The Student Room Group

My GCSEs this year

Hello all. I would like to know how intensively I will need to study for my GCSEs this year. I am doing Maths early and I am also doing Economics and Russian this year as extra GCSEs. I really, really want to get a 9 in all of these subjects. So far:
- I have got a 9 in all of the past papers in Maths (probably my easiest subject and I wouldn't imagine I'd have to revise much more at all)
- In Economics I may be working at a grade 9 standard in the macro papers (Paper 1) but paper 1 (micro) is a bit harder and there is a chance that I may be working at a grade 8 level for those papers
- For Russian, I can do very well generally on the reading and listening. Speaking I would say is about the same level as the writing. ChatGPT estimates that my writing is at about a high grade 8 level (aka. 16/20 on the first question of the writing paper). I know almost all the vocabulary in the specification (almost finished memorising the last bits) and I would say that my vocabulary is good enough for a grade 9 level. The grammar drags me down quite a bit though, and I shall need to improve quickly in it.

Does anyone know how much I will have to revise to get myself up to a very strong grade 9 in all of these subjects (remember I have tried to teach myself them so this is extremely difficult and will require a lot of work)? How long will it take if I really, really study hard? What aspects should I concentrate on?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Original post
by Sichwünschen
Hello all. I would like to know how intensively I will need to study for my GCSEs this year. I am doing Maths early and I am also doing Economics and Russian this year as extra GCSEs. I really, really want to get a 9 in all of these subjects. So far:
- I have got a 9 in all of the past papers in Maths (probably my easiest subject and I wouldn't imagine I'd have to revise much more at all)
- In Economics I may be working at a grade 9 standard in the macro papers (Paper 1) but paper 1 (micro) is a bit harder and there is a chance that I may be working at a grade 8 level for those papers
- For Russian, I can do very well generally on the reading and listening. Speaking I would say is about the same level as the writing. ChatGPT estimates that my writing is at about a high grade 8 level (aka. 16/20 on the first question of the writing paper). I know almost all the vocabulary in the specification (almost finished memorising the last bits) and I would say that my vocabulary is good enough for a grade 9 level. The grammar drags me down quite a bit though, and I shall need to improve quickly in it.
Does anyone know how much I will have to revise to get myself up to a very strong grade 9 in all of these subjects (remember I have tried to teach myself them so this is extremely difficult and will require a lot of work)? How long will it take if I really, really study hard? What aspects should I concentrate on?

hey! im doing gcses this year too and this is what works for me. honestly for maths ngl I was so bad at it but I actually improved I'm not joking like getting a score of 15 to like the highest scores and maths comps, trust me with maths if u want to maintain that 9 literally just practice even if its only 5 qs per day or even less if u rlly cnt be bothered. that's j so u don't forget how to do anything/ maths is mostly just practice there's not much understanding or explaining you have to do. but ur at 9s so hopefully I'll be fine. i don't do economy or anything like it so Idk what to say abt that but generally speaking...past papers past papers papers...go over answers from the mark schemes, read examiner reports, watch videos. and as for russian, I don't do russian, but a different mfl, with languages, learn ALL your vocabulary, watch videos on the grammar that messes you up. listening is pretty good as an exam, if not watch videos and get used to listening to people speak it. reading is alright u j need ur vocab, speaking comes from practice. idc how weird it sounds talking to urself in the language will actually help, id say speaking is one of the most easiest exams, so if ur rlly aiming for that 9 try to get full marks in it like answer the questions properly, use proper good vocabulary, don't make mistakes, make sure u talk long enough, clear enough etc. with writing, what I do is I basically have a checklist and make sure to include those things its usually just stuff to show off the fact that you CAN write properly in the language, again use good vocab, use all tenses past, continuous past, present, future. don't just mention one point when answering the bullet point of the question, mention like 2 or 3, and like be descriptive, make it sound interesting to read, maybe some rhetorical questions or like them idioms or whatever they're called like you know "what a shame!" or whatever or opinions whether its 3rd person or your own. and basically every once in a while you can answer a past question and ask your teacher to mark it if they're free I do that, and trust me you'll see progress, cus everything, at the end of the day, is down to practice

Reply 2

Original post
by Sichwünschen
Hello all. I would like to know how intensively I will need to study for my GCSEs this year. I am doing Maths early and I am also doing Economics and Russian this year as extra GCSEs. I really, really want to get a 9 in all of these subjects. So far:
- I have got a 9 in all of the past papers in Maths (probably my easiest subject and I wouldn't imagine I'd have to revise much more at all)
- In Economics I may be working at a grade 9 standard in the macro papers (Paper 1) but paper 1 (micro) is a bit harder and there is a chance that I may be working at a grade 8 level for those papers
- For Russian, I can do very well generally on the reading and listening. Speaking I would say is about the same level as the writing. ChatGPT estimates that my writing is at about a high grade 8 level (aka. 16/20 on the first question of the writing paper). I know almost all the vocabulary in the specification (almost finished memorising the last bits) and I would say that my vocabulary is good enough for a grade 9 level. The grammar drags me down quite a bit though, and I shall need to improve quickly in it.
Does anyone know how much I will have to revise to get myself up to a very strong grade 9 in all of these subjects (remember I have tried to teach myself them so this is extremely difficult and will require a lot of work)? How long will it take if I really, really study hard? What aspects should I concentrate on?

Why are you choosing to do this? Your grades will go on your UCAS application and I'm surprised your school is allowing this.

Reply 3

Original post
by Muttley79
Why are you choosing to do this? Your grades will go on your UCAS application and I'm surprised your school is allowing this.
What do you mean

Reply 4

Original post
by Sichwünschen
What do you mean

Why not wait until Year 11? All GCSEs taken are recorded on UCAS whenever you take them.

Reply 5

Original post
by Muttley79
Why not wait until Year 11? All GCSEs taken are recorded on UCAS whenever you take them.

Because I'm doing them as extra gcses so I don't want to give myself 14 exams to do next year

Reply 6

Original post
by Sichwünschen
Because I'm doing them as extra gcses so I don't want to give myself 14 exams to do next year

But why are you taking 14 GCSEs? Totally not needed and if you don't get grade 9s those grades stick with you for ever. Universities want to see all GCSEs taken together.

Reply 7

Original post
by Muttley79
But why are you taking 14 GCSEs? Totally not needed and if you don't get grade 9s those grades stick with you for ever. Universities want to see all GCSEs taken together.

I just wanted to do Russian and Economics as extra gcses

What do you think are my chances of getting secure 9s btw by the first of may (About grade 8-9 in Russian, grade 9 possibly in economics atm, strong maths grade 9s since year 7)

Reply 8

Original post
by Sichwünschen
I just wanted to do Russian and Economics as extra gcses
What do you think are my chances of getting secure 9s btw by the first of may (About grade 8-9 in Russian, grade 9 possibly in economics atm, strong maths grade 9s since year 7)

It's an unnecessary risk. You don't have to have GCSEs to have an interest in something.

You did not know grade 9 content e.g, surds in Year 7 so I'll not comment on that. If you're taking Edexcel have you done Dr Frost's all topics questions?

Reply 9

Original post
by Muttley79
It's an unnecessary risk. You don't have to have GCSEs to have an interest in something.
You did not know grade 9 content e.g, surds in Year 7 so I'll not comment on that. If you're taking Edexcel have you done Dr Frost's all topics questions?

What would you say are my chances though?

Reply 10

Original post
by Sichwünschen
What would you say are my chances though?

it's not about chances. nothing is down to chance. it's down to how you prepare for them.

maths - past papers, youtube video explainers
econ - idk but most of my friends mainly use past papers
russian - for spanish, i do past papers for listening/reading, revise lots of diff tenses - would be same for russian

Reply 11

Original post
by Sichwünschen
What would you say are my chances though?

No idea but my school [state selective] would not allow this because it's risky.

Reply 12

Original post
by emo_ernie2
it's not about chances. nothing is down to chance. it's down to how you prepare for them.
maths - past papers, youtube video explainers
econ - idk but most of my friends mainly use past papers
russian - for spanish, i do past papers for listening/reading, revise lots of diff tenses - would be same for russian
Do you think I'll be able to get all 9s in them if I work really hard though

Reply 13

Original post
by Sichwünschen
Do you think I'll be able to get all 9s in them if I work really hard though

yes 100% based off your current results

Reply 14

Original post
by emo_ernie2
yes 100% based off your current results

Nobody can say that!

Reply 15

Original post
by Muttley79
Nobody can say that!

they asked able to - implying it's not definite, but there is a chance!
(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 16

Hi, firstly there is no problem doing extra/early gcses if you're capable of getting good grades - I'm y11 now and have done 4 GCSEs already (all grade 9).
For maths it is really just practice every day - don't get overcomplacent/arrogant even if you're pretty sure you'll get a 9.
Personally it takes around 250-400 hours for me to get a subject I know little about to a 9. Of course this depends on the person but you can definitely turn grades around quickly (e.g. in summer y9 I decided I wanted to do gcse statistics, did 8h a day, 5 days/week for the whole holidays and had gone from initial 5s -> 9s by early October, when the exams were)
If you think you've done lots of effective revision chances are you'll do very well!
Keep revising :smile:

Reply 17

Original post
by emo_ernie2
they asked able to - implying it's not definite, but there is a chance!

It's not 100% though is it? A very dangerous comment ...

Reply 18

Original post
by VaBook7
Hi, firstly there is no problem doing extra/early gcses if you're capable of getting good grades - I'm y11 now and have done 4 GCSEs already (all grade 9).
For maths it is really just practice every day - don't get overcomplacent/arrogant even if you're pretty sure you'll get a 9.
Personally it takes around 250-400 hours for me to get a subject I know little about to a 9. Of course this depends on the person but you can definitely turn grades around quickly (e.g. in summer y9 I decided I wanted to do gcse statistics, did 8h a day, 5 days/week for the whole holidays and had gone from initial 5s -> 9s by early October, when the exams were)
If you think you've done lots of effective revision chances are you'll do very well!
Keep revising :smile:

So why do unis say they don;t like it? Are you at a private school which doesn't have the progress measures to worry about?

Reply 19

Original post
by Muttley79
It's not 100% though is it? A very dangerous comment ...

it was 100% a CHANCE. read it.

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.