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

Hey,

I get A*'s in A-level Sociology.

I learned that other people's opinions and attitudes whether family or peers can be damaging either way.

Finish your notes early and I found that getting others to test me or explaining the concepts to people/
objects was helpful as you're actively learning rather than just looking at a page trying to memorise it.

I completely agree with the concept of que cards; I have to remember hundreds of theorist names and dates so this technique was definitely worth using.

I wish you the best in your exams! Good Luck

Reply 2921

Almonti372

15

Original post by TeraKoma

Okay everyone:

I self studied my A levels in a Year and got 3 A*s so listen up

1. PLAN YOUR REVISION
I don’t mean for the week or the day or the month, NO. Work out your exam dates and work out what you need to study each month to have completed revision before your exams!

2. FINISH ALL YOUR NOTES AT LEAST TWO MONTHS BEFORE YOUR EXAMS
Yep, you need everything completed by this time so you have a good two months to revise fully engaged.

3. UTILISE THE MIND PALACE
Okay so there would be no way I could remember all 96 psychology essays or however how much it is without this. But learn about it and use it. And there is no excuse- I did two years worth of A levels in a year so you can fit it in.

4. PRACTICE ESSAYS
Omg if you are doing an essay subject you need to practice this to time. If you are too slow you will not finish the exam! Practice, practice, practice until you can do it in the time required!

5. EXAMINER’S REPORTS ARE YOUR NEW BEST FRIENDS
Honestly again, I would not have been able to get my A*s if I hadn’t read EXACTLY what the examiners are looking for in answers (particularly research methods)

6. DO YOUR STUFF THEN CHILL
I scheduled in time in the day to just chill and do whatever I wanted. Knowing I had a whole hour of chill time in the middle of the day motivated me to get those 4 hours in the morning done. Plus you won’t find revision such a chore if you actually reward yourself

7. PUT YOUR NOTES IN FOLDERS
One for each exam. This was a life saver later in the year

8. DON’T LISTEN TO ANYONE ELSE
Look, people may say you aren’t good enough (teachers or peers). I had this my whole high school years, nobody ever saw me as an A* student and then I went and proved everyone wrong. So no matter what people say, if you stay focused and believe you can do it then you will.

Wow that’s amazing! What were your subjects? Are you homeschooled? Did you go to university and if so what did you study?
Sorry for all the questions, I’m just fascinated. I’m enjoying some parts of sixth form, though sometimes the workload does feel like a lot, particularly as I do a lot of sport outside school as well as 4 a levels.
I’m taking maths, further maths, physics and English literature. I’m in y12 and my aim is to get A*AAA or something like that. I had to teach myself some of the additional maths syllabus when I was in y11 and that worked out fine, YouTube videos were so helpful! Every now and then I have to self teach myself a little for some of my A levels too, but I don’t mind that and it means I can do it at my own pace. I love your message about self confidence, and you’re definitely right. In my additional maths mock I got a C, for the real exam I was predicted a B and in the end after teaching myself I got an A, which I was ecstatic about. If you did a humanity (English ?) apart from doing timed essays, is there anything else you would recommend to do as revision? As this is such a different subject to my others, I feel my revision strategy will have to be a bit different.
Sorry for the essay and once again well done on your amazing grades! :smile:

Reply 2922

AngelStarfire

15

Original post by Almonti372

Wow that’s amazing! What were your subjects? Are you homeschooled? Did you go to university and if so what did you study?
Sorry for all the questions, I’m just fascinated. I’m enjoying some parts of sixth form, though sometimes the workload does feel like a lot, particularly as I do a lot of sport outside school as well as 4 a levels.
I’m taking maths, further maths, physics and English literature. I’m in y12 and my aim is to get A*AAA or something like that. I had to teach myself some of the additional maths syllabus when I was in y11 and that worked out fine, YouTube videos were so helpful! Every now and then I have to self teach myself a little for some of my A levels too, but I don’t mind that and it means I can do it at my own pace. I love your message about self confidence, and you’re definitely right. In my additional maths mock I got a C, for the real exam I was predicted a B and in the end after teaching myself I got an A, which I was ecstatic about. If you did a humanity (English ?) apart from doing timed essays, is there anything else you would recommend to do as revision? As this is such a different subject to my others, I feel my revision strategy will have to be a bit different.
Sorry for the essay and once again well done on your amazing grades! :smile:

That's a lot of maths! I'm considering on taking Maths for A Levels but I don't know if I'll be able to handle it plus for GCSEs so far I'm not doing that great in it and not enjoying it much(I want to start to like it but it's hard to understand).

Any tips please? (>_< )

Reply 2923

Almonti372

15

Original post by AngelStarfire

That's a lot of maths! I'm considering on taking Maths for A Levels but I don't know if I'll be able to handle it plus for GCSEs so far I'm not doing that great in it and not enjoying it much(I want to start to like it but it's hard to understand).

Any tips please? (>_< )

Hello!
So my tips would be practise practise and practise! That’s the best way to get better at maths. Haha yes it sounds like I did a lot of maths actually, but I’m not one of those genius people! I just like it and am good at some things. I did additional maths in y10 and y11 alongside the gcse, which was unbelievably helpful for a levels. I watched a lot of YouTube videos from Mathsaurus, which has gcse, additional maths, a level and step paper videos and example questions as well as techniques. It really helped me in additional maths, as it meant I could actually do the practise papers!
I would say if you don’t enjoy maths, don’t take it for a level. It’s a lot of work for whichever subject you do, so you’ll need to persevere and the work will be more enjoyable if you like what you’re doing. If like me the things you like are similar to the things you’re good at, that makes choosing subjects easier! What my friend did was start with 5 and after a few weeks drop down to 4 a levels, as she couldn’t decide which subjects she liked most so wanted to try.
Good luck and let us know which subjects you choose!
:smile:

Reply 2924

TeraKoma

5

Original post by Almonti372

Wow that’s amazing! What were your subjects? Are you homeschooled? Did you go to university and if so what did you study?
Sorry for all the questions, I’m just fascinated. I’m enjoying some parts of sixth form, though sometimes the workload does feel like a lot, particularly as I do a lot of sport outside school as well as 4 a levels.
I’m taking maths, further maths, physics and English literature. I’m in y12 and my aim is to get A*AAA or something like that. I had to teach myself some of the additional maths syllabus when I was in y11 and that worked out fine, YouTube videos were so helpful! Every now and then I have to self teach myself a little for some of my A levels too, but I don’t mind that and it means I can do it at my own pace. I love your message about self confidence, and you’re definitely right. In my additional maths mock I got a C, for the real exam I was predicted a B and in the end after teaching myself I got an A, which I was ecstatic about. If you did a humanity (English ?) apart from doing timed essays, is there anything else you would recommend to do as revision? As this is such a different subject to my others, I feel my revision strategy will have to be a bit different.
Sorry for the essay and once again well done on your amazing grades! :smile:

So I actually did Dance, Psychology and Sociology A level but I did dance A level like in 2015 so my A level sociology and psychology I had to do in one year and take the exams in 2018.

I wasn’t homeschooled but I went to boarding school until I was 17 then lived in America because I was dancing but because of an injury I had to return to the UK and apply for uni so did my a levels when I was 21 on my own (while working oh my days 🤣)

I am now at a red brick studying psychology, I should of applied to oxford but had no confidence to apply but now I’m like: man I could of got in! So my long term goal is to go do my doctorate in clinical psychology at oxford and my masters in clinical psychology at Warwick! (Fingers crossed!)

I believe you will definitely get those grades and possibly higher- you’ve just got to keep your eyes on the prize! Set out time to study each day but you seem to have the right mind set. Another tip is nearer to exams like maybe 2 months before I had to quit my job to make sure I was studying enough so maybe nearer your exams just cut back slightly on your sports- you can pick it back up after!

Hmm...my general tip with the essays is to read around the subject like have lots of people you can bring up and also people who counter that persons thoughts- that will score you lots of point in exams.

Good luck with everything and stay positive xxx

Reply 2925

username4310824

22

Read every single examiner report you can find. They're literally telling you what you need to write.

Reply 2926

barror1

Study Forum Helper, Universities Forum Helper

20

For English Language, I just memorised the content in the textbook before doing anything else. Came out with an A :smile:

Reply 2927

umnia2002

8

Original post by AngelStarfire

That's a lot of maths! I'm considering on taking Maths for A Levels but I don't know if I'll be able to handle it plus for GCSEs so far I'm not doing that great in it and not enjoying it much(I want to start to like it but it's hard to understand).

Any tips please? (>_< )

Yeah same, I need maths in A Levels if I wanna do Computer sceince or architectue.
Im struggling to how to study for maths!?

Reply 2928

Aimee_101

12

Original post by TeraKoma

So I actually did Dance, Psychology and Sociology A level but I did dance A level like in 2015 so my A level sociology and psychology I had to do in one year and take the exams in 2018.

I wasn’t homeschooled but I went to boarding school until I was 17 then lived in America because I was dancing but because of an injury I had to return to the UK and apply for uni so did my a levels when I was 21 on my own (while working oh my days 🤣)

I am now at a red brick studying psychology, I should of applied to oxford but had no confidence to apply but now I’m like: man I could of got in! So my long term goal is to go do my doctorate in clinical psychology at oxford and my masters in clinical psychology at Warwick! (Fingers crossed!)

I believe you will definitely get those grades and possibly higher- you’ve just got to keep your eyes on the prize! Set out time to study each day but you seem to have the right mind set. Another tip is nearer to exams like maybe 2 months before I had to quit my job to make sure I was studying enough so maybe nearer your exams just cut back slightly on your sports- you can pick it back up after!

Hmm...my general tip with the essays is to read around the subject like have lots of people you can bring up and also people who counter that persons thoughts- that will score you lots of point in exams.

Good luck with everything and stay positive xxx

Just wondering, my first exam is in the middle of May and my Psychology/Sociology exams are in June, when would you recommend I should finish my notes by? Because you say to get them finished by 2 months before. So that means I'd have to get them done by March or April. I'm scared becuase we've been given mocks, so they won't be finished and tell end of January so I'm just focussing on certain areas needed for mocks atm. I don't think i'll be able to fully revise for end of year exams and tell Feburary so that means I only have just about 2/3 months to finish notes for AS and A level Sociology and Psychology and Media. Do you think I can get through all that content in 2/3 months, how long did it take you and when did you start properly revising for end of year exams?