My Tips For Starting Year 11

Hey everyone!!

Now, back to school season is definitely here and it’s only right to include it here on my blog! As I enter sixth form, I want to start doing some more study related posts on my blog. However, today I’m going to be giving my tips for starting Year 11.

If you haven’t seen my blog before, you might not know that I’ve just finished Year 11 and so after going through it and knowing that some people are going into Year 11 who follow my blog and I wanted to give you my tips for the year.

DON’T start hardcore revision too early

At the start of Year 11, you haven’t even finished your courses so starting hardcore revision isn’t the best idea. I would recommend going over topics to keep them fresh in your mind but that’s about it. If you feel like you want to do some kind of revision, try and learn the general idea rather than specifics. I started really revising around Easter but it’s of course down to your personal preference.

Start making your revision materials now

This is properly my biggest regret when it comes to my GCSEs because I didn’t do this. Especially your subjects like English Literature where you need to learn specifics, make your revision materials in advance so you just need to learn them when it comes to you getting to closer to exams. Do not be like me where I was making History flashcards the day before my exam. Doing it in advance will definitely help you, I promise.

Prioritise

This is definitely one of the hardest things to do but you have to prioritise. There is no way that you are going to be able to fit everything in that you want to so you need to decide what’s most important for you. For me, I prioritised subjects which I wanted to do next year and Science as it probably had the most content. However, prioritising isn’t just about school subjects, it also involves your real life. Especially when it comes to school breaks, you need to decide whether you’re going to prioritise that revision or hanging out with friends. You are going to have to make some sacrifices if you want to do well so think what’s most important to you.

Use Seneca Learning

Right, Seneca Learning is honestly amazing and you absolutely NEED to use it. If you don’t know what it is, it’s basically a free website that teaches you the specification for your subjects for each individual exam board. You might be thinking you’re covered with your revision books but you’re not.

In my GCSE, I think Biology exam, there was a question that came up and everyone did not understand what it was talking about. I recognised the term from doing the course on Seneca and was able to do the question. Once I was out of the exam everyone was talking about that question, saying it wasn’t in our revision guide and when I got home and checked it wasn’t. If I had not done Seneca, I wouldn’t have done so well on my Science and that’s honestly a true fact. I like upped my Grade by 2 or 3 grades all thanks to this website.

Make sure it’s not all about revision

I know I said earlier that you need to make sacrifices when it comes to your non-school life but don’t make your whole life revision. Have a day that you know won’t be revision and go out with your friends. Say you’ll stop revising at a certain time and go and watch an episode of a TV show.  Just don’t revise all the time, okay?

Have fun!

You’ve got to remember that Year 11 isn’t just about exams. It’s your last year if secondary school and you need to enjoy every minute as it does go really fast. For many people, you have a prom to look forward to which is honestly so much fun. Year 11 has probably been my favourite year in education so far and if it wasn’t for the exams, I’d probably want to do it all over again.

• Related posts:
  • How I’m Revising For My GCSEs
  • My GCSE Results 2018

Pin this on Pinterest so you can easily find this post in the future!

So that’s it for today’s post, I hope you liked it. If any of you want some motivation to help you study, I’ve created a studygram here which you can follow to see how I’m finding A Levels. Also, be sure to comment on any other school-related posts you’d like to see in the future as I want to do more school-related posts.

Bethany x