GCSE'S
11
Hi guys!
I will be going to y11 this September and I'm worried about my GCSE scores, since my mock results were not the best
Any suggestions on how to improve my grades and remain focused?
I plan on studying medicine and my current grades are 4's and 5's and the biggest problem I face when it comes to mocks or any test in general is that I know what the question is asking me, but I don't know how to put it across in the right way ( My points are correct but not according to the mark scheme)
Sooo yea any suggestions on what websites to use or study methods to work on 😅
I will be going to y11 this September and I'm worried about my GCSE scores, since my mock results were not the best
Any suggestions on how to improve my grades and remain focused?
I plan on studying medicine and my current grades are 4's and 5's and the biggest problem I face when it comes to mocks or any test in general is that I know what the question is asking me, but I don't know how to put it across in the right way ( My points are correct but not according to the mark scheme)
Sooo yea any suggestions on what websites to use or study methods to work on 😅
Reply 1
As a recently finished yr11 what I can tell you is consistency will be key. Yes you could spend the nights before your exam cramming but it may affect you on the day. The main revision advice I'd give is little and often, do past paper questions, but don't berate yourself if you don't finish an entire past paper in a night it's okay, as long as you know what you're doing and earn those marks you've accomplished your goal for the day. Personally it depends on how you learn and what GCSE subjects you've taken but the biggest helpers for me were GIZMO, and Seneca, for my humanities and sciences, for English doing practice essays with ChatGPT assistance, and for maths I did past paper walkthroughs, if you do MFL utilising the resources your school has given you and practicing your speaking and writing will be in your best interest.
Secondly, your point about the mark-scheme not aligning with your points is something I sympathise with and honestly it's going to happen to the best of all students, my advice for this is just answering past paper questions and finding similarities within the mark-schemes over the years, getting advice from your specialist subject teachers is always a good idea too. Mark-schemes change and are finnicky so it may best you sometimes, and that's just something you'll have to accept even though it's absolute insanity.
Finally, you'll never be 100% prepared for all the questions when you open that paper, the best thing you can do is walk in with a fuelled body, well-rested mind and a calm demeanour, don't let yourself crash and burn (like I did in my English lit exam 😅) take every exam as it comes, go day by day, stressing out over an exam that's passed is inevitable but don't let it cloud you, it'll be the worst mistake you make during your exam. I also cannot stress this enough but, TAKE ADVANTAGE of all the free periods you have, every free period I used as a study session and revised the hell out of the subjects I wanted to excel at, you'll thank yourself I promise you.
(Also this may be a bad tip from me and others are free to disagree, but if you're going to a less competitive college/sixth form and they only ask for certain grades for certain subjects, having consistent grades overall will look great, but don't stress yourself if you have a weaker subject and you don't need it to get in. For example one of my friends struggled with Geography, she revised and did the bare minimum in the exam knowing she'd get at least a pass, she didn't let the possibility of failure get to her because she knows she doesn't need it to get into her sixth form. Basically if you don't need it, don't stress it. That's just my personal view tbh)
Secondly, your point about the mark-scheme not aligning with your points is something I sympathise with and honestly it's going to happen to the best of all students, my advice for this is just answering past paper questions and finding similarities within the mark-schemes over the years, getting advice from your specialist subject teachers is always a good idea too. Mark-schemes change and are finnicky so it may best you sometimes, and that's just something you'll have to accept even though it's absolute insanity.
Finally, you'll never be 100% prepared for all the questions when you open that paper, the best thing you can do is walk in with a fuelled body, well-rested mind and a calm demeanour, don't let yourself crash and burn (like I did in my English lit exam 😅) take every exam as it comes, go day by day, stressing out over an exam that's passed is inevitable but don't let it cloud you, it'll be the worst mistake you make during your exam. I also cannot stress this enough but, TAKE ADVANTAGE of all the free periods you have, every free period I used as a study session and revised the hell out of the subjects I wanted to excel at, you'll thank yourself I promise you.
(Also this may be a bad tip from me and others are free to disagree, but if you're going to a less competitive college/sixth form and they only ask for certain grades for certain subjects, having consistent grades overall will look great, but don't stress yourself if you have a weaker subject and you don't need it to get in. For example one of my friends struggled with Geography, she revised and did the bare minimum in the exam knowing she'd get at least a pass, she didn't let the possibility of failure get to her because she knows she doesn't need it to get into her sixth form. Basically if you don't need it, don't stress it. That's just my personal view tbh)
Reply 2
20
Original post
by GCSE9'sHi guys!
I will be going to y11 this September and I'm worried about my GCSE scores, since my mock results were not the best
Any suggestions on how to improve my grades and remain focused?
I plan on studying medicine and my current grades are 4's and 5's and the biggest problem I face when it comes to mocks or any test in general is that I know what the question is asking me, but I don't know how to put it across in the right way ( My points are correct but not according to the mark scheme)
Sooo yea any suggestions on what websites to use or study methods to work on 😅
I will be going to y11 this September and I'm worried about my GCSE scores, since my mock results were not the best
Any suggestions on how to improve my grades and remain focused?
I plan on studying medicine and my current grades are 4's and 5's and the biggest problem I face when it comes to mocks or any test in general is that I know what the question is asking me, but I don't know how to put it across in the right way ( My points are correct but not according to the mark scheme)
Sooo yea any suggestions on what websites to use or study methods to work on 😅
Talk to relevant teachers about your exam technique, they are there to hep with exactly this sort of problem.
Reply 3
Original post
by GCSE9'sHi guys!
I will be going to y11 this September and I'm worried about my GCSE scores, since my mock results were not the best
Any suggestions on how to improve my grades and remain focused?
I plan on studying medicine and my current grades are 4's and 5's and the biggest problem I face when it comes to mocks or any test in general is that I know what the question is asking me, but I don't know how to put it across in the right way ( My points are correct but not according to the mark scheme)
Sooo yea any suggestions on what websites to use or study methods to work on 😅
I will be going to y11 this September and I'm worried about my GCSE scores, since my mock results were not the best
Any suggestions on how to improve my grades and remain focused?
I plan on studying medicine and my current grades are 4's and 5's and the biggest problem I face when it comes to mocks or any test in general is that I know what the question is asking me, but I don't know how to put it across in the right way ( My points are correct but not according to the mark scheme)
Sooo yea any suggestions on what websites to use or study methods to work on 😅
Bang out PMTs by topics. Atp you shld know most of the content by heart and like you said, you must battle the inability to transcribe your thoughts onto paper as per the mark scheme. So when you do pmts or papers, make sure you actually pay attention to the mark scheme. Don’t just think oh, seems basically similar so I’ll put a tick… as when you think like that, you miss out key words that you should have used in your answer. You might get 90/100 and than be surprised when you get 50 in the actual thing. Do times practice before your exams too. Exam pressure is real and though u may think your immune (even during the exam), it actually can significantly effect your thought processes in your brain. So train yourself.
Reply 4
GCSE9's
OP
11
Original post
by Staaa.berryAs a recently finished yr11 what I can tell you is consistency will be key. Yes you could spend the nights before your exam cramming but it may affect you on the day. The main revision advice I'd give is little and often, do past paper questions, but don't berate yourself if you don't finish an entire past paper in a night it's okay, as long as you know what you're doing and earn those marks you've accomplished your goal for the day. Personally it depends on how you learn and what GCSE subjects you've taken but the biggest helpers for me were GIZMO, and Seneca, for my humanities and sciences, for English doing practice essays with ChatGPT assistance, and for maths I did past paper walkthroughs, if you do MFL utilising the resources your school has given you and practicing your speaking and writing will be in your best interest.
Secondly, your point about the mark-scheme not aligning with your points is something I sympathise with and honestly it's going to happen to the best of all students, my advice for this is just answering past paper questions and finding similarities within the mark-schemes over the years, getting advice from your specialist subject teachers is always a good idea too. Mark-schemes change and are finnicky so it may best you sometimes, and that's just something you'll have to accept even though it's absolute insanity.
Finally, you'll never be 100% prepared for all the questions when you open that paper, the best thing you can do is walk in with a fuelled body, well-rested mind and a calm demeanour, don't let yourself crash and burn (like I did in my English lit exam 😅) take every exam as it comes, go day by day, stressing out over an exam that's passed is inevitable but don't let it cloud you, it'll be the worst mistake you make during your exam. I also cannot stress this enough but, TAKE ADVANTAGE of all the free periods you have, every free period I used as a study session and revised the hell out of the subjects I wanted to excel at, you'll thank yourself I promise you.
(Also this may be a bad tip from me and others are free to disagree, but if you're going to a less competitive college/sixth form and they only ask for certain grades for certain subjects, having consistent grades overall will look great, but don't stress yourself if you have a weaker subject and you don't need it to get in. For example one of my friends struggled with Geography, she revised and did the bare minimum in the exam knowing she'd get at least a pass, she didn't let the possibility of failure get to her because she knows she doesn't need it to get into her sixth form. Basically if you don't need it, don't stress it. That's just my personal view tbh)
Secondly, your point about the mark-scheme not aligning with your points is something I sympathise with and honestly it's going to happen to the best of all students, my advice for this is just answering past paper questions and finding similarities within the mark-schemes over the years, getting advice from your specialist subject teachers is always a good idea too. Mark-schemes change and are finnicky so it may best you sometimes, and that's just something you'll have to accept even though it's absolute insanity.
Finally, you'll never be 100% prepared for all the questions when you open that paper, the best thing you can do is walk in with a fuelled body, well-rested mind and a calm demeanour, don't let yourself crash and burn (like I did in my English lit exam 😅) take every exam as it comes, go day by day, stressing out over an exam that's passed is inevitable but don't let it cloud you, it'll be the worst mistake you make during your exam. I also cannot stress this enough but, TAKE ADVANTAGE of all the free periods you have, every free period I used as a study session and revised the hell out of the subjects I wanted to excel at, you'll thank yourself I promise you.
(Also this may be a bad tip from me and others are free to disagree, but if you're going to a less competitive college/sixth form and they only ask for certain grades for certain subjects, having consistent grades overall will look great, but don't stress yourself if you have a weaker subject and you don't need it to get in. For example one of my friends struggled with Geography, she revised and did the bare minimum in the exam knowing she'd get at least a pass, she didn't let the possibility of failure get to her because she knows she doesn't need it to get into her sixth form. Basically if you don't need it, don't stress it. That's just my personal view tbh)
Thank you ❤️
Reply 5
Revise directly from the specification, the phrasing there is often exactly what you need to get the marks in the paper. Obviously sometimes it doesn’t go into enough depth but the specification should be your base/main source. Use exactly this phrasing in whatever revision methods you normally use (mind maps, flashcards etc). This is mainly for sciences.
In sciences and geography, write as much as you can think of that is relevant and correct (as long as timing is not much of an issue for you). Don’t worry too much about the structure of your answer as long as it is clear enough. For English, you can’t be as messy like this though. Thoroughly plan out your answer with distinct points, quotes to use etc. Similar for History/RP type subjects.
When you do practice papers, be very harsh with marking and make specific notes of everything you got wrong. Use this to inform what to revise.
However to be completely honest if you’re getting 4s and 5s this suggests that there’s more to it than just poor exam technique. Before you do practice papers of any kind you need to fully understand the topics and focus on factual recall. Depends on personal preferences but I would recommend online flashcards or mind maps. For history I found timelines helpful.
But don’t stress, you still have plenty of time to improve. Revising anything is better than nothing.
If you want any subject specific advise feel free to ask since idk which gcses you do/struggle with
In sciences and geography, write as much as you can think of that is relevant and correct (as long as timing is not much of an issue for you). Don’t worry too much about the structure of your answer as long as it is clear enough. For English, you can’t be as messy like this though. Thoroughly plan out your answer with distinct points, quotes to use etc. Similar for History/RP type subjects.
When you do practice papers, be very harsh with marking and make specific notes of everything you got wrong. Use this to inform what to revise.
However to be completely honest if you’re getting 4s and 5s this suggests that there’s more to it than just poor exam technique. Before you do practice papers of any kind you need to fully understand the topics and focus on factual recall. Depends on personal preferences but I would recommend online flashcards or mind maps. For history I found timelines helpful.
But don’t stress, you still have plenty of time to improve. Revising anything is better than nothing.
If you want any subject specific advise feel free to ask since idk which gcses you do/struggle with
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