GCSE exams diary

Exams are looming once again for hundreds of thousands

Gareth Giles, 16, kicks off the exam season with a diary entry on his preparations for the 11 GCSEs he is taking this year.

I have exams in 10 weeks, and although everyone is suggesting to me I ought to be revising an hour each night, it's hard to concentrate with all the coursework I still have to finish looking over my shoulder.

I've drawn up a revision timetable - but making it, with all its different colours and patterns, is very different from sticking to it.

I think it would probably be better revising with friends, but I can't help thinking that maybe we might get distracted.

The coursework is really weighing me down

I don't know what they think about it, but I'm sure a few good ones are doing about two hours revision a night, every night of the week already.

The coursework is really weighing me down, and although it's 10 weeks to the exam, this has to be handed in by the Easter holidays.

I've been pencilled in for a revision "school" for the first week of the Easter break.

This means I have only a week to wind down a bit, but if I stick to the revision timetable, about one third of my waking hours will be spent studying textbooks desperately.

The stress from coursework is beginning to show, and I keep snapping at people when they ask if I'm all right. Who knows what I'll be like in the middle of the exams?

I've started to wish I'd done better in my early maths modules. I only managed to get two Bs, and slumped to a D in my coursework.

Maths focus

My plans are to study history, English language, chemistry and ICT for A-level.

Looking at the courses every sixth form seems to be offering, maths would be a real advantage. The importance of getting a good grade in that outweighs every other subject.

Hopefully my revision will let me get good marks in the final exams, but every other subject seems to be more interesting than the most important one.

My head teacher gave an assembly saying how much we needed to work hard, but that we should look forward to the extended summer holidays.

I don't think there'll be any time to look forward; I just have to concentrate on the present, keep my head down, and work harder than ever.

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We asked if this rang any bells - here are some of your responses:

It's like reading my own life at the minute! I am going through exactly the same thing. I don't know if I'll make it to the exams the way I'm going.
Luke, Newcastle, UK

Try writing each revision slot on a Post-It and stick them around your room. When you've revised that topic rip the note down, it gives a great sense of achievement. It worked for my GCSEs four years ago!
Helen, Sheffield

I'm currently studying for my AS-levels after passing my GCSEs last summer. Coursework was the worst part of the course by far, something that had to be done, and done well, for fear of having to do it again. I had to do English and physics coursework whilst on holiday in Sharm El Sheik - If you think sticking to a revision timetable is tough, try dragging yourself form a pool or sunbed to write about resistance! The pressure is worse this year though. AS exams start earlier, I have an art exam next week, have just had to hand in English coursework and research and write up two history course essays, all in the same period of time along with worrying about overdue work from other subjects. My advice: for GCSE, don't stress yourself out. Get the basics in your head and then try and relax, go over the areas you couldn't work out before.
Benjie, Kent

You're working a darn sight harder than I did when I took my GCSEs two years ago, and I received A grades or above in nearly all of them... save your worrying for your A-level exams; they're the ones that really matter.
David Horn, Devon, UK

The most useful piece of advice I can give is to get hold of as many past papers as you can, particularly in subjects like maths, where individual questions can carry a lot of marks for not particularly much work. Do the past papers, find out what your weaknesses are and work on them. That said, don't go overboard though and panic if there are one or two things you just don't understand - staying up until 2am the night before an exam, desperately trying to understand that one last topic is a bad, bad idea. Not only is it unlikely to work, but you'll also ruin your performance in other areas, where you would have got top marks if you had been able to concentrate better. Balance and smart revision are the key, not hours upon hours of reading your notes again and again.
Michael Hall, bath

I understand the load coursework can be, having just completed 10 months of design work and yet still having physics to complete it's a total nightmare. I never found hours of revision helpful. I suppose I'm lucky, I seem to do well without it. Apparently I should've started revision at Christmas, now I'm meant to do it over Easter while self-teaching myself a physics topic because our teacher cannot fit it in! This is in a top grammar school on nine GCSEs, I couldn't pack two more in!
Andrew Slater, London

Hi Gareth, I did my GCSEs a few years ago now (I'm 22!!!) and if there's one piece of advice I can give you it's prioritise. Your coursework has to be handed in by Easter so make it your top priority. The revision course will seem daft whilst you're there but it will teach you skills that will help in your whole academic life. Then start revising hard with your new skills knowing that your coursework is finished and handed in. Good luck
Claire, Cheltenham

I'm taking 11 GCSEs too and all my coursework (apart from art) has been done by about a month ago. The problem is when you spend too much time on coursework and not enough on revision. I just drew up my revision timetable today and realised how much revision there is to do for each subject. If you don't have sufficient notes you should get a revision guide, but usually your notes are better because there are so many different syllabuses and exam boards. One experience that shouldn't have happened is with my art: I have had five different teachers as of the beginning of September 02, and plenty of 'cover lessons'. I need to redo one of my final pieces, and finish off the other one and I have so many other drawings to do. The best tip I can give is NEVER leave your revision to the last minute - you should have all your revision done by your first exam.
Will, London, UK

Compared to A-levels, GCSEs are easy! You can get good grades with very little effort at GCSE. Everyone thinks revision is the be all end all, but it's the ability that counts. If the stuff in class is learnt and consolidated then less time needs to go into revising material that you should know. Going over past papers is the best way to ensure success!
Jack Higgs, UK

I can't help but think, with hindsight, that too much pressure is put on GCSEs. I did mine three years ago and I remember the back-breaking coursework and all the revision only to find out that, in the grand scheme of things, if you're planning to go and study further, that GCSEs are irrelevant. They are too easy for the academic lot. For example in the higher tier of my maths GCSE, I only needed something like 30% to get a C. Just keep your head down and everything will be fine. Then worry about the AS-levels which I believe are detrimental to any teenager's development.
Dave, Watford, Herts

When I did my GCSEs I found it very hard to concentrate on revision, and I didn't do nearly enough as I should have done; in fact, I did hardly any. Having said this, I got fairly good results, mostly As with a smattering of Bs. I did have some regrets though, because subjects I knew I was very good at (English and music) I didn't do as well as I'd hoped. Your head teacher is right though, do the work now and enjoy the holidays because you've earnt them. People seem to tell us how much easier things are these days, but it is still stressful. If you do the work now you will really enjoy crashing out for 12 weeks at the end of June. Good luck.
Nick Entwistle, Bucks

Along with my mocks this week I'm currently doing my last pieces of coursework and I'm worried that I won't be able to finish it and that's what happens when there is a lack of urgency expressed by the teachers or pupils. Good coursework grades are an incentive for me to reach for the top grades and it is not beyond me as long as I work hard. I see no point in a revision timetable because I know I won't stick to it and usually I would forget most of the stuff I revise if I revised it one month before the exam so I'm going to plan my revision one week before each exam so my mind is refreshed to all the information and more recent information is easier to access for me.
Vincent, Liverpool!

I know exactly how you feel. I've finished all my coursework but I just can't get my head round to doing the revision, far too many distractions.
Kris,

You can't look over your shoulder at what everyone else is doing during revision. They'll either be doing more than you, which will make you feel stressed; or less, which will demotivate you. It's also important to be realistic when it comes to your revision timetable; overdoing it will do far more harm than good especially in the early stages. Don't underestimate studying with your mates; talking about subjects make them easier to take in, plus it's surprisingly easier to concentrate! Finally; don't worry to much. These days GCSEs really don't count for so much; it's the qualifications you gain afterwards that employers look at. After all; by far the most stressful exams of your life are still to come. AS-levels are far, far worse, an average of 10 exams sometimes lasting up to three hours each! Thanks Mr Blair!
Lynds (Year 13 taking A-levels in July), Plymouth

Having survived fifth year and five Higher subjects last year I can say now that it was the most stressful, trying and difficult thing I have ever had to cope with. The school year is so tight for time that some subjects (this time last year) had only four weeks to go to the exams but still hadn't finished the course. Studying every night was very difficult if not impossible due to the coursework still to hand. Coursework is a double-edged sword at this point in the year as you are wanting to get your head into the work you have been taught earlier in the year but you still need the coursework in (with Higher Still) to ensure that your entrance to the exam can be guaranteed. After the exams the amount of free time I had was a little disorientating but, now in sixth year, I can relax slightly having received the results I need to be accepted into university. It is important to maintain perspective - examination is not the be-all and end-all of everything. An exam is just a point in time that we try and do our best in - nothing more. If you try your best that's all anyone can ask.
Paul Murphy, Glasgow

One thing to say ... wait until your final year at university ... how does a dissertation (8,000 words) two essays (3,000 words each) in for the end of April, and then eight exams after that, which can I just add you are not allowed to take books into (like GCSE English). That's what I call stress!
Natalie Fahy, Birmingham

Too much work so little time.
Shaun Gaunt, Leeds

Having taken my A-levels four years ago it shocks me to see how much students seem to be complaining. If you work regularly you will not be swamped with coursework or impossible amounts of work to learn. Wait till you get to university!!! A-levels will seem like a piece of cake then!! A tip to get your coursework and revision going is simple, group up with some friends and have a study session. Not with your mobile phones but set yourself a target. Split the topics and take it in turns to explain to each other what you have learned. If you can teach it then you can understand it! Guaranteed success! One step at a time, do not slack off and leave it for next week!! Good luck to all of you doing your exams.
Gabriel Asseily, UK

I wrote 12 GCSE examinations last year and I too was experiencing the general symptoms of fear and stress. The idea of writing 12 exams in a span of one month does not sound appealing to a 16 year old who has just hit the age of discovering oneself. The people who do well on these exams are usually very focused and determined. GCSEs aren't particularly difficult, there is just a lot of content to take in in a generally short amount of time. Looking back, I would have changed my studying scheme in terms of subject importance, giving more time to subjects that I would be doing for sixth form. However, no other sentiment lives up to finishing your final exam and beginning a very long and well deserved summer break!
Mohammed, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England