physics exam advice

hiya i have learnt and understand the entire physics specification for my exam board (aqa) and all the equations by heart and can apply them but whenever i do a past paper i can never do the questions i look at the mark scheme and realise why it’s the answer but no matter how much i practice i still can’t do it so i’m stuck on a 6 and i’ve studied so much i really want a 9 (ideally) but i don’t know how to think of the stuff on the mark scheme in exams and it’s really frustrating loosing marks because of it does anyone have any tips because i’ve tried to do very exam based studying hence using the specification but idk what to do does anyone have any tips ? thank you in advance

Reply 1

Tatakae L

18

Original post by annabel whittle

hiya i have learnt and understand the entire physics specification for my exam board (aqa) and all the equations by heart and can apply them but whenever i do a past paper i can never do the questions i look at the mark scheme and realise why it’s the answer but no matter how much i practice i still can’t do it so i’m stuck on a 6 and i’ve studied so much i really want a 9 (ideally) but i don’t know how to think of the stuff on the mark scheme in exams and it’s really frustrating loosing marks because of it does anyone have any tips because i’ve tried to do very exam based studying hence using the specification but idk what to do does anyone have any tips ? thank you in advance

You would always try to mix it in with videos, so when you are going to do some past paper questions on topics, watch a video on that topic first and then when you practice that might help? I dont know but using just the specification and mark scemes might not be helpful because you arnt learning the theory behind it in a way. This probably didnt help but I tried lol. I can tag a few people who might be able to help you :
@milktee
@agent_duck343
@Trickia
@heartz4moushi
@study23!
do any of you guys know any extra tips? I know mine arnt that helpful x

Reply 2

annabel whittle

OP

11

Original post by Tatakae L

You would always try to mix it in with videos, so when you are going to do some past paper questions on topics, watch a video on that topic first and then when you practice that might help? I dont know but using just the specification and mark scemes might not be helpful because you arnt learning the theory behind it in a way. This probably didnt help but I tried lol. I can tag a few people who might be able to help you :
@milktee
@agent_duck343
@Trickia
@heartz4moushi
@study23!
do any of you guys know any extra tips? I know mine arnt that helpful x

i pair it with videos too 😭 so i am leaving the theory idk my brain just doesn’t come up with answers in exams it’s so annoying

Reply 3

Tatakae L

18

Original post by annabel whittle

i pair it with videos too 😭 so i am leaving the theory idk my brain just doesn’t come up with answers in exams it’s so annoying

I acc dont know what to say and ifeel terrible😭😭. I'm hoping the peeps I tagged can pull through and give you advise that works babe x

Reply 4

study23!

14

What I’d do is just practice LOADS of questions on that topic, not full past papers but only one topic. So for example, maybe try a momentum question, check the mark scheme then and write down the steps you took to do it. Then try another very similar question with your notes next to you. Then search up momentum question video and after every step up you do, check if the video does the same steps (then you can find out what step you miss out on). And then just search up momentum gcse questions and try every one, ONE BY ONE (so you don’t do all of them and realise you did them all wrong).

Do you struggle recalling the content questions too? Problem with phys is that you can’t just memorise it; you need to understand what you’re learning to succeed.

If there are any questions you’re struggling with let me know and maybe I can help (took WJEC gcse and got an A*, but I’m assuming the content will be very similar).

And let me know if this was helpful or if I misunderstood

Reply 5

heartz4moushi

14

Original post by annabel whittle

hiya i have learnt and understand the entire physics specification for my exam board (aqa) and all the equations by heart and can apply them but whenever i do a past paper i can never do the questions i look at the mark scheme and realise why it’s the answer but no matter how much i practice i still can’t do it so i’m stuck on a 6 and i’ve studied so much i really want a 9 (ideally) but i don’t know how to think of the stuff on the mark scheme in exams and it’s really frustrating loosing marks because of it does anyone have any tips because i’ve tried to do very exam based studying hence using the specification but idk what to do does anyone have any tips ? thank you in advance

i don't know if it's in my position to say since i am **** at science but something that has been working really well for me (i'm definitely getting the hang of science now ever since i started doing this) is after every physics (actually any science) lesson i have, i just go and make a poster with KEY WORDS and SUMMARIES of every sub-topic in each topic. and i find that this is really useful when it comes to just levelling off really condensed work and it's something that i find really useful as i don't need to just stare at words in a book and just flip page after page. Obviously just making posters isn't going to get is that far, so what I do is just print out exam questions and I do them. Another good revision method that I've been loving recently is making knowledge organisers. It's really fun to do actually and works the same way as posters but it might just be a case of where it's just a bit cleaner having done it online and being able to print if off.
I'm attaching examples of knowledge organisers I made from every science down below so you can understand what i mean :smile:

BIOLOGY
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i7uTvww7Wo-WKCnoqi_q4cmT4YHi3DBL/view?usp=drive_link
CHEMISTRY (the blank boxes were left blank bc i wanted to write on them)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tOqz8EnH2-XO5_MO_Ne7UqLE64n2BGhC/view?usp=drive_link
PHYSICS
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lc-4vJyAG2-dZOccTE7sMv6lmC3HU3YW/view?usp=drive_link

but remember to force yourself to TRY every question no matter how hard it is, even if you don't get it word by word from the mark scheme, who knows you might just be picking out consistent marks throughout for a few ideas :smile:

hope this was helpful?? <3

Reply 6

heartz4moushi

14

Original post by heartz4moushi

i don't know if it's in my position to say since i am **** at science but something that has been working really well for me (i'm definitely getting the hang of science now ever since i started doing this) is after every physics (actually any science) lesson i have, i just go and make a poster with KEY WORDS and SUMMARIES of every sub-topic in each topic. and i find that this is really useful when it comes to just levelling off really condensed work and it's something that i find really useful as i don't need to just stare at words in a book and just flip page after page. Obviously just making posters isn't going to get is that far, so what I do is just print out exam questions and I do them. Another good revision method that I've been loving recently is making knowledge organisers. It's really fun to do actually and works the same way as posters but it might just be a case of where it's just a bit cleaner having done it online and being able to print if off.
I'm attaching examples of knowledge organisers I made from every science down below so you can understand what i mean :smile:

BIOLOGY
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i7uTvww7Wo-WKCnoqi_q4cmT4YHi3DBL/view?usp=drive_link
CHEMISTRY (the blank boxes were left blank bc i wanted to write on them)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tOqz8EnH2-XO5_MO_Ne7UqLE64n2BGhC/view?usp=drive_link
PHYSICS
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lc-4vJyAG2-dZOccTE7sMv6lmC3HU3YW/view?usp=drive_link

but remember to force yourself to TRY every question no matter how hard it is, even if you don't get it word by word from the mark scheme, who knows you might just be picking out consistent marks throughout for a few ideas :smile:

hope this was helpful?? <3

also with these knowledge organisers, after printing them out i did any highlighting/annotating i needed to do just to make sure i didn't miss out any key ideas😁

Reply 7

Trickia

18

Original post by annabel whittle

hiya i have learnt and understand the entire physics specification for my exam board (aqa) and all the equations by heart and can apply them but whenever i do a past paper i can never do the questions i look at the mark scheme and realise why it’s the answer but no matter how much i practice i still can’t do it so i’m stuck on a 6 and i’ve studied so much i really want a 9 (ideally) but i don’t know how to think of the stuff on the mark scheme in exams and it’s really frustrating loosing marks because of it does anyone have any tips because i’ve tried to do very exam based studying hence using the specification but idk what to do does anyone have any tips ? thank you in advance

Hiya Tatakae here as tagged me so here is my advice

I dont do aqa but its same method ig. Since some arent working for you, you know it highly wont in the future. I recommend finding out HOW exactly you lose marks in physics.

Like is it because of your wording? Maths error? Carlessness? Lack of knowledge? Do a tally. And see what are the major issues.

Here im assuming its wording or lack of knowledge. So for wording here are some tips. Look at the mark scheme. Go see if there are any words in bold or where they mention you have to have this keyword or you won't get the mark. Kinda stuff. Learn what the keywords are and practice applying and rephrase your answer to the questions. Kept a book so you can find out what questions you literally are crap at.

See how the questions is phrased. Is it deatiled? Is it explain? That can help you answer and structure the questions. Try do bullet points to force yourself into keeping answers short but to the point.

You can watch videos to attempt to consolidate knowledge if they are gaps or go through it yourself by reading a revision guide or something. I recommend freesciencelessons as he does aqa. Ask your teacher for help.

Revisely is good for specific past paper topic questions or try grade gorilla xx

Hope this helps xx

(edited 2 months ago)

physics exam advice

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