GCSE Physics Week 1 Exam Preparation Tips

Hello everyone!

My name is Imogen and over the next few weeks I look forward to helping you through your GCSE Physics revision with tips and advice through these blogs.

Now, "why should I listen to this random stranger?" I hear you say. Well, I was in fact in your exact position not too long ago, so I totally understand the chaos of trying to balance revision for ten subjects at once!! I know the feeling of being totally lost in the piles of papers, binders and flashcards! This is going to be a list of things I wish someone had told me before my first GCSE’s!

But with my guidance through this tricky process hopefully you’ll come out on top and look back with fond memories 😊 (maybe?). A little more background on me is that I actually used to be indifferent to science subjects, until I found VSauce (on YouTube) who inspired me beyond the classroom and expanded my horizons on the beauty and curiosity of Physics. After GCSEs I went on to study Physics A-level and loved it, despite not feeling naturally gifted at it like some of my peers! Acing it was largely down to my approach and preparation for the subject, so I hope to help as many of you as possible to succeed in a similar way, even if you think it’s not for you!

What should you start with this week?

First things first, before we can do anything we must make sure we’re organised. Yes, this is me giving you the green light for some quick productive procrastination (my fave!).

I’m sure you are already pretty on top of your organisation, well at least as much as what has been working for you so far. But let us just quickly run through the following checklist to be sure the foundations of your preparation are as robust as possible.

1. I have all the exam dates clearly displayed in a calendar somewhere (can be digital) so I know how much time I have to prepare before each physics exam.

2. I understand what topics will be covered in each paper.

3. I have a specific physics binder with dividers per topic.

4. As many notes and previously made revision materials are organised into these folder dividers.

Lovely! If you haven’t done the above yet – get to it! These are the basics or organisation and will give you a solid foundation for the next few weeks. Now all that is in order it’s important we look through the specification to have an even more solid understanding of the content we are going to be assessed on. [Due to the reason that everyone has different exam boards, I am unfortunately going to have to steer clear of going into specifics of any specification structures, but in future weeks I may discuss overarching topics.] Your teacher may have printed this out for you. If not it’s super easy to find online, just type into google ‘Physics GCSE [insert exam board] specification’. Once downloaded, you may be looking through it and think ‘gosh this is a dauntingly large document!’ so let’s take it bit by bit at a time. Follow these steps to help you break it down effectively:

1. Find your favourite 3 highlighters (make sure they’re different colours, the best would be red, amber and green)

2. You guessed it; we’re going to do traffic-light colour coding for all the content in your specification! This can be done digitally or physically, both methods have pros and cons.

3. Decide which colour will symbolise the topics you feel confident in. Another colour will be where you think you need a bit more work. Finally, the last colour is for topics you find the worst and need some serious help with. The classic combo is green, amber and red but if you want to get funky – feel free.

4. Break the specification into chunks, make sure you feel comfortable with the size of these. This might be by topic or page numbers or for the hearty amongst you just until you fall asleep at your desk from highlighting exhaustion! Haha, no I don’t necessarily recommend the last one but colour coding can be pretty riveting stuff, I know! The most important thing is to aim to have this completed as soon as possible.

5. The best approach would also be to go through your textbook simultaneously with the specification. This allows you to get a holistic view of the content you’re going to be joyfully ramming into your brain over the next few weeks. Therefore, giving your sub-conscious time to digest and plan for some topics you may have forgotten or blocked out of memory!

6. Once you have finished highlighting, start going through the amber coloured topics, slowly turning them green. Also seek help from friends or teachers with the harder topics. Be confident that you will turn everything green eventually! You really will! So do not get caught up now if more than you expected falls into the amber and red zones because we will be referring back to this in the weeks to come. It’s better to know this now, so we understand what needs to be done and your revision has direction.

That’s all for this week! The main take-away is to have a deep and thorough understanding of the content on your exams. Say no to the negative thoughts and self-judgment if there is more than expected that you don’t get. Understanding where we need to improve is the first step to getting there and achieving our goals!

Have any questions about how to prepare for your GCSE exams? Having problems with any hard to understand content or tricky past exam questions? Then ask Imogen. Imogen will be hosting a series of Q&A webinars in the 2 weeks before final exams. Post your questions here, and Imogen will answer them in these sessions.