End of Year 1 exams: revision and preparation

Your End of Year 1 Media exams are a great opportunity to practice exam skills and work out what progress you need to make next year to reach your targets.

Your exams will be two mini-versions of the real exams you'll do next summer. Your exact dates will depend on the timetable - your teacher will be able to tell you when these exams will run. All Year 10 end of year exams will be taking place in classrooms (next year's mock exams will be in the hall). 

Below is a full guide to what you need to revise for each section of the exam.   

Know your exams

One of the most important aspects of preparing for examinations is knowing exactly what topics could come up in each exam. For your GCSE Media exams, this is what might come up:

Paper 1

Paper 1 Section A: Language and Representation

• Unseen text: advert, social media screengrab or music promotion of some kind. Multiple choice questions plus media language analysis (12 marks). 
• Advertising & Marketing: OMO advert, Galaxy Audrey Hepburn advert and the NHS Represent blood donation campaign. 
• Magazines: Tatler and Heat.

Paper 1 Section B: Audience and Industry

• Media Industries questions - media terminology / theory / regulation (2 marks).
• Film: Black Widow and I, Daniel Blake. 
• Music Video: BLACKPINK - How You Like That and Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.

Your real exam in Year 2 will also contain a 20-mark essay on either Film, Radio, Music Video, Newspapers or Videogames/Online, Social and Participatory Media but this will not be part of this exam. 

Paper 2

Paper 2 will be a full Section A only.

Section A: Television

• Short extract from either Doctor Who – An Unearthly Child (1963) or His Dark Materials – The City of Magpies (2020).
• The extract will be shown twice and you can make notes. There will then be three questions on the extract (2 marks, 8 marks, 12 marks).
• The final question is a 20-mark essay on BOTH of your TV Close-Study Products.

Your real Paper 2 will also have a Section B with two 20-mark essays on either Newspapers or Videogames and Online, Social and Participatory Media. However, these will not appear in your end of year exam as we have not studied them yet.

How to revise

Revision is a very personal thing and everyone has different techniques. Personally, I strongly recommend using flash cards (they are often called record cards if you are trying to buy them online or in WHSmiths). The simple act of distilling topics into a few key words or phrases to put on the card will seriously help in remembering the key information in the final exams. I have spare flash cards in DF07 if you'd like some.  

Good luck with your revision and give these exams your best shot!