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

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Reply 20
Vanny17
I worked very hard for my As level exams but came out with very bad grades. I read during every break/ lunch and sometimes 4 hours straight. I worked through EVERY past papers, made revision notes, cut out on social life and always read before every new chapter. My teachers and students said i had potential to get AAAB grades. How come i messed up? Please tell me what i did wrong. Share your revision tips as well! Please. Thanks.

it helps to understand it in the first place. take notes in a way youd understand during class, be it in pics and diagrams or in words.

it might also help to figure out whether youre a visual or audio learner
Reply 21
Hedgehunter
Yeah, many trees have died to give me my results.


I think I cleared a few square meters of rainforest for maths.
i revised consistently, did past papers, went to every lesson, took good notes and was on track to get A* A* A*. I got ABB. As much as you revise, as much as you try, it can never EVER mean you'll get top grades, especially if you do 'essay' subjects (I did English, Classics, Theology). The marking is to some extent subjective. I felt confident with my subjects and never slacked through the year, and I got good results but by no means what I expected. It's just how it works out.
Reply 23
I seldom used my notes to revise. I tried to understand as fully as possible in class, I'd speak with the teacher after to clarify anything I wasn't sure about. I used revision guides written or recommended by the exam board I was on to revise as well as past papers.
Reply 24
If your doing Maths, try the Solomon papers since they are more difficult.

Also, start your revision quite early so that your sick of it by the time the exam comes.

If your doing essay subjects, try and identify which questions come up on a regular basis and prepare them to a very high standard. Also note that they often ask the same question but phrase it differently.

Look through the specification of a certain subject. Often it will say students need to know .......Thats what my friend did for development economics, and the notes he made answered every single exam questions they could ever ask.

Oh and probably most importantly, read around your subjects so that you know more than anyone else.
Reply 25
i have a friend who does the same as you. she would revise a lot for hours straight but still doesn't manage to quite get the grades she wants.

what i would say is, don't just memorise stuff. i know my friend does. actually understand what you're revising, and only revise when your brain can! 4 hours straight is too much, get regular breaks. it might also help to revise with a group or a friend.
it gets pretty lonely and boring when you're all cooped up in your room revising (i know it was for me! lol).

and from experience, ask your teacher/tutor for help. for me, i tried to just learn some stuff myself.. not very good. if you do not understand something from the lesson, then speak up, or talk to your teacher after lessons

oh, and try not to cram or leave revision on the last minute! i still do this and seem to never learn my lesson. sometimes i get lucky, most of the time i fail miserably! so yup, start revising early, do small revisions at a time, and don't leave the whole revision a few days before the exam! :smile:
Reply 26
What I did for most subjects is have flash cards only a few inches big and write on one side a title or a question and write information or the answer to the question on the other side.

This is a great way to test yourself!
If you keep getting a certain card wrong, make a mark on the corner of the card and so you know its one you struggle with.
It also makes it easy for other people to test you as there is a definite yes and no answer if you learn the cards exactly.
They are also easy to carry round and take with you wherever you go and so you are constantly learning.

This technique was especially useful for chemistry as it helped me learn equations and really paid off in the exams!

Hope this helped! :smile:
Reply 27
There is also luck though. Like if you get a good gaps of a few days between each exam then you have a good time to revise for each exam. Also if the questions that came up were something you had been revising hard or had good knowledge of, then that helps alot :P... Working your absolute balls off is not always the key to success.
Reply 28
Wesssty
Don't expect the teachers to teach you, anything.



What you doing in Southampton?

I'm going there too :smile:
Reply 29
taperjeangirl!
It'd be helpful to know what subjects you do, OP :smile:

Biology, chemisty, RS and sociology
My tips:


- Don't leave it too late.
- Take regular breaks - 1 hour sessions at a time (max.)
- Go over notes in as much detail as possible.
- Repeat the same module or section over and over until it's drilled in forever.
- Don't just learn the textbook word for word, try to understand the underlying concepts as well.
- Do as many past papers as possible, and then hone in on your weaker areas.
- Stay positive. Don't think negatively, it just invites additional pressure, which then adversely affects your revision.




EDIT: Some people recommend working in groups, although I prefer working alone. The group sessions tended to sway my concentration.
Reply 31
Focus in every lesson throughout the year, this makes revision light (4 hours is far to much). I did about 10 hours revision for each exam. I had 3 summer exams and started about two weeks before they kicked off. When you pick up your text book to revise you should know it already. Most of my revision was simply exam practice and going over knowledge.
Reply 32
Not an A level student (Scottish Advanced Highers) but I think the key point to revising is to make sure it is actual revision and not learning you're doing. Everyone knows a lot of people who goof off during term time and only bother when the exams start nearing and it's hard because they have to physically learn the course.

Learn it properly during term time and make sure you understand it and everything falls into place so much easier. As for skill based subjects such as English (talking about essay writing skill) or Art then that's simply practise.

To properly revise I'd say be organised and know what you're going to do. Work out what you don't know and plan out a way to get through it. Do it for short bursts 45-60m so you won't lose interest and reward yourself every now and then. Don't cut out what you enjoy for the sake of that extra hour of revision. Chances are it won't help you gain a few marks if you're disinterested or have already worked for a straight hour.
Memorise the text book.
As well as the usual revise in short breaks/flash cards/past papers/understand your subject advice that's already been given, I also tried a couple of unconventional tactics this year. For one, I plastered my entire bedroom with post-it notes, each with a single tiny bit of information (say a book quote, or a single equation), in places where I couldn't help but see them. So when I went to get socks out of my drawer, I would read the post-it on the handle and get 'elementary charge = 1.6X10^-19' drilled into my head. See, it works; I can still remember :biggrin: The other thing I did was to tape myself reading essays/notes/poems and then listen back to my own analysis when I was doing something else - sometimes it sinks in better that way. But the best tactic was probably my one for History and Sociology, which was to draw stick-figure cartoons of particular events and studies and make them as funny and silly as possible :wink: The weirder the picture you have in your head (such as Atlee and Truman throwing paper aeroplanes over Stalin's head - the Berlin Blockade - or a flat guy being electrocuted - the Stanley Milgram experiment) the more lilkely it is you'll remember it, and maybe have a little giggle in the exam too.

Hope that all helps!

EDIT: Seeing your subjects, I'd recommend the post-its for biology and chemistry, the recordings for RS, and most definately the doodles for sociology. Working out how you leanr best (audio, visual, tactile) is also a major plus.
ADEQUATE TIME 1-2 months
rote learning (sorry to say it :frown: but the's how i studied basically)
past papers
DPLSK
1) Make lots of notes.

2) Revise independently.

3) Do lots of past papers.

4) Stock up on stationery.

5) Work hard.

I'd say more... but I can't remember the post I made about this.

I hope it helps though!

THIS, THIS and THIS.
JordanCarroll
ADEQUATE TIME 1-2 months
rote learning (sorry to say it :frown: but the's how i studied basically)
past papers


did you manage to get A or A star?
Reply 38
JordanCarroll
THIS, THIS and THIS.



Muchas gracias :yep:
Ok, I literally rewrote notes so many times 'till I was able to write out my whole set of notes for a particular exam without looking; I could also recite them! Worked for me.

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