My GCSE Results 2017 | My Subjects, Grades + What I'm Studying For A-Levels!

Before I start, I just want to congratulate everybody who sat the new GCSEs because God knows that it wasn't easy and cannot even be compared to previous GCSEs. There was some A-level maths in the higher paper, not to mention that time management was key in the English exams to actually doing well in it.
Whatever you got, I can only advise you use it to push you to wanting to do better for yourself. There's still A-levels and getting a degree to go - depending on which path you decide to take. This is only a crumb of a cake compared to what we have yet to go through. Good or bad - continue to work and hustle! Because eventually, if not now then later - it WILL pay off!

So hi guys 👋👋! On the 24th of August - I had to collect my GCSE results, enroll at my chosen college/sixth form and basically decide the next stepping stone which will impact the rest of my educational path. I just want to say I actually thought year 11 was the HARDEST year of secondary school which is to be expected but I didn't expect it to be as hard as what I went through personally.

There were times where I felt completely alone because everybody had priorities to attend to. I remember balling my eyes out because the pressure to succeed and wanting to do well was mounting on me. I felt really somehow when it came to my group of friends, I just didn't feel completely happy. It was a year where I had to learn to let go people's opinions of me - good or bad. (It's secondary school, it's a stressful year - everybody wants to act bitchy, it happens.) I lost a lot of friends, I constantly worried and feared a lot - I had to deal with feeling left out etc etc etc.

It was just a really tough two years; with year 11 being the hardest of the two.

With that being said - to have gotten what I got was crazy. I'm EXTREMELY grateful because the hard work paid off. No one will really know the extent of what I had to do to get the grades I did. Some will assume it was luck, genetics and probably the receiving of a lot of help. But I know what it took for me to get what I got. The prayers, late nights, the cramming it took. And I am someone who has VERY high expectations, I will always think I could have done more when I did all that I could have. Sometimes I will feel a nag of annoyance/upset if I wanted to get a higher grade when the grade I got is amazing but that's just me.

BUT I DID IT. Through every wrong and every setback - I finished strong. So with that said...
Here's what I got.

Maths - 7 (A)
English Language - 8 (A*)
English Literature - 6 (B)
Art & Design - A
French - A
History - A*
Physics - A*
Chemistry - A*
Biology - A (I took this last year)
And I got a Distinction in English language for my speaking assesment (you had to write and present a speech).

Overall I got 4 A*s, 4 As and 1 B. 9 A*-B grades. 

I couldn't have asked for anything more. I'm so thankful to God, my teachers, my close friends and my family members. What surprised me was English lit, physics, maths and french. I was expecting an A or even an A* in literature and I got a B. I remember shedding tears because honestly when I first saw my grades - that's all I could fix my eyes on, the 6. My other grades hadn't even sunk in yet. I felt even more like shite when I saw other people getting 7s, 8s and 9s. I really thought 'what the hell did I write?'. I don't even know the breakdown so I don't even know if I'm close to the grade boundary or not.

But after being extremely stupid and feeling silly/upset after comparing my grades to everyone else's, the reality sunk in that I did very well. An A* in physics??!! I remember telling my friend about a dream I had of failing it. Maths - I'm honestly happy with an A !! Anything higher I would have not thought it was my paper. AND FRENCH!! A?!!! I used to get Us. In all the classes I've attended in my LIFE, I've never been at the bottom of the class except for french. And I left with an A.
Wow.

Physics (P7) grade before exam

So here's the breakdown:
(for English and maths - I can't even speak on it because AQA and Edexcel decided to be a pain and not post the marks or the breakdown of MY OWN grade 😶

French - I got an A in the listening (that was where I was getting the Us in french) and I got an A* in the reading. I got a B in the french speaking and an A in french writing.

Art & Design - I THINK I got an A* in my coursework and an A in my final piece. Either that or it's the other way round.

History - In my first exam (All about the Cold War) I got an A*. In my second exam (all about Nazi Germany) I got an A*. In my third exam (all about Britain) - I got an A. And in my coursework I got an A.

Chemistry - The first exam (C123) I got an A*, the second exam (C456) I got an A*, the third exam because I took triple science (C7) I got an A*. And in my coursework, I got an A*. If someone said I would have got that in year 9, I would have actually wet myself crying because I HATED chemistry in year 9.

Physics - The first exam (P123) I got an A*, the second exam (P456) I got an A*, the third exam (P7) I got an A and in my coursework I got an A*.

Biology - This I took last year: in the first exam (B123)  I got an A, in the second exam, (B456) I got an A*, in the third exam (B7) I got a B and in my coursework I got an A*.

Chemistry (C7) grade before exams

Overall some of the grades for certain subject I just was not expecting. Things I thought I did really well in, I got a lower grade compared to subjects I thought I didn't do really good in - only to end up with a higher grade.
My advice to anyone who is not happy with your grade is to get it re-marked/reviewed and look at the possibilities of doing an early re-sit. Considering the new grading system, it has already been highlighted that there will be some errors which is to be expected. Don't take this lightly - if you feel that you have nothing to lose or that you felt that you did a lot better than the grade given to you -- get it re-marked.
Plus use this time from now until we go back to school wisely, it may seem like it's easy for me to say but it really isn't. I still need research and prepare myself for my a-levels because I'm still unsure on what I'm doing and that's another pressure point for me.

So far I've chosen to study Biology, Chemistry, English literature and economics. However this might change as my views on English literature is wavering and I might change economics with history. I'm really not sure. With that being said, thank you so much for reading. I hope you got what you wanted and more! There's no guarantee that what you get in GCSEs will reciprocate once you take your A-levels. Some people forget that, believe they don't need to revise and get lower grades. I can only say use whatever you got to motivate you to work harder and smarter for a mega comeback !


Have a great week guys! Until next time...💖

Simply, Jessy Tee