What I would do differently if I took my GCSEs again

As a sixth form student, I often think about my time during my GCSE’s and how I coped with some of the stresses that came with them. For much of my summer holiday, I feared going to sixth form because I didn’t want to fall back into the patterns and routines I developed over year 11. Therefore, in this article I want to talk about things I would do differently if I did my GCSEs again. 

GCSEs really tested me to my limits. The need for long periods of focus, lack of social interaction and stressful days meant I lost focus of things that meant a lot to me. As the exams approached I began to neglect some really important parts of my life. 

I have always been a very chatty person. I enjoy meeting new people and value my time with friends and family. However, over my GCSE period I found myself prioritising school work over time with friends. Now, as much as this seems like a good thing, it meant I struggled to stay motivated and was not allowing myself to enjoy my free time. Therefore, if I were to do it again, I would make sure I balanced my school work and outside life better than I did. 

My next tip would be to not compare yourself to others. As I’m sure many of you have done, I spent much of my GCSE period comparing myself to my friends. This was either in how much revision they’d done, how well they were handling it, how much free time they had and then eventually their grades at the end of it. What I found from doing my GCSEs was that just because someone looks like their working really hard doesn't mean they are being productive. Many people I compared myself to would spend most of their time highlighting and making revision timetables rather than actually revising. Therefore, I would urge you to focus on yourself and ignore how other people ‘seem’ to be doing. 

Finally, my biggest regret I found when reflecting on my GCSE period was not keeping up with my everyday routines. The GCSE period is an overwhelming time with deadlines, teacher and family pressure, constant workload and exhaustion all being factors in how you deal with things. This meant it was even more important to take time for myself and prioritise some of my self care routines. However, as GCSEs got closer, I noticed that I was neglecting important things like having breakfast, sleeping at least 8 hours or keeping my space tidy. All of these things can cause students to struggle more with exams and I found it caused me to really struggle once exams were finished too. 

So, these are some of the things that I wish I could go back and change about my time during GCSEs and maybe something you would want to consider if you're coming up to any exams or big stressful events in your life too. 

By Victoria Woodhouse

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