STRESSED: maths + english lit revision tips??

hi !! i've just started college, and i'm in year 12 doing edexcel maths, ocr english lit and aqa art - at gcse, i was a super perfectionist and had really high and pretty unhealthy standards :emo:

, and i'm super worried for my next 2 years as i don't really know what to expect. so, calling all alevel takers:

is there anything you regret not doing when doing your maths/english alevels? what resources/techniques do you use that have given you good results?

any advice regarding alevels general would also be appreciated!!!

thanks :hmmmm2:

Reply 1

Saima.Hussain.

13

when i tell you use gcse math tutor i mean it ! i went from getting 4s no joke borderline failing and passing my maths exams 3 MONTHS before my actaul gcses to getting a 9 in the real exam. watch all his videos and acc do the questions dont watch passivley. deffo recommend wathc his grade and 7-9 videos as they helped me grasp the more harder topics and the ways to approach them. for english i also got a 9 for lit and 8 for lang. for literature i bascilly made a word document analysing each quote very in depth and then when it cam to the exam i would just memorise all of the quote analysis and bascilly copy and past what i memorised slightlty tweeking it to the question -very imporant to have good range fitting all themes and charcters so its easy to write about the wuestions as you a bank of quotes which fit the question. for language honeslty was my weak points but i just did a bunch of practise questions handed them to teacher and also read model answers as it showed me how to strucutre my answers. for the creative writing queston i acc had a sick technique i basiclly already wrote my essay before hand that would fit mutiple questions and pictures and perfected it by getting feeback constantly from my teachers and when the exam came i got a questions about a little hut but i wrote i story about someone in a forest so i describes the hut for like 2 senatnces and then copy and pasted basiclly my prepared essay on the forest. BUT its very important to make sure the one you prepare before hand is very diverse and can fit multiple things. like you might get a pic about a sunny outdoors but you worte about a haunted forest you can describe the sunny forest for 2 sentances which you would put themost energy into then say there was sudden chnage in setting as your charcater explored and so shift into the haunted forest you prepared. you dont need to write about a huanted forest thats just what i did. hope this helps :smile:

Reply 2

lia005

3

you're using the pearson edexcel textbooks for maths right? if so, do all the question labelled E/P -- they're the exam styled/past paper questions. practice little and often and try to do the question after covering them in class. ask for help if you need!! if your teacher's way of explaining doesn't make sense, there are so many youtube videos that can probably put it differently in a way that makes sense. in terms of other resources:
- physics and maths tutor
- dr frost
- maths genie
honestly though, i think the textbook itself is sufficient. there are more than enough questions to do for the duration of the course and maybe start past papers after you've finished everything in your second year. also, get familiar with the functions of your calculator -- if you're not doing a non-calculator paper, take full advantage of everything you can do with it. there should be videos on youtube explaining all the functions if you're not taught in class.

for english, get used to the mark-scheme. if i'm not mistaken, 50% of the comparative essay is context. learn your context!! i think it would be a good idea to use flashcards -- physical ones you can hold would be best. learn both as much context and critics as you can and use active recall, so do a little everyday so by the end of the course you'll be super familiar with it. don't forget that for context, you can also mention things that were inspired by the texts, e.g. film adaptations. just don't get them mixed up with the actual text. just get familiar with your assessment objectives in general because it's how you gain marks, even if you have amazing understanding you can't score high without hitting the mark scheme. that also applies to other essays such as the unseen one which requires heavy analysis of language and form etc.
other things:
- read around your subject (books, essays, even watching videos of the author's life)
- use quizlet -- there are a lot of resources made already. i like to find critics on there and then search the quote up on google so i know which essay or book it's from.
- look through past paper questions and plan them -- get a grasp of the similarities in all of the questions and revise your quotations based on that
- again, ask your teachers!! ask them for feedback, ask them if you're not sure how to structure something, ask them for recommended resources. they're there to help you.
most of all, enjoy it! english is so much about just enjoying the texts you study and if you're genuinely interested in what you're revising, it'll make studying it so much easier. don't put too much pressure on yourself, because that really doesn't help anyone. your grades can be really affected by how you're doing mentally, so if you're not feeling great, i strongly encourage you to talk to someone about it. you don't have to have the worst problems in the world to make these worries and feelings valid -- so please do reach out if you're feeling stressed or just low. i think that's all i have to say for now, so take care and best of luck for your a levels!!

Reply 3

staticsocks

OP

2

Original post by lia005

you're using the pearson edexcel textbooks for maths right? if so, do all the question labelled E/P -- they're the exam styled/past paper questions. practice little and often and try to do the question after covering them in class. ask for help if you need!! if your teacher's way of explaining doesn't make sense, there are so many youtube videos that can probably put it differently in a way that makes sense. in terms of other resources:
- physics and maths tutor
- dr frost
- maths genie
honestly though, i think the textbook itself is sufficient. there are more than enough questions to do for the duration of the course and maybe start past papers after you've finished everything in your second year. also, get familiar with the functions of your calculator -- if you're not doing a non-calculator paper, take full advantage of everything you can do with it. there should be videos on youtube explaining all the functions if you're not taught in class.

for english, get used to the mark-scheme. if i'm not mistaken, 50% of the comparative essay is context. learn your context!! i think it would be a good idea to use flashcards -- physical ones you can hold would be best. learn both as much context and critics as you can and use active recall, so do a little everyday so by the end of the course you'll be super familiar with it. don't forget that for context, you can also mention things that were inspired by the texts, e.g. film adaptations. just don't get them mixed up with the actual text. just get familiar with your assessment objectives in general because it's how you gain marks, even if you have amazing understanding you can't score high without hitting the mark scheme. that also applies to other essays such as the unseen one which requires heavy analysis of language and form etc.
other things:
- read around your subject (books, essays, even watching videos of the author's life)
- use quizlet -- there are a lot of resources made already. i like to find critics on there and then search the quote up on google so i know which essay or book it's from.
- look through past paper questions and plan them -- get a grasp of the similarities in all of the questions and revise your quotations based on that
- again, ask your teachers!! ask them for feedback, ask them if you're not sure how to structure something, ask them for recommended resources. they're there to help you.
most of all, enjoy it! english is so much about just enjoying the texts you study and if you're genuinely interested in what you're revising, it'll make studying it so much easier. don't put too much pressure on yourself, because that really doesn't help anyone. your grades can be really affected by how you're doing mentally, so if you're not feeling great, i strongly encourage you to talk to someone about it. you don't have to have the worst problems in the world to make these worries and feelings valid -- so please do reach out if you're feeling stressed or just low. i think that's all i have to say for now, so take care and best of luck for your a levels!!

this is insanely helpful- thank you so much!! i appreciate this

STRESSED: maths + english lit revision tips??

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