Achieving all A*s

I got 8 A*s, 2 As and a Distinction so not quite all A*s, but I just made sure I did practice papers and the CHP revision guides really helped too. I really didn't work as hard as I should have done, though. Don't be as lazy as I was and you'll likely get the string of 10 A*s I so wanted :')

Okay thank you! When did you start revision?
I have a lot riding on me and need to get these grades badly. My brothers becoming a doctor and my other brother got 8 A* too. Im the only girl and the youngest so big expectations!

I was at a Russia trip with my school during the Easter holidays for the first week and when I came back I was very unmotivated to revise. I actually didn't revise until the weekend before for my first exams and for all the exams following that, it was very much the night before/early hours of the morning (seriously bad idea but I was convinced I'd failed all mine so Can't complain). Study leave helped, though.

So what are your future plans? BTW are you at college now?

I'm in sixth form in year 12, doing my AS levels I'd like to do something related to astrophysics or engineering at university...you?

Wow! Im impressed- let me know how that goes!
What are you taking at AS?
Hopefully, medicine at a good university. Perhaps Oxbridge or a university in Scotland. I want to be a cardiothoracic surgeon and move to Australia with a good salary
Did you go to a normal high school and have to study a lot on your own or did you have a lot of support at school?

Haha you sound just like me two years ago!! I went to a terrible comprehensive, and had to self teach myself everything. I got 10A*s and I think it's great that you're aiming high, It's good to want the best, it's a shame that many don't achieve near enough their true potential, just on the basis that, they're content with less than the best.

I took Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, English Language, English Literature, Spanish, Geography, Religious Studies and ICT. Self teaching is actually a really good habit to start, because it makes you become your own personal teacher (that sounds obvious doesn't it?) What I'm trying to say, is that by self teaching, you get to know your own strengths and weaknesses, as well as learn the most effective ways for you to learn. For me, that was making notes on every single page of the book, with the specification in front of me to ensure that I was covering everything needed for the test.

For the sciences:
- find your spec and print it out, this has all the knowledge you need to know, plus, on the days before the test, I used this as my revision guide
- Make notes, I know most people are bored by a book, but for me, I feel very insecure without a textbook to guide me through a subject. Don't be tempted to miss out pages because you already know it, you must cover it, just in case
- Nearer to exams, towards Feb/April, get a massive piece of A3 paper and make a list of titles and a simplified version of your notes under each one. Or, you could make a spider diagram, but i find that quite messy.
- PAST PAPERS, hitting the A* grade means knowing how to apply your knowledge, i.e. learning how some factors in the real world, might affect the use of the science, even though it is available. The mark schemes will also give you points which you need to gain the full 6/6 in the six markers.
- You can predict what might come up, as you gain practice, it is advisable that you scan your books for anything that could potentially be a six marker, don't forget, 1 six marker is 10% of your paper.

For Maths:
- I think that although not really necessary, it is useful to have one of those really thick textbooks which teach the methods of doing the maths, that way if you get stuck, you can quickly cover it on your own
- I think it is more important to have a revision guide which deals with each topic in a simplified, yet relevant way, I got the workbook too, so I could practice those skills. Here it is: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Revise-Edexcel-Mathematics-Higher-Revision/dp/1446900185/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410978573&sr=8-1&keywords=edexcel+revision+guides
- Most importantly again PAST PAPERS. You might have the skills but you need to practice applying them

For English:
- Do as much practice as you can for your controlled assessments, because if you don't do so well in your exams these will be your lifesavers. Take them seriously, and make sure you bug your teacher to read a draft, even if they say no, bug them until they do. I had to do this, my teacher finally agreed to read it, tell me how to improve it but not physically mark it. Also, don't be embarrassed to tell your teacher "I really want an A*, so could you help to improve this" Your teacher will probably admire you for it and try and help you - ALSO with controlled assessments, becoming the teacher's pet for a while doesn't hurt much too.
- watch Mr.Bruffs videos on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/mrbruff
- come up with lists of phrases and words using techniques which are mentioned in the mark scheme, think hard and choose some that can be applied to any of the writing questions, no matter the context (5 & 6 of the language paper)

MFL
- Again, ace your controlled assessments (don't forget to add loads of tenses in them, even if it doesn't seem that relevant, it allows you hit the top marks)
- print of the vocab list on the specification and start learning

Geography
- I was lucky, I had a half decent teacher for this subject , nevertheless, if you don't: you should probably make notes using a book and sort things out into advantages and disadvantages in tables. This really helped for revising before the test. Past papers help, but I don't think they made that much of a difference, though, it's wise to use them to get a picture of what your exam will be like.
- read outside of the subject: this is one of the only subjects where your outside knowledge will probably help you, especially for 6-8 markers.
- In the test I actually found myself stuck on many of the 6-8 markers, but what I did was; if i has 2 points for a six marker, I would just expand in a lot of detail and perhaps make a few more brief points.
- Tbh, I made up some of the points just from logic, it was a complete guess, but the trick is with GCSE, because Geography acknowledges certain points from beyond the curriculum, you can make up points that sound true but may not even exist, but you can learn to write confidently enough to convince your examiner that this is true. Though this is not advisable, if your stuck in the exam, just do it. NEVER EVER LEAVE IT EMPTY!

Sorry that this is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long, I just really hope that you get your 10A*s, infact, if you work mediocrely hard and work efficiently, YOU WILL GET YOUR 10A*S!!!!!

Well done for aiming high and congrats tanyapotter, joshohill and 19ACH98 you got great results xD

Feel free to ask any questions!

Wow! Thank you that helped a lot. What are you doing now and hope to do in the future?
BTW GCSE Chemistry and Physics is killing me

I got 9A* and a B (in Music).

Some of the most helpful things for me was knowing what times I worked best - I struggle to work in the mornings as I have little motivation at that time, but I work really well in the evenings, so I did all my revision just before I went to bed.
I made notes and drew diagrams using different colours and gel pens, which made the key points stand out for me.
Practice the long answer questions so the Bio/Chem/Physics past 6 mark questions, and the History source analysis. The History source analysis is where most people in my year lost a lot of marks!!

Good Luck

OMG Yes, I can't do mornings either. We must be nocturnal

The only problem is as soon as I start really getting into my revision it turns out it's already the middle of the night and so I must go to bed....

Posted from TSR Mobile

Your welcome, I love helping

I'm studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics at AS. ( I know right, what a science nerd?) I want to study medicine at uni and I think I want to specialise in neuroscience.

Btw, what units are you stuck on for GCSE physics and chem??

You're just like my brother- you took the same subjects as him and he got into medicine and is in his second year.
Unit 2 is killing me- I keep learning the specification but can't answer exam questions. Once I've learnt something and continue the course I forget what I've learnt about.

OoooooH, which uni??

Perhaps you could try going through past papers and picking out all the questions from papers using past papers.org . Print the ones relevant to your topic in unit 2 and make a booklet of just those. You will notice that as you complete 3-4 questions, the same ones are repeated and you will end up finding it so boring because you know the stuff already

If you get time ( I know it's hard to have a life at the same time ) its probably helpful to reconsolidate your notes or mygcsescience videos every once in a while. They really helped my grasp topics that i was finding hard.
My friend made her final science notes entirely based on them and she got 11A* and 1A.