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What's the essential piece of advice you'd give to someone starting their A-levels?

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Constantly make sure you understand things, I mean after every lesson, and revise early (not a few weeks before!!!!) Also, mock/past papers are your friends. Treat mocks like real exams, revising for them helps the outcome in August.
Make sure you understand all the information you are taught during your lessons (ask questions, do further reading etc)....DO NOT leave it until exam season to go over everything you need to know and then realise you know nothing about your subject :dontknow:
Find a really good magazine or journal to do with your subject that you can read for enjoyment. :smile:
Reply 83
Original post by VioletPhillippo
Find a really good magazine or journal to do with your subject that you can read for enjoyment. :smile:


On this note the Journal of Chemical Education explains basic topics really well, and is much more understandable than just research papers.
This sounds exactly like gcse lol
Reply 85
Always re-read the question and do lots of little amounts of studying throughout the year rather than one huge lot at the end of the year, and dont forget to ask Questions! The only silly question is the one that hasn't been asked. :wink:
Reply 86
Do your own thing.

You are unique. You can get a 100 different people telling you this work that works, but in the end you have to find your own way to learn and study. So listen to people, try different things, but find your own mix, what's right for you, and go with that.
REVISE FROM DAY ONE. Nuff said.
Put in the work, achieve the results.

Simple


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Do what you know you love. It's the only way to achieve at a high level, the more you enjoy it and do it for yourself, the more time you give and the better the outcome. Do what your good at and you shall shine your way through :smile:
I would say try to keep on top of your notes and start writing revision notes as you go along so that near exam time you have time to do as many past papers as possible.
Make sure the subjects you have chosen are subjects that interest you otherwise when the challenging stuff sets in, you will struggle to stay motivated!
If you have coursework, keep writing notes and revising the exam material alongside it (don't stop for the coursework) so that you don't fall behind and usually it will refresh your mind about the coursework topic as well (sciences usually).
Don't be afraid to ask for help - ask teachers, get a tutor, don't just think 'oh it won't come up anyway' because it will be Sod's law it does.
Revise both AS and A2 material for the A2 exams as I have learned the hard way that examiners can throw in whatever they want from both syllabuses into the A2 exams!
Good luck :smile:
(edited 7 years ago)
Be nice to your teachers and don't bad mouth them; they are there to supportive, helpful and caring when it come to your work and grades. If they are being unreasonable or horrible, complain to the head of the subject and get moved to another classroom; neither you nor them should be abused.

Do your homework, it's there to tell you...TELL YOU where you strength and weaknesses are, NOT the teacher, yeah the teacher was to see and mark it. But it's mainly for you as guidance, if you're stuck in a certain area IT SHOWING that you have a weak spot where you need to study/revise.

Study/Revise as early as possible. The earlier you study and revise on your content/weaknesses, the more likely you're going to pass your exams, yeah A-Levels/AS are a memory game, but you also have to understand what your studying and learning, so that if your asked to elaborate, you know that you can.

(Aimed at GCSE students moving to A-Levels)

Take responsibility. If you don't do the work, the homework, study or revise when your results come up on results day/mock exam papers take responsibility. The difference between colly and secondary school is that the teacher will not hunt up down, be fussed if you don't study/do homework and more. So if the grades are not what you want, then take responsibility of that.

Pick subjects that you will love/need for your uni course. Do thorough research on the uni subjects that you might want to do. If you don't know what you want to at uni, pick subjects that you will interested in or liked at GCSE. You will be doing this for two years and it will require a not of attention and concentration, so pick something where you will love to study/revise and do work for.

Uni Applications:

Do your Personal statement as early as possible, so that you can do as many drafts as possible so that you can perfect it as much as possible, till you send it off. Your selling yourself to the Univeristy so don't take it lightly.
Be honest and do a lot of research on the course/uni that you are looking at; you will need a valid reason to convince the unis why you want to do there and why you want to study that course.

Last but not least GOOD LUCK!!
Read, read and read some more. Go outside of the specs and syllabi to ensure a wider understanding of the subject, that'll be what stands you head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to University Interviews!
Reply 94
For Maths and Further maths just revise from the start and make sure you get everything. Don't rush to past papers. madasmaths.com has great mock past papers for C1-C4. In the end it's really easy to get an A/A* in maths, if you revise enough and get the problem solving down to a systematic process you will be good. Of course, some questions may come up that will require ingenuity, that's why I would also recommend trying AQA or CIE maths A level papers, just attempt, don't focus on them.
For Literature I will just say read and memorise as much as possible. Make sure you can follow what you write and PLAN your essays. Don't neglect the fluidity and cohesion in essays, the ideas and quotes that you put in are way more effective if they are clearly presented. Go to your teachers for feedback.
For French it's safe to say that practice makes perfect. Personally I found the speaking really daunting and I would say that's where easy marks can be picked up simply by speaking mediocre but correct French. Write essays, lots of them, make mistakes and get them corrected. Read some French news, France 24 is a free news channel which has an App. If you take French to a high level (DALF) then France 24 is a must every day, in addition to RFI.
Reply 95
I've finished AS but here's some advice I'd like to give from what I've experienced.

Do all of your homework. Even if your teacher doesn't check it, it's worth doing it as it'll help you remember and apply what you've learnt in class. Plus, if there's any areas where you don't know the answer, you'll have time to ask your teacher for advice.
Reply 96
For Maths A Level, I'd advise doing every single one of the questions in the textbook. It seems daunting, but it'll give you good practice so that the concepts don't escape your head.
Reply 97
When revising for exams, use your syllabus/ specification as a checklist to see if you've gone through everything. This is especially useful for the sciences.
Pick subjects you enjoy rather than ones you think universities would like/prefer, you will always do better in something you enjoy and will make doing the work MUCH easier.

I did Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English Literature and carried all through to A2. Only do 4 if you're absolutely sure you can do it and enjoy them all, I couldn't pick one to drop at the end of year 12. For biology, just condense notes down to manageable amounts and do past paper questions to get your exam technique. For chemistry learn the theories etc and again past papers. Maths is literally all about doing questions on every topic until you're comfortable. Finally English is all about essay plans and reading around your topics :smile:


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Social life, sufficient sleep, good grades. Select two.

Also, start revising around about now if you want to keep your sanity during study leave next year.

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