Hello sir, I hope you are well. I contacted you on YouTube regarding my top grades thanks to you and my English teachers 🙂
Attached below are my scripts in English Literature and English Language. My highest was paper 2 Literature: 96/96.
Many thanks,
Haitham,
Before I do give my top-tips, I want to say that I was not always a grade 9 student. At the beginning of year 10, I was attaining grade 4s in English Literature and English language, so getting a grade 9 seemed like a pipe dream.
I also want to say that your emphasis on conceptualised responses and writing about the author's purpose has really helped me step up from a grade 6 to a grade 9.
Having said that, what I am about to share was invaluable to my success at GCSE, across all subjects:
(1) Find your purpose and be driven to learn:
All successful people have a positive mindset to how they approach their goals. My goal was to achieve a grade 9, but I wouldn’t have been able to do that without a solid purpose and a mental drive. I was always underachieving in subjects from year 7 to year 10, so my purpose was to prove everyone wrong and show that I was capable. In times where I wasn’t bothered to revise, I would think back to this and it would fuel me to put in the work.
(2) Don’t limit yourself to school resources:
School gives you the bare minimum. Yes, your teachers want you to be successful but you only see them once everyday and the learning tends to be fast-paced.
If you truly want to reach the top 10% and get a grade 9, you need to be more resourceful and use online revision resources like Mr Salles’ channel and guides to give depth to what you learn in school.
(3) Revise interpretations of quotes and do quote explosions:
Schools tend to furnish you with very basic interpretations of quotes so it is in your hands to take initiative and develop those ideas. Mr Salles is an excellent source of grade 9 quote interpretations. What is special about them is that it gives the examiner every reason to award you the marks as they are perceptive and developed.
If you want to memorise these interpretations, you must do quote explosions. To make it easy, start with word-level analysis then start incorporating different interpretations.
(4) Plan, write, mark:
If you really want a grade 9, you should be writing and planning an essay a week as a bare minimum. You should then give it to your teacher to mark and they can give you feedback on how to improve.
At the beginning of year 11, I would plan my essays with quote explosions with the quotes I would use. I would then give myself 50 minutes to write an essay and then would email it to my teacher for marking.
They would give me feedback, which helped identify my areas of weakness. With the weaknesses identified, I would then go back and use online resources like Mr Salles’ channel to help refine that particular area.
I would then do another essay the following week, implementing my new changes till I did my absolute best.
(5) Discuss quotes, ideas and interpretations with English teachers:
Discussing what you’re trying to develop can really help you cement your ideas. I would always speak to my English teacher, the head of English at my school and- fortunately- my form tutor was also an English teacher. They are the subject specialists with degrees, so why not benefit from their expertise?
(6) Stay humble:
Arrogance is always a barrier to improvement. You need to keep an open mind and acknowledge that you are not perfect. As tempting as it may be to get ahead of yourself as a result of, say, your success in mocks (getting grade 9) there is always room for improvement and it should never be taken as an indication that you shouldn't revise the subject as much anymore.
If you get a grade 9, great, but you need to now focus on maintaining that. Maintinence is hard because you have set yourself the golden standard so NEVER get complacent.
But, say you don't get a good grade in mocks and feel really demotivated. Don't worry. Just keep practising and stay consistent with revision and you will be guaranteed your desired results.
It sounds like really wishy-washy advice, and I would have thought the same in your position at the beginning of Year 11 as a grade 6/7 student, but if you follow through with all the tips, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't achieve the top grades.
It's like exercise, if you stay consistent with your programme, you will naturally achieve results. It is bound to happen.
My Thoughts
Let’s forget English for a minute.
How well do you think Haitham is going to do at life? Has he learned lessons which will benefit him well into adulthood? When he meets difficulties, will he enjoy trying to overcome them, or work hard and hate every minute of it?
I can only come up with a positive answer to each of these questions.
So, even if English is not your thing, Haitham’s approach could be just what you need. It really depends on how you choose your purpose.
If you want to get hold of over 20 of my revision guides, free for 30 days, or £0.99 for 60 days, follow the link.
Love this! A joy to read.