Week 5 of 6 — the final push
Two weeks to go.
If there's been a topic you've been quietly avoiding, this is the week to stop avoiding it. Not because there's loads of time left — there isn't — but because there's still enough. Two focused weeks is more than it sounds.
This week we're focusing on past papers, which is what the technique section is about too. There's a reason every teacher tells you to do them: they work. Not as a way of predicting what will come up, but as a way of making sure you can actually use what you know under exam conditions. That's a different skill from knowing it, and it needs practice.
For parents and carers: this is the week to make sure home conditions are as good as they can be — a quiet space, no big disruptions, regular food and sleep. The logistics stuff. It's not glamorous, but it's what makes the difference at this stage.
This week’s focus
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This week's focus is Poetry — the second part of the Literature Paper 1 exam.
You'll be given one poem from the anthology of 18 and asked to analyse it in relation to a key theme. You have 20 minutes. For each poem you need to know: what it's about, at least three key quotations, and the relevant context.
✅ Revise using your poetry booklet — start with the poems you're least confident on, then move to any that haven't appeared in past exam papers yet using this resource. GCSEPod has videos on each poem too.
✅ Practise by writing a timed 20-minute response to an exam-style question. Each response should include a clear thesis statement and three CED paragraphs (Comment, Evidence, Development) working through the beginning, middle and end of the poem.
✅ Get feedback — bring your practice answers to your class teacher. They're happy to look at them.
❓Test Me Tips — for parents and carers: Pick a poem at random from the booklet and ask your child to tell you what it's about, one thing they know about the poet or context, and one quotation they remember. That's all you need to ask — they'll do the rest.
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✅ Keep working through your Pinpoint booklets — SPARX and MathsGenie video clips are there if you get stuck. If something still isn't making sense, ask your teacher.
✅ Past papers remain the best revision you can do at this stage — via MathsGenie or in school. Use the marks allocated to guide how long to spend and how much working out to show.
✅ Focus on multi-mark questions — structure your answers carefully and show your working. Never leave a blank: if you can't answer the whole question, look for the marks you can pick up.
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This week's focus is Biology and Physics.
Biology Focus: Photosynthesis
✅ Core Knowledge Revisit: Revisit B4 Bioenergetics questions from your Biology Paper 1 Core Knowledge Book
✅ Revision Videos: Watch the ese videos - pause often and build mind maps.
✅ Complete questions on these topics on SPARX
Physics Focus: Resistance Required Practicals
✅ Core Knowledge Revisit 1: Revisit all P1 Energy questions from your Physics Paper 1 Core Knowledge Book
✅ Core Knowledge Revisit 2: Revisit all P2 Electricity questions from your Physics Paper 1 Core Knowledge Book
✅ Revision Videos: Watch these videos:
✅ Complete questions on these topics on SPARX
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✅ Listening and Reading Log on to Languagenut — Middle/High School → French/Spanish → Exam Skills → AQA → KS4. Complete at least two listening and two reading activities from each theme: Communication and the World Around Us; People and Lifestyle; Popular Culture.
✅ Writing
Foundation tier: complete a 50-word, 90-word and translation task from your teacher.
Higher tier: complete a 90-word, 150-word and translation task from your teacher.
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This week's focus is America.
✅ Step One: Use your Revision Guide to make notes on areas of weakness, organising your revision by decade and thinking about how events affected Americans. Pay particular attention to: the Feminist Movement, the impact of World War II, the impact of the New Deal, and the actions of Kennedy and Johnson.
✅ Step Two: Use the chart of past questions at the front of your revision guide to create bullet point plans for your answers.
✅ Step Three: Watch the exam technique videos on your Teams page for this paper.
❓Test Me Tips — for parents and carers: Use pages 2–9 of the Test Me booklet to quiz your child — read the questions, listen for the answers.
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This week you're doing a Paper 2 practice paper — this is exactly the kind of revision that makes the biggest difference at this stage.
✅ Answer questions 1, 2, 3 and 6 from this practice paper — covering Urban Issues, Changing Economic World, Resource Management and Energy. Allow yourself 90 minutes and work under exam conditions: notes away, timer on. If you're stuck on a question, your exercise book and knowledge organiser can help.
✅ Once you've finished, mark your paper using this mark scheme and highlight anything you got wrong or missed, and use this for revision.
Technique of the week
📝 Past Papers
By this point, you probably know more than you think you do. The question is whether you can get it onto the page, in the right format, in the time allowed. That's what past papers are for.
How to do it well:
Do them under conditions. That means: timer on, notes away, phone in another room. A past paper done with your revision guide open tells you almost nothing useful. A past paper done cold tells you exactly what you need to know.
Don't just mark and move on. When you check your answers, work out why you got something wrong. Was it that you didn't know it, or that you knew it but couldn't explain it clearly? Those are different problems with different fixes.
If a full paper feels too daunting, do individual sections or question types. Even 20 minutes on one style of question is useful. Build up to full papers if you can.
Tip for parents: if they're reluctant to do past papers because they're scared of getting things wrong, that's worth addressing directly. Getting things wrong in a practice paper is the whole point - it's the safest place to find the gaps. Remind them of that.
This week's resource: It’s crucial to use the correct past papers, right exam board, right version. So take your teachers’ lead or the versions available in school.
A reminder that your teachers are already supporting your revision in school — these emails are designed to complement that work, not replace it. If anything here raises questions, please ask your subject teacher.
The next email lands next Friday.
