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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Any good websites/books for help with GCSE revision/exam techniques?

9 replies

supersec · 21/12/2009 13:49

My son is in Year 10 and will revise if I know when his exams are and force him into it but I don't know if his revision techniques are up to scratch and how much is actually sinking into his brain, if anything. He is coasting along and only getting C grades at the moment when his targets are As.

For History GCSE he has just been copying everything out but his history teacher says this is only 10% effective in his opinion.

My son is doing English, Maths, RE, double science, Music (all coursework), E media (all coursework)and history.

Him doing music and emedia in my opinion makes things very easy for him.

He will be doing the second part of his RE GCSE this year and won't get the chance to retake next year.

He is also being put in for Maths a year early and his teacher said if he gets a B he doesn't have to do it next year if he doesn't want to.

Can anyone recommend any good websites/books for great tips?

OP posts:

webwiz · 21/12/2009 14:05

My DDs had Letts guide to GCSE study skills that was really helpful. Also they did quite a lot at school on how best to prepare. He needs to make his revision more "active" with notes and diagrams rather than just copying.

Lucycat · 21/12/2009 16:36

You can always use the reliable BBC Bitesize website or 'Scool' is a popular one with students as well.

Some kind of mind mapping type book by Tony Buzan is another method that some studenst prefer - your ds needs to try a few optins before he finds one that works for him.

What kind of learner is he?

roisin · 21/12/2009 17:50

CGP books are good.
website here

What English coursework is he currently working on? Lots of bright, but idle, boys tend to fall down on coursework-heavy courses, as they are simply not prepared to put in the time and the graft.

MellieChristmas · 21/12/2009 17:53

what history course is he doing? am a history teacher so might be able to point to a few although the best is still bbc bitesize but there are others out there depending on what syllabus he does.

Original poster

supersec · 22/12/2009 13:20

Thanks MellieChristmas.

He is doing Exedel (or something like that) Modern World History. I did ask his teacher if there were any revision books and he said no as it was a brand new course.

Re his science, he is doing it in modules that are worth 12.5% at a time. His science teacher said don't bother revising too early as in his opinion it is best to do some intense revision up to 2 weeks before. He recommended 2 hours on a weekday evening and 4 hours each for a Saturday and a Sunday.

OP posts:

AMerryScot · 22/12/2009 13:36

The main thing is to work hard in class and do all his homework to the best of his ability.

For revision, BBC Bitesize and CGP books are good.

The awarding body websites also have a lot of info for students.

MellieChristmas · 22/12/2009 18:17

there won't be any revision guides specifically for the new course yet but a lot of the content may still be the same. there is a website called schoolhistory.co.uk which has revision activities on and a forum where students can ask questions about exams and they will be answered by teachers. for history revison there are several ways to do it, copying out may work for some and just reading it always helps. i always encourage my students to do mindmaps (posh spider digrams) around key issues linking key points together. another variation on the copying out is the following:- say you have 4 exercise book pages of notes on one issue, firstly shorten down to 2 pages, then 1, then merely 10 bullet points and then 5 key words, this focus on key words will provide trigger words for the exam iyswim.

hth

ucannotbserious · 26/01/2010 18:43

Can anybody say what sort of level Bitesize is aimed at? I have looked at some of the subjects and it looks quite basic stuff to me. Would it be suitable preparation for a child aiming at at least a B in every subject?

scaryteacher · 27/01/2010 07:37

If he is doing Edexcel 2009 spec for RE then the new revision guides (for both Religion and Life and Religion and Society) by Victor Watton (the chief examiner, or he was, for Edexcel) are out. He breaks down the knowledge you need and how to answer the questions with exemplars.

I've just ordered them along with the teacher's packs as I start teaching ds the new syllabus this summer, and I examine in June as well. Available on Amazon.

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