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revision help

hi! i'm in year11 and i've been stuck on the same grades since like year 9, my mock results were :
business - 5
eng lang - 5
eng lit - 6
french - 5
geography - 5
history - 6
maths - 5
science - 54

i'm always revising but no matter how much i revise i always get the sake marks and see no improvements whatsoever??? whether i revise or don't i get the same scores so i really need revision tips and how to revise mor effectively please as i'm aiming for grades7+
Make sure you're actively recalling information (brain dumps w/o your notes, flashcards, making & using quizzes etc.) and then apply your knowledge with exam questions, because there's you don't just need to know information, you need to be able to use it to get the marks in the test. Eventually start timing yourself, and doing past papers under timed conditions nearer to the exams
For essay-style subjects, make sure you practise planning and writing your longer answers, then get teachers to mark them and give feedback (it's very difficult to self-mark these).

Using your completed EQs, note down anything you keep consistently forget/don't get marks in the exam - you can make flashcards for these, or make a document that you look over semi-frequently

Remember, lost marks are ways you can improve, not failures :smile:
Hello @sophiyah!

Well done for your grades and revision efforts! These are really good, but as you would like to improve them even more, here are some revision techniques:

Flashcards, mindmaps, blurting, self-testing and timed past papers are all effective revision strategies;

Making yourself a revision timetable may help you organise your study so that you don't get burnt out;

Looking through feedback from classwork and past class assessments and asking the teacher if you're not sure how to improve on it;

Coming back to the same topic every so often will help you to remember the information;

Completing the test exercises in revision textbooks was very useful for me when I did my GCSEs;

Attending revision sessions hosted by your school so you are able to ask the teacher for more help;

I made a post discussing revision techniques based on psychology which may be helpful to you.


Which revision techniques have you tried so far?

Wishing you luck with your study and exams!

Poppy, 2nd Year Psychology Student
Reply 3
I usually go over content via flashcards and then prac qs to get the exam technique right. Good luck!!!
Reply 4
Original post by sophiyah
hi! i'm in year11 and i've been stuck on the same grades since like year 9, my mock results were :
business - 5
eng lang - 5
eng lit - 6
french - 5
geography - 5
history - 6
maths - 5
science - 54
i'm always revising but no matter how much i revise i always get the sake marks and see no improvements whatsoever??? whether i revise or don't i get the same scores so i really need revision tips and how to revise mor effectively please as i'm aiming for grades7+


Hi, I recently completed my GCSEs and can only advise you for subjects such as:
English
History
Maths
Science
The best way to study for English is to do past papers and use the mark scheme to see where marks are given and see if you can look at grade 9 answers they will give you a good understanding on how to structure you answer
In history I got 9s and the best way is to create mind maps of each topic. This way allows you to easily understand every aspect and you can always add detail.
Maths wasn’t my strongest I got a 6 but in my mocks I would just about get a 4 the way for maths was my teacher printed of a booklet that had every style of maths question.
For science my teacher taught us a method we used mind maps but not the normal type.
So for each topic in science we would create a mind map and have all the key areas come of it. Then he numbered each area and at the back of the sheet would write all the content associated with that area. This method saved me when I came to silence and boosted me up by 3 grades

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