Preparations For IGCSE
- Olympus News
- Mar 9, 2022
- 3 min read
By: Jason Delfigo Jusuf
IGCSE season is just right around the corner, which means students are scampering around, burning the midnight oil to study every topic that they have learned so far.
IGCSE, short for International General Certificate of Secondary Education, is the world’s most popular international qualification for secondary students. These scores have a large influence on what higher education you can attain. Failing them would spell doom for your future endeavors as an academic.
Now, how does one prepare for the trial that might potentially decide their lives? It is really simple, actually. You study. But just studying mindlessly will not cut it. You will have to study strategically. Luckily, we have compiled a list of advice from both students and teachers on how to best prepare for the IGCSEs.
First and foremost, what better way to study than reading notes? You can read through the notes that your teachers have sent you or you can use ZNotes.
Howard, who scored 5A* in his IGCSEs, mentioned, “I would start off with a basic revision of all the topics covered by the IGCSE exams, writing down summaries and notes for each topic.”
He would then search for topical questions online for the topics that he could not understand in order to practice them. One student said that copying down notes helped retain the information, instead of just reading through them.
Secondly, and what I personally find to be the most helpful is doing past papers. Quite a lot of teachers tend to use past papers for the students during revision. These past papers can give an idea of what the questions are like and how to answer those questions.
Lavinia, another student who scored 5A*, raised, “The key to acing IGCSE definitely lies on practicing, keep in mind to complete topical past papers first.”
Christopher added that by doing past papers, you remember the kind of questions that will show up and also helps in identifying the chapters that you are not good at.
Thirdly, when studying, use a study guide/schedule. It will help you a lot in organizing the time you have for each subject you need to study for. Lavinia said that she planned a revision timetable a month before the exams. Just make sure that your study guide/schedule is actually humanly possible so add breaks in between to not get too overwhelmed.
Fourth, use resources available online. There are so many resources online that will help you in studying. One of those is YouTube videos. Lavinia said that watching YouTube videos help to strengthen your basics and memorizations will also help in your weaker subjects.
Lastly, and this is the kicker, ask for help from your teachers. When you are unable to understand a concept or a topic, ask your teachers. A lot of teachers have reached out to the students, offering free private lessons to help and guide them. They will surely be willing to either cover those topics in class or have an extra class after school to aid you in understanding the material. Although it might be embarrassing, there is no better way to learn than to learn from someone else more knowledgeable.
Preparing for the IGCSEs is quite demanding but with enough time and effort, doing the actual tests will be a breeze! So be sure to study hard and learn and understand the concepts. However, Howard noted to please get enough rest as it is important. If your scores are not what you expected, there will be plenty of opportunities for you in the future to do well in life.
“Good luck to everyone taking IGCSE!” - Lavinia.
Sources:
Howard Anggawijaya
Lavinia Thosatravi
Christopher Setiabudi
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