Our top back to school secondary resources for 2023 - BBC Bitesize (2024)

By Chloe Vethamony - Teaching, Learning and Curriculum lead.

As a teaching, learning and curriculum lead for Primary and Secondary pupils, I have found BBC Bitesize resources invaluable through my teaching career; from a newly qualified teacher, to an experienced KS2 and KS3 lead.

Bitesize may be more well-known as a GCSE revision resource, but it has excellent high quality secondary school content starting at KS3.

Bitesize is my consistent go to for good quality, up to date resources to use with my students that cover all aspects of the curriculum.

It seems to always have been there, a trusted place for revision - I even used it when I was at secondary school to prepare for my own GCSEs!

Even so, it’s hard to believe that Bitesize will soon be celebrating its 25th anniversary.

The website has had a whole new redesign, making it simpler for students and teachers to find the learning resources that they need, when they need them.

New GCSE revision quizzes

As I mentioned previously, I used BBC Bitesize when I was revising for my own GCSEs and it is still the place that I recommend to all my co-workers, especially my KS4 colleagues. There is no need to spend hours sifting through resources to see if they are suitable for the curriculum that you are teaching. What I love about the website is that not only is each subject content broken down into sections, but there are even separate exam board pages so that as a teacher you can really pinpoint what you want your students to revise.

We all know that young people need more engaging ways to revise than learning by rote, and quizzes are a great way to get students to revise what they have been taught. On the Bitesize website there are a whole host of new GSCE revision quizzes. Students can test their knowledge on Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Geography on these exam style quizzes which are brilliant because they are based on GCSE past papers. The quizzes are designed to improve students’ skills in answering exam-style questions. Your class can also see which areas they need to improve on as the quizzes give useful feedback when they are struggling to answer the question correctly.

The quizzes will make teachers’ workload lighter as all the hard work has been done, just see what topics need revising and the quizzes are all there ready to go.

GCSE revision podcasts

Podcasts are a really great way for students to revise what they have previously been taught, especially those young people who struggle to revise in a more traditional way. They are great to listen to on the journey to and from school or at home when you feel too tired to revise using your workbooks. Bitesize have some excellent, engaging revision podcasts. Sometimes I will pop one on to listen to when I haven’t taught a topic for a while as a little bit of a refresher for myself too.

Made in partnership with BBC Sounds, these GCSE Biology and English Literature podcasts offer students a way of revising on the go when they don’t have a textbook to-hand. From the classics of Jane Eyre to Meera Syal’s Anita & Me, the English literature podcasts recap everything from the plot summary to key quotes to give students tips for answering exam questions. The Biology podcasts are hosted by Dr Alex Lathbridge and revise key GCSE biology topics including infection and response, ecology and even science exam techniques.

There are also study support podcasts to help students through the stressful revision season, covering how to ‘Study Smart’ and how to survive the exams. The mental wellbeing of our students is so important now more than ever and the study support podcasts are so beneficial in offering advice and support to guide them through this period.

New KS3 content

Secondary games

Gone are the days when students learn via textbooks and worksheets alone, which is why I always like to use games in my lessons to embed learning.

The Bitesize website is great for this as I always know the games will be age appropriate with student friendly content. For September there are new and updated games including History Detectives, Atomic Labs (Science), Planet Planners (Geography) and my personal favourite, Divided Islands (maths).

I will be using Divided Islands as a starter activity for my class in maths and as an assessment for learning tool for myself. I love the fact that it lets you choose what topics you want the game to cover, so the children feel like they are playing games, but as a teacher I know that they are also recapping on their learning.

Study Support

The Bitesize website isn’t just for academic content either. Bitesize Study Support is the go-to place to offer support to students for not only their studies but other life challenges too. There are great tips and advice to help with revision, exam stress, bullying and more. I find the wellbeing section invaluable; I use it with my form tutor group when discussing topics that may affect them.

As a busy teacher, my new academic year resolution is to try and have a healthier work life balance and BBC Bitesize helps me achieve this by having ready-made resources and support on hand. What I love the most is that the site is easily accessible and has content that I trust will help all my students (and myself) make progress this new school year. Best of all, it’s all completely free.

Students in Scotland can also access resources for 3rd Level, 4th Level, National 4 and National 5 subjects.

Explore back to school 2023 primary content with games, downloadable resources, and more.