We know that all students are determined to get as many top grades as possible when you open your GCSE results in August, and you may be searching for better ways to revise for your exams to make sure you get there.
Nothing beats hard-work, especially when it comes to studying, but there are ways you can guide your brain to remember information easier which supports your ability to learn.
The Staff and Teachers at Kidbrooke Learning Centre have gathered some revision techniques from some of our past GCSE students who have achieved top class results at GCSE. We hope these revision techniques would be helpful and assist you to improve your GCSE results.
1. CREATE YOUR OWN REVISION TIMETABLE
Creating your own REVISION TIMETABLE can add structure to your revision and help you identify which GCSE subjects you need to prioritise to get better marks. Creating a revision timetable is a great way to organise your study time, plus it also helps boost your motivation to revise for your exams.
2. UNDERSTAND YOUR OWN LEARNING STYLE
Every student thinks that there is the best way to study but the reality is that each student is different. Once you understand whether you are a visual, auditory or reading/writing learner, then remembering and recalling new information will become much easier. Practice will also tell you if you work better studying during the night or in the morning/daytime.
3. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, AND PRACTICE
One of the biggest recommendations that past GCSE students recommend is to do as many GCSE past papers as you can. Practicing past papers will help you get familiar with the exam format, question style, time pressure and overall improve your ability to retrieve information quicker.
4. COLLABORATE WITH CLASSMATES
If you find the coursework to be too much, you can divide the course study notes between trustworthy classmates and share your notes with each other. This will reduce the amount of workload you need to do to prepare for your GCSEs. This would give you an insight into how other students are revising for the GCSE.
5. ADAPT FOR DIFFERENT GCSE SUBJECTS.
It may seem obvious but many students try to study for different subjects using the same study methods. Your GCSE revision should take account of the difference between your subjects and the challenges they represent.
6. KEEP YOUR END GOAL IN MIND.
If you’re constantly thinking about the amount of work that’s stacked high on your desk, you will start to feel as if it’s never-ending.
Here’s a quick tip to bolster your motivation; write your study goals on a post-card and stick it up in your study room/area. You should also write the end date of your GCSE exams so you know that this is the final push and soon you will reach the final frontier where all of your hard work will culminate.
7. DAY OF YOUR GCSE EXAM
The day of your exam can be the most stressful of the entire examination experience; but there are ways in which you can minimise your anxiety such as avoiding panicking friends, giving yourself plenty of time to get to the examination hall. Do not underestimate the power of eating a healthy breakfast on the day of your exams
REVISION TIPS FOR GCSE SCIENCE.
There’s a lot you need to remember when you’re studying for your GCSE science exams. But these are some easy exam based tips to really help you boost your grades.
1. DO NOT JUST CONCENTRATE ON YOUR WEAK POINTS.
· Plan your revision to target areas where you are less confident first, but mix it up with aspects of topics you like.
· Look for links between different areas of the specification.
· Make flashcards to help you learn the chemical calculations and equations included in Biology, Chemistry and Physics topics.
2. PRACTICAL WORK IS IMPORTANT FOR YOUR EXAMS.
· Ensure you fully understand all the practical work you’ve done so you can refer to it in the exam where required. What you have learned in practical activities is very important.
· Be ready to explain the reasons for carrying out a particular practical technique or the use of a particular piece of apparatus.
· Think about how you might have improved the approach you took when carrying out investigative work – evaluation is a key part of working scientifically.
3. INVESTIGATE.
· Be ready to apply what you know about the use of scientific apparatus and techniques to practical situations you may not have met before. Some questions will ask you to apply your investigative skills.
· Show that you understand the subject-specific language which applies when answering these parts of questions.
· Check that you know, and can use, the formulae needed to process the data you gather in different experiments.
4. EXPLAIN
· Make sure you read the question carefully, identifying the correct command word. A common error students make is writing a description when they’ve been asked to explain something – a description alone will not get any marks. Remember:
· Identify key words and parts of the question instruction, especially those relating to unit conversions and the command words.
· You can underline keywords and circle command words to help you focus on answering the question asked.
5. USE THE CORRECT VOCABULARY.
· Use appropriate scientific vocabulary to demonstrate and communicate to the examiner that you understand scientific ideas and techniques.
· Proper application of knowledge is important to show understanding.
· Make sure you familiarise yourself with the vocabulary relating to practical work.
Use the information from diagrams and tables to help you to answer the question.
6. PLAN
Don’t start writing straight away when answering 6 mark questions. Think about what the question is asking you to write and plan your answer so that you give a coherent, sequenced line of reasoning that answers the question.
7. ALWAYS ANSWER
Don’t leave any gaps. If you don’t think you know an answer, work out what the question is asking and then make an intelligent guess. Remember the first part of the next question may be easier than the question you are answering. If you get stuck on a question, don’t give up – try the next question.
REVISION TIPS FOR GCSE MATHS.
Some ways to improve your maths exam grades:
1. READ THE QUESTION CAREFULLY.
· Make sure you understand what the question is asking. Some questions are structured and some are unstructured – called ‘multi-step’ questions – and for these you will have to decide how to tackle the question and it would be worthwhile spending a few seconds thinking the question through.
Make sure you understand keywords.
– The following glossary may help you in answering questions:
– Write down, state – no explanation is needed for an answer
– Calculate, find, show, solve – include enough working to make your method clear
· Draw – plot accurately using the graph paper provided and selecting a suitable scale if one is not given. Such an instruction is usually followed by asking you to read one or more values from your graph.
· The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. This gives some indication of how many steps will be required to answer the question and therefore of what proportion of your time, you should spend on each part of the question.
2. SHOW YOUR WORKING AND CHECK YOUR ANSWERS.
· State units if required and give your final answer to an appropriate degree of accuracy.
· Write down the figures on your calculator and then make a suitable rounding. Don’t round the numbers during the calculation. This will often result in an incorrect answer.
· Don’t forget to check your answers, especially to see that they are reasonable. The mean height of a group of men will not be 187 meters!
· Lay out your work carefully and concisely. Write down the calculations you are going to make. You usually get marks for showing the correct method. (If you are untidy and disorganised, you might misread some of your own work and/or lose marks because the examiner cannot read your work or follow your method.)
· Remember that if all that is written down is an answer and that answer is wrong you gain no marks. Once you have finished the paper if you have any time left check the work you have done. The best way to do this is to work through the questions again.
Remember that marks are given for the following:
– using an appropriate method to answer a question
– for facts found as you work through a question
– for the final answer.
3. WHAT EXAMINERS LOOK FOR.
The examiners look for the following:
· Work which is legible, clearly set out and easy to follow and understand. Use a pen, not pencil, except in drawings, and use the appropriate equipment.
· That drawings and graphs are neat, and graphs are labelled.
· That you always indicate how you obtain your answers.
· The right answer!
· You can check exam marking schemes of past paper.
4. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.
· Practise all aspects of manipulative algebra, solving equations, rearranging formulas, expanding brackets, factorising, etc.
· Practise answering questions that ask for an explanation. Your answers should be concise and use mathematical terms where appropriate.
· Practise answering questions with more than one step to the answer, e.g. finding the radius of a sphere with the same volume as a given cone.
· Make sure you can use your calculator efficiently.
· Answer as many past GCSE Maths papers as possible.
GOOD LUCK AT YOUR GCSE IN SUMMER 2020