How to stay organised in Year 11

Many of you have just started Year 11, so here is some advice on how to stay organised from the very beginning to perform the best in your exams at the end of the year.

Know your course

As you are learning the exam content, it's important to know key aspects of the GCSE. This includes your exam board, how many papers there are, and what you would be expected to know. With subjects such as physics, it's important to know what equations you are expected to have memorised and what equations you will be given in the exam. And by knowing your exam board, you can find the specification on their website so you know everything that can possible come up in the exams. The last thing about your course that you should know towards the end of the year is the date each examination is taking place. By knowing when you will sit the exam, you can organise your revision so you have an adequate amount of time to revise for each paper.

Identify your weaknesses

For many of you, this is the first proper set of exams will sit, and so revision may still be quite new to you. As a result, many students fall into the trap of ineffective revision strategies such as rereading or highlighting or note-taking. The best way to identify your weaknesses is by having a list of every topic on your course and highlighting how confident you are on the topic with the traffic light method (Red for least confident, Amber for somewhat prepared, and Green for most confident). By targeting the Red topics first, you can ensure you have a good understanding of every topic in the exam, no matter which one comes up.

Staying on top of your work

It is vital that you stay on top of your work throughout the year in order to stay organised. This means completing every piece of homework before the deadline, making sure all your revision material has been made, and by taking your mocks seriously. Mocks are a great opportunity to test your abilities and identify your weaknesses, but can also help you to prioritise revision early on in the year.

We hope these tips were helpful to help you stay organised throughout Year 11 to make this stressful exam period much more manageable for you.