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Edexcel igcse tips?

Hii

Does anyone have any tips for the edexcel igcse physics papers- or like literally any paper from bio chem physics (triple) eng lang a, eng lit and maths higher? Just stuff like what usually comes up, how to answer qs- ik abt command words but lately in tests even tho id know the info i never know where to put it. Ive tried do past papers but its the same problem- i just get it wrong at home instead it skl. Can anyone help?

Ty

Reply 1

Hi! At my school we do edexcel iGCSE for both englishes, maths and chem, and here's what I've picked up: we are lucky to have english coursework bc we have to learn less for the exam. There are only so many questions they can ask, and Q4 of language (non fiction anthology) is usually some variety of thoughts and feelings or making the text exciting/interesting. If you struggle to analyse on the spot, the best thing for you to do is to memorise some points. Three is good for each non fiction and common themes/characters from your literature text. Remember that you get options for literature, so you don't need to stress too much about things you aren't sure about coming up- just pick the other option. As far as maths and chem are concerned, it's all about practice. Reading notes for these subjects won't help as much as trying to apply what you know. If you can't manage a past paper, try a foundation one. Corbett Maths is great for maths questions- and the answers have clearer written solutions than some mark schemes. I tend to find with Chemistry especially but also slightly maths that there are a couple of topics (i'm looking at you, polyesters) which are just difficult. The thing is, they are only ever a couple of marks. If there's one hard thing you spend all your time revising and it still isn't right, maybe it's time to sacrifice those couple of marks and see where else you can pick some up instead. I know that doesn't sound very helpful, but learning how to do three different things which just click for you is better than spending hours puzzling over one hard topic that not many people will get right anyway. Hope any of this could be helpful, and sorry I couldn't help with your physics problems :smile:

Reply 2

Original post
by princesschip
Hi! At my school we do edexcel iGCSE for both englishes, maths and chem, and here's what I've picked up: we are lucky to have english coursework bc we have to learn less for the exam. There are only so many questions they can ask, and Q4 of language (non fiction anthology) is usually some variety of thoughts and feelings or making the text exciting/interesting. If you struggle to analyse on the spot, the best thing for you to do is to memorise some points. Three is good for each non fiction and common themes/characters from your literature text. Remember that you get options for literature, so you don't need to stress too much about things you aren't sure about coming up- just pick the other option. As far as maths and chem are concerned, it's all about practice. Reading notes for these subjects won't help as much as trying to apply what you know. If you can't manage a past paper, try a foundation one. Corbett Maths is great for maths questions- and the answers have clearer written solutions than some mark schemes. I tend to find with Chemistry especially but also slightly maths that there are a couple of topics (i'm looking at you, polyesters) which are just difficult. The thing is, they are only ever a couple of marks. If there's one hard thing you spend all your time revising and it still isn't right, maybe it's time to sacrifice those couple of marks and see where else you can pick some up instead. I know that doesn't sound very helpful, but learning how to do three different things which just click for you is better than spending hours puzzling over one hard topic that not many people will get right anyway. Hope any of this could be helpful, and sorry I couldn't help with your physics problems :smile:

Thats okay! Thanks anyway :smile: We dont do coursework which is sad because when im stressed my brain literally fogs over and i do stupid things. Also logically i know that practising past papers is the best way, but i keep getting stuff wrong- like i didnt read it properly or forgot that particular thing so i go back to content and just get dicouraged. For English, i feel like im okay at analysis, but its just the comparison question that i hate bc i find it hard to switch between analysing the texts and comparing them and talking abt the two simultaneously is so hard. science i dont know if i should focus on the stuff ik and do past papers on it to make it better, do past papers in general and hope that after getting it wrong lots of times ill eventually get it right, or focus on hard topics? I just rly want to get 8s and 9s but it feels impossible at this rate. And to do that i need to know everything. Thanks for the tips anyway and sry for rambling 🥲

Reply 3

Keep doing past papers, you'll get there eventually. When doing past papers make sure you mark properly, writing down exactly the points on the markscheme and what points you missed. I like to then resit the paper fresh a week later. Keep taking the test each week until you hit about 10% above your grade target (ie. if you want 70% in the final exam keep goimng until you get 80% in the test). Not sure if it will work for you but if worked for me.

Reply 4

Original post
by NotRightNow
Thats okay! Thanks anyway :smile: We dont do coursework which is sad because when im stressed my brain literally fogs over and i do stupid things. Also logically i know that practising past papers is the best way, but i keep getting stuff wrong- like i didnt read it properly or forgot that particular thing so i go back to content and just get dicouraged. For English, i feel like im okay at analysis, but its just the comparison question that i hate bc i find it hard to switch between analysing the texts and comparing them and talking abt the two simultaneously is so hard. science i dont know if i should focus on the stuff ik and do past papers on it to make it better, do past papers in general and hope that after getting it wrong lots of times ill eventually get it right, or focus on hard topics? I just rly want to get 8s and 9s but it feels impossible at this rate. And to do that i need to know everything. Thanks for the tips anyway and sry for rambling 🥲

One thing my teacher likes to tell us about comparative questions, since they come up for us in poetry and in non-fiction, is the structure your answer based on purple sentences. Imagine that all your writing for one text is in blue, and all the writing for the other is in red. When you introduce a point, introduce it with a purple sentence which clearly refers to both texts. Then make a blue analysis point, link with a purple sentence using phrases like 'This is a similar vein which runs through both texts' (if you're feeling fancy) or just a quick 'whereas in (Text One)... in (Text Two)...'. Then make a red point using just enough analysis to show that you can pick out language and structure features. Finally, conclude the paragraph with another comparative sentence to make sure you answer the question. Pretty helpful analogy and easy enough structure to copy and paste into a few paragraphs to make a really good essay. Maybe that could be helpful for you? Best of luck!

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