Aspiring A* students - late revisers?

I'm aiming for the A*...is it too late to get it if I started only revising round about now? I told myself during the Christmas break, I'd start revising at the beginning of March...well, here I am now almost at the end of March having barely done any revision. To top it off, I have a resit as well (sat an early A2 exam in Feb - got a B :frown:

) Whaddya reckon? Too late or not?

Have any other aspiring A* students not started revising yet?

Reply 1

tpowertj

I'm afraid you had to start last week in order to get an A*, sorry you've missed it.

Reply 2

x-CheekyPeeky-x

if you work hard, might be okay?

Reply 3

Reck16

6

There is no good date to start revising for an A*.
Some people are much better at learning short term and remembering details for the exam and forgetting afterwards, so learning early isn't a good idea for them (eg me =p).
If you prefer to learn over time and look at it again and again over time, then starting sooner would be better. But hey, people should really stop stressing so much, it isn't even April yet and exams are mid-June... You've got PLENTY of time. You could teach yourself the entire course in two and a half months.

Reply 4

The Patriot

14

if we said it was too late would you give up?

my instincts say no it in't too late at this point, but it's close. just give it a shot OP. You may as well find out.

Reply 5

lawology

12

I'm going to start revising about 3 days before my exam and I should be able to get an A* :biggrin:

(although this isn't due to my natural intelligence unfortunately, I just got lucky in my January exam)

I'd say when to start revising depends on how close you are at the moment. Since you need 90% overall, if you need more than 90% you best start revising now!

I got negs for this? Why? :frown:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 6

In_Infamy

OP

2

Original post by lawology

I'd say when to start revising depends on how close you are at the moment. Since you need 90% overall, if you need more than 90% you best start revising now!

I'm going to assume that you think AS has some kind of influence over your A2s with regards to getting pass that elusive "90%". They don't. You just need 80% at AS but it doesn't contribute to the 90% you need at A2. ONLY A2 stuff does.

Reply 7

losingtouch.

of course it's not. what date is your exam? you have what.. best part of two months most likely. more than enough time.

Reply 8

doobucks

16

You need 80% overall, and yeah I wanna try and get at least one, but I'm gonna resit my maths module, got a low A so I need to do it again.

Reply 9

Alex-jc123

13

Stupid question. Depends entirely on what A-level subjects people have chosen. It also depends on an individual's revision methods and the time spent implementing them.

Reply 10

sollythewise

1

Original post by In_Infamy

I'm aiming for the A*...is it too late to get it if I started only revising round about now? I told myself during the Christmas break, I'd start revising at the beginning of March...well, here I am now almost at the end of March having barely done any revision. To top it off, I have a resit as well (sat an early A2 exam in Feb - got a B :frown:

) Whaddya reckon? Too late or not?

Have any other aspiring A* students not started revising yet?

there is no condition for an A* other than getting the grade boundaries. start pushing hard now, and there is no reason why not revising yet should stop you.

Reply 11

ilickbatteries

15

I'm still in the running for two A*s atm.

Resitting SCLY3 since I only got 81%, got 97% in PSYA4 so I don't need to revise that one too heavily, as I only need 83% (at least I think...)

I could just try my hardest for a 99% in SCLY4 but it's safer to resit!

You have plenty of time. Unless its chemistry. Then you're buggered. Sorry.

Reply 12

lissi08

6

I revised my entire A Level Politics in a few days. Stuff had come up, relationship stuff, and I ended up starting my revision a few days before the two exams. I didn't do anything else other than 12 hours of Politics a day for those few days mind!

I came out of both exams knowing I'd nailed it. I got an A*.

It depends what works best for you I'd say. I am shockingly good at cramming it seems but for some people more relaxed revision over a longer time works better.

Obviously I wouldn't recommend doing what I did; it was stupid really. But by no means starting revising for an exam in April is not too late! Start revising any earlier and you'll have forgotten half of it by the exam! :smile:

Reply 13

SamXi

7

i started revising 3 days before my exam and got 95%

Only on c1 though

Depends totally on your ability

Reply 14

Iqbal007

19

i need the same help :/

Reply 15

username540512

13

Planning mine now. 15 hours a week...goodbye life.

Reply 16

Tobia_s

Studying now for exams in June? Have you even finished the syllabus?

Reply 17

lawology

12

Original post by In_Infamy

I'm going to assume that you think AS has some kind of influence over your A2s with regards to getting pass that elusive "90%". They don't. You just need 80% at AS but it doesn't contribute to the 90% you need at A2. ONLY A2 stuff does.

...You assume wrong! I only got slightly above 80% in my AS modules, then in my A2 exam i got 116/120. Since it is 90% overall in your A2 modules, it's been worked out I will only need 64/80 in this last exam. Which is only just scraping an A but I will still have an A* overall.

My point was that if the OP had a high January exam result (like 97/100 say) then he will only need 83/100 in this last exam which is more achievable and will need less revision than if he had only scored 80/100 in his january exam and will need pretty much full marks in this next one.

Reply 18

JRGC

7

I don't think its too late, no. My first exams are mid May, and I will start revising in Easter holidays. If I were to start now, I'd a) forget half of it, b) end up needing a holiday in Easter and so not working, and c) loose my mind.

Saying that, physics and maths don't require your typical 'sit down and learn these facts' sorta revision :/