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Brainhub guide

AI revision prompts for every GCSE and A-Level subject

A good prompt turns a chatbot into a patient tutor that quizzes you, gives hints and checks your working. Here are the five ingredients, then prompts to copy for each subject.

Written by the Brainhub Editorial Team Cites published research Updated 4 Nov 2026 10 min read

Key takeaways

1. The five ingredients of a good prompt

OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, gives simple advice for prompts: be clear and specific, give context, and break the task into steps.[1]

Research on AI tutoring adds one more rule: make the student do the thinking. In a Harvard physics study, an AI tutor that revealed one step at a time, never gave the whole solution and asked students to try first helped them learn more than twice as much as a normal active-learning class. It was a small study, but the design is easy to copy in a prompt.[2]

The prompts below use these ingredients. Change the parts in [square brackets] to your own year, exam board and topic.

1. Context

Your year, subject, exam board and tier. “I’m in Year 11 studying AQA GCSE Maths, Higher tier.”

2. How to help

“Act as my tutor. Ask me questions and give hints. Don’t give me the answer until I’ve tried twice.”

3. The real question

Paste the exact exam question and, if you have it, the mark scheme, so it marks you the way an examiner would.

4. One step at a time

“Give me one step, then stop and wait for my answer.”

5. Push back

“That’s too hard, make it simpler.” “Are you sure? Show me where the mark scheme says that.”

Start every new chat the same way: Put ingredients 1 and 2 at the top of each new chat, so the tool knows who you are and how to help before you ask anything.

2. Maths

Maths is where hints matter most. In a trial with nearly 1,000 high school maths students, those who used ChatGPT freely did better in practice but 17% worse in the exam once it was taken away. Those using a version that gave hints instead of answers did no harm to their exam score.[3]

Use it to…
Copy this prompt
Get unstuck
“I’m in [Year 10] studying [Edexcel GCSE Maths, Foundation tier]. I’m stuck on this question: [paste it]. Give me only the next step, then wait for me to try.”
Check your working
“Here is a question and my working: [paste both]. Tell me which line has the first mistake. Don’t correct it.”
Practise more
“Write five questions like this one, getting harder each time: [paste question]. Give them one at a time and don’t show an answer until I’ve tried.”

Check the numbers: Chatbots can make arithmetic slips. Check final answers with a calculator or the mark scheme.

3. English Language and English Literature

In English, use AI to plan your ideas and to mark your work against the mark scheme, not to write for you. The exam tests your own writing, under time.

For Literature, don’t ask AI to quote the text. It can misquote, or invent lines that sound right: the Department for Education warns that AI can present false information as fact. Paste quotes from your own copy and get it to test you on them.[4]

Use it to…
Copy this prompt
Language: improve a paragraph
“Here is my answer to [AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1, Question 3]: [paste]. Using this mark scheme: [paste], tell me which level it reaches and one change that would move it up. Don’t rewrite it.”
Language: plan creative writing
“Give me a [descriptive writing] task in the style of [AQA Paper 1]. Help me plan by asking me questions, one at a time. Don’t write any of it for me.”
Literature: learn quotes
“Here are 10 quotes from my copy of [Macbeth], each with who says it and when: [paste]. Give me the speaker and the moment, one at a time, and I’ll write the quote from memory. Tell me which words I got wrong.”
Literature: plan an essay
“Give me an exam-style question on [how Shakespeare presents ambition in Macbeth]. Help me plan with questions about my argument, my best quotes and the context. Don’t write paragraphs for me.”

4. Biology, Chemistry and Physics

Science exams test facts, the practicals you did in class (AQA calls them required practicals, Edexcel core practicals) and longer six-mark answers. Ask AI to quiz you on all three. Our lesson on six-mark questions shows how they are marked.

Use it to…
Copy this prompt
Quiz the facts
“Ask me 10 questions on [AQA GCSE Chemistry, bonding], one at a time, starting easy. After each answer, tell me what a mark scheme would want that I missed.”
Revise a practical
“I’m revising the [AQA GCSE Biology osmosis] required practical. Ask me about the method, the variables, the risks and what the results show, one question at a time.”
Practise a six-mark answer
“Give me a six-mark question on [GCSE Physics, energy resources]. When I’ve answered, mark it like an examiner: tell me which level it reaches and the one point that would add the most.”

5. History and Geography

In History and Geography, marks come from your own knowledge, used to build an argument. AI can test the knowledge and challenge the argument.

Keep it working from your notes, so it doesn’t invent dates, figures or case study facts. Paste your notes in and tell it to use only those.

Use it to…
Copy this prompt
History: test your timeline
“Here are my notes on [Germany, 1918 to 1933]: [paste]. Using only these notes, ask me 10 questions on the key events in order, one at a time.”
History: argue both sides
“Give me a ‘How far do you agree?’ question on [the causes of the First World War]. Ask me for my argument, then challenge it with the other side. Don’t write my answer.”
Geography: case studies
“Here are my notes on my case study of [Lagos]: [paste]. Quiz me from these notes only, on causes, effects and responses, including the figures.”
Geography: longer answers
“Give me an ‘evaluate’ question on [managing coastal flooding]. After I answer, tell me if I reached a clear judgement and what evidence would make it stronger.”

6. Languages, Computer Science, Economics and Psychology

For French or Spanish, use the app’s voice mode if it has one, so you practise speaking out loud. Ask it to keep to GCSE-level words and to correct you in English.

For Computer Science, ask AI to set you problems, such as code with a bug to find, rather than writing code for you. For A-Level Economics and Psychology, use it to practise evaluation: weighing up arguments and evidence.

Use it to…
Copy this prompt
French or Spanish: speaking
“Speak to me in simple [Spanish] about [my last holiday], at GCSE [Foundation] level. Ask one question at a time and wait for my answer. After each answer, correct one mistake, in English.”
French or Spanish: role play
“Play a [shop assistant in Paris]. I’m a customer. Speak only [French] and keep it simple. At the end, list my mistakes in English.”
Computer Science: find the bug
“Write a short [Python] program with one bug in it, at GCSE level. Don’t tell me where it is. Ask me to find it and explain the fix.”
Computer Science: trace tables
“Give me a short algorithm and an empty trace table. Check my table one row at a time.”
A-Level Economics: evaluation
“Give me an essay question on [minimum wages]. Ask for my analysis first, then push me to evaluate: when would my argument not hold?”
A-Level Psychology: studies
“Here are my notes on studies for [attachment]: [paste]. Give me a study name, then ask me for its aim, method, results, and one strength and one weakness.”

7. Before you trust the answer

AI can be wrong and still sound sure of itself. The Department for Education warns that it can produce false information presented as fact. It may also not match your exam board.[4]

So check anything important against your exam board’s specification (the official list of what you need to know), the mark scheme and your notes. Our lesson Read the mark scheme shows how examiners give marks, and past papers give you real questions to paste in.

Then switch on study mode before you start. ChatGPT’s study mode, on the free plan, uses questions, hints and quizzes instead of handing over answers: choose Study and learn from the tools menu.[5]

Gemini and Claude have their own versions. Our guide to choosing an AI study tool shows how to turn each one on, and the age rules. And never paste AI text into coursework: Is using AI cheating? explains the rules.

Last, test yourself without AI. Our lesson Stop re-reading explains why pulling answers from memory is what makes revision stick.

The real test: After each AI session, close it and try one similar question alone. If you can do it, you learned it.

8. How Brainhub can help

Brainhub tutors teach one-to-one, online across the UK or at our seven London hubs. Bring your prompts and what AI told you to a lesson, and your tutor will check what it got right and what it got wrong. Every family starts with a free assessment.

Try it now

Test yourself on this page

Answer in your head first, then check.

  1. 1. What are the five ingredients of a good revision prompt?

  2. 2. Why paste your own quotes when revising English Literature?

  3. 3. What should you check AI’s answers against?

Your next steps

  1. Copy two prompts for your hardest subject into your notes app.

  2. Switch on study mode before your next revision session.

  3. After each session, try one question alone without AI.

Sources

  1. OpenAI Help Center. Prompt engineering best practices for ChatGPT (read 4 November 2026). help.openai.com/en/articles/10032626-prompt-engineering-best-practices-for-chatgpt
  2. Kestin, G., Miller, K., Klales, A., Milbourne, T. and Ponti, G. (2025). AI tutoring outperforms in-class active learning: an RCT introducing a novel research-based design in an authentic educational setting. Scientific Reports. Reported by The Hechinger Report (read 4 November 2026). hechingerreport.org/?p=103689
  3. Bastani, H., Bastani, O., Sungu, A., Ge, H., Kabakcı, Ö. and Mariman, R. (2025). Generative AI without guardrails can harm learning: evidence from high school mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(26), e2422633122. Summary: Knowledge at Wharton (read 4 November 2026). knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/without-guardrails-generative-ai-can-harm-education
  4. Department for Education. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education (updated 12 August 2025). gov.uk/government/publications/generative-artificial-intelligence-in-education/generative-artificial-intelligence-ai-in-education
  5. OpenAI (29 July 2025). Introducing study mode. openai.com/index/chatgpt-study-mode

This guide is general study advice. Every student is different. A teacher can help you work out what fits.