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have i started revising too late?

my first alevel exam is on the 7th of June and I'm just finishing up on all my notes (doing bio, chem and french). if i start with practice questions/more active revision methods next week, will this give me enough time to get A/A* grades?
Reply 1
Heyy! You haven’t started too late! I finished my A levels last year and got AAA in Biology, Chemistry and Maths. The best thing you can do is to do loads of past papers. First practice doing all the past questions by topic and then move onto full past papers closer towards exam time. Physics and maths tutor have lots of practice questions for Biology and Chemistry. There aren’t many questions for the Biology section in the new spec part of physics and math tutor so I used the old spec questions. It is really important to learn what the mark scheme says as you will start to understand what the examiner want from you. They also reuse a lot of the questions. I hope this helps and good luck for your exams!
Original post by softwd
my first alevel exam is on the 7th of June and I'm just finishing up on all my notes (doing bio, chem and french). if i start with practice questions/more active revision methods next week, will this give me enough time to get A/A* grades?

Heya!
Depends on what you currently get and how much work you are willing to put into it :h: Make sure to also go through the mark scheme when doing practice questions. If it helps, Study mind has lots of free resources you can use!

I hope this helps!
Milena
UCL PFE
Study Mind
Hi there, that’s reallly excellent well done!
In terms of content, may i ask how you essentially absorb the content please! Especially nearer to exams date, do you use flashcards or any other resources.
Is it also possible if you can give a step to step routine of what youve done too please, if that’s not too much.
I’m really struggling lately.
Thank youuuuu
Original post by Gaf2003
Heyy! You haven’t started too late! I finished my A levels last year and got AAA in Biology, Chemistry and Maths. The best thing you can do is to do loads of past papers. First practice doing all the past questions by topic and then move onto full past papers closer towards exam time. Physics and maths tutor have lots of practice questions for Biology and Chemistry. There aren’t many questions for the Biology section in the new spec part of physics and math tutor so I used the old spec questions. It is really important to learn what the mark scheme says as you will start to understand what the examiner want from you. They also reuse a lot of the questions. I hope this helps and good luck for your exams!

Hi there, that’s reallly excellent well done!
In terms of content, may i ask how you essentially absorb the content please! Especially nearer to exams date, do you use flashcards or any other resources.
Is it also possible if you can give a step to step routine of what youve done too please, if that’s not too much.
I’m really struggling lately.
Thank youuuuu
Reply 5
Original post by realistyeds
Hi there, that’s reallly excellent well done!
In terms of content, may i ask how you essentially absorb the content please! Especially nearer to exams date, do you use flashcards or any other resources.
Is it also possible if you can give a step to step routine of what youve done too please, if that’s not too much.
I’m really struggling lately.
Thank youuuuu


Heyy, I used a combination of things.

For Chemistry, I would make sure I had an understanding of the topic first. I would read through the notes on Chemrevise to make sure that I am not missing anything. Then I would do almost every single question on that topic on Physics and Maths tutor. I then copied and pasted all the questions and answers to a document. This allowed me to go over the past paper questions more quickly every week or so because I wouldn't have to write the answers out each time. I am sure a lot of people will probably disagree with this method because it is basically learning all the mark schemes off by heart.

For Biology, I did basically the same thing as I did for Chemistry. I made my notes from the past papers.

The process is quite time consuming so the best thing you could do from now on is to do as many past paper questions by topic. I think it is really important to do it by topic as it allows you to learn how to answer each question correctly before you move onto full past papers. It is crucial to do past paper questions and to also check your answers with the mark schemes. I believe it will be quite challenging to get an A if you don't do any past papers.

I hope this helps!
I don't think it's too late at all! The most important thing is that you understand the content you need to revise, so it's good that you've taken the time to perfect your notes.

If you are worried about not having enough time, I'd say spend your time doing intensive, affective revision methods like Blurting and practicing past papers. We have a blog on Blurting here if you don't know how to do it: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/exams-and-revision/best-ways-to-revise/the-blurting-method

These revision techniques mean you are testing yourself and using the active recall muscle, which basically means you're teaching your brain to remember these things.

I've found blurting and doing exam papers the most affective methods for revising in a short amount of time so I hope that helps :smile:
Original post by Gaf2003
Heyy, I used a combination of things.

For Chemistry, I would make sure I had an understanding of the topic first. I would read through the notes on Chemrevise to make sure that I am not missing anything. Then I would do almost every single question on that topic on Physics and Maths tutor. I then copied and pasted all the questions and answers to a document. This allowed me to go over the past paper questions more quickly every week or so because I wouldn't have to write the answers out each time. I am sure a lot of people will probably disagree with this method because it is basically learning all the mark schemes off by heart.

For Biology, I did basically the same thing as I did for Chemistry. I made my notes from the past papers.

The process is quite time consuming so the best thing you could do from now on is to do as many past paper questions by topic. I think it is really important to do it by topic as it allows you to learn how to answer each question correctly before you move onto full past papers. It is crucial to do past paper questions and to also check your answers with the mark schemes. I believe it will be quite challenging to get an A if you don't do any past papers.

I hope this helps!

Sorry for my late reply, thank you muchhhh
Appreciate it smmm
Original post by softwd
my first alevel exam is on the 7th of June and I'm just finishing up on all my notes (doing bio, chem and french). if i start with practice questions/more active revision methods next week, will this give me enough time to get A/A* grades?

Here’s the thing I don’t know how you study or how intelligent you are or your potential to improve grades.

What I would say is all you can do now is your best. Work your bum off until exams and as long as you could not have done more you should be fine. No point worrying and wasting time panicking about leaving it too late.
Hi there, believe me, it is never too late! A day is a long time if used sensibly. You have over two months, which is more than enough time.

You've got this, don't worry. Good luck!
Original post by Gaf2003
Heyy, I used a combination of things.

For Chemistry, I would make sure I had an understanding of the topic first. I would read through the notes on Chemrevise to make sure that I am not missing anything. Then I would do almost every single question on that topic on Physics and Maths tutor. I then copied and pasted all the questions and answers to a document. This allowed me to go over the past paper questions more quickly every week or so because I wouldn't have to write the answers out each time. I am sure a lot of people will probably disagree with this method because it is basically learning all the mark schemes off by heart.

For Biology, I did basically the same thing as I did for Chemistry. I made my notes from the past papers.

The process is quite time consuming so the best thing you could do from now on is to do as many past paper questions by topic. I think it is really important to do it by topic as it allows you to learn how to answer each question correctly before you move onto full past papers. It is crucial to do past paper questions and to also check your answers with the mark schemes. I believe it will be quite challenging to get an A if you don't do any past papers.

I hope this helps!


Do you still have these by any chance please?
Original post by anon25x
Do you still have these by any chance please?


I sell them online 😊
Original post by realistyeds
Hi there, that’s reallly excellent well done!
In terms of content, may i ask how you essentially absorb the content please! Especially nearer to exams date, do you use flashcards or any other resources.
Is it also possible if you can give a step to step routine of what youve done too please, if that’s not too much.
I’m really struggling lately.
Thank youuuuu


flashcards are amazing

https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/ has great revision notes, practice questions, and past papers

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