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

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Reply 140

mel0n

Farooqi bean

Lol fair nuff, i enjoy the Law too, but Eng Lit was just pure bliss for me :frown:

ah well, yeah they went great A*A*A, wbu? And how can you miss psychology!??Was a loads bullcrap :p:

Haha aww what did you get each grade in? :smile:

I got A*A*A* :smile:

and LOL Psychology was just: :coma:

hahahaa.

Reply 141

FinalFlash

You have to play some form of COD during your breaks. :yes:

Reply 142

casiogeek

This has been a really good thread! Hopefully gonna do well this year..or i stand infront of a train ^_^ i joke poor train driver!

Reply 143

skatealexia

Maths: I did past papers mainly, and questions on the things I didn't know. Went to quite a few maths workshops at college to work through the things I didn't understand, mainly C3! It was the bane of my life, never again :biggrin:

. Chemistry: Break down my notes into the specification a) b) ect, put this onto revision cards pointing out exactly what I needed to know, but I just mainly used to CGP revision guide, made sure I knew simple things like writing ionic equations and intepretation and mechanisms and that was it, and many past papers. Biology: Condensed everything into revision notes, and used the heinemann text book, and just rewrote everything all the time. I went through the specification nearer the time and wrote out all the things I didn't know well enough time and time again. Didn't do many exam questions, but learnt model mark schemes to some long answers :smile:

Reply 144

Roocky

mel0n

Haha aww what did you get each grade in? :smile:

I got A*A*A* :smile:

and LOL Psychology was just: :coma:

hahahaa.

Eng Lit and Psych were A*'s and Law was an A, i was seriously sweating it over the A* in Eng though right up till Thursday, thought the exam was very difficult, wbu? And ergh just glad to get away from Psych and running into Law's waiting arms :woo:

Reply 145

Kameo

For science read the content, make sure you know the knowledge and then do as many past papers as you can, 1000 pages of questions! and then go back to any topics you got had difficulty in.

For maths, practice makes perfect. Usually doing harder questions than are likely to be asked helps.

Reply 146

Jubbzy

I must admit I just crammed a lot in the days before.
Condensing a years worth of college notes to paragraphs, then to bullet points, seemed to work!

Reply 147

Ryde

w04andia

I literally memories textbooks for biology, maths and chemistry to the point where i remember which stuff was on which page number and memorised vocab and grammar constructions for german and russian. But then again, i don't forget stuff easily...
Don't revise for so long!!!!

I had a friend who did that, i think he got around 95+ out of 100 in each subject, that method rly works makes it easier to memorise if you understand it.

Hedgehunter

Yeah, many trees have died to give me my results.

But they did not die in vain

Wardy23

I think I cleared a few square meters of rainforest for maths.

Just maths wat about other subjects

Reply 148

quaveralien

Wesssty

Don't expect the teachers to teach you, anything.

<-- this is very true, well at least for most of them.. :woo:

Reply 149

w04andia

Ryde

I had a friend who did that, i think he got around 95+ out of 100 in each subject, that method rly works makes it easier to memorise if you understand it.

Yeah i understood it lol :P
I got 90+ in all my subjects. 100% for russian...ok i'll stop bragging :ninjagirl:

Good times :smile:

Reply 150

username195819

Wesssty

Don't expect the teachers to teach you, anything.

This.

Can't stress that enough. Leading up to the June exams, I asked my head of year for official leave before study leave so I could study by myself. Lessons at that point were a complete waste of time and I wasn't the only one doing that either. If you really need extra help, by all means go ask them for it but work primarily by yourself.

First of all, save/print off and read the specs for each subject your doing in advance. For example, for AS Bio and Chem, I literally just studied my textbook because that's how my teacher taught me. Mistake.
The spec will tell you exactly what you need to know.
Saying that though, don't think doing that will save you from having a stupidly random question come up in the exam - that's how the new A-levels have been structured I believe. To stretch you. BUT, you will be all the more prepared.

Give yourself enough time. I was never really good at this haha but I did find if I started too early, like some eager beavers, I forgot most things by the time the exams were coming up.

The most important advice I can pass on is: do what works for YOU. You know how you work best. Mind-maps and flash cards don't work for me...so doing them in structured revision sessions in school drove me mad. Anyone reading this thread will see that there are so many different forms of revision...and so many contradictions. People are different.

I revised by reading the spec, finding the relevant info in the textbook and CGP guide (best things ever) and typing up condensed notes for each spec point. Putting things in bold and colour helped to make important parts stick out. After that, I would read them over again. Each point triggered my memory. By the end, I was confident I covered everything...when I finished in time :wink:

.

It took me a while and even though I took breaks every now and again, I was working for 4-5 hours at a time. Taking loads of breaks just puts me out of focus and I only took them when I really had enough or I wasn't taking anything in. I followed that pattern for my A2s and it worked like a charm for me. I took Bio, Chem and Psych by the way! So this method might not work well for other subjects.

I work better at home, in my own environment, but if you know that you're easily distracted or the house is too busy, go to the library. Doing past papers seems to help loads of people but I barely touched any. Definitely give them a go and if they work for you, stick to it. I found that in AS, I tried multiple different revision methods (mind maps, posters, flash cards, notes) so much so that in the end, I found it hard to recall something. Keep it simple.

For chemistry, I had my typed-up notes like usual but I also had summary pages of all the calculations and equations I needed to know. I also drew up the organic synthesis pathways (A2) quite a few times. Things like that are simply rote learning, so just do it over and over again. Jim Clark's 'Calculations in A-level Chemistry' is a bible, as is his website chemguide. I got the book a bit late though...
This brings me round to another point. Your teachers may be harping on the point to 'read around the subject'. I didn't reallllly but I did go beyond my textbook and that helped a lot.

I've written pants loads but I hope it helps. Other people have made good points too so there's no point repeating.

Just remember that all the revision in the world isn't going to stop nerves or a dodgy exam but it will make the whole thing a lot easier. Annnd remember you can still have a social life! I still went out with my mates. You just need to find a balance.

Basically read, understand, isolate, condense, repeat, consolidate!
Good luck :p:

Reply 151

Wardy23

Ryde

Just maths wat about other subjects

Chemistry I probably cleared about a trees worth and Biology I didn't revise for.

Reply 152

Ryde

Wardy23

Chemistry I probably cleared about a trees worth and Biology I didn't revise for.

How did you do in biology

Reply 153

Ryde

w04andia

Yeah i understood it lol :P
I got 90+ in all my subjects. 100% for russian...ok i'll stop bragging :ninjagirl:

Good times :smile:

It gets kinda dull getting to the point where you memorise it so much that you can remember the page number, but i have yet to see it fail, it can work if your patient as reading the same page 10-30 times can get very boring.

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past papers!

Presidential

past papers!

i love your sig! three great men!

Reply 157

Remarqable M

Can someone post A* star student written AS biology, Physics and chemistry paper, so I can see how you guy pull it off! the problem with me is that I understand the material, but the way I aproach and answer questions is not what examiners look for, so I was thinking maybe if I look at how an A* star student answers typical AS science questions I could improve my exam skills. I'm requesting my scrips back, so i could compare how it differs from an A* star student.