A and A* students... Share your revision tips

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I find that if you really understand something, you won't need to revise it as much. I make sure that, throughout the year, I understand what we're doing and what's going on. I think I'm lucky in the sense that I seem to get stuff quite quickly, so I don't have to work too hard to get stuff stuck in my head. I make links between things, even if we don't have to, just in my head. When it comes to revising, I'm just refreshing my brain because most of the connections and links between things have already been made, if you get me.

I don't know if that helps. I think revision is quite a personal thing as everyone is going to learn in different ways.

6 years on and you advise has helped me alot, and I am a woman with less than 10 years to go before retirement, but your advise makes alot of sense.
Thank you

Reply 2801

Procrastinator__

Make notes according to the Specifications & Always do Every single past paper a few weeks in Advanced, especially the one from the year before

Reply 2802

BCU Student Rep

Official Rep

A bit more of an alternative tip here for you! One of our students Zubaidah find jumping on a trampoline helps! ”After my lectures, I will do some revision at home. Then, I’ll go outside, do some jumping on my trampoline and say what I’ve learnt. It’s a weird way but it actually stays in my brain.”
See some more of our students revision tips: www.bcu.ac.uk/student-revision-tips

Reply 2803

NutellaLuv

Guys honestly, if you do not have a full nights sleep, it will affect your studying.
Since my sleep schedule has been up to scratch, my memory is ten times better. Make sure you fall asleep before 11:30 and wake up before 9. I didn't believe this before because i thought all nighters were beneficial.
Trust me, being energetic and awake during waking hours improves your performance. Also ALWAYS eat breakie. Make sure you eat properly and drink loads of water.
My concentration is soooo much better, plus i'm more excited to wake up in the mornings lol i feel more relaxed rather than rushed.

My performance has changed from C's and Us to A's and majority B's :P

Reply 2804

SohaXO

It's not about the quantity of hours.

It's more about the quality of revision and if you're actual efficient and learning, test yourself occasionally and make sure you're understanding things thoroughly, not just skimming the surface.

Also, past papers and memorising mark schemes are equally as important!

Good luck

Reply 2805

GenLeakey

I make sure I write up my notes pretty much after each lesson, but only what I really need to revise, so no unnecessary examples etc. I try to go over them again maybe a week later to make sure I understand them. Then by the end of the year you already have the notes you need without them being in way too much detail, so you can focus on doing past papers instead of making new notes. This probably isn't that helpful now but I'd defo recommend it for next year if you can.

I also write any equations or formulas I need to learn on post it notes and stick them round the house, with the most important ones places where you go a lot, in my case a snack cupboard. I use different coloured post it's for different subjects or units and make sure it's clear if they're not in any kind of formula book.

Hope this helps!

Reply 2806

KiamaBennett

Vary the things that you are reading. If you read exactly the same words over and over it won't go in at all. Also rewriting helps things sink in.

Reply 2807

AquaCharms

For my GCSE ICT mocks, I got a D grades twice.
While doing past papers days before my final exam, I got an A*.

~

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I cut a piece of A4 paper in half so it was A5, I didn't use flash cards because I couldn't fit all the information I wanted on it.

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I tried to summarise everything.

•

I used the same methods for OCR history and OCR Gateway science.

Tip: You need to write in as much detail as possible, yes it takes a long time but in the end it's really rewarding :biggrin:

I didn't summarise 'What is the internet? And, what is the world wide web?' And that is what came up in my exam, Edexcel GCSE ICT on 18 May 2016 :frown:

Reply 2808

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

Tricky one this. Difficult subjects, particularly German. From your description, it seems like you're trying too hard. I know that's a difficult thing to hear but you need to spend at least an hour each week away from your desk when you would have been revising. I personally am not a huge fan of notes. If you use them it should be as part of a condensation process. So do your notes, and then transfer them into another, smaller form (mindmaps for politics, maybe flashcards for German?). Good practice for a language is to get your Mum, Dad or whoever's at home to test you on vocab; I remember it was quite funny listening to my Dad's dodgy Spanish (in a Korean accent, he's English by the way). Past papers are the most effective tool for revision, do them all, progressively, over the year. The most important thing about past papers though is using mark schemes, understanding yourself where you went wrong in exams, to prioritise your revision on your weaknesses. These language schools will certainly be extremely useful, but I hope you are going to continue with German after a levels, because being so devoted to one subject may have a knock-on effect. You should be very pleased with those results, especially off the back of your GCSE results. I have to say, your commitment is truly phenomenal; and that is usually the biggest problem for students. Please don't beat yourself up if you don't get the grades you want, as long as you try your best that is all that matters. I wish you luck.

Reply 2809

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

The 2017 exam timetable is out. Check that your re-sit exams are not clashing with some of your others. If they do then speak to your teachers about whether or not to re-sit. Again, if you don't get those grades it doesn't matter, the important thing is that you tried your best. And remember to enjoy yourself, not long to go now (it'll be over very quickly indeed)!

Reply 2810

haseeb798

Is the 2017 timetable for gcse out?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 2811

Vyres

Well the only revision method that worked for me is act as if you're the teacher, and teach yourself. It sounds odd, but honestly talking to yourself as if you're teaching yourself has always worked absolutely brilliantly for me, and I usually am able to memorise pages and pages of information within a hour using this method. Give it a try sometime.

Past papers are also a really good way to grasp the whole exam style experience.

Reply 2812

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by Vyres

If you're stuck for a career try teaching.

Reply 2813

Vyres

Original post by 04MR17

If you're stuck for a career try teaching.

Not gonna lie, I've been considering it for the past year.

Reply 2814

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by Vyres

Not gonna lie, I've been considering it for the past year.

If you've got nothing else in mind then go for it! Teaching is an incredibly honourable profession, and even more so when you're good at it.

Reply 2815

Vyres

Original post by 04MR17

If you've got nothing else in mind then go for it! Teaching is an incredibly honourable profession, and even more so when you're good at it.

Well I have all these in mind...
Database Administrator, Software Developer, Game Developer, Website Developer, Computer Engineer, Forums Administrator/Developer, VPS/Web Server Technician.

But I'll definitely be adding teaching to the list! I must say, I'd love to finally be the one giving the detentions instead of recieving them.

Reply 2816

username2199397

Original post by Vyres

I do this, usually in my head but it does work for me. I also use the memory palace technique for cramming quotes for english.

Reply 2817

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by Vyres

Oh dear that's a long list. The only advice I will give:

Reply 2818

username2199397

Original post by Pinkberry_y

I would say any flash card app is really useful. What I would do after I've done my first round of past papers is to write common reoccurring past paper questions and their model answers. Keep going through the flash cards again and again and again until you have those answers etched in your mind. Also very useful to have this on an app as you can do quick bursts of revision anywhere (waiting for a bus, in bed, whenever!)

OMG I did this with gcse chemistry unit 2+3 the night before. I basically knew there was no time to take notes and revise the the subject, considering I had only 12 hours till the exams. So I watched a playlist of yt vids about the units (took a few hours) then I just did past papers (did the questions in my head as printing them would take long) and the questions that I got wrong, I wrote the answer and qustion on a sheet of paper. After I went through as much as I could I just looked over them and over them and redidi the papers. Also made quick mnemonics for the flame tests etc... Did the exam and I'm 100% sure I got an A*/A (according to the unofficial markscheme)

I'll try your tips this year for A levels. :biggrin:

Reply 2819

username2199397

Original post by Pinkberry_y

OMG I did this for gcse chemistry unit 2+3 the night before. I basically knew there was no time to take notes and revise the subject, considering I had only 12 hours till the exams. So I watched a playlist of yt vids about the units (took a few hours) then I just did past papers (did the questions in my head as printing them would take long) and the questions that I got wrong, I wrote the answer and question on a sheet of paper. After I went through as much as I could I just looked over them and over them and redid the papers. Also made quick mnemonics for the flame tests etc... Did the exam and I'm 100% sure I got an A*/A (according to the unofficial markscheme)

I'll try your tips this year for A levels. :biggrin: