Posts Tagged ‘GCSEs’

Congratulations to GCSE students!

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Another happy parent this morning wished to thank their tutor Ajmal!

“Henry got a B in his Maths GCSE – thank you so much for all your help – we are over the moon! Would love it if you would come and help Adam this year. Hope you are well. Emma.”

Nearly one in four GCSE entries has been awarded an A or an A* grade in results published this morning. This a great news!

Around 750,000 children receive their GCSE results today in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The overall pass rate at grades A* to C has increased to 69.8%, while the percentage getting an A or A* has risen from 22.6% last year to 23.2% this summer.

This year’s GCSE results also show an increase in entries for physics, chemistry and biology. Physics is up 16.4%, chemistry 16.2% and biology 14.2%.

Results show the continuing trend for grades in Northern Ireland to be highest, with England second and then Wales.

The gender gap widened yet again. Girls have increased their lead on boys for top grades in GCSEs, 26% of exams taken by girls were given the top grades, while just under 20% of those taken by boys were.

The numbers of pupils taking modern foreign languages continues to fall. Fewer pupils are taking history and geography, with history entries down around 2,700, and geography entries slumping dramatically by 13,800 in one year.

Figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications suggest that students are starting to return to tough subjects favoured by employers and leading universities – mirroring a trend in last week’s A-level results.

For those students who didn’t receive such good results, please don’t despair! If you are thinking of resitting some of your exams why not consider receiving one to one tuition? Some resits can be taken as early as November or January, with Maths and English being particularly popular subjects to resit, as Cs in both are considered an important benchmark in terms of basic skills.

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Transitioning from GCSEs to A-levels

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

The move from Year 11 to sixth form is really significant. For many pupils, this is the first time that they will be treated like an adult: no more school uniform and a greater degree of freedom. With this freedom of course comes extra responsibility and pressure. These tips can help your child prepare for the change:

1. A-levels involve a huge amount of work, especially if your child is starting with four or more AS levels. Help your child by providing them with clear space to work on, access to a computer and room for their files and books.

2. The move to sixth form can be very stressful. Keep the channels of communication with your child open at all times and make sure they feel able to chat to you about their worries.

3. A-levels involve more self-study and in-depth work than GCSEs. If you child isn’t sure how to work in this way, a few sessions with a study skills tutor or subject-specific tutor can really help.

4. Unfortunately A-levels happen at a time when teenagers want to party as much as possible. Set some boundaries with your child: it’s important to have some rest and relaxation, but not at the cost of their studies.

5. Start researching universities and degree programmes as soon as sixth form starts. When your child can contextualise their studies and see what they can lead to, they can become more motivated and hard-working.

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Preparing your child for their GCSEs – Part 1

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

GCSEs are the first set of exams which have an influence on a pupil’s career. Successful results enable pupils to take their pick of A-level subjects, and the top universities like to see a stream of A*s and As when it comes to GCSEs on UCAS forms.

With that in mind, it’s so important to prepare your child well for their GCSE studies. Here are three ways in which you can do this.

1. Stress to your child how important their GCSEs are. This is a chance for them to shine and get their lives off to a great start. Tell them that it’s time to knuckle down – and that you’ll give them all the love and support they need for success.

2. Organisation is key and comes in two main forms: time management and information organisation. In terms of time, make sure that your child is spending equal amounts of time on each subject when it comes to their homework and coursework.

As for storing their work, make sure they have folders for each subject and that they know how to organise each folder. There are a lot of handouts and notes to collate, and organising them from the start makes the inevitable exam revision much easier to handle.

3. A challenge you will face as a parent is the fact that GCSEs happen at the same time that your child’s interest in their social life will start to rise. They’ll want to go out all the time – or spend all their time on Facebook. Set boundaries for their social lives. Friends are important, but their schoolwork has to take priority.

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Nerves of steel

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

This week, we continue our revision tips and tricks series with a look at how to control something that can potentially ruin all of your good work – exam nerves!

If you’ve ever seen X Factor, you’ll know that even the most talented of performers can let nerves overtake their auditions. When the pressure is on and the whole world is watching, it’s understandable that nerves can get to people that much – but too many nerves can get in the way of a performance.

Consider your own exam nerves. True, exams don’t involve standing in front of thousands of people on live TV, but they are still understandably nerve-wracking. You feel as though this is your one chance to improve your future and that you need to get high grades. No wonder you feel nervous.

A few nerves on the day of your GCSE or A-level exams are fine and natural. However, you don’t want too many nerves on the day as they will block your ability to think. Here are some tips to help you calm down as your exams approach:

•    Practise exam questions to time so that you get used to working quickly without getting flustered.

•    Eat regular, healthy meals and drink lots of water. If you can avoid caffeine, then do, as it will only increase your jitters.

•    Identify the subjects or topics that make you feel the most nervous. Devote more time to these in your revision.

•    If you really are feeling nervous and unable to cope, talk to a parent, guardian or teacher. You don’t need to suffer alone.

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How to use practice papers for your exams

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

One of the most important and invaluable ways to practise for your exams is to use practice papers. This is a key exam revision technique, whether you are studying for your SATs, GCSEs, A-Levels or even your degree.

You can get hold of practice papers through the websites of qualification awarding bodies as well as (ahem!) via the First Tutors Resources section.

This is an important way to revise because passing exams is as much about practising your technique as it is about how much you know. You need to practise answering questions in the same time limit that you’ll have on the day. If you don’t you may well end up panicking in your exams, or devoting too much time to one question and not enough to the others.

Go through the exam paper first of all using your notes and books. This will help you to identify any gaps in your knowledge or understanding. It’s vital you do this before you start testing your timing. If there are gaps, then take a day or two to reinforce your knowledge.

Then you can give yourself a test exam. Be really strict about giving yourself exam conditions. Time yourself properly and make sure you’re somewhere quiet where you won’t be disturbed (and where you can’t cheat by looking anything up). Notice how you tackle essay questions and cope with the time restraints: make note of anything that worries you so that you can work on this before your real exam.

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How to deal with exam stress

Monday, March 29th, 2010

It doesn’t matter how old you are or whether you’re taking SATs, GCSEs or A-levels – exam stress can affect everybody. It is completely natural and understandable that you would suffer from stress: after all, there’s a lot of work to be done, and your exam results can have a huge bearing on your future.

At the same time, there are some things you can do to reduce your stress levels. It’s so important to keep a healthy mind and healthy body during exam time, so try these stress-busters out for size. If you’re a private tutor, pass these tips along to your student(s) to help them feel more confident about their forthcoming exams.

Ask for assistance

If you’re stuck on a topic, or unsure about any of your exam content, don’t struggle alone. It sounds obvious, but your school teachers and home tutors are there to help you. Ask them to schedule some time to go over any material you don’t understand.

Excellent exercise

Exercise helps to reduce stress levels and create endorphins, your body’s “happy hormones”. Make time for 30 minutes of exercise at least three times a week, even if it’s just a walk round the block and through the park. It will help to refresh your head too.

Organise to revise

Trying to work in a clutter – both physically and mentally – will make you super stressed. Create a workspace that will help you to revise in a calm and happy manner – clean and tidy your desk, file your papers and make sure you start and end the day on a tidy note.

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How to prepare for your SATs

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

A revision timetable helps students and their tutors plan out what topics they will revise and when. SATs and GCSEs place similar demands on students in terms of revision because they involve the study of a number of subjects. Within each subject, there are a number of topics, which means there’s a lot of ground for students and their private tutors to cover between now and exam time.

Here are our top tips for creating an efficient revision timetable for SATs:

1)    Write a list of each subject that will be tested within your upcoming SATs. Underneath each subject, write down each topic that will be covered in the exam. Your teachers should be able to tell you which topics you are likely to be tested on; if you are unsure, do check with them.

2)    Next to each topic, write a 1, 2 or 3. A number 1 is for topics that you know really well and feel confident in at this stage. A 2 is for topics that need a bit of work. A 3 is for topics that you need to do some serious work on. In your timetable, you’ll devote 15 minutes to your number 1s, 25 minutes to your number 2s and 35 minutes to your number 3s.

3)    Create your timetable, making sure that you’ve got a good mix of subjects and topics to study each day, with evenly spaced out breaks occurring at sensible points. You might put your favourite topics at the start and end of each day so that you feel positive and motivated when you begin and finish your work.

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Debate of the week: Tougher exams for Science GCSEs

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Science education has been under scrutiny over the past few years. According to various experts, not enough pupils are studying the sciences and the subject is not taken seriously enough, with other, newer subjects such as media studies becoming more popular with students.

This time it’s the turn of the Science and Learning Expert Group to make new demands on the sciences. Their new report states that science (and maths) exams should be more demanding and that more specialist teachers and experts should teach the subject.

The authors of the report say that exams are dictating what is taught in schools, and that the exams themselves are seen as “inadequate” in testing the depth of students’ knowledge and their understanding of key concepts.

Our question is – with interest in the sciences declining amongst pupils in recent years, are tougher exams really a way to encourage a greater take-up of the subject at A-level, and crucially, degree level? Are the present exams really too easy, or are these scientists out of touch with the right way to examine today’s pupils?

It’s without question that this country needs more scientists. The challenges we face in the 21st century are ones that we need them to solve, like global warming and disease. Accordingly, we need to encourage our youngsters to love the sciences, not fear them because their exams are too hard. Let’s be rigorous, but not disarmingly so.

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Tutoring students for private exam entry

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

There are many reasons why a student may choose to take exams privately. They may feel they are not reaching their full potential and need extra one-on-one support; they may wish to expand their studies beyond the set curriculum; or, in some cases, they may feel ready to take certain GCSEs or A-levels ahead of their peers. Whatever the reason, they’ll need a private tutor, so how do you help a student who needs to undertake intensive exam revision?

The responsibility for administration relating to the exam, such as paying entry fees and finding a location to take the exam remains with the student and their guardian, so your focus will be on helping them achieve their potential academically. Familiarise yourself with the full exam syllabus as soon as possible and make sure that the teaching schedule allows proportionate time for each topic, with ample wiggle room to accommodate a student’s weak spots.

As well as taking note of the essential knowledge the exam demands, think also about the core skills required and how you can help your student develop them. Does the subject have a strong literary or oral element? Does it require the ability to think literally or strategically? Identifying these key areas will not only give your students confidence on exam day, but will also enable you to make their home tuition sessions more focused and engaging.

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