Does a resit require much revision?

I sat the Biology unit 1 January exam and got a high B (2 raw marks off an A) which I'm unhappy with and am resitting. I revised like crazy for it and still remember 90% of it as well as all the past paper answers (did them all 3 times each!), so my teacher thinks I've made some silly errors on my script and we've ordered it back.

Anyway, I'm planning on giving the revision guide a quick read, making a few notes on forgotten topics and then straight back to past papers, this should take like 3 days max. Does resit revision usually go like this if you revised hard first time round? The prospect of re-writing all the basics again seems pointless because I already understand it and I'll just lose interest. I hope I'm not doing too little.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 1

YB101

17

Original post by Magenta96

I sat the Biology unit 1 January exam and got a high B (2 raw marks off an A) which I'm unhappy with and am resitting. I revised like crazy for it and still remember 90% of it as well as all the past paper answers (did them all 3 times each!), so my teacher thinks I've made some silly errors on my script and we've ordered it back.

Anyway, I'm planning on giving the revision guide a quick read, making a few notes on forgotten topics and then straight back to past papers, this should take like 3 days max. Does resit revision usually go like this if you revised hard first time round? The prospect of re-writing all the basics again seems pointless because I already understand it and I'll just lose interest. I hope I'm not doing too little.

It all depends really. what exam board are you doing ?

I did the F214 exam in Jan 2012 and got a C. I revised 4 days before the exam and re sat and got an A. I guess it's easier but that doesn't mean you should put in less work. I saw I worked just as hard, if not more but yeah it's definitely easier

Reply 2

Magenta96

OP

16

Original post by YB101

It all depends really. what exam board are you doing ?

I did the F214 exam in Jan 2012 and got a C. I revised 4 days before the exam and re sat and got an A. I guess it's easier but that doesn't mean you should put in less work. I saw I worked just as hard, if not more but yeah it's definitely easier

I'm with AQA, their exam was a little harder than usual so not many people got an A in my college. Do you think this would be enough:
reading guide + notes on certain topics + past papers (repeating 3 times each) + made up questions on each topic

I'm trying to alter my old revision technique of just notes and past papers because it obviously isn't THAT effective or I would've gotten a strong A or something. :smile:

Reply 3

YB101

17

Original post by Magenta96

I'm with AQA, their exam was a little harder than usual so not many people got an A in my college. Do you think this would be enough:
reading guide + notes on certain topics + past papers (repeating 3 times each) + made up questions on each topic

I'm trying to alter my old revision technique of just notes and past papers because it obviously isn't THAT effective or I would've gotten a strong A or something. :smile:

Yeah I've heard they are harder actually but I think you can still use the same technique :smile:

the "notes on each topic" part, try and simplify your notes so that when you read them you can recall everything you need to know from that one bulletpoint. Diagrams and A3 sheets with condensed notes are really good too!

everyones different :smile:

Reply 4

UnknownGuy

2

I'm in a very similar postion to you.

Did loads of revision for mod 1, past papers etc, and got a B.

Got my script back, I saw that the exam boards have tightened up on the mark schemes now, you have to be very specific.

However, unlike you, I have forgotten most of unit 1. I will need to learn everything again. When I learn it though, it won't he like learning a new topic, I'm sure when I read the textbook I will remember quickly.

I don't know when/how much to start, baring in mind I have my other Unit 2 exams (Bio, Chem, Physics, Eco 2).

advice?

Cheers

Reply 5

Magenta96

OP

16

Original post by UnknownGuy

I'm in a very similar postion to you.

Did loads of revision for mod 1, past papers etc, and got a B.

Got my script back, I saw that the exam boards have tightened up on the mark schemes now, you have to be very specific.

However, unlike you, I have forgotten most of unit 1. I will need to learn everything again. When I learn it though, it won't he like learning a new topic, I'm sure when I read the textbook I will remember quickly.

I don't know when/how much to start, baring in mind I have my other Unit 2 exams (Bio, Chem, Physics, Eco 2).

advice?

Cheers

This is what I'd do so it may be of use. I'm probably going to start revision in a day or something, then I'll do 3 days of revision per exam I'm doing until Easter ends. You can get so much done in 3 days of intense revision and I tend to get a little carried away when I revise as I make a huuuge to do list then feel the need to finish every task which is really worth it in the end. It MIGHT seem a little early to start revising now but at the end of the day, it's better to be safe than to cram and panic. Even if you end up forgetting parts, you can just quickly read over the revision guide and it should all come flooding back. :smile:

.

The 3 day thing does worth though, I mean in maths I was on a firm U for statistics and got U/E on all the homeworks, spent 3 days going over the basics in the holidays, did a few exam papers after college then came out with an A. It's amazing how much 3 days of solid revision (6 hrs per day) can get you from a U -> A! Basically, it doesn't even have to be 3 days but I don't like to alternate between subjects too much.

Reply 6

Use Err Name

16

Depends on how well you know your topic. I managed to go from a high C in my AS English module to a mid B (what I need for uni) with absolutely no revision. Having said that, I was pretty lucky because one of the questions was super easy so I totally aced that and did ok in the second question. Also the exam paper is half reliant on general skill at analysing texts rather than cramming knowledge so the work I had been doing for my A2 English c/w was practice for the paper in itself!

Reply 7

Robbie242

I flopped my history exam apparently, I've devised a timetable giving the least time to the resits and giving more time for the upcoming unattempted exams, e.g. I give 5.8hours on women's suffrage (with was a C in January) but 9.8hours to C2, similarly I give 370minutes to Econ 1 (which was a B in January) but then 9.8hours to Civil Rights, give more time to your upcoming ones, but do not neglect your old ones, I'm also in the same boat I've sent both my scripts back, but it doesn't hurt to revise still

Reply 8

Queen of love

Now that they have stopped resit exams in my school its going to be pretty hard for a student and makes them work hard in the first paper e.g may/june exam having said that I am planning on doing a unit 5 chem this may.I finished A level last year but did not get the grades I was expecting so I resat some 9 units both from As and A2 and still there was not change in my final predicted grade.You can imagine how shocked and devastated I was.Now I don't want to repeat the same mistake and am planning on taking things slow this time.Even if it means one unit at a time,while am doing my diploma for pharmacy.I know this may seem pretty hard for some people but when you work had and know where you want to be everything becomes clear and simple,I know that from experience now.So any advice on how I can nail this paper I need a strong A?

Does a resit require much revision?

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