1. AQA GCSE English Language & Literature
Revision tips and advice
K.Maughan

2. Mention to the audience that these are the texts that students are studying for Literature. Maybe they recognise them? Everyone will study Macbeth then teachers have chosen one pre-1900 text and one post-1900 text.Students need o know the texts inside out but more on that later... 

3. revise, revise, revise – starting NOW…
The basics
AQA English Language course code 8700
AQA Literature course code 8702
No tiers of entry
2 GCSE qualifications
4 exams – 2 for Language and 2 for Literature
A total of 7 ½ hours exams!
All closed book exams, so…
revise, revise, revise – starting NOW…

4. What do students need to revise?
For Language:
Subject terminology
Reading skills – fiction and non-fiction
Writing skills – writing to describe, narrate, argue, persuade. Work on accurate SpaG.
For Literature:
Set texts – plot, characterisation, setting, language, structure and context.
Set poems & unseen poetry – meaning, voice, language, structure, form, context and terminology.
Quotations. 
Skills for Language and Literature are transferrable 
Subject terminology - they need to be able to accurately recognise where a writer has used a technique and be able to precisely analyse the effect of that technique on the reader . Not just feature spotting.
Reading skills – strong vocabulary– reading for meaning. Encourage them to read widely – out of their comfort zone.  E.G. broadsheet newspapers, pre-1900 literature, contemporary fiction.See  100 books to read. 
Writing – SpaG! Planning, vocab, devices.

5. How can students revise effectively?
Active revision
Read notes and reduce
Fill in the gaps
Re-read set texts - highlight quotations and annotate
Create word walls for quotes and key chapters
Write a quiz or “speed dating” questions
Trace key words with finger, highlighter
Act out scenarios/situations/events
Design a game
Create card sort activities
Visually organise or reorganise notes using columns, charts, categories

8. Post-it notes are a student's best friend! 

9. More active revision techniques
Record information on your phone
Set information to rhyme, rhythm, or music to aid retention BBC Shakespeare Shorts
Invent Mnemonics
Create a power point “lesson plan” with activities
Create timelines, models, charts, grids, etc.
Video yourself giving a master class
Study alone but also with friends
Music/rhyme - some brilliant revision songs on Youtube

10. Useful resources (with warnings!)
CGP revision guides and workbooks / York notes / Class notes and practice papers
Own copies of set texts
DVDs of set texts
Friends
BBC Bitesize
YouTube revision videos: Mr Bruff
Revision cards for sale from English teachers - £1 each set.
PiXL Lit app
Revision guides are great – but don't simply read them! Make notes from them, use the workbooks, do practice questions. Don’t think you're sorted just because you've bought a guide. 
Remember that films often change the text – sometimes quite significantly. Macbeth on the estate, for example! We do not want student writing that Macbeth is set on a council estate in Birmingham. 

11. Language Paper 1 & Paper 2 revision cards - £1 each set

12. PiXL Lit App
The PiXLit app is an online assessment system that identifies your strengths and areas to develop with 16 different texts. Strengthen your understanding of selected texts by engaging in a range of interactive activities that revolve around character learning, quotation learning, events and happenings, and terminology.

13. Answers: false, Macbeth/Lady Macbeth and epistemology! 
Quote 2 comes before said by 2nd apparition. Said by LM

15. To sum up… Encourage your son/daughter to:
Get organised – they have a lot to revise
Create a quiet revision space
Use a range of revision activities & resources
Stay active
Revise smart – active not passive
Ask their teacher for advice