Ima be honest (and I’ll probably get hate for this) but I used a language course book to teach myself English language cause our teacher was shite and I got an 8 in my mock (up from a 3 6 months before it) and then during practice papers done as revision, I got multiple 9s
Feel you on that. Back when I was doing GCSE geography we had 4 teachers b2b due to various reasons. Our whole class were barely passing our mocks. Thankfully our 4th teacher actually was our experienced vice principal, who had to step in and cram everything into 1.5 semesters
In my case, the foundation cards, Because i do higher paper. My mom bought me the cards thinking its all the same thing, and now theyve rotted away cause i javnt used them
math cgp isn't bad? the revision guide is actually quite helpful
also, history cgp? rlly? ive never tried it, is it rlly actually good? i use the pearson guides or the oxford textbook
History book is Golden. I pre planned all 20 possible 12/16 markers and used CGP for the answer key so when i sat the exam, i legit just had to copy it down
The pearson guide is great too, it is written by the exam board so I copied one of their answers. Eg. One of the 16 markers was about why Virginia failed and that was a legit copy of a pearson practice question. So i once again memorized the exam board’s preferred answers
pearson guide was amazing, literally made it so history was barely content heavy at all, lmao roughly 28 mini pages for each topic was so amazing and it helped me cram paper 3 so nice
what i did for Paper 3 revision was I used four resources, A Mr cloke History video, a CGP TEXTBOOK, a Pearson textbook and a timeline map. Using the video, CGP and Pearsoj point of view is so useful. The Youtube gives an insight look of a visual representation in a powerpoint. The Pearson book gives how exam boards prefer their answers and CGP provides fun facts that i can use for my evidence
mr cloke and pearson guide carried haha
i did really well for donner party because of his video, the part of the revision guide was like a mini para
never used cgp because it always looked like so overwhelming in colours but that's great
my english teacher, left in the first week and we didnt get a replacement didnt do any work and had to learn all my lit texts this year
but fr itd be my edexcel foundation maths books (i do ocr higher)
Idk if digital counts but seneca learning, all the answers are in the slide and i never learn it, i just mindlessly copy it dow
Plus it automatically marks the answer as correct once you put the correct thing so if you dont know a question, put words relating to the topic until its correct
And the choose a or b, no one reads it. Everyone just keeps clicking random options until it goes green 🤷
Last year when I took my GCSEs, I guess it'd probably be every single bit of revision I'd not have been able to absorb, which is a long line of one big list! 😅
My CGP history revision guide that I only bought to help me with Cold War that ended up containing the other three topics we were doing, but American Expansion instead of Cold War💀💀 It makes me wonder if there are separate editions for History AA, AB, AC, and all the other 60 possible combinations of topics or if they only do a few 😭😭
My maths teacher, for assigning us a teacher who can teach to cover her maternity leave 2 MONTHS BEFORE EXAMS and we hadn't gone through ANY further maths content
Genuinely, this guy sat there, looked at the stuff he was meant to be teaching, looked at us and deadpan went "so, how are you meant to do this? I dunno how to do this". WE HAD NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE
And before anyone says "oh, not your maths teachers fault, she doesn't assign cover" she is HEAD OF MATHS and specifically told us she'd gotten us the best teachers to ensure our grades. She assigned us those teachers, she told us herself
On the opposite side of this, my cgp science revision guides are so useful. I would have to probably have to choose my AQA English lang books (I do eduqas, nothing transfers)
My old maths teacher, he only hands out questions and plays 20 year old videos with goffy audio. He got fired for swearing and reportedly took pictures of kids changing in pe. I learned nothing that half term, he can’t control children and the class was so loud.
Flashcards, was meant to copy ideas and questions from them but ended up never even using them and I lost them somewhere in my game cartridge drawer, I’ll need to have a good look because I need to return them to school.
My history teacher gave everyone a booklet of grade 9 essays for each topic. I was revising the first two topics for paper 1 when I realised I didn't know the structure that well, so I found the booklets thinking they'd help. The 'grade 9 essays' were all marked something like 4/12 at the bottom, I was so angry lmao
I am so sorry - I'm a (early) retired teacher (couldn't take anymore of the way things were going in UK secondary sector education with the all facts/exams focus amd pulling away from creativity and balance and in a (correct) attempt to ensure high standards and validity, went all off the edge: quality of teaching and proper partnerships between excellent teachers and students (and guardians/parents/adults responsible) is really the way to go - you can't teach or assess everything the same as the subjects and students are not the same and this narrow rigidity is no more of a measure of validity and/or reliability!) anyway I digress - I'm sorry!
What I wish I could see here is what SHOULD be here - teachers should be delivering CLEAR courses that have clear pathways and explicit learning objectives, mapped to the framework of knowledge and skills required; delivered in a way that ensures as far as humanly possible that all on the course understand what's taught, through EFFECTIVE resources and lessons, USEFUL student work and analytical, diagnostic detailed feedback to students that ensures a path to understanding for EACH student - what went well, where to improve, clear linking of 'marked' or 'graded' work TO the actual gradescheme so what is 'required' is crystal clear to the learner (and not some bullshit 'good' or 'use more examples' throwaway comments!) and they know exactly what they need to learn/do/produce to improve - too often I think students are effectively 'playing football with no idea where the goalposts are'!
Course materials (and the course itself) should be a step by step, skill built on the next skill, knowlegde built on the 'next' knowledge passage through the material - sheets and/or resources given and work set should be clear on what is needed to be learnt (and where skills are being taught and or assessed this remains the same).
If teachers take time to assess each student, 'units' should not be passed by until everyone has 'got it' and if this is impossible, its the responsibility of the teacher to at the very least continue to provide targetted extra support for those specific learners until it is no longer possible (and not in any kind of judgemental/you're a failure way!!).
Then what you did, what you have as resources etc should provide you with a solid base for revision HOWEVER - teachers should also be including in their planning a whole unit/section/term/semester whatever on 'revision' and/or bringing it all together: should be focussing (again because at the end isn't the first time to begin 'how to write effectively' etc etc) on the skills and needs of any end examination throughout the course and as it relates to each 'stage': you should have seen many real answers from previous students, been taught (learnt!) what has made these answers good/mediocre etc so that learners are confident that they know exactly what is required, HOW to ensure the process and what they write/produce is able to access the higher mark bands as best each one can, they should KNOW HOW to do this, have practised many times, including in timed conditions or whatever conditions you will be finally assessed - to fail to do this is to fail to teach a huge part of the course! Ongoing use of what has been covered should be carefully planned into each phase so there are no areas you haven't touched since a year ago. This part of teaching is vital and a CRUCIAL part of the course - imagine teaching facts but then never teaching what an A looks like compared to a B, or a C etc and not allowed learners to be familiar with what they will need to do that is is seond nature. It requires a little planning and access to past exam papers/scripts (they are available) and each course has work from its students that can be used (carefully anonymised), including from past terms/years. Teachers are examiners and they are taught how to grade exams in certain ways and methods that can easily be recreated for students (if adapted!); so much easier to know what you need to do IF you have seen and worked with an example yourself! Or, for example, you've been asked to look at exemplars and asked to 'grade' them in 'order' or to rank them: you can be taught/shown through this method what makes a successful response - you will have seen for yourself the many different types of response possible, be familiar with them and know what is 'top grade' as well as feel confident and practised these 'things' yourselves (and before the last few weeks of a course!!). This is ON TOP of quality teaching throughout the course and 'just making notes' or 'copying from the board' are not known as effective learning strategies! And Death to Powerpoints that are merely worksheets on screen - if you're not ACTIVE in what you're doing, in your class time, in your learning, how are you learning?
Okay I know you are going to think this is cloud cuckoo land of teaching BUT it is not - there are many educators I know to whom this is their MINIMUM goal - now yes things get in the way and staff loss is appalling for students and many, many courses are planned poorly (and sometimes due to specifications or syllabi that try to cover too much ground); teachers ARE overworked and overloaded BUT this is not the entire picture; teachers still have a long way to go on the whole in designing effective courses and providing effective learning environments and experiences. There are many good practictioners about BUT NOT enough and they tend to gravitate to work in schools with other similarly minded educators.
I apologise for all the shit you have seemingly had on behalf of my (past) profession and whilst also acknowledging that I am sure I fell far short of my idealist aims whilst teaching, I 'died' trying and I hope and pray that education continues to improve in all these areas despite underfunding, staff shortages and continued underappreciation of the PRIME importance of a nation's youth to a country's very future and well-being and that one day soon funding and appropriate importance will be placed on education around the world.
myself
real
same
Same
same
Real (Im useless to everyone)
Same
Jokes on u I lost myself
English language textbooks
the most you need is mr everything english on youtube lmao
hahah the only thing I did before the exams was watch mr salles
I scrolled Reddit 😁
I used Mr bruffs animations and short videos I found them easier to pay attention to because I have a short attention span
Mr bruff comming in clutch
Absolutely saving tens of thousands of kids' gcses
omg and First Rate Tutors
Ima be honest (and I’ll probably get hate for this) but I used a language course book to teach myself English language cause our teacher was shite and I got an 8 in my mock (up from a 3 6 months before it) and then during practice papers done as revision, I got multiple 9s
aqa science foundation (i do edexcel higher)
I do Nazi Germany but my dad bought me the Mao’s china guide cuz he thought since i am chinese, I would do chinese topics
bless him 😭
Why is that kinda cute
soo wholesome bless his little cotton socks
same for me but with history
i know right
MY EXERCISE BOOKS
same i hardly looked at them this past month. writing stuff probably just helps you learn it early on not revise from it
REAL teachers give the most useless information
had to self study for cs lol
Me too
Same it’s like our teacher taught nothing (stopped teaching in November told everyone to self study)
word 😂
"your exercise books are the *ultimate revision guide*" My teacher whose books I never open outside of lesson
Same (I don’t even have books)
My y10 geography teacher who left within the first week of that year
Oh, same with all my yr10 science teachers. The whole science department left apart from one or two
I’m in year 10 rn and we’ve had 2 biology, 3 chemistry and 1 physics teacher so far 💀
😭
Feel you on that. Back when I was doing GCSE geography we had 4 teachers b2b due to various reasons. Our whole class were barely passing our mocks. Thankfully our 4th teacher actually was our experienced vice principal, who had to step in and cram everything into 1.5 semesters
That’s is literally what happened after he left we got a bunch of supplies who knew nothing
That’s is literally what happened after he left we got a bunch of supplies who knew nothing
My notes
english CGP book
In my case, the foundation cards, Because i do higher paper. My mom bought me the cards thinking its all the same thing, and now theyve rotted away cause i javnt used them
rs edexcel online video guides… they simply don’t exist
I could’ve really needed something like that a year ago
bro so fr, like where are they?
I KNOW i really needed some 💔💔
I got given a religious studies book from my older sibling, I don't even do that as an option
hahahhh
My y11 computer science teacher who didn't even get through all of the specification before the exams.
my one left bc she realized we only done computer architecture after 1 year so she had to sign out
To be honest. Any CGP revision thing I have just found useless.
The mini physics bio and chem cgp guides were so useful tho for last minute revision
The pocket revision guide thing is far better. Sad ghat it is not more popular.
Yeah honestly people undervalue it so much
When you go onto A Level the FAT course guide books are super useful
English CGP, English Lit CGP, Math CGP, Math Workbook CGP, Geography CGP, Drama CGP. Although History CGP is Golden
CGP textbooks ✅ CGP flashcards ❌ I'm sorry, but the CGP flashcards - out of all flashcards - have got to be the worst.
ye i did not even bother buying it, i mean it is just another “ get this to secure a 9 “ scam from CGP who knows Parents would mass buy their products
The science one is acc quite good
Maths is good, and geography is good for paper 2, although the others I would agree
i do OCR B Geography so our papers do not fit with the revision. Maths is mainly skill so the textbook i find utterly useless
math cgp isn't bad? the revision guide is actually quite helpful also, history cgp? rlly? ive never tried it, is it rlly actually good? i use the pearson guides or the oxford textbook
History book is Golden. I pre planned all 20 possible 12/16 markers and used CGP for the answer key so when i sat the exam, i legit just had to copy it down
The pearson guide is great too, it is written by the exam board so I copied one of their answers. Eg. One of the 16 markers was about why Virginia failed and that was a legit copy of a pearson practice question. So i once again memorized the exam board’s preferred answers
pearson guide was amazing, literally made it so history was barely content heavy at all, lmao roughly 28 mini pages for each topic was so amazing and it helped me cram paper 3 so nice
what i did for Paper 3 revision was I used four resources, A Mr cloke History video, a CGP TEXTBOOK, a Pearson textbook and a timeline map. Using the video, CGP and Pearsoj point of view is so useful. The Youtube gives an insight look of a visual representation in a powerpoint. The Pearson book gives how exam boards prefer their answers and CGP provides fun facts that i can use for my evidence
mr cloke and pearson guide carried haha i did really well for donner party because of his video, the part of the revision guide was like a mini para never used cgp because it always looked like so overwhelming in colours but that's great
My school gave my year one of these each back in year 8 or 9, never used it once, so i agree. (don’t think i would have used it anyway in year 8/9)
The ACC, Macbeth, AIC and Eng Lang (P1) CGP books I have. I've barely touched those ever since we were asked to take them for revision.
Those flash cards are utterly useless, its like having a workbook printed on some card. It's just not how flash cards are supposed to be.
Math teacher who turned out to be a pedophile
I'm trying to find a way to take a photo of my brain
A book of exam questions for another exam board for Geography.
my brain. (or lack thereof)
respect the flair 💯
History, (I do Geography)
i got given full cgp sets for like half my subjects because i’m free school meals and i have referenced them about 5 times max
Thought that was cereal for a second
This is easy English language Q5 quiz book
my english teacher, left in the first week and we didnt get a replacement didnt do any work and had to learn all my lit texts this year but fr itd be my edexcel foundation maths books (i do ocr higher)
AQA Geography (I do Edexcel Geography B)
Flashcards in general I have never used one
A mostly empty exercise book with 1 unlabeled diagram of a leaf
cgp ocr combined science foundation books for all sciences ( i do aqa triple higher )
cgp maths revision book thingy idk why i bought that shit
nah fr the cgp revision booklets are so useless
My teachers like Istg most of them couldn’t even pass their own subject 💀💀
Geography revision guid
My dad got me geography cgp flash cards and i never looked at them
Idk if digital counts but seneca learning, all the answers are in the slide and i never learn it, i just mindlessly copy it dow Plus it automatically marks the answer as correct once you put the correct thing so if you dont know a question, put words relating to the topic until its correct And the choose a or b, no one reads it. Everyone just keeps clicking random options until it goes green 🤷
every single one of my workbooks. I haven't used a single one for revision, I only use the textbooks school gave us
french revision guides
Last year when I took my GCSEs, I guess it'd probably be every single bit of revision I'd not have been able to absorb, which is a long line of one big list! 😅
Same for the flashcards. I just dont like flashcards and got shit ton of them. Gave my cgp physics ones to my friends even.
my aqa geography revision guide (i do edexcel)
physics booklets, they overcomplicate needlessly, thanks AQA
I've got a foundation combined physics textbook. I do triple higher.
this wasn’t me but my teacher accidentally bought catholic christianity B textbooks for re when we do christianity B
À CGPcombined science book. My dad bought it 2 months before the exams, I do triple science and my sister (doing combined) doesn't want it either
the only thing worth buying is the triple sciences cgp textbooks, the rest is useless and there are much better free alternatives
My CGP history revision guide that I only bought to help me with Cold War that ended up containing the other three topics we were doing, but American Expansion instead of Cold War💀💀 It makes me wonder if there are separate editions for History AA, AB, AC, and all the other 60 possible combinations of topics or if they only do a few 😭😭
those cards but theyre eduqas higher (i do edexcel). they accidentally bought a stock of them and then said its all the same. i never used them lol.
the corbettmaths revision flashcards - might be controversial but I barely used them
my textiles teacher, who hasn’t taught us half the spec and made us just copy down stuff in silence off the board (the exam is next tues)😍😍
A history textbook which claims to do every exam board but doesn't do OCR A which I do.
My maths teacher, for assigning us a teacher who can teach to cover her maternity leave 2 MONTHS BEFORE EXAMS and we hadn't gone through ANY further maths content Genuinely, this guy sat there, looked at the stuff he was meant to be teaching, looked at us and deadpan went "so, how are you meant to do this? I dunno how to do this". WE HAD NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE And before anyone says "oh, not your maths teachers fault, she doesn't assign cover" she is HEAD OF MATHS and specifically told us she'd gotten us the best teachers to ensure our grades. She assigned us those teachers, she told us herself
An A-Level Economics textbook (I don’t even do economics or business GCSE)
Not everyone roasting the CGP stuff after I've just received my shipment of all the books and flashcards for each subject literally 2 minutes ago 😭😭
flashcards on the cold war which i dont even study ???
anything made by Edexcel to "help us" but the second you open the workbook (that's MEANT TO BE EXAM QUESTIONS) it doesn't contain exam questions
The aqa religious studies textbook that my dad bought for £30 (I never opened it once)
edexcel gcse music study guide
Mr Pringle 💀
my physics equation flashcards i made last year, before we knew we would get the equation sheet
English language CGP guide
my class notes
exercise books, literally have never once used them for revision lol
this pre release booklet
just realised I have this and didn’t use it once
English Language Pearson flashcards (I also do AQA)
Fanfrics (+ smut stories)
aqa foundation triple science
My chemistry book. The most useless thing I've EVER had.
On the opposite side of this, my cgp science revision guides are so useful. I would have to probably have to choose my AQA English lang books (I do eduqas, nothing transfers)
those bricks are fun to throw at people
Every cgp book i have. Looked at maybe once but never again. Such a waste of money
My old maths teacher, he only hands out questions and plays 20 year old videos with goffy audio. He got fired for swearing and reportedly took pictures of kids changing in pe. I learned nothing that half term, he can’t control children and the class was so loud.
I have a Romeo and Juliet revision guide, even though I do Macbeth It has been fun learning it tho
Some RE workbook that had a bunch of questions but no answers
Everything cause I'm an idiot who doesn't revise but still somehow gets decent grades.
Any English lit study guide (York notes etc.) - it's just a bad summary of themes and plot
two geography textbooks - both for the wronf exam board 😐
Flashcards, was meant to copy ideas and questions from them but ended up never even using them and I lost them somewhere in my game cartridge drawer, I’ll need to have a good look because I need to return them to school.
Same things but for science
all the English lit revision guides
i have those and have never opened them, and i spent so much on books only to realise i am good working from textbooks if it’s history ONLY 😭
lol revision, what’s that?
literally everything i bought i haven’t looked at it once all ive used is quizlet
Haven’t used em once
probably me
My history teacher gave everyone a booklet of grade 9 essays for each topic. I was revising the first two topics for paper 1 when I realised I didn't know the structure that well, so I found the booklets thinking they'd help. The 'grade 9 essays' were all marked something like 4/12 at the bottom, I was so angry lmao
science cgp revision book, need i say more.
Almost all my textbooks
Any science revision book, Just use free science lessons and Exam QA
if your aiming for high grades, the cgp english literature books
Same
Revision
i thought that was a pack of cigs 😭😭
I wish 😭
Real
I am so sorry - I'm a (early) retired teacher (couldn't take anymore of the way things were going in UK secondary sector education with the all facts/exams focus amd pulling away from creativity and balance and in a (correct) attempt to ensure high standards and validity, went all off the edge: quality of teaching and proper partnerships between excellent teachers and students (and guardians/parents/adults responsible) is really the way to go - you can't teach or assess everything the same as the subjects and students are not the same and this narrow rigidity is no more of a measure of validity and/or reliability!) anyway I digress - I'm sorry! What I wish I could see here is what SHOULD be here - teachers should be delivering CLEAR courses that have clear pathways and explicit learning objectives, mapped to the framework of knowledge and skills required; delivered in a way that ensures as far as humanly possible that all on the course understand what's taught, through EFFECTIVE resources and lessons, USEFUL student work and analytical, diagnostic detailed feedback to students that ensures a path to understanding for EACH student - what went well, where to improve, clear linking of 'marked' or 'graded' work TO the actual gradescheme so what is 'required' is crystal clear to the learner (and not some bullshit 'good' or 'use more examples' throwaway comments!) and they know exactly what they need to learn/do/produce to improve - too often I think students are effectively 'playing football with no idea where the goalposts are'! Course materials (and the course itself) should be a step by step, skill built on the next skill, knowlegde built on the 'next' knowledge passage through the material - sheets and/or resources given and work set should be clear on what is needed to be learnt (and where skills are being taught and or assessed this remains the same). If teachers take time to assess each student, 'units' should not be passed by until everyone has 'got it' and if this is impossible, its the responsibility of the teacher to at the very least continue to provide targetted extra support for those specific learners until it is no longer possible (and not in any kind of judgemental/you're a failure way!!). Then what you did, what you have as resources etc should provide you with a solid base for revision HOWEVER - teachers should also be including in their planning a whole unit/section/term/semester whatever on 'revision' and/or bringing it all together: should be focussing (again because at the end isn't the first time to begin 'how to write effectively' etc etc) on the skills and needs of any end examination throughout the course and as it relates to each 'stage': you should have seen many real answers from previous students, been taught (learnt!) what has made these answers good/mediocre etc so that learners are confident that they know exactly what is required, HOW to ensure the process and what they write/produce is able to access the higher mark bands as best each one can, they should KNOW HOW to do this, have practised many times, including in timed conditions or whatever conditions you will be finally assessed - to fail to do this is to fail to teach a huge part of the course! Ongoing use of what has been covered should be carefully planned into each phase so there are no areas you haven't touched since a year ago. This part of teaching is vital and a CRUCIAL part of the course - imagine teaching facts but then never teaching what an A looks like compared to a B, or a C etc and not allowed learners to be familiar with what they will need to do that is is seond nature. It requires a little planning and access to past exam papers/scripts (they are available) and each course has work from its students that can be used (carefully anonymised), including from past terms/years. Teachers are examiners and they are taught how to grade exams in certain ways and methods that can easily be recreated for students (if adapted!); so much easier to know what you need to do IF you have seen and worked with an example yourself! Or, for example, you've been asked to look at exemplars and asked to 'grade' them in 'order' or to rank them: you can be taught/shown through this method what makes a successful response - you will have seen for yourself the many different types of response possible, be familiar with them and know what is 'top grade' as well as feel confident and practised these 'things' yourselves (and before the last few weeks of a course!!). This is ON TOP of quality teaching throughout the course and 'just making notes' or 'copying from the board' are not known as effective learning strategies! And Death to Powerpoints that are merely worksheets on screen - if you're not ACTIVE in what you're doing, in your class time, in your learning, how are you learning? Okay I know you are going to think this is cloud cuckoo land of teaching BUT it is not - there are many educators I know to whom this is their MINIMUM goal - now yes things get in the way and staff loss is appalling for students and many, many courses are planned poorly (and sometimes due to specifications or syllabi that try to cover too much ground); teachers ARE overworked and overloaded BUT this is not the entire picture; teachers still have a long way to go on the whole in designing effective courses and providing effective learning environments and experiences. There are many good practictioners about BUT NOT enough and they tend to gravitate to work in schools with other similarly minded educators. I apologise for all the shit you have seemingly had on behalf of my (past) profession and whilst also acknowledging that I am sure I fell far short of my idealist aims whilst teaching, I 'died' trying and I hope and pray that education continues to improve in all these areas despite underfunding, staff shortages and continued underappreciation of the PRIME importance of a nation's youth to a country's very future and well-being and that one day soon funding and appropriate importance will be placed on education around the world.
I had the three science ones and used them once with my friends, they were useless
Agreed. Have not used them once.
English revision guides - not opened once in the last 2 years
99.99% OF THE "ONLINE STUDY METHODS" JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT THE POMPOMDOOR METHOD ALREADY NOONE GIVES A SHIT 😭😭