I want 10A*s, any advice A level students? :)

Hi, I'm currently in year 11 (a month left anyway) and am adamant on getting 10A*s. The only thing is, I have recently started to procrastinate a lot and was wondering if A level students or others had any tips that may help. For example, when would be the best time to revise or how to harness consistency. I know I have very little time before my results and would appreciate any help or revsion tips you could offer. Like what helped you get through your exams and how did you stay motivated etc. Thank you very much! :biggrin:

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

kerily

I won't even lie, the main reason my GCSEs are good is because I got dumped a couple of months before the exams by a long-term girlfriend, and I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to do anything other than revise :colonhash:

(I don't recommend this strategy :ahee:

)

Past papers, lots of past papers. I think the best time to revise is normally the morning, at least for me - find out when you work best and then work then. Use lots of caffeine to get through your sessions if it becomes desperate.

Reply 2

KissMyArtichoke

It isn't that hard, I managed 8 by just revising a for a few days ahead of each exam. If you have study leave, just put in 6 or so hours a day. That's me though, and I'm probably a special case because I find it doesn't take me much revision to remember everything clearly. Staying motivated is hard, it's a good idea to pace yourself. Don't start doing 10 hours a day 2 weeks before an exam cos you'll never keep it up.

Reply 3

oOHollyOo

If you have studied through your GCSE years you should only need to refresh it a little bit, do some studying each day but not overkill, and you should be fine.

Reply 4

therealOG

I got myself 10 A*'s (and an A) by doing a ****load of past papers. It works, trust. And read your class notes a lot, writing new ones where your knowledge is deficient.

Reply 5

KissMyArtichoke

Oh, and I forgot to mention caffeine, use it wisely. Too much and you'll struggle to keep sitting still and focused on one thing, too little and you'll find yourself daydreaming for 10 minutes at a time in the afternoons. Ritalin would be a better bet if you can get hold of any :tongue:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 6

QuantumOverlord

Original post by Aminaubah

I got 10 :P I revised by mostly reading textbooks, I didn't do that many past papers except in the sciences/mathematics where I did quite a few. Thats about it really. Aim to get 100% in every exam, that also helps :tongue:

Reply 7

fibrebiz

Protip: If you get a mere 5 A* grades, you are still oxford/cambridge/imperial material.
Those universities say they want all A* grades but my friends (some of whom only have 3 A* grades) have been given offers this year, so that's not true.

Basically, do a bit of work, don't get complacent and you'll be fine - even if you don't quite meet your objective.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 8

cz100

Original post by Aminaubah

Past papers are very helpful. Even in subjects like English you can look at mark schemes to see what points you are missing out on and science/maths papers speak for themselves. Also get your hand on the specs and go through them, mark each point you are not sure on and make notes specifically on them. That's basically what I did.
Oh and have a big triangle of toblerone before you go into each exam, I just tell myself it gives me a brain boost and it did no harm! :tongue:

Good luck, I kinda miss the GCSE days

Reply 9

liviaaa

Original post by Aminaubah

Hello!

I got 8, but I'll still give you some advice. :tongue:

First of all, don't worry if you don't get 10 A*s, I've been there done that. I was determined to get 10, and although it was a slight disapointment, I couldn't complain at all with my results! Besides, I've learnt much more now, that uni's take people based on a lotttttt more than GCSE's - work exp, extra curricular etc.

I tend to procrastinate when I have too much time, so like me you might work better with less time as you feel more pressured to get your work in? If this is so, let yourself have for example the morning off, but then set yourself a strict timetable for the rest of the day, as because you have to fit it all in before bed, you're more likely to keep going with out breaking, than thinking you've got all day and can afford to take your time.

The timetable for me was key. Have a timetable with things you can tick off once you've done them, to show yourself you're moving forward. You can then sometimes get ahead and do things from the next day, that way it motivates you to do things in advance so you can have some time off nearer the end!

Hmm.. also don't just stop everything in your life for revision right now, you still need some fun time to keep you going. Meet up with friends some evenings, that way it doesn't dig into your day time revision time too much.

That's all I can think of right now - if you have any more specific questions feel free to ask :smile:

Reply 10

TheatreLovely

- Make sure you balance all your subjects and don't just spend loads of time on the one's you like
- Even better, spend more time on the subjects that you are worse at
- Aim to do a certain amount of revision each day, and make sure you actually complete this amount
- Allow yourself breaks in which you do things that you enjoy, so that you then focus more on your work afterwards
- Past papers, but make sure you learn from your mistakes, don't just do them and tick or cross your answers
- Keep yourself motivated by thinking about getting into a really good uni. Even though you don't really need 10 A*s, it could be a deciding factor. Plus, it always impresses people when you can tell them that you got straight A*s at GCSE.
- Ignore people who say they are doing no revision. (they probably are, or they are going to do a lot worse than they would have done had they revised)

Reply 11

Aminaubah

A lot of swearing in that and yeah, I already have a few A*s in the bag :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 12

Aminaubah

Thanks everyone, your advice has really helped :smile:

(well the ones that didn't encourage me to be a druggie :tongue:

) Thanks again ..

Reply 13

KayK

Original post by KissMyArtichoke

What about multiple exams on one day?

Reply 14

KissMyArtichoke

Original post by KayK

What about multiple exams on one day?

generally I think the best thing it to not focus too much on one exam. In the days before, I would usually spend a while revising for the afternoon exam, and then use the afternoon before the morning exam to revise for that. Any time between the two exams is a bonus for last minute revision for the afternoon exam.

Reply 15

Aminaubah

Original post by therealOG

I got myself 10 A*'s (and an A) by doing a ****load of past papers. It works, trust. And read your class notes a lot, writing new ones where your knowledge is deficient.

When you did the past papers, did you ensure that you revised before hand or did like questions only on the section you had revised at that time? It's cos I keep telling myself in some subjects I'm better off finishing the book and then doing all the past papers. Like in Maths, I ticked off subjects I had previously revised and then did all past paper questions only on them and then did this again. Thanks. for the advice by the way :smile:

Reply 16

therealOG

Original post by Aminaubah

Can't really remember too good - it was 2 years ago lol. It varied a lot depending on the subject. For sciences and maths it was past paper heavy. For the essay based subjects it was more notes based.

Reply 17

Aminaubah

Original post by liviaaa

Hello!

I got 8, but I'll still give you some advice. :tongue:

That's very true. I actually work better on a tight schedule, otherwise I'll be like I'll do my revision later and then feel 'tired'(I think it's laziness). And wow, 8A*s is great, in reality I don't think I'll definitely get 10 anyway so :tongue:

I really find the timetable effective also and I tried taking the morning off today and I think it worked, I've done a decent amount of revision so far! Thank you so much. It has really helped and would be over the moon if I got results like yours. :biggrin:

Reply 18

Aminaubah

Original post by therealOG

Ahh, I find that works best too. Very inspiring, thanks for the advice! :smile:

Reply 19

Hemzo

Original post by fibrebiz

Seriously, like the top uni's with just 3 GCSE A*'s? :redface:

Oh and pastpapers are the big key to getting good grades. I used to check the mark schemes for each question in the past papers to see what I should talk about and consider (in the essay type exams)

Drink plently of water, get enough sleep and when you feel like snacking, go and snack on almonds. They give you brain power :smile: