Passing your GCSE English Language Exam is critical, but it’s not an easy thing to do, and this can result in a stressful time. Before you get started, answer yourself the following question: do you have the material to begin a fruitful exam revision? Here are a few tips that can help you ace your exam.
Learn what’s in the exam
- Get past exams. The best way to know what to expect from your GCSE exam is to see what has been in previous exams. Practicing papers that have been in past exams is an excellent way to develop your skills and get more comfortable with what you’ll be facing.
- Confirm with your teacher. There are different exam boards such as AQA, OCR, and more. They have websites with a lot of useful information for you, but you need to make sure you’re using the right one. Confirm with your teacher that you’ve got the appropriate study materials.
- Do as many past papers as you can. This will familiarize you with the structure of the test, and you’ll understand the type of questions you’ll be facing. You can find papers and mark schemes on the websites, or your teacher may provide you with some.
Practice makes perfect
It may seem like your GCSE English Language exam is a long way off, but it will be here sooner than you think. The earlier you start revising, the better. Don’t leave this until the end.
- Make a checklist. List all of the topics that you need to cover, and start prioritizing them based on which you know needs the most work. Work your way through the checklist and make sure you cover everything.
- Read a lot. Read everything you can, including a variety of types such as newspapers, books, magazines, and more. Read analytically, and consider what techniques the author uses to achieve their purpose.
- Work on spelling and grammar. For portions of the exam, there aren’t black and white right answers, but spelling and grammar are different. In these, you’ve got to get it right.
- Keep notes. When you find out something you need to remember for the exam, write it down. Keep an organized list of notes like this in a single place so that it’s easy for you to refer to.
Think analytically
- Use the PEE method. This is a method to demonstrate that you fully understand a passage of English text. You make your point (P), provide evidence (E) for that point, and then give an explanation (E) of how the evidence supports your point. This will develop your analytical skills, and prove your comprehension on the exam.
- Use the PQRS method. This is an easy way to remember a good exam technique. Read the passage (P) carefully. Read the questions (Q), and underline important words. Re-read (R) the material again, and underline phrases that apply to the questions. Search (S) for the evidence you need to answer the questions.
Work with others
Teachers can help. Ask your teachers to mark your work, and help you evaluate your revisions and tell you how you can improve. They want to help you learn and pass your exam, and will probably be happy to assist you.
- Get together with a friend. Find a friend as a study partner, so the two of you can do revisions together. Having another person involved can be motivational and supportive, as long as you don’t distract each other. Stay confident and focused
- Don’t get distracted. Schedule your time for revising, and don’t let yourself be sidetracked by the television or internet. You can use those as rewards when you’ve completed your revisions.
- Don’t lose sleep. You’ll learn most effectively when you get enough sleep. It may be a stressful time, but burning the midnight oil is not the best way to do this.
You can do it! The best way of acing a GCSE English exam is to stay positive. Think about why passing this GCSE exam is important to you, and use that to keep your motivation up. Remember, with the right preparation, you have great chances of scoring high grades.
Christopher Austin is an education writer who loves to spread his knowledge about various education topics. He is a regular blogger who basically blogs for education sites. Also he writes for a site yorknotes.com where you can get revision notes, study guides and chapter summaries on English Literature.