Things I wish I knew before starting my IGCSEs

The structure of this article is going to be a little different; in fact, it’s going to be exactly what the title says it is: things I wish I knew before starting my IGCSEs.

Revise a little content everyday. Please.

This cannot be stressed enough. There’s a reason it’s repeated so often.

It works so well if what you learn within a school day is then revised later at home. Even if it’s just about 10 minutes for a subject. This rehearsal of information significantly aids retention, and it better prepares you for tackling the next topics.

Let’s say you’ve just done diffusion in IGCSE Biology at school. If you revisit the content at home, you’ll be better set to tackle osmosis next. And this works well for all subjects, and it’s especially rewarding for the more complex topics.

The real benefit you should look for here is the long game. The IGCSEs are a two-year course, and you need to be able to recall content you’ve done at the beginning of your course too. Expectedly, that’s difficult to achieve. But it’s a lot easier if you are constantly revisiting the content you do.

I’ve seen firsthand people struggle with this, especially in Maths. A lot of the heavier content in Maths requires proficiency in the basics. Hence, perfecting your basics while you’re at it means you’re preparing yourself best for the tougher chapters.

Also – the entire point of homework is to revisit the content at home so you’re rehearsing what you’ve learned. Being mindful of this purpose helps you do your homework better. And this works really well for Maths – revisiting the content you’ve learned at school essentially means doing more practice sums at home.

Other than my homework, I never really pushed myself to revise the content at home as I was going through it at school. I survived (we all do), but it was a lot harder. You don’t have to inflict that hardship on yourself.

It’s really easy to understand why you should revisit the content at home, but it’s a hard thing to do because there’s no immediate examination to pressure you. Think about your future self. Please. Make it easier for them. You’ll thank yourself later for this small effort.

There’s also a technique to Studying the ‘Right’ way. More about that in an upcoming blog.

Know your Syllabus

Why do I know the subject codes for all the subjects I’ve done? 0625 for Physics. 0470 for History. 0544 for Foreign Language Arabic. It evidences that I’ve been through the syllabus for each subject a sufficient number of times. That’s really important because the syllabus contains all the information you’re supposed to know for your exam.

Foremostly, the subject content can act as a checklist at the end of your course. Or, while you’re doing a chapter, you may want to cross check the requirements from your syllabus and confirm you’re covering everything. Keep in mind that teachers and/or textbooks sometimes differ from the order of the syllabus.

The assessment overview details the papers you’ll take, the marks for each, how much time each paper will take, and also the weightage each paper will have in your final grade. The details of the assessment goes into more detail about the exams you’ll sit.

Blessed Resources at your Disposal

Did you know that Cambridge publishes learner guides? If you do, 15-year-old me would be a little jealous because I found out way too late about them.

These learner guides are also published on third party websites, and contain a lot of relevant information. There are many tips and recommendations that can really guide your revision and exam technique. I find them quite direct, concise, yet detailed in what it’s communicating. I would suggest you read and refer to the learner guides throughout your course.

Don’t fear the hefty size of the documents, most of it is taken by the revision checklist. 

Alongside this, Cambridge also publishes Example Candidate Responses. I found these too late too. They really help with understanding exam technique, especially for essay-based subjects such as History.

Other than this, there are many websites and Youtube Channels out there to support your studying. Here are a few of my recommendations and my favourite feature from each:

• PhysicsAndMathsTutor.com – Organised Past Papers
• Savemyexams.co.uk – Revision Notes for Maths and Sciences
• Tutor2U – Revision Notes for most subjects
• ExamSolutions.net – Video Tutorials for Maths
• Freesciencelessons on Youtube – Video Tutorials for Sciences

Practice them Past Papers

Along with subject knowledge, exam technique is an integral part of these exams. Exam technique is an umbrella term that includes everything about tackling your exams; from time management, to answering questions correctly, to damage control. Doing as many past papers as possible helps perfect your exam technique, acting as the best preparation for your final exams. Starting early is something I wish I did.

Past papers are readily available online. All you need to do is search up IGCSE [Subject] Past Papers on Google and look through the selection of websites, and choose a favourite that you’re comfortable with using. I always preferred using Dynamic Papers for past papers.

Each paper has a code, for example, IGCSE past papers are structured like this: 0510/41/m/j/17.

The first number (0510) is the subject code. 0510 is Cambridge IGCSE ESL.

The next number (41) gives us two pieces of information. The first digit (4) tells us the Paper Number. So this is an ESL Paper 4 (Listening). And, the second digit (1) tells us the variant.

The m/j tells us the exam session, with m/j representing May/June.
There is another exam session in October/November, represented by o/n.
And, in India, there is a third exam session in February/March, represented by f/m.

Finally, the last number (17) tells us the examination year. So this paper was issued in 2017.

Something I wish I had done was to keep a record of every past paper I had completed (eg. tick 0470/21/o/n/16 upon completing it) and  also recording how well I had performed in it. This way, I could set goals of how many past papers I could complete before the start of my examinations, and I could repeat papers I didn’t perform so well in. 

There are a few tips I abided by that you can use too:

• Don’t go through a paper orally; where you read a question, think of an answer, then check the mark scheme. Most of the time, you’ll end up telling yourself “Yeah, that’s what I said” or “Yeah, I would have written that in the exam”. It’s a natural tendency, but it negatively impacts your studying. You’re not really practising or learning this way.

Instead, make the effort to write down your answers in its entirety. This way, you’re testing your knowledge as well as your exam technique – especially time management and writing speed.

There are times when the pressure is high and it’s inefficient to do entire past papers this way. The next best alternative is to write down rough/brief answers with just the keywords; or type out your answers if you’re quick at it.

• When practising past papers, complete them in their entirety before checking the mark scheme. Once again, you’re practising your time management and writing speed by emulating the structure of your final exam.

The less preferred option here is to go question by question, checking the mark scheme after every question. Here, you don’t benefit from the momentum of answering questions, and you may learn information from the mark scheme that unfairly helps you in another question.

Tl;dr emulate the structure of your final exam whenever you can!

• Make a note of additional points you learn from mark schemes! This can be new information, exam techniques, or special notes in the mark schemes about answering questions. Once you have a collection of such notes, you’ll be best prepared for your final exams.

Earlier, I mentioned damage control. It’s an important part of exam technique. Sometimes, you’re in the middle of an exam and you’re not facing the most ideal of situations. You have to make a compromise. You have to make a choice. 

I remember facing something like this with my first Psychology mock exam in Year 12. There are three essay questions in this paper, two worth 8 marks and one worth 12 marks. My greatest mistake was my plan to finish the rest of the paper first, then come to the essay questions. Only God is aware of where time went, but I was at a point where there were 15 minutes left, and three whole essay questions to do (that should take 45 minutes to complete ideally). I understood I couldn’t complete it all. It was now about scoring the most marks. Damage control.

In such a situation, it becomes important to think quickly about where you can score the most marks –  usually in the topics that you’re well-versed in. And even then, you should think about some marks that you can score in the other questions. Since essay questions are level based, it’s usually more difficult to move from a 7 to an 8 than it is to move from a 1 to a 2 – and it’s the same one mark you’re going for.

The pressure of the situation, the time deadline, and the exhausted hands makes everything slightly more challenging. This is why it’s best to plan better beforehand, and mentally prepare yourself for a situation where you’d have to control the damage.

I learned from this experience to start with the essay questions first. It forces you to be concise in the short-answer questions (where you can afford to be concise), and instead spend more time drafting near-perfect essays.

Don’t Overburden Yourself

Is studying too hard and pulling all-nighters a bit romanticised? Yes. But it really brings no benefit. Here’s an extract from Studying the ‘Right’ Way:

How much does it matter?

In terms of your university applications, your IGCSEs matter less than your AS and A Levels, for sure.

To be able to take certain subjects in Year 12 and 13, your school may have minimum grade requirements for the IGCSEs; and/or if you’re aspiring to join a new school for Sixth Form your IGCSEs will determine your acceptance. Make sure to find out about these requirements beforehand and work towards it.

Otherwise, your IGCSEs are for you more than anyone else. I used my IGCSEs to experiment with different subject areas, pursue certain curiosities or questions, and even to narrow down my career options. This was especially rewarding for me – I decided the Sciences were not for me, and that I wanted to learn more History and Business.

So ultimately, how much do they matter? They’re not useless enough for you to fail the exams, and at the same time, they’re not the end of the world. In the long run, I don’t see your IGCSE grades defining you. Yet, keep in mind your aspirations for Sixth Form and ensure you check with your university’s specific requirements in case they have anything mentioned for your IGCSEs.

The Ease of it All

I won’t dismiss the pressure the IGCSEs carry – I went through it too. Everyone makes it look so important, and it’s our first experience with such exams. But in hindsight, its level of difficulty isn’t what people make it out to be (excluding some extraordinary Maths questions).

Being able to learn and act on these tips that I wish I knew before starting my IGCSEs is… good for you – as long as you don’t dismiss them by tomorrow! Your future self would want it easy for themselves; play for the long game. Good luck.