#history revision gcse

[habshihalwa]

Surviving GCSES: The Ultimate Guide

~ HOW TO REVISE ~

NB; some 'specific subjects' may not be included

WHEN:

- revision should be 'little and often' - meaning you should be revising a few hours every week, whether it's recapping the material, quizzing yourself, or doing homework. By doing little and often revision, it's more likely to become embedded in your long term memory

- if you cram the day before an exam, do effective cramming. Use this time to go over anything you don't know or understand. Blurting is a good method to use- try reading a page or a topic and writing down as much as you can remember from it. Fill in the gaps and identify your weak spots

REVISION METHODS

ACTIVE RECALL should be the main way you revise. It's forcing your brain to actively remember what it can about what you've learned, bringing it to the front of your memory

- blurting: blurting is a great way for you to find out what you know and what you don't. Write down as much as you can remember, and fill in the bits you can't with a different colour. You can repeat the process until it's embedded in your memory and until you're confident that you know everything you need to know

- flashcards: when writing flashcards, do NOT just copy notes onto there. Write questions on one side, and answers on the other then use it to quiz yourself. ALTERNATIVELY for memorising quotes, you could also write half of it on one side and half on the other. You could also write notes on one side and questions on the other, so you have to look in the text to find the answers

- past papers: I cannot stress this enough. Once you've revised and learned everything you think you've learned, test yourself by doing past papers. Research has shown that the top students do more past papers and questions than anyone else. Mark these yourself using the mark scheme so you can identify where you went wrong and how to improve it. Pay extra attention to the mark scheme so in an exam you can quit the waffle and identify where your marks are at

- pretend to 'teach' the content to someone younger or dumber than you. Try and explain it the best you can in simple words - this shows you understand it enough

- there are LOADS of videos out there about how to revise- watch them and use them!

- sleep: sleep is also a revision technique after you've learnt something, as sleeping gives your brain time to process the information and store it in your memory. but only sleep AFTER you've revised a bit

TEACHERS

- teachers are your best tool. Use them

- teachers know what they're doing, and are specialised in their subject for a REASON

- request revision materials,

- if you don't understand anything, simply ask. That's what they're there for. At the end of the day, your grades are gonna matter more than the time you bothered them

- listen in lessons!!! This is so important and many people don't realise. Pay attention in lessons like you're listening to the latest gossip or hot celeb talk or whatever you're into. Give it 110% and actively participate. It won't be embarrassing when you get those good grades.

WEBSITES

Here are some websites I like to use that are FREE and I use constantly to aid me with revision

• Quizlet

• anki

• StudySmarter

• seneca

• tassomai

• gcsepod

• hegarty maths

• Corbett maths

• maths genie

• YouTube and tiktok (they have some good shi on there ngl)

• Duolingo

SPECIFIC SUBJECT REVISION

MATHS

practice papers and questions. Memorise formulas and how to use them. Just keep doing practice questions. If you like puzzles and games, you like maths- think of it as another piece to solve, and like a game. At the end of the day, maths it's just problem solving. There's only one right answer.

ENGLISH LIT:

blurting, mind-maps, flashcards to learn quotes. Look at the AOs to figure out where your marks are, and try and do as much work as you can because at the end of the day, over the year or two years your classwork is gonna be what you've done the most. Plan essays and write them. Talk to your teachers about where to improve and where you've gone wrong. Read more to help with developing your language and writing style. Try writing something unrelated to school- maybe a story, a poem, a speech. Repeat it to help develop what you're doing. English lit is just memorising quotes and explains them- don't overthink it. Make sure you know your text back to front and know how to answer questions. Write practice essays and get your teachers to mark them, and later ask them to explain what you can do to get more marks. Especially in gcse, these examiners are marking abt 50-100 essays. What makes YOURS stand out. Why do YOU deserve that grade amongst everyone? YouTubers I like to use include Mr Bruff, Mr Salles, Mr Everything English

RS:

it depends on how you like revising. I like copying out my notes and making my mind-maps, and then using flashcards to help memorise quotes. Answer practice questions regularly and ask your teacher about the mark scheme and HOW to answer questions if you're struggling. Think of it as learning about yourself and your religion, and many others - help it bring you closer to God if you're religious

SCIENCE

science is mostly fact based and about how well you apply these facts to questions and practical examples. I very strongly recommend using flashcards and paying attention in lessons. Watch YouTube videos and actively and constantly recall your notes. Answer LOTS of past papers and practice questions - every year they use 3-4 of the exact same questions in the exam. There's only so many questions they can ask. Also, print off the specification (this can be found on the exam board's website) and use this to make sure you haven't missed any content out. Use this specification to make flashcards - also, use the questions at the end of each lesson in cgp textbooks as practice questions for flashcards!!! Science is quite flexible to revise from, you can watch videos and make notes, or make mind-maps, or do blurting. Just make sure it's active and that you're reviewing the content regularly!! I also recommend using Seneca to sort of make sure you know everything the day before an exam. Science is an explanation for everything, think of it as something interest as it can make quite a lot of interesting conversation topics.

LANGUAGES:

think of languages as something essential to your identity and helping you live in today's everchanging world. Language is a way to communicate with people - honestly just think about that for a sec. Use duolingo, Quizlet and other language apps!! Be consistent and the night before ur exam, do the biggest and fattest Quizlet you can revise. Test yourself on flashcards when memorising chunks for speaking exams. Also think of everything in ur designated language like when ur drinking water translate that. Or when ur speaking at home or to someone speak with what u know in that language.

HISTORY:

there's a lot of dates and factual knowledge in this, so your best option is to constantly review and actively recall everything. Try doing some practice questions and planning essays. Blurting is SUPER useful for this subject especially too!!! History is super interesting - we learn from the past to improve the future. History builds us and moulds us into where we are today!

HOW TO MOTIVATE YOURSELF

- find out what you want to do in life: medicine? law? art? finding a passion and knowing what you want to do after school can really help motivate you

- if you're unsure of you're career, start by listing what you like and what you're good at. Ask people what career they think you'd be suited to and why. Research these careers and about life beyond school

- a reminder that school is SO much more than just listening to teachers about useless stuff. When you think about, it's teaching you everything about the world you are living in RIGHT NOW

- knowledge is power

- make your parents and your family proud. If they can spend thousands of pounds on you and spend 15+ years raising you up, im pretty sure you can do this

- think about everyone who's ever told you you can't do it or thought you're useless. Imagine the look on their face when you make it. Prove them wrong.

- watch academia and studytok videos. As dumb as it sounds, they're quite motivating

- think of the consequences if you don't revise. while everyone will be smiling and happy with their results, you'll be sitting there knowing you could've done better if only you'd taken the opportunity. That opportunity is now

- a reminder that social media is always going to be there. There's always posts to like and videos to watch but the real world isn't here forever. Focus on your studies before your phone

- think about what you're ultimately working towards: WHY do you want these grades- money? A successful career? Revenge? Validation?

EXTRACURRICULAR BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

- don't make school your life- having a hobby or doing something you enjoy is SO important. It also makes you a more interesting person :)

- we all need downtime. find what that thing is for you

- you need to develop your brain outside of school too. Whether it's sport, music, art, writing- invest a little bit of time into that everyday

- READ. Reading is important and gives you more knowledge and develops your brain. JK Rowling once said if you hate reading, it's only because you haven't found the right book. FIND IT.

SELF CARE

- don't forget to take care of yourself. At the end of the day, a test is just a paper, a grade is just a number. As much as you want to get good grades, remember there's so much more to life

- remember this world is temporary - don't become so caught up in school you burn out. One day we're all going to die so it's important you stick to your religious faith/beliefs because everything is from god/happens for a reason. Ultimately, you may put so much effort into something but if God isn't pleased with you or decides not to make it happen, it isn't going to happen/if it's not meant to happen a certain way, it won't. Failure is inevitable and don't let it put you down. The afterlife/death is forever and when you're standing in front of God on judgement/ rotting in your grave this test is not going to matter. At all.

- hang out with friends often, and make sure they're not toxic and they're people who make you feel happy. Do things with them because you're only a teenager once so live your life and make memories with them. Just a reminder that there's a difference between fun, and stupidity+danger. Don't wreck up your future in the process

- take days off, and love yourself. Have a relaxing bath or a facial, or dress up for no reason. Remember that YOU are the most important person. Never hate yourself for putting you first

- don't overdo it so much that you burn out. Don't sit at your desk for ten hours straight trying to memorise something

- remember to get fresh air and go on regular walks and exercise. Exercise gets your blood flow pumping and can help clear your mind and help with exhaustion and mood.

I love you, and good luck to everyone doing their GCSEs :) you got this! ❤️

[twelfth-dykector]

listening to horrible histories songs to prepare for history paper 2 tomorrow🙏🙏

[pessimisticgh0st]

To anyone that is doing/has done History GCSE, how the fuck do you remember it all?? And what methods are the best to revise for it?

[gw3npo0l]

guys did you know that hitler reacted really weirdly to hyperinflation in 1923 ? to find out more just google hitler inflation

[laliloon]

A day late but YOU COULD’VE ASKED ME ABOUT THE CASTLES YOU COULD’VE ASKED ME ABOUT THE FUEDAL SYSTEM YOU COULD HAVE ASKED ME ABOUT WILLIAM II AND YOU CHOSE TO WRITE THE QUESTION AROUND FUCKING TOWNS ARE YOU KIDDING ME AQA?

[aristetua]

Making myself read a whole revision guide👍

I have a history exam tomorrow and can't be bothered to take anymore notes

[ddalgistudy]

Hi! I've been gone for ages and I'll be honest school killed me 🫡 anyway take the start of my cold war notes as compensation

[unidentifiedlyingobject]

why I took history

[slightlytoastedbagel]

Haha. My life's kind of sad when I think about it for more than a second.

[medeaaa]

I’m going insane I hate mocks so much omg

[totally-italy]

Wherefore dost motivation hold deep hatred for me?

As the heading probably implies, I am currently lacking a lot of motivation, which is truly sub-optimal because I literally have my Italian GCSEs this week and I literally have not revised. Moreover, my End of Years are fast approaching and I have my French GCSEs in three week's time. Help.

Consequentially, even though my history teacher still refuses to believe that it is a word, I have decided to turn this into one of those posts where my dopamine literally just relies on the number of notes that I recieve. As promised, @the-red-planet-mars, the floor is yours you have been tagged.

Rules:

Please don't spam the comment section.

You can tag a maximum of 5 people.

Please don't spam reblog.

10 notes: I will actually plan my English homework so that I can then do it without having to ask for an extension. It is due on the day on which I have two of my Italian papers.

15 notes: I will update my 'Aeneid' notes so that my virtual document is up to date with the translations that we have done in class. I should technically also revise the themes and how Juno is portrayed, but we don't talk about that right now.

20 notes: If I haven't done this yet, I will create both a Spanish Quizlet with all the vocabulary I need to learn and I will create a Latin one for all the vocabulary from 'The Aeneid' that I need to know.

25 notes: I will plan, in English, different things that I could say for the picture for my French IGCSE oral. Also, this is a picture I will be using for my Spanish End of Years, so that is doubly helpful.

30 notes: I will do an Italian listening paper though I will listen to it at a faster speed than what is asked because otherwise I will literally get so bored and lose all will to live.

45 notes: I will finish researching Virgil and the historical context.

60 notes: I will practice Latin and Greek vocabulary on Quizlet every day after this week, for at least 10 minutes each day for each language.

75 notes: I really need to do this. I will make a poster with how to form different tenses in Italian.

100 notes: I will do an Italian Writing practice paper. This is going to cause me so much suffering. Help me.

120 notes: I will actually write down different expressions, including idomatic phrases, that I could use to describe the picture for my French IGCSE oral.

130 notes: I will make physics notes on energy.

140 notes: I will make notes on quantitative chemistry.

150 notes: I will make a poster with how to form different tenses in French.

155 notes: I will watch the AQA videos on the Cold War and make notes on them.

170 notes: I will do a practice Spanish listening paper.

200 notes: I will practice Latin and Greek vocabulary on Quizlet every day after this week, for at least 30 minutes each day for each language, including a written vocabulary test.

230 notes: I will do a practice Spanish reading and writing paper.

250 notes: I will do a practice Latin translation and ask my teacher if she happens to have a mark scheme.

270 notes: I will do a practice Greek translation and ask my teacher if she happens to have a mark scheme.

300 notes: I will finish my RSP notes on Crime and Punishment.

350 notes: I finish my Biology notes on reproduction.

380 notes: I will finish my RSP notes on Religion and Life.

430 notes: I will look through my history notes on Germany and finish them in accordance to the AQA book.

520 notes: I will do a practice Greek language paper.

530 notes: I will do a practice Latin language paper.

605 notes: I will actually write down different expressions, including idomatic phrases, that I could use to describe the picture for my Spanish End of Year oral.

720 notes: I will finish my RSP notes on Buddhism.

850 notes: I will make full notes on the Cold War.

Honestly, if you have even bothered to read through all of these, you have absolutely earned more respect that I thought I was capable of giving to a single human being. I technically have a lot more things I should do, including re-reading Things Fall Apart and actually making complete maths notes, as well as notes for the sciences, but I doubt I will never get this many tags anyway.

Edit: It has been five minutes and I already got 14 notes. I am actually terrified of this site. What in Tartarus? Y'all are crazy and I love you so much.

[dreamdolldeveloper]

back to basics

mostly free resources to help you learn the basics that i've gathered for myself so far that i think are cool

everyday

gcfglobal - about the internet, online safety and for kids, life skills like applying for jobs, career planning, resume writing, online learning, today's skills like 3d printing, photoshop, smartphone basics, microsoft office apps, and mac friendly. they have core skills like reading, math, science, language learning - some topics are sparse so hopefully they keep adding things on. great site to start off on learning.

handsonbanking - learn about finances. after highschool, credit, banking, investing, money management, debt, goal setting, loans, cars, small businesses, military, insurance, retirement, etc.

bbc - learning for all ages. primary to adult. arts, history, science, math, reading, english, french, all the way to functional and vocational skills for adults as well, great site!

education.ket - workplace essential skills

general education

mathsgenie - GCSE revision, grade 1-9, math stages 1-14, provides more resources! completely free.

khan academy - pre-k to college, life skills, test prep (sats, mcat, etc), get ready courses, AP, partner courses like NASA, etc. so much more!

aleks - k-12 + higher ed learning program. adapts to each student.

biology4kids - learn biology

cosmos4kids - learn astronomy basics

chem4kids - learn chemistry

physics4kids - learn physics

numbernut - math basics (arithmetic, fractions and decimals, roots and exponents, prealgebra)

education.ket - primary to adult. includes highschool equivalent test prep, the core skills. they have a free resource library and they sell workbooks. they have one on work-life essentials (high demand career sectors + soft skills)

youtube channels

the organic chemistry tutor

khanacademy

crashcourse

tabletclassmath

2minmaths

kevinmathscience

professor leonard

greenemath

mathantics

3blue1brown

literacy

readworks - reading comprehension, build background knowledge, grow your vocabulary, strengthen strategic reading

chompchomp - grammar knowledge

tutors

not the "free resource" part of this post but sometimes we forget we can be tutored especially as an adult. just because we don't have formal education does not mean we can't get 1:1 teaching! please do you research and don't be afraid to try out different tutors. and remember you're not dumb just because someone's teaching style doesn't match up with your learning style.

cambridge coaching - medical school, mba and business, law school, graduate, college academics, high school and college process, middle school and high school admissions

preply - language tutoring. affordable!

revolutionprep - math, science, english, history, computer science (ap, html/css, java, python c++), foreign languages (german, korean, french, italian, spanish, japanese, chinese, esl)

varsity tutors - k-5 subjects, ap, test prep, languages, math, science & engineering, coding, homeschool, college essays, essay editing, etc

chegg - biology, business, engineering/computer science, math, homework help, textbook support, rent and buying books

learn to be - k-12 subjects

for languages

lingq - app. created by steve kaufmann, a polygot (fluent in 20+ languages) an amazing language learning platform that compiles content in 20+ languages like podcasts, graded readers, story times, vlogs, radio, books, the feature to put in your own books! immersion, comprehensible input.

flexiclasses - option to study abroad, resources to learn, mandarin, cantonese, japanese, vietnamese, korean, italian, russian, taiwanese hokkien, shanghainese.

fluentin3months - bootcamp, consultation available, languages: spanish, french, korean, german, chinese, japanese, russian, italian.

fluenz - spanish immersion both online and in person - intensive.

pimsleur - not tutoring** online learning using apps and their method. up to 50 languages, free trial available.

incase time has passed since i last posted this, check on the original post (not the reblogs) to see if i updated link or added new resources. i think i want to add laguage resources at some point too but until then, happy learning!!

[lovinpelova]

to be continued | j. fleming

summary; jessie meets y/n at a party after ucla win the ncaa basketball championship. then again, then again and again.

🎵 a new kind of love - frou frou

whenever you told people you went to ucla their first response was always to ask what sport you played, expecting you to be there for division-one football or tennis, but when you told them you were simply just a british exchange-student looking for better educational standards their face always dropped. it's like they thought they were meeting a celebrity and found out it was only a look-alike when they got closer, you found it funny how people couldn't believe you came to the states purely for education.

being british you've obviously played football before and could even join the team if you wanted but you quit before your gcses for a reason; you didn't want any distractions. you'd promised your parents one day that you'd be able to give them a luxury lifestyle with all the money you earned from being a well-paid lawyer, aiming for the higher bracket of pay after learning your cousin was earning £78,000 annually. the number is massive and would be an immense help to your family after all the years of struggle you've gone through together, so you wanted to make sure you had the highest level of education and were definitely not wanting to go to oxford with all the snobby rich kids.

so you chose one of the top law schools in the states, of course!

"hey y/n, come over here!"

you were snapped out of your daydreams by a friend of a friend, one of your classmates taking law as a minor has a major in history, so they introduced you to hailie after you'd met at one of her games since you were dragged there. it's not like you hate football - you love it, and the atmosphere of college soccer is unmatched - but you would have rather been revising for an upcoming final that night instead.

you made your way over to hailie and noticed she was stood with her arm around a rather short brunette, the long-sleeved shirt (with the sleeves rolled up) that had 'ucla soccer' printed across it indicating you weren't going to get away from this football team any time soon - even though you were at a party to celebrate the men's basketball team winning the ncaa championship.

"y/n, this is jessie. one of our midfielders."

"hey, nice to meet you."

the canadian accent she greeted you with was striking, you weren't expecting her to be american but you definitely weren't expecting her to be canadian either.

"you're canadian?"

"i told you your accent was strong jess."

the midfielder nodded with a sheepish grin, hailie suddenly patting her on the shoulder after peering over yours and smiling at someone.

"i'll leave you to it then,"

the defender pulled you into a quick hug as you returned it, feeling her lean down into your ear to whisper something.

"jessie's been eyeing you up all night."

she winked and smiled at your blush, patting you on the back before leaving you and jessie to your own devices. you smiled at the canadian as she grinned in response, your eyes trailing down to see her fingers moving in a way that could only be described as anxiety-ridden.

"do you have social anxiety, jess?"

"er, yeah. is it that obvious?"

the canadian chuckled nervously - either at the fact that you've already given her a nickname or if it was because of her anxiety you wouldn't know.

"do you drink?"

"if it's the right drink, then yeah."

you leaned forwards with a charming smile and softly grabbed her hand, lacing your fingers together to make sure she didn't accidentally let go and lose you. within a couple moments you were back in the kitchen and by a table of alcohol, reaching beside it for two bottles of beer out of the fridge to stay safe. you turned and handed it to the canadian after opening it on the edge of the table, too impatient to look for a bottle opener and resorting to a party trick hailie had taught you the other day.

regretfully letting go of her hand, you leaned against the counter awfully close to her to make up for the loss of contact, both of you taking a swig of your drinks as jessie leaned in closer to you.

"do you play any sports then?"

"i used to play football but quit when i was about sixteen. wanted to focus on my studies instead."

the canadian nodded her head as you fell into a comfortable silence, watching people come and go from the kitchen as they pleased and giving each other knowing looks when couples walked past with drunken giggles or laughing together when someone was so drunk they couldn't even walk.

before you knew it you were both three beers in and completely focused on jessie, the alcohol in your systems making you far more confident than you were when you first met a couple hours ago. jessies hand was comfortable on your waist and yours were on her chest, tugging on the chain she wore as you drunkenly flirted inches away from each other. the canadian leaned down towards you after feeling you pull it more forcefully, your hips pushing against hers.

"you gonna kiss me, fleming?"

"what would you do if i did, y/l/n?"

you smirked up at jessie whilst looking into her eyes deeply, the moment so intense you nearly didn't hear hailie running into you and dragging you away from each other.

"president's here, we gotta go!"

the party was quickly being shut down as you all ran out the house, being caught by campus president was not something you wanted especially if the party was causing noise complaints. you found a couple people you knew and followed them to a safer space, looking behind you to check if jessie and hailie were there - only to find they weren't.

--------

working whilst studying wasn't always too bad, it was far easier if you had a part-time job. luckily for you, a local coffee shop five minutes outside of the ucla campus was hiring over the christmas season and you applied, working there happily for the past seven months. the pay wasn't bad - bi-weekly - and for an international exchange student it was keeping you able to buy the food you needed as well as luxuries when you were on the odd shopping trip with friends or out drinking.

the customers were the greatest part of the job, only regulars coming in daily for their usual orders as you recite them without a problem, the odd newcomer trying it out and either never coming back again or adding themselves to the list of regulars. today you noticed there was a newbie, the door opening at a time irregular to your memorised schedule of customers as you had your back turned to it, in the process of making a regulars order so you couldn't see who had walked in yet. you quickly served their order with a smile and walked back over to the counter whilst brushing off the coffee grounds all over your apron, looking up to see jessie grinning at you awkwardly.

"well, if it isn't the incredibly awkward canadian? haven't seen you since the party fleming."

"i know, hailie dragged me away from you and before i could try find where you'd ran off to the president found us again and started chasing us and then-"

"jess, calm down. it's fine. a party got shut down and we got split up, it happens everywhere. so, what can i get for you today then?"

you gestured towards the menu hung up behind you as the midfielder grinned at your acceptance of her unnecessary apology, looking over the choices of drink.

"erm, i'll just get a shaken espresso please."

"coming right up."

you made the drink as quickly as you possibly could, not wanting to have jessie waiting around for too long as she might have a class to get to or training to attend. you picked up a sharpie when you saw she wasn't looking in the corner of your eye, writing your number on the side of her cup with a smiley face before pouring her coffee into it and sliding it across the counter to her.

"thank you- how much?"

"on the house, jess."

you smiled brightly at her, holding your hand up when she opened her mouth to protest in a silent order for her to stay quiet and let you be nice for once.

"i'm paying next time though y/n/n."

"can't wait to see you next."

the canadian smiled gently, saying goodbye and walking out of the coffee shop whilst taking a sip, spotting a black mark underneath her nose and turning the cup to see your number written on it. without knowing, you'd just made jessies day.

--------

"so this is- like, a big game then?"

you asked hailie as she ran over to speak quickly after her warmup, the crowd you were sat in filled to the brim of ucla supporters, the other side of the pitch filled with usc supporters scowling across at you all.

"no, y/n/n. this is a big, big game. it's against a rival and it's the championship semi-final! have you not been listening to a word i've been saying the past week?"

"er, no. not really- sorry! i just zone out when you drone on about football. you know how much i don't care about sports sometimes."

hailie grunted in response as you smiled down apologetically, reaching for her hand and feeling her squeeze it in a silent acceptance of your apology.

"so how come you're here then? if you don't even know- oh my god jessie!"

"keep your fucking voice down hailie!"

you whisper-yelled whilst covering her mouth with your hand, raising your eyebrows in silent warning so she didn't blurt out jessies name again and make her come over to see why she was being yelled about. you and jessie had been texting non-stop since you gave her your number and she'd asked you to come to her game, hence why you were asking hailie about it. the defender had clicked onto the fact that you were clearly crushing on someone since your phone was making you smile with the odd notification and you suddenly had a very large interest in football- but she didn't expect it to be jessie.

"i knew you liked her! you were basically fucking in the kitchen the other night."

you flicked her on the forehead playfully as she scolded you, your chance to respond being ripped away as hailies coach called her into the changing rooms for a last minute teamtalk.

the game ran by fairly quickly, ucla absolutely hammering usc after a slow start. the first half consisted of one goal from your college rival and after half-time the scoreline just got bigger and bigger; jessie scoring one and assisting two as the end result was a massive 5-1. that meant ucla were going to the final in the ncaa championship against unc, the reigning champions, so you were definitely going to watch that game too.

"hey stargirl!"

you complimented smoothly as your arms opened wide for hailie, tears nearly running down her face as she picked you up into a bear hug.

"final two, baby!"

you cheered with the defender as she put you down and hugged you properly, spotting someone in the corner of her eye and grinning wildly.

"i'll leave you and your lovergirl to it."

you smacked her arm lightly as she walked away to celebrate with her teammates, turning around to see jessie beaming at you. not even giving her a chance to greet you, your arms went around her neck in a hug as hers went around your waist to pick you up, quickly putting you down to look at your broad smile with her usual blush across her cheeks.

"what a fucking game! i've never seen anyone play that well before jess."

"the pressure of knowing you were watching helped me a bit i guess."

the canadian scratched the back of her neck nervously, yourself scoffing at her shy nature as if she wasn't a finalist in the ncaa championship.

"nonsense, you're just amazing on the pitch no matter what. my midfield maestro."

jessie blushed even further at the new nickname you'd given her, smiling to match yours as she hugged you again tightly. when you pulled away you kissed her cheek, laughing at the way she froze up immediately.

"come on, you've got teammates to celebrate with."

--------

ucla had dominated their sports championships across the board. the mens basketball team had won the ncaa championship, as well as the mens soccer team and the womens field hockey team, the womens soccer team and womens basketball team added to that list within a week. the game was incredible, jessie had played another masterclass as usual and had a total of four goal contributions- ucla only scored four goals.

the win obviously called for another celebration, so the mens basketball team had offered to have another party the same place it occurred for their successes, meaning you and jessie were in the same kitchen as before but with a lot more people surrounding you. the amount of wins meant every supporter of each sport and player and friend and classmate (and the odd family member) had attended, so the house was packed.

you stared down at the ring jessie wore with 'ncaa champions' engraved into it, the ucla logo pressed into the middle. without thinking you grabbed jessies hand when she raised her other to take a swig of her beer, gently running your thumb over the engraved words with a proud smile.

"have i told you how proud i am of you yet jess?"

"only a million times y/n/n."

"well i'm making it a million and one. i'm so proud of you."

the canadian smiled down at you and wrapped her arm around your shoulders with your hand still holding hers, kissing the side of your head with confidence you knew she only had because of the alcohol running through her system.

"it's weird how last time we were in here we didn't even know each others last names."

jessie laughed softly with you at your statement, pulling you closer when more people began to flood into the kitchen to find any alcohol they could, everyone just wanting to get as drunk as possible since it was a friday and they had no classes to attend whilst taking care of their inevitable hangovers.

"i'm really happy hailie introduced us. i like you a lot."

the midfielder commented, looking deeply into your eyes when you turned to face her to show you she wasn't talking nonsense, it was just the alcohol letting things slip out.

"i like you a lot too, midfield maestro."

your eyes trailed down to her lips as she licked them carefully, watching the way she slowly began to lean in and torture you with her lips brushing over yours. you quickly leaned forward and closed the gap between you, kissing her passionately exactly the way you'd been wanting to for the past three weeks since you first met, your hands holding her in place so she couldn't move away faster than you wanted her to. eventually you were running out of breath and needed to pull away, smiling at each other after finally having made a move.

"glad the party wasn't shut down early this time?"

"very glad."

jessie responded immediately, pulling you into another kiss before you could even think about moving away from her.

[ultraviolencevinyl]

how to get perfect grades from a short attention span girlie that nobody asked for

when you get home from school, rewrite all your notes from all the important classes that day (if you’re a british slag like me then just do all your gcse subjects)

learn how to do deep work: work for a really long period of time with barely any breaks where you don’t get distracted and get shit done — having noice cancelling headphones whilst listening to white noise etc works best for me

don’t let anything distract you, put your phone away in another room, etc

if you can’t concentrate, before your revision sesh, stare at a still object for 1 min to help with your focus

have a schedule/a weekly routine!!! i know you’re lazy and have been avoiding making one so here’s my routine: on school days I rewrite all my notes from the classes (that you care about) that day and do some homework then leave the rest for the weekends

mindset is EVERYTHING. be positive about everything in your life and stop being a pessimistic bitch. everything will be okay. jeez.

for music, find a few white noise/focus music playlists and listen to them with noise cancelling headphones for most intense focus (linking my fav spotify playlists below)

write everything out by hand. don’t be lazy you dumb fucker and type everything up on quizlet. quizlet is bullshit and you know it. it’s been scientifically proven that writing things out help you remember them better

go over things early in the morning and late at night (quickly proven to stick in your brain more)

find what works best for you. find your perfect environment, music, time of day to revise, method etc. i work best in my room after 4 pm by using flash cards I have written out by hand

don’t let food distract you!!! if you have snacks nearby but you’re eating them instead of working then put them away

have an app for revision. study bunny if my favourite one it’s so cute but it doesn’t distract me

holidays are a blessing. dedicate some time every day in the holidays for revision, even if it’s not a lot

have a good balance between school and other hobbies. i would say have a good social life but i honestly don’t think having one is that important. or at least it’s not important to me, but if you want a good social life then go for it

have goals for the future, like if you want to go to uni and where you want to go if you do, what field you want to specialise in, etc and work towards them

if you want to exceed in school then you have to make revision and academic excellence your coping mechanism or a safe haven to calm you down

reading books, especially literature helps so much with everything. not just your vocabulary but it also helps your understanding of the world and helps you see everything in a different light. and don’t give me that “but i do read” bullshit because tiktok smut twisted love twisted hate icebreaker all that crap that you’re not even old enough to read don’t count. my fav books if you need any recs: the virgin suicides (not literature, just well-written), the secret history (not literature, just well-written), girl, interrupted (again, well written but not literature), crime and punishment, carmilla, dracula, alice in wonderland, emma, pride and prejudice, sense and sensibility, much ado about nothing, a midsummer nights dream, rebecca, the outsiders, little, women and loads more

delete social media if it worsens your mental health or your grades. deleting tiktok has been the best decision of my entire life, i was so unhappy for so long because endlessly scrolling was a coping mechanism but now im actually happy for once in my life and my grades are quite good

pray like you didn’t revise and revise like you didn’t pray

i have to have a number 20 because odd numbers besides 13 and 7 annoy me

thank you

[lucyswillow]

Resources to ace your GCSEs

Maths

- Gcsemathstutor

- mathsgenie

- Khan academy

- quick maths tips

- Corbett maths

Science

- Freesciencelessons

- Khan academy

- science shorts

- primrose

- cgp workbooks

English

- Mr everything english

- first rate tutors

- Mr salles teaches english

- mr bruff

History

- Mr cloke history

- revision bird

Multiple subjects ✨

- Physics and maths tutor

- cognito

- revision world (past papers)

- gcsepod

- seneca learning

- blooket/kahoot

additional study advice

- Do exam questions as revision

- do methods that use active recall

- Blurting and mindmaps to figure out where there’s gaps in your knowledge

- try to go to school everyday before exams and give it your all in lessons

- Don’t spend hours studying on end because it won’t help you remember anything

- pomodoro technique

- Use the three minute rule when you’re procrastinating

[my-castles-crumbling]

IM NOT EVEN JOKING, IVE CAUGHT A STOMACH BUG THE DAY BEFORE MY MATHS EXAM.

i muddled through my history exam (medicine through time, ironically) and was FINE. maybe a little deluded but FINE.

then i cried at my head of year AND hyperventilated. he gave me a glass of water.

i got to go home, but now im an INVALID IN BED. i have my maths exam (one of 3...) TOMORROW.

my plan is to get to school, absolutely drugged up, sit the exam, then sleep for the afternoon. (in the chemistry revision sesh)

gcses r going swimmingly. (but im regulus black.)

Oh, god I am so sorry. How did the maths exam go??

Also the last sentence took me out. I’m going to use that regularly. It’s genius.