< Back to all GCSE Cheat Sheets
Written by Hizi. Reviewed and audited by the iBaguette team.
Hello Adventurer! Welcome to the subject specific sites. This section will allow you to find the resources that you’d never thought you could find, as well as the basics. You can’t go wrong with the basics, right?
Anyway, how about you get to reading below and see how this information can benefit you? The sites below vary from online revision sites to do e-work but some will need some work from you, such as taking notes on paper or online.
Watching something without doing anything will never help. You need to write to take in the information given. Studies prove this and every exam survivor can confirm.
Usually, you’ll have to find what works for you. This can be tedious and take some time, but it’s always better to find something good than waste your time on something that isn’t. Nowadays, we are so lucky to have a plethora of websites, teachers, and resources for free online.
This is going to bring me to a general point, which is that GCSE resources shouldn’t be paid. If you’re being asked to pay for a PDF or some sort of file, look around; it will most likely be free elsewhere. I’ve experienced this with a site called TES - resources will be posted claiming to be made by a teacher for a set amount, but after looking around online or doing a reverse image search on Google, I’ve found it for free.
If you’re looking for a PowerPoint on a topic, search for [topic + specification + exam board].pptx: this will bring up sites with that specific file for your topic. If you’re really lucky, you might find the presentation that your teacher uses (this may also mean your teacher is lazy!).
If you’re looking for a worksheet for a subject, search [topic + specification + exam board + worksheet].pdf. If you’re looking for a cheat sheet for a subject, search [topic + specification + exam board + cheat sheet].pdf. I think you get the drift of what I’m getting at there.
Although this does contain online-only resources, please do look at normal books. Usually, if you buy from your school, you can receive books at a discounted rate and sometimes even for free.
I mean the title is pretty self-explanatory but below you will find the universal sites to help you. They may be repeated below with specific sections of the site.
This is your bread and butter of GCSE resources. You should know your exam tier when applicable, and the exam board for all subjects by now. If not, either ask your teacher or email them. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to help you! Pretty basic, agreed, but what’s to come is better.
TES Resources: TES is a popular platform for teachers to share and access resources. You can find a wide range of GCSE English Language resources created by teachers and educators. To find a good resource, simply type what you’re looking for and filter to free resources. If a paid resource catches your eye, try a reverse image search and the PDF trick – 9/10 times, it comes up for free. Visit their website at TES.
BBC Bitesize: BBC Bitesize offers free educational resources for various subjects, including GCSE English Language. You can access their English Language resources at BBC Bitesize.
Exam Board Websites: Check the websites of the exam boards that conduct GCSE English Language exams. They often provide official specifications, past papers, and other helpful resources. Common exam boards are AQA, OCR, Edexcel, and WJEC.
They all have their specifications, which are literally a book with all the questions you can be asked, worded differently. It covers everything you’re expected to know. The same applies to grade boundaries. I must express, please use the pre-pandemic levels to get the most accurate results.
Revision Guides and Books: There are various revision guides and textbooks available that specifically cater to GCSE English Language. Popular publishers include CGP, Collins, and Oxford. These are usually inexpensive, and sometimes, they can be found as a PDF for free online. It is advised to be careful when searching for books as PDFs, as you may get a virus. My top tip: Check the URL and site name before pressing anything.
YouTube Channels: Some educational YouTube channels offer video lessons and explanations on GCSE English Language topics. Examples include Mr Everything English, Mr Salles, Mr Bruff, and First Rate Tutors. These are the ones I used the most, and they truly helped me understand what the exam, also referred to as an assessment, requests students to know.
Personally, I used Mr Bruff to get a concept of the exam questions, Mr Everything English to develop my knowledge on that and what to write, Mr Salles to get a more developed response to achieve a higher grade, and finally, I would use First Rate Tutors to top it all off as they consolidate everything you need to know. This is a clear representation of how you cannot only have one source to learn and that usually it takes multiple sources coming together to learn something.
iBaguette Editor’s Note: Mr Everything English’s “The night before” exam live streams, on top of videos published in the run up to GCSEs saved my English exams. From stories (look up “the priest story” - this is what I actually used) that can be used in any question possible to interesting vocabulary and analysis, these YouTube channels can get your grades up significantly. I got a grade 9 in Language because of this
Your School/Teacher: Don’t forget to ask your school or English teacher for recommended resources. They might have specific materials and suggestions to help you with your studies. If you’re really struggling, you can always ask for extra lessons. Teachers are willing to accommodate this as they usually like to see their students succeed.
You may not know this, but when you leave in Year 11 after results day, the teachers have subject meetings about the results of students in their class, and they would prefer to have all their students pass than have a couple that failed.
Online Forums and Communities: Engage with online forums and communities where students and teachers share study materials and resources. Websites like The Student Room, the Baguette Brigaders Discord, and r/GCSE often have dedicated sections for GCSE subjects.
Past Papers: If you start your revision from when the specification started, you should cover all the questions that should come up in your mock exams, as well as giving a boost in preparation for the real exams. Believe it or not, but usually the topics are very similar and can be interlinked with each other.
For some of the language questions, if you use Mr Everything English, you can get a universal story that can be manipulated to fit the question in the exam. If you do this and pretend your mocks are the real GCSEs, in the end, when your real GCSEs are, you’ll get through them with a breeze as you know what’s expected from you, how to answer the question, and how to, most importantly, pick up the marks.
If you are struggling to mark your own past papers, get a teacher to mark them. You can also get them to print them out. When sitting a past paper, remember to be strict on timing and make sure you don’t cheat by looking up spellings or any analysis – you’re only cheating yourself.
Below is a list of websites specific to each GCSE subject:
Maths Genie: Provides GCSE maths resources, including video tutorials, practice papers, and topic-specific worksheets.
BBC Bitesize: Offers study materials, video lessons, and quizzes for GCSE mathematics.
Corbettmaths: Provides GCSE maths video tutorials, practice questions, and revision resources.
Maths Made Easy: Offers GCSE maths revision materials, practice papers, and topic-specific resources.
Maths Bot: Provides interactive tools and resources for visualizing and practicing GCSE maths concepts.
Dr Frost Maths: Offers a range of GCSE maths resources, including lessons, worksheets, and quizzes.
Primrose Kitten: Provides GCSE science resources, including video tutorials, practice papers, and topic-specific worksheets.
BBC Bitesize: Offers study materials, lessons, and quizzes for GCSE science, triple or not.
Science with Hazel: Provides GCSE science full content tutorials and revision resources.
Free Science Lessons: Offers GCSE science revision materials and video guides.
Save My Exams: Somewhat a Maths Genie for science
Cognito: Offers a range of GCSE science resources, including lessons and quizzes, similar to Seneca Learning.
iBaguette CheatSheets: Provides a very good GCSE computer science resource, which covers all the content and has some practice questions, with more continually being added.
BBC Bitesize: Offers study materials, lessons, and quizzes for GCSE computer science.
MrBrownCS: Provides GCSE computer science full content tutorials and revision resources.
Mr Hylton’s Computer Science Revision: Offers GCSE computer science revision materials.
s1perry: Offers a range of GCSE computer science videos.
Craig ‘n’ Dave: Offers a range of GCSE computer science lessons.
The text book: Offers all the content required for the exams in one book. Give it a read a few times and you’ll be fine.
Your Teacher: They will offer you support to stay on track with your studies as well as be able to provide additional resource’s and past papers.
Mr Harts Business: Offers interactive quizzes and content summary for BTEC students.
GCSE Business: Provides notes, past papers and more for AQA students.
BBC Bitesize: Offers study materials, lessons, and quizzes for GCSE-level business.
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