those who got A*AA-AAA what are your secrets?
im prepared to work really hard this year and get these grades. any tips and tricks would be tremendously appreciated!!
Edit : when i made this thread i was sitting on BDD. Now ive got A*AB. Close enough i guess
Edit : when i made this thread i was sitting on BDD. Now ive got A*AB. Close enough i guess
(edited 10 years ago)
Scroll to see replies
This thread should be useful.
Revise. But don't revise too much. 
What are you planning on doing at uni?
What are you planning on doing at uni?
Don't burn out! I started really well this year, got high predictions, right now I'm not feeling too good... 
Revise well. Both in amount of time you spend revising, but also how and what. Spending days just highlighting notes without taking anything in is not revision!
Use the specification! They cannot ask you anything that isn't worded in the Spec. If you are doing essay based subjects - DO NOT pre prepare essays! - make essay Plans for each bullet point on the spec and use the plans as a guide. For sciences - practice/past papers and annotate the spec.
What I did was as soon as I got into the exam and they started the time, I spent 5 minuets with a blank piece of paper, writing out a plan for each question or for science, just read through the paper. This helps sooo much - well did for me anyway.
I got 3A*.
What I did was as soon as I got into the exam and they started the time, I spent 5 minuets with a blank piece of paper, writing out a plan for each question or for science, just read through the paper. This helps sooo much - well did for me anyway.
I got 3A*.
Start early, revise smart by working out what techniques work for you, and do a hell of a lot of past papers.
Also, read the examiners reports - they're very helpful.
Also, read the examiners reports - they're very helpful.
1. QUESTIONS / PAST PAPERS / PRACTICE ESSAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't stress this enough. There isn't any point in reading a textbook and forgetting everything - you need to make detailed notes to learn it initially (or else you'll have massive gaps and won't be able to relate things), but the human brain learns fundamentally by being tested. You need to make it do some work.
With sciences, mark the questions yourself, as you learn more that way. However, with essays ask your teacher to mark them (they may say no, but I'm sure they'll do a few over your course). You can't mark these yourself, obviously.
2. MEMORISATION.
With sciences in particular (though it's very useful for other subjects), make tables of key areas and memorise them about 1 day before the exam, and then again just before. Examples would be a map of organic reactions, equations and conditions in chemistry, or a table or chemical testing results (flame test etc). These aren't the general picture, which you should know, they are the details that will get you an A*. You'll know what sorts of questions to expect from your past papers, and they will require that level of detail.
3. General Picture
Very important, but perhaps one of the easiest to learn. Start with detailed notes - you don't have to re-read them, you learn by writing them, and that will be consolidated by practice questions. Read around the subject.
Anyway, sorry if that was massively patronising, but I genuinely think those are the main three things you need. I can't think of any tips or tricks, apart from the vital importance of 1. and 2., but I'll let you know if I do. May be helpful to say what subjects you're doing
I can't stress this enough. There isn't any point in reading a textbook and forgetting everything - you need to make detailed notes to learn it initially (or else you'll have massive gaps and won't be able to relate things), but the human brain learns fundamentally by being tested. You need to make it do some work.
With sciences, mark the questions yourself, as you learn more that way. However, with essays ask your teacher to mark them (they may say no, but I'm sure they'll do a few over your course). You can't mark these yourself, obviously.
2. MEMORISATION.
With sciences in particular (though it's very useful for other subjects), make tables of key areas and memorise them about 1 day before the exam, and then again just before. Examples would be a map of organic reactions, equations and conditions in chemistry, or a table or chemical testing results (flame test etc). These aren't the general picture, which you should know, they are the details that will get you an A*. You'll know what sorts of questions to expect from your past papers, and they will require that level of detail.
3. General Picture
Very important, but perhaps one of the easiest to learn. Start with detailed notes - you don't have to re-read them, you learn by writing them, and that will be consolidated by practice questions. Read around the subject.
Anyway, sorry if that was massively patronising, but I genuinely think those are the main three things you need. I can't think of any tips or tricks, apart from the vital importance of 1. and 2., but I'll let you know if I do. May be helpful to say what subjects you're doing
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Octohedral
1. QUESTIONS / PAST PAPERS / PRACTICE ESSAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't stress this enough. There isn't any point in reading a textbook and forgetting everything - you need to make detailed notes to learn it initially (or else you'll have massive gaps and won't be able to relate things), but the human brain learns fundamentally by being tested. You need to make it do some work.
With sciences, mark the questions yourself, as you learn more that way. However, with essays ask your teacher to mark them (they may say no, but I'm sure they'll do a few over your course). You can't mark these yourself, obviously.
2. MEMORISATION.
With sciences in particular (though it's very useful for other subjects), make tables of key areas and memorise them about 1 day before the exam, and then again just before. Examples would be a map of organic reactions, equations and conditions in chemistry, or a table or chemical testing results (flame test etc). These aren't the general picture, which you should know, they are the details that will get you an A*. You'll know what sorts of questions to expect from your past papers, and they will require that level of detail.
3. General Picture
Very important, but perhaps one of the easiest to learn. Start with detailed notes - you don't have to re-read them, you learn by writing them, and that will be consolidated by practice questions. Read around the subject.
Anyway, sorry if that was massively patronising, but I genuinely think those are the main three things you need. I can't think of any tips or tricks, apart from the vital importance of 1. and 2., but I'll let you know if I do. May be helpful to say what subjects you're doing
I got:
I can't stress this enough. There isn't any point in reading a textbook and forgetting everything - you need to make detailed notes to learn it initially (or else you'll have massive gaps and won't be able to relate things), but the human brain learns fundamentally by being tested. You need to make it do some work.
With sciences, mark the questions yourself, as you learn more that way. However, with essays ask your teacher to mark them (they may say no, but I'm sure they'll do a few over your course). You can't mark these yourself, obviously.
2. MEMORISATION.
With sciences in particular (though it's very useful for other subjects), make tables of key areas and memorise them about 1 day before the exam, and then again just before. Examples would be a map of organic reactions, equations and conditions in chemistry, or a table or chemical testing results (flame test etc). These aren't the general picture, which you should know, they are the details that will get you an A*. You'll know what sorts of questions to expect from your past papers, and they will require that level of detail.
3. General Picture
Very important, but perhaps one of the easiest to learn. Start with detailed notes - you don't have to re-read them, you learn by writing them, and that will be consolidated by practice questions. Read around the subject.
Anyway, sorry if that was massively patronising, but I genuinely think those are the main three things you need. I can't think of any tips or tricks, apart from the vital importance of 1. and 2., but I'll let you know if I do. May be helpful to say what subjects you're doing
I got:
Spoiler
Did you take 6 full alevels then?
What subjects were they?
Original post by Secretnerd123
im prepared to work really hard this year and get these grades. any tips and tricks would be tremendously appreciated!!
- Get yourself organised. For each subject, make yourself a "to-do" list and only check things off when you have revised them fully and are 100% comfortable that you cannot do any more.
- Don't just assume you know something because you've read over the chapter in the textbook. There are three steps I took in each subject...
(1) Make notes, using textbook
(2) Make revision posters, for each topic and sub-topic, using my notes made in the first step. Make them really colourful and nice to look at (one-sided, so you can stick them on your wall!)
(3) Make flashcards using these posters (key points only)
(4) Answer past papers using the flashcards (and posters if needed) and either test yourself or get others to test you using these.
Flashcards: two ways to use them.
(1) as a "mini-poster", i.e. condense the info from your revision poster even further so that they contain only the absolute key points which will "trigger" the rest of the info you need to flesh it out. Useful for when you're doing past papers
(2) to test yourself, e.g. word on one side, with the definition of that word on the other, or a name on one side, with the details of their research on the other.
- Start early, there's nothing worse than panicking when you're revising as you'll try and rush, it's not productive at all.
- Revise with friends. Seriously, you learn SO much more when you listen to other people, explain things to others, work through problems together, etc. You get to hear other peoples ideas, learn new ways to tackle the exam, support each other - and it's more fun!
- Reward yourself. Don't attempt to revise from 8am till 8pm without a break. There is no way this is going to happen, you'll get bored and demotivated very quickly. Revise for an hour or two, then give yourself a half hour break - eat lunch, give a friend a call, watch an episode of your favourite show, go for a walk, anything. But try to get out of your revision space to do this.
- Remove distractions. T.V. in your room? Unplug it, ask someone to hide the remote from you. If your room is full of distractions, take your revision and go to the library - I am someone who is very easily distracted and for me this is the best way to get things done. When there is nothing to do but revise (quiet room, no music, no T.V, no siblings or pets or parents, no computer...), you'll be surprised at what you can get done!
- Revision space. As I said above, it's best IMO to go to a library to revise and be really productive, but if this isn't possible, then make sure your room or living room is organised perfectly to max your productivity. Make sure everything you need is around you, organised NEATLY. Remove as many distractions as possible. Keep it quiet. Have a glass of juice or water, with some snacks to keep you going (I find blueberries and grapes help me concentrate, apparently bananas are good, too. Whatever works for you!)
- Know the specification inside-out. You NEED to know what is expected of you to be able to do well. Use it to form your to-do list. As well as using the specification, read the examiners comments - really, really useful pointers in there to help you understand what constitutes a grade A answer.
- Past papers. Practice, practice, practice.
Hmm, these are all I can think of off the top of my head! I used these, and got AAAAB. (1UMS off getting 5 As, grrr. Hehe). If I can think of any more, I will edit and add some more.
I hope these help, they are all quite easy steps that combined should really help.
Good luck with exams, everyone.
Original post by CD315
Stay off TSR when trying to revise. 
THIS.
I had no life for a whole year.
Spent more time with my teachers than my family.
Did Chemistry so spent more time reading about alcohol than drinking it.
On a more serious note...
Start your notes early.
Try and read ahead, you'll find things easier in lessons if you've already skimmed over it.
Do lots of past papers/lots of essays, practice practice practice.
Find a way to revise that works for you, I personally had a whiteboard and I would use that to learn equations/mechanisms by writing them out until I could do it without looking.
And try not to do too much, I burnt out at the end of January and the end of June. I got A*AA, and I was predicted a B in the A* subject.
EDIT: Not sure why I've been negged for this... maybe my initial sarcasm didn't come across
Spent more time with my teachers than my family.
Did Chemistry so spent more time reading about alcohol than drinking it.
On a more serious note...
Start your notes early.
Try and read ahead, you'll find things easier in lessons if you've already skimmed over it.
Do lots of past papers/lots of essays, practice practice practice.
Find a way to revise that works for you, I personally had a whiteboard and I would use that to learn equations/mechanisms by writing them out until I could do it without looking.
And try not to do too much, I burnt out at the end of January and the end of June. I got A*AA, and I was predicted a B in the A* subject.
EDIT: Not sure why I've been negged for this... maybe my initial sarcasm didn't come across
(edited 11 years ago)
Okay, so I got 2A*2A (Maths, FM, Econ, Geog).
I won't say do this and that, but I'll tell you what I did.. see if it works for you
1. Classes: I barely went (but that's because my classes were crap). Found that classes were really repetitive, so i decided to teach myself (roughly 2 full days per module, then go to revision classes before exams).
2. Knowing what I need to learn: USE THE SPECIFICATION. It's basically a checklist.
3. Do past papers. More than once. Questions are really repetitive for Alvl. My best tip is to make a table of the mains topics covered by each question for each paper. Then choose a topic. Do a few questions within that topic with your markscheme, and then do the rest without. Timing: if questions are 6 marks, start off aiming to finish within 6mins, then cut down to 4.
4. Start as early as possible. I only started proper (learning/)revision 2-3 weeks before my exams. In hindsight, I should have started earlier to ensure I got more A*'s. I left 40hours worth of questions to do the day before, so maybe calculate the min time you should allocate to each module and devise a revision timetable accordingly (Doesn't work for me as I never follow them)
5. Breaks. Generally watched at least one movie or two tv episodes a day during revision period. Kept me calm. :-)
6. Make sure you ACE AS exams. To get As in my final exams, I only had to get Ds and Es... Brilliant :-)
I won't say do this and that, but I'll tell you what I did.. see if it works for you
1. Classes: I barely went (but that's because my classes were crap). Found that classes were really repetitive, so i decided to teach myself (roughly 2 full days per module, then go to revision classes before exams).
2. Knowing what I need to learn: USE THE SPECIFICATION. It's basically a checklist.
3. Do past papers. More than once. Questions are really repetitive for Alvl. My best tip is to make a table of the mains topics covered by each question for each paper. Then choose a topic. Do a few questions within that topic with your markscheme, and then do the rest without. Timing: if questions are 6 marks, start off aiming to finish within 6mins, then cut down to 4.
4. Start as early as possible. I only started proper (learning/)revision 2-3 weeks before my exams. In hindsight, I should have started earlier to ensure I got more A*'s. I left 40hours worth of questions to do the day before, so maybe calculate the min time you should allocate to each module and devise a revision timetable accordingly (Doesn't work for me as I never follow them)
5. Breaks. Generally watched at least one movie or two tv episodes a day during revision period. Kept me calm. :-)
6. Make sure you ACE AS exams. To get As in my final exams, I only had to get Ds and Es... Brilliant :-)
Original post by tree123
Did you take 6 full alevels then?
What subjects were they?
What subjects were they?
Yep, I did;
Spoiler
(edited 11 years ago)
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