing you all the absolute best and keeping my fingers crossed for you all come May. Good Luck!!!!
- 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

Hey,
Just wanted to offer some advice to year 10s and 11s to help you get through your GCSEs with a bit less stress.
Background
I took 11 GCSEs: 9's in Maths, Biology, Chemistry, English literature, English language, French, History, Computer Science and 8's in Russian, Further Maths and Physics.
Subject-Specific Advice
Mathematics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Practice, practice, practice: This is the key to success in mathematics.
Topic tests: I focused on the last 3 questions of relevant Corbett Maths sheets. If I made any mistakes, I completed the entire sheet.
Exam preparation: For larger tests, I completed as many practice papers as possible. Consider doing closed-book past papers without time constraints to familiarize yourself with the material. However, closer to the exam, practice under timed conditions and meticulously review your work, identifying areas for improvement.
Additional resources: My teacher recommended UKMT papers
Biology, Chemistry, Physics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Science with Hazel legitimately saved my science grades
Active learning: Take notes while watching her videos and actively engage with the material. Learn the defenitions and processes she shows as this saves you studying markschemes.
Consistent practice: Complete as many practice questions as possible. Pay close attention to mark schemes, especially for questions you answered incorrectly.
Subject-specific strategies:
- Chemistry: Focus on memorising mark schemes, as they are often the same
- Physics: learn mark schemes for experiments and longer questions. Additionally a strengthened understanding of mathematical concepts and formulas.
- Biology: Develop a deep understanding of a few key topics rather than a superficial knowledge of many. Pay attention to mark schemes for processes and experiments, and practice answering a variety of question types, including those that may seem unexpected.
English Literature and Language (IGCSE Edexcel)
Coursework: obviously try and get the highest possible grade, but especially here. Use resources like spell checkers and AI tools for feedback, but avoid relying on them for writing just incase this is detected. Aim for a score of 26/30 or higher otherwise I would ask for a redo.
Multiple texts: For all of the poems and texts you have to know, memorize a concise introduction that can be adapted to different exam questions, and watch Mrs Rumseys videos
Essay writing: Learn a 5 (ish) paragraph essay structure for each character, as there is typically a character question and there are a finite number of characters which there aren't for themes. This can also be adapted to theme-based questions if necessary. write and have marked as many essays as possible - practice in time conditions, even on homeworks. The best thing I did was speed planning - 5 minutes to plan an esssay for a question, you can get these marked by AI tools. Review the markschemes of essays and the examiners reports.
French (GCSE AQA) and Russian (GCSE Edexcel)
Oral skills: Prepare and memorise high band oral answers, aiming for 50-75 words per answer. Use high-level vocabulary and grammar. Get feedback from your teacher.
Written skills: Learn how to write your oral answers, they will be easily adaptible to the writing questions. Practice translating the question
Listening: This is going to be awful - maybe practice helps but don't stress to much.
Reading: Familiarize yourself with vocabulary listed in the specifications. Use online resources like Quizlet to practice. Practice the translation but the rest should be fine.
History (GCSE AQA)
Revision tips: Summarize your textbook, check what you need to know with the specification. Create timelines for each module and highlight key dates, people, and places. I recorded my notes and tried to learn the content how you would learn a song. Create flashcards for dates and practice them regularly until you know all the dates because honestly all you need is the dates, timelines and to structure your answers right. Familiarize yourself with question types and develop structures for answers, I learnt gap fills but you could do this in other ways.
Engaging with the subject: Being interested in the subject proabably helped me most you can do this with resources like Wikipedia, YouTube, books, podcasts, and documentaries.
In Class: Pay attention to the flow of events as you learn, minimizing the need for intensive review later.
Computer Science (GCSE OCR)
Programming skills: Practice programming regularly and make it interesting by creating projects, this can get you half the marks pretty much because of paper 2
Exam preparation: Allocate a lot of time for the essay question and plan it carefully. I used resources like CGP workbooks as there weren't many papers to review, Use the OCR clarification document rather than the specification - make notes or flashcards to learn this, and I used Mr Brown CS's whole paper summaries and Craig 'n Dave for specific topics.
Feedback and practice: Get feedback on essays and practice under timed conditions. Also use AI tools to test your knowledge.
General Advice
- Take Mocks seriously, but don't stress about results
Don't ignore mocks or start revising too late but I mainly used it to make resources for my actual exams rather than stressing about memorising specific facts etc. . It is good exam practice though and is helpful to workout if you find exam conditions a disadvantage to your performance. So try to revise and do well so you can figure out where you stand and use marks to work out difficult topics but the actual grade does't matter, for example I got a 5 in my English literature mock and ended up with a 9, I also got an 8 in my compsci mock and ended up with almost 97%.
- Revise for topic tests
If you revise for topic tests and do sporadic revision throughout the year you won't have to be as stressed during exam period. You will also have resources to revise from rather than having to waste time making rushed resources or finding other people cr**py resources.
- Have a social life
Having friends that cared about there grades but also wanted to have a chat and have fun honestly saved my life during year 11. As this meant we could meet at cafes or revise before exams and also didn't discuss the exams once they happend.
- Be interested
Being interested in my subjects and going to 'greater depth' occasionally really helped make learning and memorising easier as you had a better understanding of these topics. This does take longer so I only really used this on topics I was struggling with.
- Utilise your teachers
Having good relationships with your teachers is so helpful at GCSE, as going to clinics and office hours of your teachers will give you more time to ask questions, gather memory tips and have exam practice marked. It also meant that during christmas, easter and study leave I could get exam practice marked.
- Use the resources you have -- PMT, save my exams, youtubers, textboks and revision guides (CGP and Hodders edu)
- look at examiners reports.
- don't worry - you don't need to do that much or that well to get an 8 or 9
Hope this advice is helpful to you all, If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Wishing you all the absolute best and keeping my fingers crossed for you all come May. Good Luck!!!!
- 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

Hi, have a look at physics and maths tutor and see if they have anything for your exam board - that's often a good starting point. Otherwise have a look at some YouTube videos like MrBicen maths or TL and you can get some more questions and walkthroughs of how to answer them. If you do AQA level 2 I could send you a resource from my school but I'd rather not put it on here if that's okay. I didn't do much for further maths tbh other than a cgp workbook I found at my local library that was good for questions and just do as many past papers as possible. If you run out of questions -maybe try doing some Olympiad questions or the senior maths challenge - you have enough knowledge to do it I think with further maths. Hope that was helpful!

Thank you!! We do the senior maths challenge every year at school! Yes, I do aqa level 2 so if you'd be happy to send that, that would be so, so helpful! I'll have a look for a cgp book too. Thank you x

was there a question on festivals for the french writing

Do you have any advice on history AQA cold war paper questions and how to structure them? Greatly appreciated if u can help.😀

Hey,
Just wanted to offer some advice to year 10s and 11s to help you get through your GCSEs with a bit less stress.
Background
I took 11 GCSEs: 9's in Maths, Biology, Chemistry, English literature, English language, French, History, Computer Science and 8's in Russian, Further Maths and Physics.
Subject-Specific Advice
Mathematics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Practice, practice, practice: This is the key to success in mathematics.
Topic tests: I focused on the last 3 questions of relevant Corbett Maths sheets. If I made any mistakes, I completed the entire sheet.
Exam preparation: For larger tests, I completed as many practice papers as possible. Consider doing closed-book past papers without time constraints to familiarize yourself with the material. However, closer to the exam, practice under timed conditions and meticulously review your work, identifying areas for improvement.
Additional resources: My teacher recommended UKMT papers
Biology, Chemistry, Physics (IGCSE Edexcel)
Science with Hazel legitimately saved my science grades
Active learning: Take notes while watching her videos and actively engage with the material. Learn the defenitions and processes she shows as this saves you studying markschemes.
Consistent practice: Complete as many practice questions as possible. Pay close attention to mark schemes, especially for questions you answered incorrectly.
Subject-specific strategies:
- Chemistry: Focus on memorising mark schemes, as they are often the same
- Physics: learn mark schemes for experiments and longer questions. Additionally a strengthened understanding of mathematical concepts and formulas.
- Biology: Develop a deep understanding of a few key topics rather than a superficial knowledge of many. Pay attention to mark schemes for processes and experiments, and practice answering a variety of question types, including those that may seem unexpected.
English Literature and Language (IGCSE Edexcel)
Coursework: obviously try and get the highest possible grade, but especially here. Use resources like spell checkers and AI tools for feedback, but avoid relying on them for writing just incase this is detected. Aim for a score of 26/30 or higher otherwise I would ask for a redo.
Multiple texts: For all of the poems and texts you have to know, memorize a concise introduction that can be adapted to different exam questions, and watch Mrs Rumseys videos
Essay writing: Learn a 5 (ish) paragraph essay structure for each character, as there is typically a character question and there are a finite number of characters which there aren't for themes. This can also be adapted to theme-based questions if necessary. write and have marked as many essays as possible - practice in time conditions, even on homeworks. The best thing I did was speed planning - 5 minutes to plan an esssay for a question, you can get these marked by AI tools. Review the markschemes of essays and the examiners reports.
French (GCSE AQA) and Russian (GCSE Edexcel)
Oral skills: Prepare and memorise high band oral answers, aiming for 50-75 words per answer. Use high-level vocabulary and grammar. Get feedback from your teacher.
Written skills: Learn how to write your oral answers, they will be easily adaptible to the writing questions. Practice translating the question
Listening: This is going to be awful - maybe practice helps but don't stress to much.
Reading: Familiarize yourself with vocabulary listed in the specifications. Use online resources like Quizlet to practice. Practice the translation but the rest should be fine.
History (GCSE AQA)
Revision tips: Summarize your textbook, check what you need to know with the specification. Create timelines for each module and highlight key dates, people, and places. I recorded my notes and tried to learn the content how you would learn a song. Create flashcards for dates and practice them regularly until you know all the dates because honestly all you need is the dates, timelines and to structure your answers right. Familiarize yourself with question types and develop structures for answers, I learnt gap fills but you could do this in other ways.
Engaging with the subject: Being interested in the subject proabably helped me most you can do this with resources like Wikipedia, YouTube, books, podcasts, and documentaries.
In Class: Pay attention to the flow of events as you learn, minimizing the need for intensive review later.
Computer Science (GCSE OCR)
Programming skills: Practice programming regularly and make it interesting by creating projects, this can get you half the marks pretty much because of paper 2
Exam preparation: Allocate a lot of time for the essay question and plan it carefully. I used resources like CGP workbooks as there weren't many papers to review, Use the OCR clarification document rather than the specification - make notes or flashcards to learn this, and I used Mr Brown CS's whole paper summaries and Craig 'n Dave for specific topics.
Feedback and practice: Get feedback on essays and practice under timed conditions. Also use AI tools to test your knowledge.
General Advice
- Take Mocks seriously, but don't stress about results
Don't ignore mocks or start revising too late but I mainly used it to make resources for my actual exams rather than stressing about memorising specific facts etc. . It is good exam practice though and is helpful to workout if you find exam conditions a disadvantage to your performance. So try to revise and do well so you can figure out where you stand and use marks to work out difficult topics but the actual grade does't matter, for example I got a 5 in my English literature mock and ended up with a 9, I also got an 8 in my compsci mock and ended up with almost 97%.
- Revise for topic tests
If you revise for topic tests and do sporadic revision throughout the year you won't have to be as stressed during exam period. You will also have resources to revise from rather than having to waste time making rushed resources or finding other people cr**py resources.
- Have a social life
Having friends that cared about there grades but also wanted to have a chat and have fun honestly saved my life during year 11. As this meant we could meet at cafes or revise before exams and also didn't discuss the exams once they happend.
- Be interested
Being interested in my subjects and going to 'greater depth' occasionally really helped make learning and memorising easier as you had a better understanding of these topics. This does take longer so I only really used this on topics I was struggling with.
- Utilise your teachers
Having good relationships with your teachers is so helpful at GCSE, as going to clinics and office hours of your teachers will give you more time to ask questions, gather memory tips and have exam practice marked. It also meant that during christmas, easter and study leave I could get exam practice marked.
- Use the resources you have -- PMT, save my exams, youtubers, textboks and revision guides (CGP and Hodders edu)
- look at examiners reports.
- don't worry - you don't need to do that much or that well to get an 8 or 9
Hope this advice is helpful to you all, If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Wishing you all the absolute best and keeping my fingers crossed for you all come May. Good Luck!!!!
- 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.