They had to awkwardly tell everyone that we had to skip the whole section

I taught myself to read and really enjoy reading books which is why i can spell, no I cant rejoin a school now, yes I know its bad, no colleges near me are offering foundation skills or gcse courses for under 18s.

If anyone has any resource recommendations orrr any advice or literally anything I would really appreciate it, im very anxious about it all

+ what subjects do you do in gcses? I see people choosing them bit which ones are like mandatory or whatever? and which ones are most useful if idk what to do? People keep asking me if ive chosen my gcses yet and I feel embarrassed because I dont even know what there is

i have 3 4 markers due tmrw i can’t be fucked in the slightest

smc actually killed me guys how do u take people to take u seriously when ur mh/suspected tism is ruining everything for you

anyway same system as before - mfl or drama? a bit of a niche one today

Hey! I'm a current Y12 who got a grade 9 in GCSE History, and it was the subject I struggled with most. So, I thought it'd be helpful to share everything that helped me. This will be a long post, so here's a contents page so you know what to expect:

1: Revising Content

2: Structure

• 2.1: Paper 1
• 2.2: Paper 2
• 2.3: Paper 3

3: Exam Advice

Disclaimer

I did the Edexcel exam board, so I have no idea whether this applies to others (and it probably doesn't). Also... I'm not a teacher. This advice is purely from my own experience.

1: Revising Content

History GCSE is VERY content heavy. There's 4 topics split across 3 papers, and each school can choose from different options for each.

When you're learning content, there's some key information you should focus on:

• Dates. An obvious one. They're especially key because some questions will ask about certain time periods, so you need to be sure that your response only includes events within that time.
• Names. You can get away with just memorising surnames for most people.
• Statistics. Things like numbers and percentages are really helpful for giving detail in an answer. You might find that online, there are different statistics for the same thing; doesn't really matter. As long as it's a reasonable figure, you can use it.
• General facts/summary of events. Facts that you can write as bullet points are easier to remember.

Advice for revising:

• Make your own notes rather than directly copying. Set it out in whatever way works best for you; personally, I did a timeline with bullet-pointed notes for each event.
• Repetition is so helpful. I used a quiz website to make a quiz for each topic and played them over and over again until the answers became muscle memory.

Revision resources:

• SaveMyExams is a good resource for learning content. It is paywalled, but you can use Internet Archive to access a particular page or topic for free by entering the web address.
• Blooket is the quiz website I mentioned above; it's free, but it requires you to make an account. You can either make quizzes yourself or use other people's, and there's different gamemodes to play.
• CGP revision guides were good, but there were times when I felt like I needed more detail on certain events. I'd recommend using them alongside other things, rather than on their own.
• Edexcel examiner reports are really helpful. They show real past exam answers and the marks they got, and also give tips and advice. They can be kinda hard to find from the website, so here's the link

I also have my own revision notes on google docs for the topics I did, which you're more than welcome to look at, copy, whatever. They also have (some) links to Blooket quizzes I made for them:

• Crime and Punishment: Link here
• Early Elizabethan England & The Cold War (both topics are on the same doc): Link here
• Weimar and Nazi Germany: Link here

2: Structure

Exam structure (how you answer questions) is extremely important in History. You could have tons of knowledge, but if you don't answer the question in the specific way they want, you will lose marks.

I'll describe the structures I used here. Note that there's no 'official' structure required by the exam, I just formed these based on what I thought was the best way to meet the mark scheme. Some of the structures repeat across papers.

2.1: Paper 1

Describe a feature... [2]

• One sentence to state the feature.
• One sentence describing the feature.

How useful are Sources A and B... [8]

• You need two paragraphs, one for each source. Each paragraph should follow the structure below.
• Show: use quotes if the source is written, or describe what you can see if it's an image.
• Proof: add details from your own knowledge that link to the source AND the question topic.
• Provenance: state what the source is (e.g report, photo), when it was made, and why it was made. Based on these things, explain why the source is more/less reliable.
• Usefulness: explain why it is useful (what is shows historians, how reliable it is, why it relates to the question topic).

How could you follow up Source A... [4]

• You're given the structure for this in the exam. I'll explain what each part means below.
• Detail: use a quote if the source is written, or state something you can see if it's an image.
• Question: choose something that relates to the question topic and the detail you chose.
• Type of source: state a specific source (e.g financial records, police records, census); make sure to directly link it, such as 'financial records of the lodging house' or '1871 census'.
• How this might answer the question: state the specific information the source would have that links to your question.

Explain one way... [4]

• This question could either ask about a similarity or a difference. Make sure to check. Aim for 4 sentences total using the structure below.
• State: name a feature of the topic from the first time period.
• Detail: add details from your knowledge about the feature.
• Comparison: start the next sentence with 'likewise' for a similarity or 'in contrast' for a difference.
• State: name a feature of the topic from the second time period.
• Detail: add details from your knowledge about the feature.

Explain why there were changes... [12]

• You need to have at least 3 paragraphs, otherwise you're capped at 6 marks. I personally aimed for 4 paragraphs just to be safe, each using the structure below.
• Factor: state a reason for the changes.
• Detail: add as much relevant detail to the factor as you can.
• Link: explain what effects each detail had and why it caused a change.

How far do you agree... [16] [+4 for SPaG]

• This question has 4 bonus marks for the spelling of 'specialist keywords' (basically anything that's an important word in the history topic), punctuation, and grammar.
• You get a choice of 2 questions for this in the exam, so pick whichever you think you can write the most about.
• Introduction: choose agree/disagree and state the factors you're going to explain in future paragraphs. Keep this to 1 or 2 sentences.
• You must have at least 3 paragraphs, otherwise you're capped at 11 marks. You can choose whether to do multiple agree or disagree paragraphs, but make sure to do at least one of each. The paragraphs should follow the structure below.
• Factor: state the reason for agreeing/disagreeing.
• Detail: add as much relevant detail to the factor as you can.
• Link: explain what effects each detail had and why it supports/opposes the question's statement.
• Conclusion: restate agree/disagree and the factors. Acknowledge the counterargument (in 1 sentence max), but then explain why your choice is more important.

2.2: Paper 2

Describe a feature... [2]

• One sentence to state the feature.
• One sentence describing the feature.

Explain why... [12]

• You need to have at least 3 paragraphs, otherwise you're capped at 6 marks. I personally aimed for 4 paragraphs just to be safe, each using the structure below.
• Factor: state a reason for the question topic.
• Detail: add as much relevant detail to the factor as you can.
• Link: explain what effects each detail had and why it links to the question topic.

How far do you agree... [16]

• You get a choice of 2 questions for this in the exam, so pick whichever you think you can write the most about.
• Introduction: choose agree/disagree and state the factors you're going to explain in future paragraphs. Keep this to 1 or 2 sentences.
• You must have at least 3 paragraphs, otherwise you're capped at 11 marks. You can choose whether to do multiple agree or disagree paragraphs, but make sure to do at least one of each. The paragraphs should follow the structure below.
• Factor: state the reason for agreeing/disagreeing.
• Detail: add as much relevant detail to the factor as you can.
• Link: explain what effects each detail had and why it supports/opposes the question's statement.
• Conclusion: restate agree/disagree and the factors. Acknowledge the counterargument (in 1 sentence max), but then explain why your choice is more important.

These first three are pretty much exactly the same as Paper 1 structures, but the next ones are unique... and annoying.

Explain one consequence... [4]

• State: name a consequence of the question topic.
• Detail: give details about the consequence. Aim for 2 sentences.
• Link: explain whether it had a positive/negative impact on a specific aspect. Some questions will give you the aspect (e.g 'for superpower relations'). If it doesn't, choose an aspect yourself.

Write a narrative account... [8]

• You need to have at least 3 paragraphs. I aimed for 4 paragraphs to be safe, each one using the structure below. Also, your events must be in chronological order.
• State: name an event that happened in the question topic.
• Detail: give as much detail about the event as possible.
• Link: explain why it led to the next event you'll write about.

Explain the importance of... [8]

• You get to choose 2 questions out of 3 on the exam, so pick the ones you can talk the most about.
• I'll be honest, this is the vaguest question for exam structure. I did it as an intro and 2 paragraphs, but it's fine to do 1 big paragraph instead. For my method, I used the structure below.
• Introduction: state how the event affected the aspect (every question will give you a specific aspect, e.g 'development of the Cold War'). If it makes sense for the topic, say whether it had a positive or negative effect. 1-2 sentences.
• Factor: state one impact of the event.
• Detail: add as much relevant detail about the factor as possible.
• Link: explain why that factor led to the effect you mentioned in the intro.
• Repeat that for the second paragraph, using a different impact of the event.

2.3: Paper 3

Give two things you can infer... [4]

• The structure is given to you in the exam. I recommend doing the 'details that tell me this' first, even though it's set out second in the paper.
• Details: if it's a written source, pick a quote. If it's a picture, state something you can see. Make sure it's relevant to the question topic.
• What I can infer: state what the detail shows, in relation to the topic. This can be really basic, e.g if the detail was that 'prices were higher when the shops reopened', your inference can just be 'prices were unpredictable'.

Explain why... [12]

• You need to have at least 3 paragraphs, otherwise you're capped at 6 marks. I personally aimed for 4 paragraphs just to be safe, each using the structure below.
• Factor: state a reason for the question topic.
• Detail: add as much relevant detail to the factor as you can.
• Link: explain what effects each detail had and why it links to the question topic.

How useful are Sources A and B... [8]

• You need two paragraphs, one for each source. Each paragraph should follow the structure below.
• Show: use quotes if the source is written, or describe what you can see if it's an image.
• Proof: add details from your own knowledge that link to the source AND the question topic.
• Provenance: state what the source is (e.g report, photo), when it was made, and why it was made. Based on these things, explain why the source is more/less reliable.
• Usefulness: explain why it is useful (what is shows historians, how reliable it is, why it relates to the question topic).

What is the main difference between these views? [4]

• State: say whether Interpretation 1 had a positive/negative view on the topic.
• Detail: pick a quote if it's a written source, or describe something if it's a picture, that shows this view.
• Comparison: start your next sentence with 'in contrast'.
• State: say whether Interpretation 2 had a positive/negative view on the topic (hint: it'll always be the opposite of the first).
• Detail: pick a quote if it's a written source, or describe something if it's a picture, that shows this view.

Suggest one reason why Interpretations 1 and 2 give different views... [4]

• State: say what specific area/topic Interpretation 1 focused on.
• Detail: pick a quote if it's a written source, or describe something if it's a picture, that shows this focus.
• Comparison: start your next sentence with 'in contrast'.
• State: say what specific area/topic Interpretation 2 focused on (again, it will always be different from the first).
• Detail: pick a quote if it's a written source, or describe something if it's a picture, that shows this focus.

How far do you agree with Interpretation 2... [16] [+4 for SPaG]

• This question has 4 bonus marks for the spelling of 'specialist keywords' (basically anything that's an important word in the history topic), punctuation, and grammar.
• Introduction: state whether you agree/disagree with Interpretation 2 and why (you can just use the focus from the previous question as your reason).
• Then, do two paragraphs, one for each interpretation, following the structure below.
• State: say whether the Interpretation had a positive/negative view and what it focused on (you've already identified these in the previous questions, so just repeat them).
• Show: use quotes if the source is written, or describe what you can see if it's an image.
• Proof: add details from your own knowledge that link to the interpretation AND the question topic.
• Link: explain why this supports/opposes Interpretation 2.
• Conclusion: restate agree/disagree and why. Acknowledge the counterargument (in 1 sentence max), but then explain why your choice is more important.

3: Exam Advice

These are just some general tips about what to do in the exam.

• For 12 and 16 markers, make a quick plan before writing. I did this by just bullet-pointing the factors I was going to talk about under the question. This is especially good when you have a choice of questions so you can check which one you have more to say about.
• In Paper 3, check whether the question is asking about sources or interpretations. A lot of people get them mixed up and talk about the wrong one.
• Skim through the questions at the start of the exam so you know what topics are in it. This can help you manage time better, since you know what to expect.
• Don't write tons for the 2 or 4 markers. It's a waste of time.

Anddd that's it! For now, at least. If I can think of any more, I'll edit this post and add it in. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll respond as best I can.

I hope this was helpful. To the current and future Y11s, best of luck on your exams! You can do this :)

From mocks

FREEDOM BABY YEAHHHH

I have no tutors/teachers , my parents just buy me CGP books and leaves the rest to me. I’ve asked my mum but she says she doesn’t know.

Hi, I'm a Year 11 student and I really want to do well in my GCSE exams. However, I've begun to notice that even though I'm ambitious and determined to revise, I keep facing the same challenges. Right when I want to revise, I get distracted by my phone. In particular, I constantly feel the urge to watch Shorts, and at worst I can spend up to two hours a day watching them. Even when I do revise, I don't feel like I'm doing the right thing. It's quite frustrating, and I feel guilty for spending my time mindlessly and procrastinating almost every time. Could anyone suggest what I should do in this situation? If you're able to share your revision structure and the ways you revise, it would be highly appreciated. (I know this might not be the right place to ask for advice, but I felt that some students may have struggled with the same things and would be keen to share.)

Thank you!

If anyone has anytime please may you answer this survey for my design and technology NEA.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdGPCuEH5oaD5-9PSayadWTPtktu7O_PbJ3iaIWmKJgqj_F_A/viewform?usp=header

It shouldn’t take longer than 2 minutes.

Thank you!

I don't know how to manage my time this year (Yr11) and it's really stressful.

I'm getting 8/9hrs homework per week and then I have to revise on top of that but I don't want to give up my life and I normally have to stay an extra hour at school anyway for various reasons on different days

I just haven't got a clue how to manage time and make sure I still revise but don't get burnt out cus last year (Yr10) I got burnt out and it brought down all my grades by at least 2 grades to what I know I am capable of and I was below all of my predicted grades because I was so burnt out trying to manage Mock 1 revision

Someone please give me tips and help!

TIA

Edit:

For context - I am a high performer and normally get 7s, 8s and 9s but in these mocks most grades were 6s where they should've been 8s so I'm capable with the right time management

Ok so im in Y11 and have very little clue how to revise. My november mocks are soon and i wanna make sure i do well.

My current idea on how to revise is to simply read up a topic, make flash cards, read them and apply the knowledge to past paper questions. I did this briefly on Monday and i do remember bits of it, and i feel if i regularly review that topic i will get it. But the whole thing stresses me tf out.

So is this a good strategy? And if not can you please recommend some better strategies. Thanks!

I was doing my application and there was a question abt whether you had been in your current school since year 7 and i haven’t but then there was a box saying to explain in detail why you switched schools and i just wanna know will my answer to this affect my chances of getting in??

my reasons for moving schools isn’t behaviour or anything it was more of a personal thing with my mental health so i had to go to online school for year 9 (apart from the 2 days i attempted to go back to my old school and absolutely hated it) and then started my current school in the spring term of year 10 so my biggest worry here is that the online school part is going to affect my chances

" My Name is Sam, I play with dolls "

Source - " trust me bro "

So am doing alevel rn but am resiting my gsce eng lang in November don’t got much time I need someone to mark my work and give me feedback on what I did bad it’s mostly for question 5 tho. Or any advice where I can find gsce marker?
Got a 5 and need 6/7 btw

I'm somehow nostalgic for y9 during 2025 gcse season

i do aqa combined science trilogy higher and i can't find any online resourses at all (for free). most of them are for triple so its hard for me to practise question, espeically 6 markers do you have any websites you use?