Pass All Your GCSEs

The General Certificate of Secondary Education or GCSEs in the UK are important exams as having a solid number of A-C's will really boost your CV ratings, and make you all the more attractive to future employers. Start with Step 1 below to learn some helpful tips on how to pass all of your GCSEs.

Steps

Being Prepared

  1. Know the exam material inside and out. To succeed in your goal, you need to know exactly what content is in all of your GCSEs.
    • Ask your teachers or find out on the website of each of your GCSEs Exam boards. Common ones are: AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC.
    • By knowing your exam boards you can find out many important pieces of information:
  2. Make friends with your teachers. If there was ever a right time to bury the grudges with your teachers, now is it: you need them more than ever. This will involve you pestering your teachers to mark your work, etc.
  3. Figure out what revision books you'll need. Revision books can be extremely helpful for your study, as they provide only the essential information you need for your exams.
    • Before you spend about £50 on revision books, ask your teachers whether the school is going to provide any revision books.
    • Ask your teacher if the revision books are available in the school library.
    • Also buy revision books that are specific to your exam board, not the general books with vague information.
  4. Find out how each of your final exams will be graded. If you are in or entering Year 11 you might be interested in how much time you are going to have to spend doing a paper and how important it is in regards to your overall GCSE marks. It is also recommended to skim-read each specification (each one is extremely long.)
  5. Get motivated. Think why you want the best GCSEs and keep reminding yourself when you feel unmotivated.
    • Write down your goal grades for each subject and always aim for the top mark range, where possible. It's always better to aim high!
    • Be positive, calm and confident about your exams. If you put in the work, there's no need to panic about doing badly. Preparation is the key to success.
  6. Read the Excel as a student in England article. It will be useful for your studies.

Studying Efficiently and Effectively

  1. Make a revision timetable. Try not to be too accurate and plan every minute of your day. This can be stifling and you may grow bored quickly. Instead, make a list of subjects you need to revise that day, and how long you need and make sure you have time for it.
  2. Revise. Revise so hard that your head hurts (in a good way). You might think that your GCSEs are a long time off, but they are not. If you only get one thing from this article, it has to be to start revising now.
    • Write out notes from your revision book rather than just reading it, or else the information won't stay in your brain. Try to write neatly so it's easy to review.
    • Prioritize your subjects and their various topics to know which ones need the most work.
    • Try making index cards with questions on one side and answers on the other to help you learn the facts. Online flashcards that you can study on a mobile app are especially good for consistent revision.
  3. Do lots of past exam papers. You really need to familiarize yourself with what the structure of your exam will be, and what sort of questions you will get. There is only a limited number of questions appear on a test about any given subject, so very similar questions are likely to appear again. You can find past papers and mark schemes online, or from your teacher or Exam Board.
  4. Study with a friend. Get a friend to test you after you finish studying a topic to see if you remembered what you were meant to be learning.
    • Offer to do the same for them -- then the arrangement will be useful for both of you.
    • Having a study buddy can make studying fun and effective -- provided you stay focused on the material.
    • You can also get help from people who have already passed their GCSEs -- like parents or older siblings and friends.
  5. Study even when you're not studying. Look at your notes during the day even if you aren't actively "studying".
    • Five minutes with flashcards every day over a long period will be better than six hours cramming of science without breaks or rewards.
    • This is something you can easily do on the bus or while waiting for your friends at the coffee shop.
  6. Take breaks - but not too many. It's important to give your brain a break during long periods of study -- so try to take one fifteen minute break for every hour of revision. This will keep you fresh and help you to absorb information better.
    • If you're younger and using this guide for other exams you'll probably want shorter breaks more often - ten minute breaks for every half hour.
    • Try not to get distracted by others or the internet during your study breaks -- go for a walk outside instead, the fresh air will be way more beneficial than browsing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, or any other social media.
  7. Get lots of sleep. Getting enough sleep is really important for effective study and good performance in exams.
    • Without enough sleep, your mind becomes foggy and you'll find it difficult to remember information.
    • Set yourself a strict bedtime and make sure you get at least eight hours sleep a night.
  8. Stick to a strict routine. Keep a set routine every day -- it will get your body into a good routine for revising and stop you from getting tired.
    • An example routine could be: get up at 7:30, breakfast 7:45, lunch at 1:00, dinner at 6:00, bed at 9:00.
    • This is easier if you have school, but some schools choose to give you study leave instead. If this is the case, you'll just have to be more disciplined!
    • If you do have school, you should think about going to lunchtime revision classes.

Studying For Specific Subjects

  1. Study English Language and Literature. English is difficult to revise, as many of the skills needed cannot be learned, only developed. There are no right answers as long as you back all your statements up - practice by doing past papers and have your teachers mark them, and tell you how you can improve. This can include spelling, grammar, providing more evidence, etc. A lot of these skills will be homed in class or coursework anyway.
    • For the reading papers there is a simple way to revise - read. Not just the TV guide but everything. Read newspapers often; broadsheets, not tabloids like the Sun or The Mail. Read with an active, analytical mind, considering the intended audience and purpose, separating opinion from fact, and any techniques the author uses to persuade/inform/explain. This does not, however, benefit everyone so as an alternative try reading good quality literature on any topic that interests you.
    • Make lists of the types of questions you might be asked (e.g. writing to persuade) and practice. Get past papers and questions from your teachers, then have them marked by your teachers who should enjoy the extra work load and the sudden interest in learning. Homework is not revision - it's just homework.
  2. Study maths. Past papers and practice. Maths is one subject where it is easy to pass if you know how to do it - and you can learn how to do it with ease with practice. Past papers, while they do not repeat questions, will almost certainly feature specific topics.
  3. Study the sciences. Past papers are also useful to find out where you have problems. Revise these areas carefully and do the past papers again until you understand everything you need to know for the exam.
  4. Study religion, geography, and other information specific subjects. These are the exams that require knowing specific answers.
    • It is important to get the revision books to find out all the necessary information and memorize them.
    • To help with this, it's a good idea to make thorough notes on all of the required notes early in the year and revise these notes continually -- it’s easier to remember something when you have known it for a long time.
    • Flashcards and mnemonics are also helpful for remembering large quantities of information..
  5. Study history. It is not enough to simply know all the facts for history - you must become adept at finding information from sources and relating this back to your knowledge already about your topic. Revise everything you can for your subject area and tackle past papers.
  6. Study music. You should already be adept at practicing your instrument so keep up with that - you may wish to use it as a 'reward' for good work in another subject, if playing said instrument is a hobby for you.
    • Listening papers require a lot of pre-knowledge of your Areas of Study, so learn all the facts in a way that suits you.
    • Also make sure to listen to lots of different kinds of music with an active mind.
  7. Study creative subjects like art and DT. These take more than theory work or memorizing facts. Take care to do some work in your sketchbooks/etc every day, and remember to explain whether what you did worked well or not.

Tips

  • Make a checklist of all the topics you need to cover. Start revising them one-by-one with short breaks in between. Make sure you start revising well in advance.
  • If you record things onto a phone or MP3, listen to it overnight. That way, you may remember everything. Record things you aren't sure about.
  • Have a small bottle of water nearby - but put it away from your notes in case you spill it Refill it at breaks, and don't drink too much or you'll need the loo too often.

Warnings

  • Don't overwork your brain. It needs breaks too.
  • Be sure to sleep well and early - it's good to do lots of revision but if you don't sleep.
  • Never attempt to cheat on your exams. If you are caught cheating on any GCSE exam, you will get no marks for the paper you cheated on.

Related Articles

  • Revise for a GCSE History Exam
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