Unsurprisingly, many students struggle to know where to start their GCSE Science revision. There’s a lot of topics and material to work through, especially if you’re studying GCSE Combined Science! So where to begin?
Start with the basics by creating a topic list for each Science: GCSE Biology, GCSE Chemistry and GCSE Physics. Then prioritise these lists according to how well you know the material – now these are your personalised revision guides.
Try this Quiz > BBC Bitesize: Maximise your Science revision time
Students who find Maths difficult tend to struggle with GCSE Chemistry and GCSE Physics. We recommend the following Science revision:
Familiarise yourself with the Periodic Table
You’ll be given a copy of the Periodic Table in the Chemistry exam but you need to understand how to read it under pressure.
• Read the table from top left to bottom right – elements are ordered by their atomic numbers.
• Families, or ‘groups’ of elements are in vertical columns.
• Periods of elements are in horizontal rows.
Learn essential formulas and methods
From balancing equations to calculating concentrations, practice the main formulae and methods until you know them well. Top tip: Using the PDF of your exam board specification, search the document for ‘calculate’. This highlights every instance where you need to work out an answer using formulas and methods. E.g. “calculate the percentage by mass in a compound given the relative formula mass and the relative atomic masses.”
Work scientifically
Developing your scientific thinking, language and communication are key, and even more so for those taking GCSE Combined Science. Being able to clearly think through hypotheses, review and evaluate your findings is woven throughout the courses. In the exams you also have a chance to gain marks showing your scientific working on the ‘open response’ questions. The more detail you give, the better the marks.
As there’s a lot to cover it’s vital to mix up your revision to keep it interesting. The more interesting it is, the more likely you are to engage and also retain the information. Here are some ideas:
• Flashcards – ask friends as well as family to test you
• Test yourself using YouTube quizzes
• Practice some experiments, record your findings and present them to your study group
• Teach a friend something you’ve learnt to solidify it in your own mind
• Notice examples of Science in our day to day lives, making it more relatable
GCSE Biology specialist tutor, Sarah says:
“The single thing that is most akin to bench science, in my experience, is cookery. The skills needed to bake a cake are almost identical to those needed to purify DNA. Boiling an egg is also a chemical reaction. With this in mind, I sometimes invades a student’s kitchen and conducts experiments with tea bags, lemon juice, washing-up liquid, vinegar, flour, and baking soda. I have also been known to take students into cellars to find earth wiring, and out into the twilit street to see Jupiter and Venus in conjunction.”
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As with many other subjects this year there are also changes to the 2022 GCSE Science exams. many exam boards have released advance information on what exams will cover. So it’s crucial to check your exam board specification to hone in your personalised revision guides. Top tip: Also download the practice papers on their websites! Here are the main exam boards:
Related:
English Language GCSE – A Guide to Success
How to Revise for Maths GCSE
How to Beat Exam Stress
Double Science GCSE or Triple Science?
