I have recently just finished my IGCSE course and I am aware of how challenging it can be when going through it for the first time. Because of this reason I have decided to create this page detailing all it takes in order to succeed in the IGCSE. This page contains everything from key traits that will help you succeed and how to develop them, regrets of previous students and pieces of advice from previous IGCSE students, to study techniques that have been proven to work for previous students.
Enjoy :)
The following traits will be useful for not only IGCSE but for all areas of your life. In the research and the interviews that have been conducted for this page however, the following traits have been mentioned countless times. The consistent development of these definitely result in success.
In order to not only have a successful IGCSE experience, but also one where you have plenty of free time throughout the 2 years, the skills of time management and consistency are vital. These two traits go hand in hand, the way you can be consistent is by making sure you dedicate a bit of time every single day just for studying and revising. It is important to stick to this routine even when no homework is given, and even when there are no tests to revise for. You will notice that in the beginning there might not be a massive change in your grades, and that maybe you don’t even have that much time left, however by making sure you stick to this routine you will notice that your grades as well as your free time will increase exponentially.
In a survey that I conducted, 62.5% of students said that studying 2-5 hours weekly is enough, meaning you only need to dedicate less than 1 hour everyday consistently to be successful.
IGCSE is a 2-year course, meaning a lot of the content you will encounter in the second year will be heavily reliant on the things you see in the first year. This is why it is very important to make sure you have notes, digital or physical, from the previous year that you can refer to at any time.
To do this, make sure you:
Having the right mindset and strong characteristics is important, but without these study habits it is hard to see any results. The best way to study is any method in which you are forced to recall pieces of information and link together many aspects of the subject. What I am describing is called Active Recall. Here are 2 ways to apply this method.
Past papers are unbelievably useful for the simple reason that you revise for the exact things you will encounter in the exams, the same type of questions in the same time limit. You are also forced to bring in lots of knowledge from many different topics which makes this technique very engaging and active. This is the reason that in my survey doing a past paper came in 1st place for the most useful resource for IGCSE students.
In some of the private interviews conducted the act of creating mind maps was something that came up constantly. This is very easy to understand, as mindmaps force you to make connections, in order to make connections you are required to understand the topic at a deeper level so that you are aware of what connections are appropriate. Seeing the connection between the topics will also help you handle any unexpected exam questions in which you are forced to combine multiple topics to answer the question. Here are just some of the feedback I heard on mind mapping in my interviews:
“I created mind maps in order to synthesize everything I have learned, the act of writing it down [and linking the pieces of information] helped me solidify it in my memory” - Tyler
“Mind maps help you connect topics as well as solidify your understanding” - Akhil
“Making mind maps is important because seeing the connections between [the topics] is very Important"- Lucie
This is an example mind map that Tyler created for geography that you can use for reference. This is not meant to be studied, it is to be used as an example in order to see the way he has linked together many different topics.
Studying in the most efficient way is vital, however if you have not developed your skill of actually writing the exam or test, achieving your desired results will be difficult if not impossible. People often neglect this part of learning, however you will notice that when developed, you will not only perform better in exams, but you will also be more confident beforehand.
To manage the stress that arises during the time pressure in the exams, make sure you time yourself not only when doing past papers, but also certain homework assignments. This allows you to be able to check your work much more thoroughly allowing you to c correct obvious mistakes. Once you are proficient in your time management, you will notice that you have time to do multiple questions over again.
Mark schemes reveal what examiners look for and help identify efficient answering methods. They also guide study focus on high-value areas. Along with mark schemes, make sure to look at examiner reports so that you know where students often go wrong so that you can avoid those mistakes. Use these reports to also see which questions the examiner has declared as more difficult so that you can practice those areas more. You do not have to use these two things very often, this should serve as additional preparation so you feel more confident.
Here are some of the most common regrets from past students:
These regrets were not only the ones of students in my class but also for students generally in any course. Make sure to learn from these mistakes in order to have a positive IGCSE experience.
These 2 years might be challenging and demanding, but make sure you remember that you will improve a lot of skills that will transfer to all areas of your life. Make sure to enjoy life outside as well. Something that a lot of students said was the importance of health. Do not sacrifice sleep for exams, make sure you are active and have a healthy diet. Being healthy is something that will improve all areas of your life dramatically.
Keep the tips that you read in this post in mind and make sure not to stress yourself out too much.
Good luck!