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

A place for you to discuss all things revision in the run up to exams, as well as sharing tips and advice to help with your studies. Please use the relevant dedicated subject forum for discussion on specific qualifications and subjects.

Announcements Posted on
Please change your TSR password 23-05-2013
IMPORTANT: You must wait until midnight (morning exams)/4.30AM (afternoon exams) to discuss Edexcel exams and until 1pm/6pm the following day for STEP and IB exams. Please read before posting, including for rules for practical and oral exams. 28-04-2013
Sign in to Reply
  1. The Marshall's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Posts: 895
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    I am a C grade student. Which is due to my disability, it has affected me in many ways of my learning.

    I disagree with most of the stuff that's been said on here.

    I'll just say what I think of most of the stuff

    Memorising is an absolutely essential part in life. I think it is one of the best and effective ways of doing anything. What do you think, do Martial Artists just practice like that and start fighting? No, years of hard work and memorising come into practice. I do agree you must and MUST revise early before your exam. I got 88/100 in my Science GSCE and that was just a C. Past Papers are good, but find the exact ones according to your exam board, It really helps. I wouldn't get random papers out as of yet.

    And I think,the best way , if you're answering questions, really you should write answers which then improves your grade. You know what you are doing. You have a good way of answeing questions. Index cards are crap. So is listening to music. Use background music and nothing else. Use the internet for your revision as it is certainly one of the best places anyone can find to revise.


    Index cards, postit notes, Bah! A utter disgrace. It is better to read the textbook as it contains the information. None of that works, you must pratice and read I have so much hatred against you A* and A students cause you people get it early preiditiced and you feel you are on top of the world. Your work is cut-easy for you lot. And I am stuck in the C grade. You know getting a C is a utter disgrace, shameful. I work hard for the exams and all I get are just Bs and Cs.

    It just feels bad. You A* students will have no clue in what I'm saying. Why so? Because I'm comparing you to the Aristocrats, and we the commoners. What a company will do is accept all the A* students, remove the B and C grade students. Same with Collages, University and many other places. Remove the C grade and B grade students for they are too '' stupid and irresponsible.''

    I am just saying how I feel with the A and A* students. They must understand how the B and the C grade students fell.

    And I wrote this answer to a 10 mark History question, now would this be an A* star answer? You are the A* students, so you tell me. You are clearly after all, the Brains, the clever people, The Great Rulers of Society.

    Which of the two uprisings do you think was the greater threat to the USSR? Explain your answer.

    Hungary greatly raised a significant threat to the USSR. Nagy had been encouraged by the Austrian State Treaty of 1956 to become neutral. He also got rid of censorship, allowed free elections and got rid of Russian signs. He wanted to make Hungary a democracy and get rid of the Communist system which hadn't prospered at all in Hungary. Khrushchev allowed the reforms and withdrawed Soviet troops from the country. Nagy announced the leaving of Hungary from the Warsaw Pact. This was too much for Khrushchev however as it emerged fears that if Hungary left the Warsaw Pact, very soon other countries would soon demand to leave the Warsaw Pact. Therefore making the position of the USSR weak and it would crumble leading to an end of Soviet control in the Eastern Block, and that in turn, would leave it to be open for invasion. This was something Khrushchev, like Stalin , were determined to prevent. He ordered Soviet Troops to invade Hungary. There was fierce resistance, over 35,000 Hungarians died and four thousand executed. The rebellion was crushed in 5 days. Nagy was executed and replaced by Janos Kardar. It t took six months to crush the rebellion in whole. 200,000 Hungarians fled to Austria. It was shown as an warning to other countries to not test the strength of the USSR.

    Czechoslovakia even caused a great threat to the USSR. Dubcek had been a loyal Communist but wanted to reform it, something he called '' Socialism with a Human face.'' This was because over the last 20 years, the Communist system hadn't worked as the Soviets would have hoped. Dubcek wanted to get rid of it. Therefore the uprising was done by intellectuals not people. They demanded free elections and a 2nd political party. He also got rid of censorship and put in freedom of the press. Which then began to print the truth about the Soviets which had been delivering propaganda for those 20 years. Political Commentary was now allowed grilling the communist politicians. He assured Brezhnev that he would not leave the Pact as Imre Nagy's Hungary had done. What was more disturbing for the Soviets was that the Czechs were willing to trade with the West and were now being influenced by them. They were greatly alarmed at this. They told the Czechs to reinstate censorship and Brezhnev was put under pressure under leaders like Ulbrict and Golmoka to resist the reforms. They feared that these Czech '' Ideas'' would weaken the Communist Block and therefore demanded the same things from the pact as Hungary had done. Brezhnev told Dubcek to get tighter control. For the Soviets, time had run out. They invaded Czechoslovakia. The Czech people were horrified. They had been loyal to the USSR and therefore were shocked at the invasion, they did not want to leave Communism , rather what they wanted was a tweak in how it was run. Only 47 Czechs including Dubcek were arrested. He was replaced by Gustáv Husák. This lead to the Brezhnev Doctrine. All countries in the Pact would have a one party state and it would remain Communist. If those rules were defied, the Soviets would intervene in.

    In conclusion, the Prague Spring and both the Hungarian Uprising were of significant threats to the USSR, But the Prague spring raised more of a threat. Both Leaders wanted to have a more democratic country. Nagy with his ideal of a democractic country and Dubcek with his vision of a democratic communism. Both had uprisings but one was with force and one was with peaceful meanings. Both has also threatned the position of the USSR and the leader of the Warsaw Pact. And it showed the Soviets hadn't been strong as they'd hoped. It had almost lead to the crumble of the Warsaw Pact, had their reforms been allowed. Other countries demanded the same and the USSR would have crumbled. In conclusion, the Prague Spring was more sigificant as it showed the that the USSR wasn't that strong to deal with reforms and therefore resorted to force.
  2. Bright.Inspiration.'s Avatar
    • Exalted and Worshipped Member
    • Posts: 1,379
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    (Original post by The Marshall)
    x

    People like Sir Alan Sugar and Richard Branson didn't get A's, and look where they are now.
    There are many graphic designers, fashion designers, nurses, techicians, teachers etc etc who didn't get A's.

    Hating those who do well academically will not help you in any way, try to learn from it and be inspired instead of cursing it.

    Good luck
  3. aysha.19's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Posts: 647
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    Sleep for 10 hours or 6-7 if you have an exam the next day.
  4. tomaird's Avatar
    • Respected Member
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    take lots of time to relax and not get stressed before an exam
  5. hauntedbyhumans's Avatar
    • New Member
    • Posts: 7
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    Go mad on past papers and not only those, but mark schemes. I find it helps to check the website of the exam board I'm with - often they'll have specimen papers and resources I didn't even know existed. Also if you can, buy textbooks written by the exam board you're with and keep going over them. Use websites like "Quizlet" to keep things fresh. Get on with it!
    Good luck!
  6. dgdlalo16's Avatar
    • Exalted Member
    • Posts: 307
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    i think what you could do is firstly do a test paper without revision and then look at the areas you get stuck on and revise that
    make sure you look at past papers and markschemes
    ask your teacher for model answers so you are able to see how to answer the question
    look at the things you dont understand and use different sources because it helps to have a broader understanding on the topic

    hope this helps!!
  7. Lid-the-squid's Avatar
    • Junior Member
    • Location: Wales
    • Posts: 61
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    (Original post by 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. My subjects are biology, chemistry, Religious Studies and sociology. Thanks.
    I make revision cards on every topic and simplify the subject matter. Then read each revision card outloud again and again and start closing my eyes and continuing to try and recite what I wrote without looking, if I forget again I go open my eyes refresh my memory and close my eyes and try again.

    Do this until I have it all remembered perfect. Then I read the topic in the actual book again (in all its detail- which I left out in my simplified revision cards). Then go have a tea or go for a walk. Come back half an hour later and jot everything I remember down on plain piece of card. Cross reference what I remembered with the text see if I forgot anything.

    happy revising!
  8. Brand New Eyes's Avatar
    • Overlord in Training
    • Location: Timbuktu
    • Posts: 2,960
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    Prevention:

    Concentrate during lessons, and when you can't/don't read it later otherwise you'll never learn it. Revision is to rejog memory, not completely re-learn everything (which is bloody hard tbh)

    Try and read over bits you've forgotten before the next lesson or just read over notes in general throughout the year so it sinks in (especially if you don't do January modules)

    Cure:

    Adjust it to how you work best. I know lots of people who re-write all their notes but tbh this isn't as helpful as people think. Work at what you're not good at/have gaps in knowledge.

    Essay subjects: plan/practice essays will make you read over course content and take things thematically rather than remembering everything learnt in lessons.

    Maths: Erm, practice. note down where you lost marks. Don't make the same mistakes again. Attempt questions you didn't get again in a few weeks and see if you've improved.

    Try and set time targets, to complete certain sections by a date. and don't leave everything up to the week/day before the exam!

    Mark Schemes and Examiners Reports are your friends.
  9. YB101's Avatar
    • Exalted and Worshipped Member
    • Posts: 1,200
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    I started revising for all my extremely hard exams about a month ago and at the time I knew it all very well (about a B standard) however I left it thinking i'd remember it all by the time I'd get to the exams AND NOW I CAN'T REMEMBER A THING!!


    How can I retrieve all the information from my brain I know it's there somewhere!
  10. Bright.Inspiration.'s Avatar
    • Exalted and Worshipped Member
    • Posts: 1,379
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    (Original post by YB101)
    I started revising for all my extremely hard exams about a month ago and at the time I knew it all very well (about a B standard) however I left it thinking i'd remember it all by the time I'd get to the exams AND NOW I CAN'T REMEMBER A THING!!


    How can I retrieve all the information from my brain I know it's there somewhere!

    Just go through all your notes and do some past papers
  11. Lil08's Avatar
    • Peer Of The TSR Realm
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    My checklist;

    1. After studying a topic, spend a little time understanding the implications of the facts and what a potential exam question might be.

    2. Regard revision as an integral, ongoing part of the course.

    3. Practice past papers under examination conditions.

    4. Organise your notes and other course materials as you obtain them.

    5. Plan your revision carefully and include some time with your study group.
  12. JoshHardman's Avatar
    • Junior Member
    • Posts: 35
    My technique...
    I personally get hold of a REVISION text book (not the full text book, a condensed version!) and just read through it.

    I read through everyone once, then, I go back to it the next day and look at the sub-headings and titles on each page... I try to summarise what will be written under each title (in my head), and then I look to see if I got it right. If not, I read it again!

    Bit boring, but it's worked so far!

    Good luck everyone!


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0EzmgXu4I4 Click to watch my '5 Revision Tips' video
  13. ▀▀▒=(◕ ‿ ◕)=▒r▀▀'s Avatar
    • Junior Member
    • Posts: 59
    Re: My technique...
    (Original post by JoshHardman)
    I personally get hold of a REVISION text book (not the full text book, a condensed version!) and just read through it.

    I read through everyone once, then, I go back to it the next day and look at the sub-headings and titles on each page... I try to summarise what will be written under each title (in my head), and then I look to see if I got it right. If not, I read it again!

    Bit boring, but it's worked so far!

    Good luck everyone!


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0EzmgXu4I4 Click to watch my '5 Revision Tips' video
    This is way better than that.
    Perhaps you can make another one after reading this
    http://www.squidoo.com/top-ten-tips-to-exam-success
  14. BartoBarto's Avatar
    • Junior Member
    • Posts: 53
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    For subjects such as Religious Studies, I find verbal communication very helpful. Especially following on from GCSE, in which there were always several debate questions, it allows you to formulate your answers much more strongly and develop them, which is what the examiner is looking for. Science I have no idea how to help you there, I just presume learn lots of key words and processes; I think you're doing it right there with revision cards and perhaps mind-maps.
    Don't read whatever you do. Saying that, for some it works. I'm currently doing my GCSE, so I feel incredibly out of place on this thread (please don't shout) but all I did was read for that. I am hopefully going to be an A/A* student, so I hope some of things I have said are helping? Just delete if they're not. But, you're attention span is your age + 2, so reading for 4 hours won't help. Instead revise in half an hour chunks and mix it up: say things aloud, get people to test you, make revision cards.
    For the Sciences I just did, I repeated each piece of vocab. 5 times aloud. This commits it to long term memory which means I didn't need to revise it again. For subjects such as Science, I think this is good as you can completely learn things as you go and briefly skim them before the exam.
    Hope I helped, and good luck with your exams; I've only got three left!
  15. journeyofeducation's Avatar
    • Full Member
    • Posts: 105
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    I think just practice lots throughout the year. If you begin learning everything after each lesson you'll know it a lot better towards the end of the year and for the exam
  16. aysha.19's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Posts: 647
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    For tort or any other essay exam, is it okay to write in points like 'firstly, this.... secondly, this...' and i don't mean do it once or twice but a lot...??
  17. Bright.Inspiration.'s Avatar
    • Exalted and Worshipped Member
    • Posts: 1,379
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    (Original post by aysha.19)
    For tort or any other essay exam, is it okay to write in points like 'firstly, this.... secondly, this...' and i don't mean do it once or twice but a lot...??

    I wouldn't do that because it sounds unnatural and rehearsed, so it kind of ruins the flow of an essay..
  18. Angryification's Avatar
    • Full Member
    • Posts: 79
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    I'm doing GCSEs right now [Y11], but what I can say is start off with recapping on what you've done by making notes [make sure what you do is active - not just reading the textbook] and do loads of past papers.
  19. exam2k10's Avatar
    • Exalted and Worshipped Member
    • Posts: 908
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    My tips are to cram last minute, trust me it works, I revise everything in the last week and get A/A*
  20. non's Avatar
    • Peer Of The TSR Realm
    • Posts: 1,606
    Re: A and A* students... Share your revision tips
    (Original post by exam2k10)
    My tips are to cram last minute, trust me it works, I revise everything in the last week and get A/A*
    what's best tips for cramming? just reading notes?
Sign in to Reply
Share this discussion:  
Article updates
Moderators

We have a brilliant team of more than 60 volunteers looking after discussions on The Student Room, helping to make it a fun, safe and useful place to hang out.

Reputation gems:
The Reputation gems seen here indicate how well reputed the user is, red gem indicate negative reputation and green indicates a good rep.
Post rating score:
These scores show if a post has been positively or negatively rated by our members.