Original post by blue2337Hey! I got 4 As and it kind of depends whether you're humanities or sciencey, but I'm humanities so I can give you tips for that.
I broke it down into 'stages' throughout the year. First stage - September-December; second - December-January (mocks); third - post mocks-Easter; fourth - Easter-beginning of study leave; fifth - study leave-night before the exam.
First stage:
- This is when you first get back to school. I don't know which year you're going into so I'll leave it vague, but for me looking forward to A2s this year using the methods I developed at GCSE/AS. I plan to timetable out all my frees this year and actually use them for work, they're your best shot at what is essentially free time! Since this year I'm focusing on coursework up to December, I'll spend roughly 50% of my frees in the library working on the coursework, and the other half chatting and being around friends. The balance may change, depending on how heavy coursework gets. At this point there's no need to give up lunchtimes etc, just using frees well. Completing homework is a must, and trying to make your essays a very high standard so you can use them later, finding websites and resources for your essays so that they contain a high level of analysis/information. At AS, this first stage is all about making sure your work is neat and tidy, you always complete homework to a high standard, and you create word documents which contain all the links to anything interesting you've read that is relevant to any of your subjects (eg. I created an english lit one where I pasted the links to all the good essays I've read between September to December). During this time it's vital that you're doing extra reading and research out of class.
Second stage:
- Revising over Christmas sucks butt but it's unavoidable. I bought a giant planner and timetabled my revision that way, setting aside days for being with family/friends, but aimed to do little bits of reading every night. For instance, I aimed to complete 30 minutes of history reading every night over the break, and by the end I'd read the whole textbook briefly. Forcing yourself to stick to a schedule is tough but it's a necessary evil here. I can't give you tips on how to actually revise because that would be another 12 paragraphs long, but essentially you need to ask your teachers for a checklist of the things you'll be tested on in mocks and ONLY LEARN THOSE THINGS. I spent half a day teaching myself the Korean war before realising it didn't come into our AS history spec! Don't make the mistake of writing detailed notes about say, photosynthesis, before realising that you don't need to know it. The real exams will require the real revision, but mocks are all about emergency learning on a need-to-know basis. If you're doing English, mocks are a great time to organise all the essays you've done so far and type up a couple of phrases from the essays which have scored highly, and make notes of particular features you've analysed. I once wrote a really great section about a particular quote and I memorised that, and when it came up in the AS exam I wrote down what I'd been writing all year and it made me panic so much less in the exam! However I do not recommend doing that as your plan A because if the wrong question comes up you'll panic if you've just memorised all your analysis! In short, mocks are about long term cramming. Use this time to flag up any areas you're not sure about.
Third stage:
- Everyone has that post mocks slump where they're either depressed with their DDEU grades or discouraged with the B they spent so long trying to surpass. At AS or A2, I've known hundreds of people who get these low grades and end up with AAAA or A*A*A*. LOW GRADES ARE NORMAL, so don't let it put you off. I got AAAA in mocks though, so I can't speak for others. However, after mocks you've got your first indication of what you know and how you're able to perform in exams. For me, I found that I panicked in the English exam and only scraped an A, so I made an effort to practice under timed conditions so that the actual exam wouldn't seem so daunting (it worked, I got 119/120). Talk to your teachers between now and Easter so that when you go away over prime revision time, you won't be stumped on a particular topic. Start using the afternoons and evenings to look over notes, keep your revision tidy, and keep doing extra research and documenting it in the same place as you kept your extra revision during the first stage. This is also a good point to look into extra-curriculars like 'Biology Club' or 'Maths Helpers' because there's not too much pressure but equally you'll need to focus academically. Spend perhaps 1 lunchtime a week just studying in the library, finishing off an essay or reading a textbook. It'll get you into the habit of studying at school, which you will need to do after Easter if you want to get high grades.
Fourth stage:
- This will get really hectic and stressful so keep your head at this point. All your frees now should be devoted to work, or revision, or extra reading, and a couple of lunchtimes should be spent talking to teachers or having a 'study group' with friends. You should be doing extra work, writing extra essays and making extra notes. Make group chats with your class and share all your notes and essays so you don't need to just rely on yourself. This is the time when you should be doing practice papers - don't do all the practice papers before mocks because you'll get to this stage and you'll have none left and won't have used the resources effectively. Revisit all the essays and sites you noted down in September and make notes on them, reread them, discuss them with your teachers and include them in your essays. This is what will be getting you the top grades, and the top UMS/raw marks.
Fifth stage:
- Every student's favourite word: "cramming". I swear down, cramming is what got me through my AS exams. By this time you will have built a solid foundation upon which you can spend your study leave time wisely, but in all seriousness, the night before and the morning of the exam are your best friends. What I did was spend the day before reading and rereading past essays and notes, revisiting essay structures, rereading quotes etc; these things are already embedded in your brain if you've been following your plans from before, but rereading them will refresh them in your mind. I promise you you won't remember them 10 minutes after getting out of the exam, but when you're in the exam hall it'll all be there. Then, I would ring my friend at say, midnight, and we'd chat through anything we could think of, revising essay structures and talking about how we'd analyse particular things. It always helps to say things out loud, and when you're tired you automatically say weird s**t and sometimes it can be the stroke of genius you need to get the high marks. And, talking to a friend will calm you down and stop you stressing (hopefully) and by the end you'll be so exhausted you'll fall asleep easily, dreaming about Henry VIII's foreign policy aims.
This. This is how I got 10 A*s, 4 As with an average raw mark of 93%. If it helps you, you're welcome. If it doesn't, it might help someone else. Good luck!!!!