Meet the Yipiyaps
We asked the Yipiyaps:
Which subject do you tutor?
What's your favourite other subject?
What are your other likes?
What aren't you a fan of?
What's your favourite bit of your subject?
...and what didn't you find so easy?
Alex N
English
Drama. It’s great to practically study a subject that gets you working in a team…and analysing plays and literature at the same time.
I love getting outdoors. I am a big fan of hillwalking and have climbed the tallest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales!
Of big city life. It’s too busy and loud for me. Would much rather be surrounded by nature!
Discussions about characters or themes. I enjoy hearing others perspectives, no one is wrong provided that their answers are justified.
The time pressure of exams.
Aminah A
Maths
Maths and Chemistry
There are several things that I like to do which include baking, playing badminton and travelling with family (because who doesn’t like to go abroad!).
Onions (I can’t stand them), and extreme winters (now who likes wearing 20 layers of clothing?).
For maths it has to be algebra - As long as you know the basics and follow the rules you are able to solve very complicated equations. For chemistry it has to be the practical side as seeing reactions happen rather than just reading about them in a textbook and believing what they say will be observed, is very interesting
For maths it has to be the really complicated integration and differentiation you do at the end of year 13. For chemistry it would be memorising the reactants, products and catalysts for different organic reactions as they all seem so alike.
Angela J
English
I love science in general, so long as we go easy on the physics
You’ll usually find me either with my head stuck in a book, binging my favourite shows, or playing badminton
Flying in aeroplanes (I blame it on my travel sickness)
I think it's so interesting to see all the possible different interpretations you can pull out from a piece of writing, there's never one answer!
Creative writing under timed conditions!
Ashly J
Maths
English Lit because I like to analyse things and Psychology because I can judge people and how their behaviour could be linked to certain experiences.
Anime and reading.
People smoking near me because I have to hold my breath every time.
Ratio and statistics.
When maths questions require you to draw things.
Ayesha K
Maths
Biology
Binge watching shows, listening music and cooking
People who give spoilers
Learning about living organisms and natural processes.
Biochemical equations
Ben J
English
Drama
Film/TV (mostly animated stuff, so Disney, Pixar etc.) and video games (things like A Short Hike or Celeste)
Earphone wires tangling, or shoelaces untangling!!
Getting to write your own stories, and learning about the structure of an average story
Remembering all the different word classes, or knowing quite where to start with an analysis answer (takes a second or several sometimes!)
Centime B
English
Chemistry, because you get to take part in some interesting experiments.
I enjoy reading (particularly fiction), listening to most genres of music and cooking (especially when something is unexpectedly delicious).
I’m not a fan of jazz music or marshmallows (although marshmallows that are toasted around a campfire can be quite tasty)
That there is no definite right answer and that it can be a very creative subject where you have to use your imagination at times.
: I used to struggle with my timing in English as it was hard to think of content to write about under pressure. However, after practicing and timing myself with past papers I improved a lot.
Dani H
English
Geography, a subject I’m going to pursue at university – its versatility interests me the most – one day you could be learning about how a wave forms, and the next you could be learning about what a specific place means to various demographics.
Athletics, Dance and drama
Being underestimated (but I guess proving yourself and succeeding in the end is highly satisfying) & Melted cheese – sorry pizza lovers!
The chance to have freedom of speech (to an extent). No one is stopping you from writing down your opinion on a particular piece of writing, and you can delve so deep into even the smallest paragraph in regards to its meaning.
Poetry. We’ll just leave that there
Deandra P
Maths
Economics - it isn’t all about money and can be applied to pretty much anything you can think of (Economics of Cinderella??)
Binge watching sitcoms, playing piano, going on walks and cooking
When people say ‘’yes’’ when you ask them a question which has two options
Algebra and Calculus - the proofs are pretty interesting
Science-y applications of maths - mechanics etc.
Donya A
Maths
Biology
Music, Poetry and Puzzles
Disorganisation, Loud noise and Violence
Problem solving and finding the solutions
How tedious maths can be. For example, I struggled with Probability but it did get easier with practice. However, the process of learning and practicing the questions over and over was tedious but once mastering it, it is satisfactory and worth it in my perspective.
Grace H
English
Definitely languages! I’ve completed A level Spanish and GCSE Japanese, and I’m looking for my next language to self-study. I also loved studying Music at GCSE.
Foreign languages, K-dramas, plants, stationery, and music!
Days when it’s neither rainy nor sunny, just cold, gloomy weather ☹
Creative writing! I feel like there’s so many possibilities with this part of the exam.
Hmm…probably structuring questions and keeping time? Not necessarily an assessed part of the course, but I used to find it difficult to not run out of time and keep answers concise!
Grace B
English
Favourite subject apart from English Probably History or Sociology. Find them the most interesting.
Listening and playing music all around, getting creative and pop culture.
Selective listeners, weather over 26°, and farm animals especially pigs. Fun fact pigs are cannibals!
The satisfaction of understanding a bizarre poem and reading novels.
Not a fan of writing essays under time conditions. Could never do it well and always disliked planning them.
Habiba K
English
Physics! - It’s a world that’s imaginative and logical!
Swimming, Writing and Movies (action, thrillers…)
Parties- forgive me but I don’t understand how they’re fun
Creative writing- Being able to express creativity is rare outside of the art subjects
Timed conditions! Its frustrating to rush your answers and not be able to enjoy the problem solving or texts you’re reading.
Japnbir K
Maths
I enjoy learning about biology and being creative in art
I enjoy playing netball and painting in watercolour and oil paints
Watermelons and Lockdowns
Algebra and Trigonometry
Indices
Jasper T
Maths
Biology- There wasn’t a single topic I didn’t enjoy studying.
I spend most of my free time drawing or playing video games.
Sponges
Statistics, I find data analysis quite interesting, and it’s important in a range of industries.
Geometry. There’s a lot of rules to remember.
Joe J
Maths
Physics
I enjoy cooking (despite not being particularly proficient so far), listening to a wide range of music (with classic rock being my favourite genre) and going to the gym
I dislike sprouts, gardening and Sunderland FC (I am a Newcastle fan).
unexpecting and unique
how abstract some of the concepts are
Josh G
Maths
I find science really interesting and it is what I hope to do at university
Sport, especially football. If I'm not watching a game I like a good walk in the Yorkshire countryside to relax.
I cycle to work so cars that drive dangerously always annoy me! I'm not a fan of the winter as I always seem to have a cold
It's just really interesting!
It can be slow-going to get some concepts at first!
Josh B
English
Politics, with Economics and history a close joint second
Football (Norwich City in particular), Musicals, Politics and crime dramas (Especially Poirot and Vera)
Baked beans & people who talk loudly on their phone in public
Persuasive writing without a doubt
Extract analysis was a real struggle for me until, after attempting a lot of past papers and trying many different acronyms, it finally clicked in the last few months of year 11.
Mariam M
English
Psychology - it’s so interesting learning about why everyone thinks differently
I love binge watching tv shows - I honestly end up wasting hours
The ocean - something about it just creeps me out. The way only 20% has been discovered is kind of freaky.
There’s not just one answer, usually everyone has a different interpretation. It can be very personal.
Personally I struggled with poetry and understanding the meaning behind poems
Matthew M
Maths
History- I love the essay writing and debating- really I love arguments!
I love Musical Theatre, playing games on my Xbox with my friends and at heart I’m a massive Star Wars fan!
Walking (thank goodness I’m working from home!) and mushrooms (who likes eating rubber?)
Complex numbers- they sound so difficult and are always fun to impress people with
Angles, shapes and graphs- anything to do with drawing really isn’t my cup of tea!
Noah R
English
Definitely English, but always liked Biology as well.
Lots of different sports (including running, cycling and others) and reading.
Being bored.
Anything involving creative writing.
The grammar, I struggled with that for such a long time!
Orla T
English
Drama
Binge watching American Horror Story and reading Vogue
Football (though I do love women’s football, I might be biased)
Creative writing, one day I want to write a book
Managing my time, I usually have about ten blisters on my hands after finishing a paper
Rachel H
English
Fine Art. I’m going to be studying it at University and I’m so excited.
I am a massive fan of music, especially Hip-Hop and old R&B. I just got Little Simz’s new album on vinyl and have had it spinning since!
Controversially… the summer. I cannot stand hot weather and Hay fever is my worst enemy.
I especially like finding historical context in a piece of writing or spotting an intertextual reference that adds to the storyline.
I find it hard concluding a piece of writing. Story endings and essay conclusions very difficult, especially under exam conditions.
Rackael L
English
My favourite subject in secondary school was English but in college it was psychology.
I think this is a rather difficult question because they are many things which I do like but to name a few I would say sunsets, food, late night drives and luxury.
I’m not a fan of alcohol.
My favourite bit in English is creative writing and in psychology it’s the content especially aggression and attachment.
For both subjects the difficulty lied in writing in timed conditions.
Rosie B
Maths
I loved the sciences, especially Biology, but my favourite subject has got to be History
Playing my flute, reading, and watching tv
Marzipan and loud eating noises
I love algebra because solving a tricky equation is very satisfying.
I found surds complicated and confusing, but with practice they started making more sense.
Sahima B
Maths
Easily Chemistry. Thoroughly enjoyed it through both secondary school and sixth form.
Watching anime. One of my favourite things to do in my spare time and I can binge multiple series in a day! :D
Dogs. I absolutely love cats <3.
Algebra, when it clicks, is a dream.
Ratios. Just could not understand them, but with the right revision and resources, they DEFINITELY got easier.
Sam S
English
I enjoy languages, especially German, it’s fun to learn but not the nicest sounding language when spoken.
I like drama, I’ve done it since I was a kid, I also like reading crime novels and listening to chilled music
Anything flavoured with coriander
Learning about how different writing techniques can give a different feel to a piece of writing and help get a message across.
Poetry
Semire A
Maths
Art and design, especially painting
Playing basketball and physical activities, listening to music, and being creative
Going out to very busy places, I prefer something more quite and relaxing
Simultaneous equations and proofs
Bearings
Sian W
English
between P.E, Drama and History but I can’t choose just one.
I enjoy listening to music and spending time in nature.
Spiders.
Descriptive writing
Writing under time pressure!
Sumaiya I
English
This would definitely be Chemistry as there are many experiments you can do and it is more logical.
Films/TV (Marvel in particular !). I also enjoy listening to music, watching football and cooking.
Olives, I am never having one again.
Immersing yourself in different stories and thoughts. It also doesn’t have just one specific answer, you are able to express your own opinions.
I struggled with staying within the time limit, it can be hard when you have many ideas but little time to explore them.