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Extra GCSEs 2025 - What to do?

Hello all, I am in Year 10 and I am doing extra GCSEs in Russian and Economics and am sitting my Maths GCSE early this year. All self-taught.

- I joined the year 11 mock exams for Maths this week and I got 76/80 and 78/80.
- Can consistently get full marks on Economics essays, have done all past papers and get all the short questions right as well
- Recently did 2024 papers for Russian -> I got 50/50 on both the reading and listening (self-marked) and I paid a Russian teacher to mark my writing and we did some speaking together. She said I would get full marks for these as well.

Here is my exam timetable:
28th April-> Russian Speaking Paper
14th May-> Economics Paper 1
15th May-> Maths Paper 1
22nd May-> Economics Paper 2
3rd June-> Russian Reading and Listening papers
4th June-> Maths Paper 2
11th June-> Maths Paper 3
12nd June-> Russian Writing paper

I absolutely need to get grade 9s in all these subjects and I would like to know what you would suggest I should do to ensure this between now and the exams. I am prepared to work very very hard and I have been for the past few months but now I am unsure as to what to focus on (for my subjects, Russian feels the hardest, followed by Economics and then Maths). I've done all the past papers for all subjects as well as all the hardest questions for Maths I can find on the internet.

If anyone could give me any recommendations for what I should do at this point, this would be much appreciated. Thank you for reading.

Reply 1

Original post
by Sichwünschen
Hello all, I am in Year 10 and I am doing extra GCSEs in Russian and Economics and am sitting my Maths GCSE early this year. All self-taught.
- I joined the year 11 mock exams for Maths this week and I got 76/80 and 78/80.
- Can consistently get full marks on Economics essays, have done all past papers and get all the short questions right as well
- Recently did 2024 papers for Russian -> I got 50/50 on both the reading and listening (self-marked) and I paid a Russian teacher to mark my writing and we did some speaking together. She said I would get full marks for these as well.
Here is my exam timetable:
28th April-> Russian Speaking Paper
14th May-> Economics Paper 1
15th May-> Maths Paper 1
22nd May-> Economics Paper 2
3rd June-> Russian Reading and Listening papers
4th June-> Maths Paper 2
11th June-> Maths Paper 3
12nd June-> Russian Writing paper
I absolutely need to get grade 9s in all these subjects and I would like to know what you would suggest I should do to ensure this between now and the exams. I am prepared to work very very hard and I have been for the past few months but now I am unsure as to what to focus on (for my subjects, Russian feels the hardest, followed by Economics and then Maths). I've done all the past papers for all subjects as well as all the hardest questions for Maths I can find on the internet.
If anyone could give me any recommendations for what I should do at this point, this would be much appreciated. Thank you for reading.

Hey - so I also sat a self-taught language GCSE, (although mine was my home language), and I think some of the best things you can do for languages is read things beyond the GCSE level, e.g. buy a book in Russian, or study from an A-level textbook and just keep reading as much as you can to improve fluency, as well as practice speaking - whether it's with family, friends, or just to yourself in the mirror! With both languages and maths, it really is about practice - I got grade 9s in the languages I did and Maths, and I can tell you that the best possible thing for maths is practice practice and more practice - have you done questions from all exam boards? If not, I'd suggest doing that. I'd also suggest asking your school for hard questions and looking at GCSE Further Maths topics which are relevant to GCSE Maths topics (no need to do things like Matrices as they have no place in normal maths - if there are no overlapping topics, then scour things like MathsGenie, PMT, CorbettMaths for practice questions and do them all + past papers)
If you've done all these things, you should honestly be set for Maths - and you sound like you're set already - don't stress, I'm sure you've got this in the bag!
I didn't do econ, so can't really offer any advice on that one :frown:
Good luck!

Reply 2

Original post
by eki23
Hey - so I also sat a self-taught language GCSE, (although mine was my home language), and I think some of the best things you can do for languages is read things beyond the GCSE level, e.g. buy a book in Russian, or study from an A-level textbook and just keep reading as much as you can to improve fluency, as well as practice speaking - whether it's with family, friends, or just to yourself in the mirror! With both languages and maths, it really is about practice - I got grade 9s in the languages I did and Maths, and I can tell you that the best possible thing for maths is practice practice and more practice - have you done questions from all exam boards? If not, I'd suggest doing that. I'd also suggest asking your school for hard questions and looking at GCSE Further Maths topics which are relevant to GCSE Maths topics (no need to do things like Matrices as they have no place in normal maths - if there are no overlapping topics, then scour things like MathsGenie, PMT, CorbettMaths for practice questions and do them all + past papers)
If you've done all these things, you should honestly be set for Maths - and you sound like you're set already - don't stress, I'm sure you've got this in the bag!
I didn't do econ, so can't really offer any advice on that one :frown:
Good luck!

What would you suggest I need to focus on and how much more would you suggest I will need to study?

Reply 3

Original post
by Sichwünschen
What would you suggest I need to focus on and how much more would you suggest I will need to study?
Hey again - I think the most important thing to do is to evaluate your strengths - in your past papers, if you do lose marks, where are you losing marks? For me, I knew my vocab wasn't that extensive so I made flashcards for common words based off of the specification (+ reading more books), but it all depends on what your particular strengths and weaknesses are. I'd think about which one out of listening, reading, etc is your weakest and focus on that
As for how much, I don't think there's a specific number or amount I can give you, but if you are getting near full marks, you don't really need to be doing e.g. 10 hours a week, it may be excessive, and you might burn out. Just maybe spend 10-15 minutes reading in your chosen language every day, and choose a couple of hard maths questions to do every day - the thing with maths is that it's also important to do the easy questions, so you learn not to make silly mistakes.
Hope this helps

Reply 4

Original post
by eki23
Hey again - I think the most important thing to do is to evaluate your strengths - in your past papers, if you do lose marks, where are you losing marks? For me, I knew my vocab wasn't that extensive so I made flashcards for common words based off of the specification (+ reading more books), but it all depends on what your particular strengths and weaknesses are. I'd think about which one out of listening, reading, etc is your weakest and focus on that
As for how much, I don't think there's a specific number or amount I can give you, but if you are getting near full marks, you don't really need to be doing e.g. 10 hours a week, it may be excessive, and you might burn out. Just maybe spend 10-15 minutes reading in your chosen language every day, and choose a couple of hard maths questions to do every day - the thing with maths is that it's also important to do the easy questions, so you learn not to make silly mistakes.
Hope this helps

'Where do I lose marks'
Russian -> the person who assessed me never said I lost a mark but I suppose I made a few grammar mistakes, which I am already working to correct every day
Economics -> not sure to be honest as I haven't had much feedback, probably just on the essay questions. I'm currently writing about 2-3 Econ essays a day
Maths -> not too concerned about Maths really. I do loads of it during school. I know the types of problem solving questions I'm a bit worse at and I always try to get as much practice in for them as possible.

What else would you suggest I should be doing?

Reply 5

Original post
by Sichwünschen
'Where do I lose marks'
Russian -> the person who assessed me never said I lost a mark but I suppose I made a few grammar mistakes, which I am already working to correct every day
Economics -> not sure to be honest as I haven't had much feedback, probably just on the essay questions. I'm currently writing about 2-3 Econ essays a day
Maths -> not too concerned about Maths really. I do loads of it during school. I know the types of problem solving questions I'm a bit worse at and I always try to get as much practice in for them as possible.
What else would you suggest I should be doing?

Hey! I just wanted to say that you lot are really hard workers. Self-taught, full marks, early GCSEs? I truly believe you will do wonderfully in your exams, and you should be very proud of yourselves.

I suggest that, since you are extremely strong in these subjects, you regularly revise in the weeks leading up to the exams (which you are clearly already doing). This way, you will be constantly recalling and solidifying your knowledge, allowing you to ace the exams!

Reply 6

Original post
by earth.b
Hey! I just wanted to say that you lot are really hard workers. Self-taught, full marks, early GCSEs? I truly believe you will do wonderfully in your exams, and you should be very proud of yourselves.
I suggest that, since you are extremely strong in these subjects, you regularly revise in the weeks leading up to the exams (which you are clearly already doing). This way, you will be constantly recalling and solidifying your knowledge, allowing you to ace the exams!

Thank you very much! I'm just not too sure what I'm supposed to be doing with my time though. What revision would you suggest I should do?
I'm mainly just doing past papers (again) and making minor Russian improvements. I'm kind of addicted to Maths so I do it almost constantly at school. It's the Russian and Economics I really need advice on.

I have an absolute fear of becoming complacent.

Reply 7

Original post
by Sichwünschen
'Where do I lose marks'
Russian -> the person who assessed me never said I lost a mark but I suppose I made a few grammar mistakes, which I am already working to correct every day
Economics -> not sure to be honest as I haven't had much feedback, probably just on the essay questions. I'm currently writing about 2-3 Econ essays a day
Maths -> not too concerned about Maths really. I do loads of it during school. I know the types of problem solving questions I'm a bit worse at and I always try to get as much practice in for them as possible.
What else would you suggest I should be doing?

Honestly, I think you're doing great and should just keep up the hard work! Again, just things like going over important grammatical concepts and extending your vocab for Russian should be fine, at GCSE Level they don't expect anywhere near perfection. If possible maybe ask friends if they know anyone who speaks Russian and ask if they'd be willing to converse with you in Russian, if not you can practice by yourself too.

If there's any teacher who could mark your Econ essays that'd be great, if not, maybe ask Chat GPT to give suggestions (give a really specific prompt including exam board etc.) - obviously don't rely on Chat GPT fully haha

Again though, I think keep up what you're doing and you'll be fine!!

Reply 8

Original post
by Sichwünschen
Thank you very much! I'm just not too sure what I'm supposed to be doing with my time though. What revision would you suggest I should do?
I'm mainly just doing past papers (again) and making minor Russian improvements. I'm kind of addicted to Maths so I do it almost constantly at school. It's the Russian and Economics I really need advice on.
I have an absolute fear of becoming complacent.

You could go through the different methods and find what you like best. I suppose content is not a problem for you but you are right, never become complacent. Here are some methods I use:

practice questions (which you already do)

post-it notes (write down concepts and notes you're most likely to forget/important/where you lose marks) for example, I write down words in German that I always translate wrong

teaching others (my favourite: I teach/tell my sister everything, although she doesn't have to actually learn it)

make mind maps, without notes, then add to them with notes, and then you can see what you remember the least


This is just what I do, hope it helps :smile:

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