February 8, 2020

Top 10 tips to score a 9 in GCSE Maths

It can often be a nerve wracking time when it comes to your GCSE exams. You will no doubt be aware - and have probably been told many times - just how important these exams are, and how they are often going to be the basis for many of your future decisions.


Having good results will certainly open you up to more and more possibilities in the future, and that is a great reason to do well in them. There is also the fact that you are going to want to do yourself proud, and make your parents and teachers proud too. You might even want to compete with some of your friends and get a good result for that reason. Whatever your main motivation, it’s good to know what you can do to get the best grade. In this article, we will take a look at how you can revise successfully, so that you can get a 9 in GCSE Maths.



1. Draw Up A Timetable


When you are revising for absolutely anything, you should make sure to draw up a revision timetable. That is going to ensure that you look at all of the material you need to look at, and that you do so in good time before the exam. That alone ensures you are more likely to have remembered everything, so it’s important to consider this as an early step. Spend a day drawing up your timetable, and you will be setting yourself up for some good revision.



2. Practice


Because this is a Maths exam, you will be required to perform a number of mathematical tasks on the paper. That is one way in which this can differ from other exams. You are not merely learning facts to repeat later on, but rather showing that you can do something practical and specific. So that means that you have to actually spend some time practising those things. Look at the tasks that you know you will be asked to do, and specifically practice them.



3. Take Regular Breaks


What’s just as important as studying hard is taking regular breaks. The human brain can only concentrate fully for so long - around forty minutes, in fact - so you should make sure that you allow yourself regular breaks, and you should consider this an important part of getting a good grade. If you don’t allow yourself to take breaks, you won’t find that the information sticks in your brain as well, and you could end up with a grade lower than you deserve.



4. Sleep Well


Sleep is a hugely important function when it comes to all kinds of learning. If you don’t get your eight hours regularly, you are going to find that you struggle to remember everything, and that is just as true of Maths as any other subject you might be taking. Get to bed early night after night during your revision time and before exams, and make sure that you have a bedtime routine - such routines help us get off to sleep much more quickly, and ensure that we sleep more deeply.



5. Find Practice Papers


In order to practice your Maths skills, you might find that it is helpful to do some practice papers from previous years. You can find many of these online, or your teacher might even be able to source some for you. Of course, these are not going to be exactly the same questions as the current year, but much of the information and the skills you need to practice will be the same, so it is going to be helpful in either case.



6. Redo Your Mistakes


Once you have done those papers, you need to make sure that they are marked by a teacher or someone else whom you trust. You can then look into which parts you keep getting routinely wrong, and you know that those are the parts that you most need to practice. By going over those mistakes again and again you will hopefully ensure that they stick in your brain much more easily. This is an essential part of racking up those marks on the actual exam itself.



7. Collaborate


There is no rule that says that Maths revision has to be done alone. In fact, plenty of research out there suggests that if you collaborate with others while learning, you are more likely to remember the information well. You can sit with other friends and learn your Maths together to ensure that you do better, and this is absolutely something that you should be aware of, particularly if you are struggling.



8. Be Creative


It is much easier to remember what you need to do for specific Maths problems if you apply a certain creativity to the process. The more creative you get, in fact, the more likely it is that you will understand better what you need to be doing. That could mean thinking outside the box for ways to answer questions or find solutions, or just to provide yourself with means of memorising procedures and statistics and so on. However you do it, be sure to use your creativity if that is how you work best.



9. Use A 9 Grade Targeted Book


There is much to be said for using practice books for revision for your Maths exam. Specifically, if you want to try and do the advanced questions well then you will want to look into using a 9 Grade targeted book, as that is going to allow you the opportunity to practice at that difficulty. That’s the only way you can really know that you are ready for such questions.



10. Use An App


You can also find a number of Maths apps which can help you to revise specifically for the GCSE exam you are heading towards. Be careful however, and make sure that you get one that is trusted and which is really going to be helpful. As long as you do that, you should be able to score that 9 in your GCSE Maths exams with no trouble.


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