GCSEs are over! I hope you are pleased with your results. If not, then you should talk to your college, sixth form or employer. You could look at resitting an exam next year. Remember: Your best IS enough and if you have given your all, then you should be proud. Whatever you intend to do next, this is a new adventure- a new chapter- in your autobiography.
I will relay some advice onto the incoming Year 11s: This year is a swift, swerving roller-coaster. One moment it is October and you’re getting ready for your mocks; the next you are walking into the exam room for your first exam. In the blink of an eye this year will be gone, and you will be sat here passing on advice to the year below and wondering where the time went. Year 11 tests you, literally in the form of an exam paper, but also mentally, because you must be resilient and persevere through the tough times. But remember that you are in this together, not only with your classmates, but also with every other year eleven in the country.
In terms of revision, please don’t stress. Start out small, just one hour a day. Build it up, until in April you are doing three hours after school, perhaps. Don’t burn yourself out now – save the boost until mid-April. Secondly, make or buy your revision resources now if you haven’t already. You don’t want to be in the process of making the resources in January or February, so make them now and use them later. Thirdly, there is no point stressing about the questions you may be asked or what the grade boundaries will be. You won’t know the former until you open your exam paper, or the latter until results day in August. You can only do your best and try and be prepared for anything. Finally, whilst GCSEs are a major part of your secondary school life and Year 11, they do not define it. Friendships, extracurricular activities and your decisions do. So make the most of it.
"There is no point stressing about the questions you may be asked or what the grade boundaries will be..."
Now, back to the outgoing Year 11s: Good luck for whatever lies ahead for you. Stepping out into the unknown may sound intimidating, but you managed these changes when you were in reception, you dealt with the differences when you came into Year 7, so you are more than capable of replicating that attitude here as you progress to college, sixth form or apprenticeship. Yes, there will be challenges, but you have faced challenges in your school years. Everyone says that GCSEs don’t define you, and whilst that’s very much true, your attitude to coming up against adversity does.
Finally, I wish to pay a tribute to my experience of Year 11. Thank you. You’ve given me the grades I need to progress, you’ve given me sad moments, like shirt signing on the last day and thanking my teachers, and you’ve given me happy moments, like joking in lessons with my friends and going on my final school trip. One minute you welcomed me with open arms and now we say goodbye. As I move onto Year 12, A levels and sixth form, I just wanted to leave a tribute to you – this has been one of the best school years.
