A* at A level students - how much revision did you do

I'm still waiting on my A-Level results but I'm predicted two A*s and since you don't have any other answers I thought I'd weigh in a little

I spent the vast majority of my free periods sleeping, if I'm honest. Those that I didn't spend sleeping I spent catching up on missed work or hunting down teachers to ask them about work I didn't understand. I only had three free periods a week, though.

I started making revision notes for my exams around the start of April, but I didn't start properly revising until May. When I was still at Sixth Form, I'd use my evenings to revise for maybe 2 or 3 hours a day, and then when we went on study leave I'd usually get up at around 10 and revise until 12, then have lunch and watch a bit of TV, then revise from 2ish until 6ish, have dinner and watch more TV, then revise 9ish until I got too tired to read my notes, and then I'd go to bed and stay up until 1am, which in hindsight wasn't the best idea for a "ready mind" but hey-ho.

I think the reason I got away with being so lazy with my revision schedule was because I had worked quite hard throughout the year during lessons and I made sure I understood everything at the time that we learnt it so that when it came to revision I knew what was going on. If I was revising something that I found complicated I'd spend a lot longer on it, and if I was revising something that I found simple, I'd spend like an hour on it and then give myself the rest of the day off. I knew people who spent literally every waking hour revising when it came to exams, and I don't think it ever really did them any good- they tended to be much more tired and stressed out on the exam day.

Anyway the moral of the story is, if you put a lot of work and effort in during the entire year, then the revision period becomes much easier and you don't have to push yourself as hard

Also, with regards to the A*, past papers are vital to getting high marks- the same questions come up over and over again so you can basically learn where the marks are, it makes it much easier to get over 90%!

Not much, I'm naturally intelligent and with a bit of luck and common sense, A*'s are easy to crack.

So your doing A Levels in P.E media studies and applied business... Nice.


Posted from TSR Mobile

No I did Geography, French and Combined English and A* A* A
Think maybe you should get your head out your ass, because you've just offended anyone who does those subject.

May I ask what subjects you are doing?

did you spend none/some/most/all of your free periods revising

when in the year did you start revising for your june exams

how much would you do each day when you started revising

thanks

Haven't got my A Level results yet, but I will be getting them on the 15th.

Should be getting 3-4 A*s and the only revision I did was all the past papers for each subject, never looked at my notes or any revision guides/textbooks.

Pretty much this for the sciences/maths. The most important part of getting good grades is not the revision. Revising is pointless if you didn't know the stuff in the first place. You have to work at it throughout the year, making sure you understand everything (not just being able to recite the answer, but actually understanding it). If you do that, then the exams aren't much of a hassle. But it's also about doing the correct amount of revision - be honest with your self-assessment. For me, and the guy I quoted, just the past papers worked. If you need to do more, then of course do. But also don't overwork yourself. If you don't need A*s, then don't waste time revising 10 hours a day to get them, because once you have a degree, no-one will care whether you got As or A*s.

(This is different for some subjects with less understanding and more rote learning - for example, research and case studies in psychology/geography).

so would i be correct in thinking you mean do a little bit of revision (in the sense of revising until you understand the particular topic) for every subject from day one?

Do enough to make sure you understand the content. Revising is the least effective way to do this - you have to be hands-on in the lesson - if you don't completely get it, ask the teacher to help you set it straight. Never leave a lesson thinking 'what was that about' or 'but what about this' - ask those questions in the lesson. If you need to revise after then do, but I found that paying attention in the lessons worked, and completing the homework was the best revision.

The general rule is little and often - you can get an A* by revising 10 hours a day in the months/weeks before exams, but that's a stupid way to learn.

little and often from day one, or little and often from like study leave?

haha true

did you spend none/some/most/all of your free periods revising

when in the year did you start revising for your june exams

how much would you do each day when you started revising

thanks