GCSE's itP

[Exeson]

So, the exams are about to start. My first one is tomorrow, Latin Language :smalleek:.

I was just wondering how many other play grounders are sitting GCSE's and what they are sitting.

Also if anyone has any advice for surviving a long examination period it would be much appreciated. (I have to sit 21 papers :smalleek:, the last one being on the 18th of June)

And to all those who are sitting them - Good Luck

[Blayze]

I took my GCSEs a few years ago. Does that count?

Latin, eh? Ecce Romani!

Edit: You want survival advice? Here goes.

1) Don't panic during the revision period. No amount of worrying can improve your ability to memorise information.
2) Don't panic after the revision period. No amount of worrying can improve your ability to recall memorised information.
3) Don't panic during the exams. No amount of worrying can improve your ability to get results.
4) Don't panic after the exams. No amount of worrying can change your results.

[Tempest Fennac]

I agree with Blayze's advice. Which other subjects are you doing? I did English Literature and Language, Double Science, Double ICT, History, Art, RE, Maths, and French.

[Jibar]

Not exactly GCSEs, but I'll be sitting all my A Levels soon.
This of course means I've done GCSEs, and I've prepared good advice and bad advice.

Bad advice (spoilered since it's me moaning)
Considering yourself lucky.
I was one of those to do the last year of that syllabus, and some of our teachers told us about what your year would be doing.
Your year, so much easier than us.

Good advice: Revise? I didn't and I didn't do nearly as well as I apparantly should have.
Also, when you get your marks, note that they can change. Two of my marks were bumped up because they were remarked, and they will never be bumped down.

[Nychta]

I'm sitting my IGCSEs at the end of this year. I know that we get an extra "I" because we're outside of Britain, but I think they're pretty much the same.

My revision: I have these CGP revision guides for the sciences and maths. They. Are. Brilliant.

[Arioch]

I have to sit 21 papers :smalleek:, the last one being on the 18th of June

21? Lucky you. I have 27, starting with (like you, 'cos the times are the same across the country) Latin Lang, then RS.

I refuse to get worried. My dad can panic for me. He already is. :smallamused:

[Charity]

Good luck all you whom have Zamz soon...

I feel it nessisary to point out that I did O'levels at school, you know, the difficult ones that the new A levels are based off... sorry couldn't help myself.

[Castaras]

Mock exams for two weeks.

With a few that actually count scattered in for good measure.

Done mock English and mock History. Next is mock Biology.

Tomorrow I have mock maths, mock Chemistry, and mock Geography.

Mock mock mock frigging mock. >.<

[dish]

Good luck all you whom have Zamz soon...

I feel it nessisary to point out that I did O'levels at school, you know, the difficult ones that the new A levels are based off... sorry couldn't help myself.

I did O levels too. I'm excited to discover that there are British playgrounders who are actually old enough to remember those things (I always feel ancient admitting that I did them). I got 12 (8 As, 3 Bs and a C), what about you?

[Charity]

Good grief now you're asking...
Er, I think I got nine or ten, and one A/S level in maths, grades all B's and C's (I didn't exactly apply myself I'm afraid) I did get a first class degree though (white text to avoid encouraging others with my tales of succesful slacking)
As it goes, if you feel inclined to meet this oldtimer and some of the wippersnappers we do in fact have a get together planned on Aug 2nd, details can be found by wading through the giberish posted (mostly by me admittedly) here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66784&page=11)

[Dragor]

Mock exams for two weeks.

With a few that actually count scattered in for good measure.

Done mock English and mock History. Next is mock Biology.

Tomorrow I have mock maths, mock Chemistry, and mock Geography.

Mock mock mock frigging mock. >.<


Good luck Cas. I flunked my mocks last year, thinking they didn't matter- shows how much I knew about the system. Don't make my mistake! Every subject matters! *rants like a granny*

Good luck to everyone else, too. My exams basically start next Tuesday, although I've already done my French Speaking (which went terribly. I remembered my presentation and did OK on the role-play, but the examiner asked me crippling questions. Gah!), Biology is coming up fast.

Remember, kids: The blood goes into the atria, the walls constrict and the blood gets forced into the left ventricle. The bicuspid and tricuspid valves promptly close as soon as the left ventricle is full, so no blood gets back into the atria. Blood is then pressured out of the left ventricle (again by constricting walls) and forced into the pulmonary artery and aorta.

Sorry about that. That was mostly to fool myself that I was revising while on the forums. :smallamused:

[dish]

Good grief now you're asking...
Er, I think I got nine or ten, and one A/S level in maths, grades all B's and C's (I didn't exactly apply myself I'm afraid) I did get a first class degree though (white text to avoid encouraging others with my tales of succesful slacking)

I only got a 2:1, and I did badly in my A levels. This just proves that GCSEs (or O levels) are
a) not the end of the world and
b) only one opportunity you will get to showcase your academic abilities.


As it goes, if you feel inclined to meet this oldtimer and some of the wippersnappers we do in fact have a get together planned on Aug 2nd,
I've noticed the UK meet-up threads, but I live in Shanghai, so the chances of my attendance are running at about 0.2%.

Advice for those doing GCSEs
1) Some people find them very stressful. If you find yourself or your friends getting easily upset / angry or acting a bit weird just try to remember that it will all be over soon. (Well, in 6 weeks or so, if you can call that soon.)
2) Pay attention to any advice your teachers have given you. Strange as it may seem, teachers do often know what they're talking about.
3) If the worse comes to the worst, you can always re-sit. My brother-in-law did his GCSE English three times, but he got there in the end.

[Exeson]

Considering yourself lucky.
I was one of those to do the last year of that syllabus, and some of our teachers told us about what your year would be doing.


Actually I'm doing IGCSE for Maths and Sciences cause by school looked at the new GCSE specification and thought it was too easy and did not really teach you much. Sucks no?


I'm sitting my IGCSEs at the end of this year. I know that we get an extra "I" because we're outside of Britain, but I think they're pretty much the same.

Mainly the same, except 'smarter' you wouldn't believe some of the stuff they are doing in the normal GCSE *wishes he could be doing that*

[onasuma]

Well, ive got the actual month of tests in a year. However, on wednesday we have the first test that actually counts for it. RE. It really made me laugh hard when the teacher said she expected us to have been revising for the last month.Please no comments saying its important. I know it is.

[dish]

I firmly believe that for GCSEs if you've done all the work properly during your course (please note the 'if') you shouldn't need to do too much revision.

Of course you'll need to do some - how much will depend on how your memory works (some people memorise more quickly than others) - but, yes, a month is probably excessive.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Took them last year. Advice is as follows:
Do not revise for exam X on the day you sit exam X. It can force knowledge out of your brain.
Englishes don't have to be revised for. Just remember some key themes and make the rest up as you go.
Same (mostly) for History. Remember the dates and important context for cartoons. Still; some of the questions ask for your own interpretation. Meaing make it up as you go.
Same for RE/RS/whatever the heck it is.

Science and Math: learn formulas.
Most formulae and the periodic table are given to you as inserts. Don't bother learning too much of them.

French: watch as many films as you can in French. Seriously.

[Hazkali]

Don't get stressed. I know you'll be sick of people saying that "they're not the end of the world" but really, they aren't! All you need are the minimum entry grades to do your chosen subjects at A-level (usually a B in that subject) or the entry requirements for college, and maths and English at a pass.

Any job that you get almost certainly will not ask for GCSEs, if an academic qualification is important. You will need either A-levels or a Degree, or it won't be important (Maths and English are a bit of an exception, but only to show basic literacy and numeracy).

[Dihan]

I remember my RS GCSE in particular. The teacher told us all the questions a few months before the exam, none of us believed her so we didn't revise what she told us... Then every question came up. :smallamused:

[Blayze]

Heh. GCSEs definitely aren't the end of the world. I remember back before then, when our headteacher once said "The only question your employer is going to want to ask is 'Have you done your Trident?'"

The number of times I was asked that question? Zero.

For those who are out of the loop, the Trident was a pathetic imitation of a real qualification that schools forced upon every year. There were three parts to it, "Community Service" (Doing work without getting paid or thanked), "Work Experience" (Doing work without getting paid or thanked) and "Personal Challenge" (Doing something ultimately useless and of no value to anybody).

[Tempest Fennac]

When was Trident used? I've never heard of it before now, and it isn't mentioned on Wikipedia, which doesn't go into any real detail). Did this happen in your own time, or did it take up school time? (Considering how schools are supposed to provide an education, this sort of thing annoys me a lot).

[Nychta]

Mocks: As far as I know, don't stress about them.

If you've peaked at the time that you've done your mocks, then you're studying wrong. Shouldn't you peak just before the real exams? Mocks are, what, a week or so before exams? I've always seen them as another study tool - not another thing to stress out about.

Either I'm being stupidly relaxed, or I've heard it enough times: GCSEs aren't the end of the world. Actually, I'm sitting them a few years early, so that may be the reason for my laid-back attitude. I figure that I have plenty of tries if I don't pass the first time. :smallsigh::smallwink:

[Player_Zero]

If O-levels were harder back in the day, then does that mean that older people are more intelligent? I think not. I think not...

Besides, I doubt many people sit the standard end-school exams every year just to compare them, so such a comment is purely based upon unjustifiediness and opinion.

Also, A2 exams start for me in two days. Two chemistry exams, two physics exams, and five maths exams including two STEP papers (I and II). I require 'A's in every maths paper and at least one grade 2 in either STEP paper as well as a 'B' in either physics or chemistry in order to go to my first choice university, which I'm not at all confident about doing.

GCSEs? I didn't do any revision and as a result got a couple of 'B's... In German and something else which I can't remember apparently. Oh yeah, and I never did any of the IT coursework so I got a 'u' in that. That was pretty funny. Good times.

[Blayze]

When was Trident used? I've never heard of it before now, and it isn't mentioned on Wikipedia, which doesn't go into any real detail). Did this happen in your own time, or did it take up school time? (Considering how schools are supposed to provide an education, this sort of thing annoys me a lot).

Two weeks of normal school time were instead given up to the almighty god of Work Experience. The Personal Challenge one I got lucky and managed to do on a school trip (The school stole my sodding weekend!) and the Community Service one was to be done in our own time (I managed it by wasting a few dinner breaks as a member of the computer room staff).

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for telling me (I did 2 weeks of work experience, but that's about it). What would have happened if you'd have refused to do the commuity service or personal challenge parts of it? (It doesn't sound as though it wold have honestly had any effect on your further education or employment prospects). What was the school trip concerned with?

[Blayze]

Dammit. I had a nice, long post and the forum ate it. As usual. Ah well. Put simply, it read "Might have been expelled had I refused to do Trident due to teachers on power-trips, school trip was pointless and not worth explaining".

[Tempest Fennac]

I understand. That sounds really annoying. Is Trident still being used by some schools? (When I post things, I tend to copy them so that, if they fail to post, I can just paste what I typed without having to type it up again).

[Blayze]

I imagine it is, as the Work Experience thing means that not only do the teachers have a break from having to teach one year's worth of kids for two weeks, but also local businesses get free labour they can give their crap jobs to.

[JettWilderbeast]

Wow, seems like years ago I took my GCSEs, its only 3 years ago, or is it 4? I'm not sure!

I took;
Biology, Chemistry and Physics (as seperate GCSEs)
English language and literature
Maths
Geography
Music
Food Technology
French
German

That does seem alot now, but hang in there, A levels are the hard ones! But once you've done your A levels nothing is harder! I've just finished my first year of uni and it was easier than A levels!

Good advice for GCSEs;
If you think you've got it down well don't get complacent and not revise I did this and my grades came out one lower than expected! Except Music, I did better there!

[Tempest Fennac]

That is probably the case sadly, Blayze (I only did work experience without the rest of the garbage, though). I'll be starting at university in September (I'll be doing a Complmentary Therapy course).

[Manga Shoggoth]

So, the exams are about to start. My first one is tomorrow, Latin Language :smalleek:.

I was just wondering how many other play grounders are sitting GCSE's and what they are sitting.

Well, My O-Levels (and A-Levels, come to that) are sooo long ago that time has robbed them of their sting. I still have nightmares about mt degree finals, though...

And Latin? Ye gods! O-Level French was bad enough...


Also if anyone has any advice for surviving a long examination period it would be much appreciated. (I have to sit 21 papers :smalleek:, the last one being on the 18th of June)

Blayse pretty much has it. Don't panic beforehand, and don't fret about it afterwards.

[Arioch]

Well, Latin Language 1 is done, and I think I did better than in my mock - no big blanks. Did anyone else take that paper? How'd you find it?

[Exeson]

Well, Latin Language 1 is done, and I think I did better than in my mock - no big blanks. Did anyone else take that paper? How'd you find it?

Fairly easy, I messed up the bit about 'he prefered wounds in body than money in his hands' bit, still not exactly sure about that. But no major slip ups for me.

[Oregano]

My RE exam tomorrow and I'm confident that I'll achieve my estimated B atleast, revision helped but I alreayd remembered a lot about religion anyway, unfortunately the bible isn't that important in our exam:(.


I also have another problem my maths teacher expects me to revse maths tonight but I need to revise RE:smallfurious:, maths is nest week aswell and I'm brilliant at maths.

I'm also lucky enough to do an AS in Sociology this year, I already have a C in my Methodology exam but I need to get decent grades in the Education and Family exams.

hahaha, you think you have bad shedules and amounts of exams, one of my friends has four exams next monday, maths, two sociology and RE, I think it's about a total of 6 or 7 hours of exams and they need to have breaks in between.

[Castaras]

Half way through my exams...now the concentration of the exams should diffuse...only 3 tomorrow, then 1...then 1 on three days for next week.

All is going okay. =)

[Dragor]

Just did French Listening and Chemistry Paper 3 today (Paper 3 being the 50 mark one). Easy as breathing. And I'm not bragging, those two are my worst subjects.

20 more to go now :smallamused:

[Bryn]

Presumably some of my subjects come from different exam boards, since I just did my first GCSE (which was Religious Studies) - that's discounting Statistics and Science, which I did a while ago :smallbiggrin:

All in all, it wasn't bad, although I probably can't talk about the content under the board rules. I managed the time much better than in the mock, and so I finished all the questions with a few minutes to spare. Here's hoping that they can read my writing!

[CurlyKitGirl]

I'm also lucky enough to do an AS in Sociology this year, I already have a C in my Methodology exam but I need to get decent grades in the Education and Family exams.


Did that last year too!
Methodology's the worst one; but I got really good marks for the other two exams.
Trust me; if I got a B on roughly five college weeks of teaching and no revision you can get an A easy.

[Mc. Lovin']

Finished my first test today! It was allright, but I was writeing up untill the last minuite

[Oregano]

Did that last year too!
Methodology's the worst one; but I got really good marks for the other two exams.
Trust me; if I got a B on roughly five college weeks of teaching and no revision you can get an A easy.

I've only been having once a week, for two hours, lessons for these last two years, but I think I'll do okay, need to get some revision done though.

Done my RE today, was quite easy, it's also good that some of the questions are Sociology ones anyway, specifically the ones about family.

[Arioch]

I found that RS test easier than I expected. For two years now the main feature of the practise tests have not been the difficulty of the quesions but the time constraints. This was presumably to train us to write verty quickly, as I can now do a 20-mark submodule in less than 12 minutes.

Religion and the Media is still a very annoying submodule, though. I'm glad we didn't get a question about religion in a movie. Bruce Almighty is entertaining, but the stuff of exam answers it is not.

3 exams tomorrow: Maths AS C1 and 2 and Latin GCSE Literature...

[Oregano]

Woop, I found out yesterday that in the Science exams in January I got two A*s, without revision:smallamused:.

Put I got an E in my English Literature Mock, but I wasn't trying so meh.

[Lyesmith]

I've got my Maths on monday. Then English Lit on tuesday, Biology wednesday...
then a break for half term!
I really, really should revise.
But left to my own devices, i simply cannot! :smalleek:

[CultDoctor]

I'm doing IGCSEs as well, sitting three in November this year (taking these ones a year early).
Maths - have a great teacher but going to fail anyway because I'm numerically inept ;o.
Single Science - have an alright teacher, but if I study and do a bit (a lot :smallbiggrin:) of 'self-teaching' I should be fine.
ICT - assuming all goes well I should be fine for this.

Next year, moving schools and taking

English Language and Literature
Triple Award Sciences
History
and Spanish

[at the moment it looks like I'll be doing AS Mathematics as well.. hmmmm]

Good luck to everyone else, and to those who sat things in May, I hope you got the results you wanted :smallwink:.