Need help on how to revise for these subjects!

Hey, So I received my results from January exams for Maths (C1 - E) and Psychology (U) and IT (C). (I'm in AS year by the way). I was very disappointed from these results and feel frustrated by myself. Im going to be doing 5 exams in June which includes 2 retakes (Unit 1 Psychology and C1 maths) and C2, D1 and Unit 2 Psychology. I'm planning to start revising now for the summer exams but I just don't know how with these subjects and would appreciate advice (Maths and Psychology only).

Maths - I have the Edexcel C1, C2 and D1 work booklet and the AQA revision books for C1, C2 and D1. How can I revise for this subject?

Psychology - I have the AQA work booklet for the whole of the AS year and my teacher regularly gives us work handouts to complete but Im finding it hard to revise for this subject also. How can I revise for this subject?

Need advice ASAP!

Thanks.

x

Are you AQA Psychology A? That's the same spec as me.

And I revise for psychology by reading the textbook, making notes, highlighting the notes, powerpoints/flash cards and finally a huge mindmap that has the basic points (AO1)/key pieces of research (with supporting and opposing evidence) (AO2). Talking with people who know nothing about the subject helps me understand it more as well, so it could work for you, too. You could do some past questions and give them to your teacher(s) to mark, this will help with exam technique as often people struggle at first with AO2 points. Plus, there are dedicated sites for psychology at A-Level (psychlotron and psychexchange) that you may find helpful, there are a lot of good resources on them. But in all honesty, the more ways you revise it, the more it will stick in your head.

This is what I do and I'm currently on track to get an A* (need to get 84 UMS in the next module to get it, lol).

Can't help with the maths I'm afraid, I don't take it.

Good luck!

I can help with the maths, not the psychology.

For maths, make sure you have covered and understand all of the syllabus, go through the text book and try a few of the exercises for each section. Once you have done this and feel comfortable with the book exercises move onto past papers.

For the first few past papers it may help to go through with the mark scheme, so you know what sort of methods you should be using and what way to lay out your answers.

Once you've done a few past papers this way, try doing a few more without the mark scheme, but take you time working through them, when you work a problem out for yourself I find you're more likely to remember how you did it for future.

When you've done a fair few past papers like this (I would recommend 4 - 6 in total by now) go onto doing them timed and see what marks you can get in the hour and a half and you will improve quickly.

This is the method I followed during my A level maths and it worked well, may not be for everyone, but trust me, past papers really are a great resource.

Yeah im doing AQA Psychology. Thanks a lot! gonna' start revising this week for Psychology. Start by reading through the textbook, making notes and doing the exercises.




Thanks, I'm still finishing off the text book but I'm finding some of the work in class quite difficult. Any suggestion for me?

Thanks.

Study your maths with practice. Trust me- I've a Maths degree :P

If you find you struggle on a basic concept then you should go back further in your revision. Maths should not be a difficult subject to grasp as it's all method at the point you're at, you just need to learn the methods and practice them.

I'd also suggest you do exercises on memorising for your studies. It's useful for your exams as you can recall information faster and spend more time working out how to solve the problem rather than trying to remember formulae you need. Good exercises I'd suggest are those card memory games.

What do you mean "go back further in your revision"?

Anyone else got any more ways for revising Maths/Psychology?

If you have trouble with certain things you should know by sixth form, revise over that gcse stuff. That's what I meant

Hey, So I received my results from January exams for Maths (C1 - E) and Psychology (U) and IT (C). (I'm in AS year by the way). I was very disappointed from these results and feel frustrated by myself. Im going to be doing 5 exams in June which includes 2 retakes (Unit 1 Psychology and C1 maths) and C2, D1 and Unit 2 Psychology. I'm planning to start revising now for the summer exams but I just don't know how with these subjects and would appreciate advice (Maths and Psychology only).

Maths - I have the Edexcel C1, C2 and D1 work booklet and the AQA revision books for C1, C2 and D1. How can I revise for this subject?

Psychology - I have the AQA work booklet for the whole of the AS year and my teacher regularly gives us work handouts to complete but Im finding it hard to revise for this subject also. How can I revise for this subject?

Need advice ASAP!

Thanks.

Revise over that GCSE stuff?

Hi

I got an A in AQA Psychology. This is what I would recommend........

- 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.


This is how I revised for most of my A-Levels (I got AAAAB, 1 UMS mark off AAAAA, grrr! ). I know it looks a lot, but I to be honest it doesn't take too long to go through each step. I don't feel as though I was consumed by revision over the A-Level period, I had a lot of work but it was definitely manageable and I think having a system like this in place definitely helped!

I hope this helps! Good luck in your exams

All I meant was make sure you're clear on everything! If you have trouble with stuff go back and find out what it means >.<