GCSE Tips

The end of August and the beginning of back-to-school prep… where did the summer vacation go?

At the moment, I’m preparing for university, which still seems surreal. I can’t believe that in a few weeks I’ll be starting uni… crazy.

So, over the next few weeks, I’m going to be doing a few posts centred around back to school. Whether you’re going on to the next year of school/university or starting school/university, I hope that one of these next posts will be helpful to you. If not, I hope you’ll enjoy them.

To start us off this week, as was requested a few weeks ago, let’s talk about GCSEs.

Now, the GCSE years can be tough and are naturally intimidating. I know that it may be a bit of a taboo topic to talk about but talking about GCSEs is healthy and will help any of you going through them.

For me, GCSEs were one of the most stressful points in my life. And I’m not a stressy kind of person.

And I’m not so sure how helpful I can be, but here are the main lessons that I learned over my GCSE period. They took me a while to figure this stuff out, so maybe some of these tips can help you without as much effort :)

1. Don’t panic

I know everyone around you will be telling you this. But there are so many things to panic about, so it’s not always easy. My best advice is when you feel panicky, shut your eyes, take a deep breath and clear your mind if at all possible. This works in any scenario and will help you move forward.

2. Talk to your teachers

After going through A Levels, it surprises me how scary this feels at GCSE level. Talking to your teachers about homework, extra help or anything can feel like the scariest thing in the world because you don’t want to look stupid. With retrospect, I can promise you that your teachers will never think less of you for asking for help. They are there to help you after all; in my experience, asking questions actually makes them happy because they see you are trying hard to engage with the subject they love. So, even though it’s hard, save yourself a lot of time and anxiety and just ask.

3. Time management is key

This is just a good lesson to learn in general. I find that in life, everything comes around at once no matter how hard you try to balance. If you can manage your time correctly, it will be a skill to last you a lifetime. And it will help you avoid a ton of stress I can promise.

4. In exam season, have extra patience with your friends

It can be so easy to fight your friends when you’re under stress. The sooner you and your friends acknowledge that, the easier it will be for you all. You’ve got to support each other and be as kind as you can. Have patience and forgive people when they’re having a rough day. Remember that you’re all under the same stress and you need to be there for each other.

5. It’s meant to be hard

When you’re doing GCSEs, everyone has stronger points and weaker points. If you’re finding something difficult and someone isn’t, you can get really bummed out about it. But just bear in mind that not everything will come easy to everyone. In fact, most of it will be hard because that’s how it’s designed. So, don’t compare notes with others if at all possible; it’ll only make you feel bad.

6. Stagger your revision - don’t try to do too much at once

Cramming is a really easy habit to get into. I know, as for topic tests at GCSE it was my preferred method. When it comes to revising for big exams, cramming will only stress you out. So take your time with your revision. But also, bear in mind not to overdo it; give yourself some time to relax amid your revision timetable. Don’t put yourself under too much pressure.

7. Sleep should be a priority

Work can seem overwhelming. Keeping that up alongside a reasonably healthy social life, doing things you enjoy, spending time with your family and remembering to detox from work for time to time to stop yourself going crazy can seem completely impossible. But you have to remember to get a healthy amount of sleep factored into your schedule somehow. It’s easy to push the time you go to sleep back whilst doing work or something else, but if you can actually keep your sleep regime strict, you’ll work better and be happier anyway.

8. If it ever gets to be too much, talk to someone

As a natural introvert, I appreciate that it’s difficult to talk when you’re struggling with a problem. But it’s healthy and will make you happy if you have someone to confide in. Talking can be so therapeutic and it can take such a weight off your shoulders. If you’re not good at vocalising, take it one step at a time; ease your way in, and it will help you a lot.

9. Take the subjects you love, not the ones you think you should

The worst thing I hear about people who take GCSEs, A Levels, or any type of course for that matter, is that they hate what they’re studying. Not only is it an awful thing to have to suffer through a challenging course in a subject you’re not passionate about, it’s also counterproductive. If you like a subject, you’ll naturally put more effort into it and therefore get a better grade in the end.

10. Good grades aren’t everything

The amount of pressure people put on their grades nowadays is crazy. We are always conscious of how much our grades matter, so we freak out about getting good grades. But stressing about good grades isn’t good for you and will just make it harder to get them. And good grades are different for different people. As long as you’re happy with your grades, it doesn’t matter whether anyone else thinks they’re good. How you feel is what’s essentially important.

A question I get asked a lot is how I found my subjects at GCSE level. If you guys are getting ready to choose your GCSEs, or are just about to start your GCSE courses in September, here are my ratings from 1-10 of the subjects that I took, which might help you with your decisions (bearing in mind I did the old GCSEs):

English Lit: 8/10 – I love English and found the literature course very interesting; I loved studying the range of books and poetry.

English Lang: 6/10 – As I said, I love English, but I didn’t enjoy language as much because I personally found it a bit boring.

Maths: 6/10 – Throughout my time in school, I hated maths I’ll be honest. And because I found it really difficult, I thought GCSE was going to be horrendous. Speaking brutally honestly, it was hard and since maths is not my strong point it was boring, but in a way, I enjoyed it. I was satisfied with my grade at the end, and so it all turned out alright.

Physics: 6/10 – Physics (well, to be fair, science in general) was difficult for me the whole way through school, but I kind of enjoyed GCSE physics. It was really interesting, even though it was a bit above my level at points :)

Biology: 4/10 – Of the three sciences, I found biology the easiest at GCSE, but I didn’t enjoy it. It seemed quite boring and repetitive to me.

Chemistry: 3/10 – Like physics, chemistry was above my scientific intelligence level a lot of the time. I never engaged with the subject because I wasn’t interested in it and found it too hard.

History: 7/10 – After all that negativity over science, I can at least say something positive about history. I really enjoyed the variety of topics and even though it was difficult at times, it was definitely worthwhile.

Music: 6/10 – I love music, even though I’m not exactly an expert at it. The GCSE course for me was challenging throughout, but I enjoyed it.

French: 8/10 – French was my favourite GCSE. The topics were interesting, and the subject was a perfect balance between challenging and manageable.

Drama 7/10 – Drama is a subject that I have loved all my life. GCSE was difficult, and not what I was expecting, so I didn’t enjoy it so much. But, I don’t regret taking it. It taught me a lot about acting and playwriting, which I’m sure will come in handy in the

long run.

These scores and comments are not representative of my grades; they are how I personally found studying the subjects. If you want to know more about my experience, DM me (@roxyelle01) or comment down below.

So, I hope that post was helpful and not too intimidating for you guys doing GCSEs. You will be fine, I promise. And if you ever need someone to talk to, even if you don’t know me personally, message me; I always respond and am happy to help in any way possible.

Have a great weekend.

#backtoschool2019 #roxyelle #GCSETips