How to Prepare for English GCSE
English GCSE is a big step up from KS3 and it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to understanding the content you need to learn for your exams. If you’re looking to start the new academic year on the right foot or you’d like to start your GCSE studies with a bang, here are some things you can do to get ahead:
1. Learn key terminology
One of the most important things you can do to improve both your Language and Literature grade is to learn your terminology. Focus on language terminology (you can find our guide here) and structural terminology. Once you’re happy with what each term means, try to find examples in texts or come up with your own. Think about what these techniques might be used for (e.g., to evoke a particular emotion or to set a particular atmosphere) and why the writer chose to use that feature as opposed to another.
2. Keep a vocabulary bank
Whenever you’re reading, whether it’s a prescribed text or something of your own, write down any definitions of words you don’t understand. Check back every now and then to see if you remember what each one means. This will help to broaden your vocabulary, which will come in useful for your English Language reading and writing components.
3. Read all your Literature texts
It can be tempting to avoid reading your prescribed texts for English Literature and opting for easy online summaries. While summaries can be useful when it comes to revision, it’s important to read through each text in its entirety. This way, you will understand the plot, characters, themes, structure and tone in much more detail, which will show when it comes to answering exam questions. Try to read a chapter every night before you go to sleep or when you have odd pockets of time, such as when you’re on the bus, when you’re scrolling mindlessly through your phone, or even when you go for a bathroom break!
Really struggling to keep focused on reading? Listen to an audiobook version instead.
4. Do character and theme studies for each of your texts
Once you’ve read your texts, create detailed character and theme studies. These could include a summary of each theme or character, key quotes, key emotions or scenes in the text, words that you relate to that theme/character, links to context, and links to other themes or characters in the text. This could be in the form of a written document, a poster, or even in a podcast style. Don’t be afraid to be creative with it and do what works for you! These studies will be an invaluable revision resource for you later down the line when it comes to exams!
5. Complete RAG sheets to see which areas you should focus on
Especially useful if you’re going into your second year of GCSE study, RAG sheets will help you to see which areas you should focus on next. Simply colour in each topic in red, amber or green depending on how confident you feel with each one and start working on the red and amber areas. Download and print our free RAG sheets here.
Bonus tip: Complete another RAG sheet at the end of your first and second terms to see how much progress you’ve made and which areas still require some work.
6. Highlight and create a bank of key quotes
For your Literature exams, you will need to learn key quotes for each of your texts. Highlight and annotate any key quotes in your prescribed texts. Then, identify which quotes keep coming up in class discussions and which quotes relate to many themes and characters. It may be useful to copy these onto flashcards and learn them or test yourself on them periodically.
7. Read widely
If you’re looking to achieve top grades in English Language or Literature, it’s important that you read beyond your prescribed texts. Fiction texts will help you to build your vocabulary, discover new genres, improve your creativity and imagination, and improve your comprehension. This will be useful for your fictional reading component and your creative writing component.
Non-fiction texts will also help you to build your vocabulary, understand how tone and structure may shift between non-fiction types (such as speeches, biographies, instructional texts, etc.), improve your comprehension, and may give you an understanding of how different writers approach similar topics of interest. This will be useful for your non-fictional reading component and your writing for a purpose component.
For English Literature, you may want to read texts similar to those you’ve been prescribed (i.e., texts in the same genre, written by the same author, written in the same time period, etc.). These will help you to widen your knowledge of the context and give you a more informed personal response when it comes to your written analysis of texts.
8. Practise writing exam answers for both Language and Literature
Once you start feeling confident on your prescribed texts and your terminology, you could start having a go at some practise questions for English Language or English Literature. It may feel difficult at first, but it will help you to understand how the exam questions are laid out and what you may need to focus on in future. Remember to check your exam board and the weighting of each of the Assessment Objectives for each question.
9. Get your exam answers marked with feedback to see where you need to improve
Not sure whether you answered the questions properly or want to get a professional opinion? Get your practise questions marked with detailed feedback from one of our expert tutors. We’ll always tell you what you’ve done well and what you need to do to improve, including some recommended resources or activities. Find out more here.
10. Book a tutoring session to improve your grades and confidence
If you’d like top grades in English or you’re not sure how to improve and you’d like to increase your confidence, book a 1-2-1 tutoring session with one of our professional tutors! They’ll work with you on the areas you’re unsure about, help you to gain confidence in your work, and guide you to reach your predicted or target grade. Book a tutoring session here.
How are you preparing for your English GCSE? Share your tips in the comments!
