Bad AS results to great A2/A-levels results - success stories?

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Ouch! I thought I had it tough!

Yup - that sounds very similar to what my day consisted of, but it will be so worth it in the end!

Are you applying to university this year, if so, which?

Im applying next year while taking a gap year. This i think would make my application super stong as i also get a job at the hospital as a health care assistant somu application to dentistry is good enough. First i need to get the grades though.

Reply 581

tuly92

CDDE in AS,and came out with AAB! Now at 2nd best university in london for psychology and in final year. I'd say its possible :smile:

Reply 582

Ehawks

Original post by rakib567

That's exactly what I did. I applied with the improved grades. Heard Cardiff is very good for dentistry though! Well done for the good work, keep it up and you'll do fine! Good luck with it all and feel free to PM if you have any further questions. :smile:

Reply 583

rakib567

Original post by Ehawks

jThat's exactly what I did. I applied with the improved grades. Heard Cardiff is very good for dentistry though! Well done for the good work, keep it up and you'll do fine! Good luck with it all and feel free to PM if you have any further questions. :smile:

What are you doing now at university?

Reply 584

Ehawks

Original post by rakib567

What are you doing now at university?

I am studying Geography at Exeter. I deferred my entry though as I received a scholarship, so I'm doing a bit of travelling this year. :smile:

Reply 585

rakib567

Original post by Ehawks

I am studying Geography at Exeter. I deferred my entry though as I received a scholarship, so I'm doing a bit of travelling this year. :smile:

A full scholarship or just partial? what are the requirements to receive a scholarship?

Reply 586

Ehawks

Original post by rakib567

A full scholarship or just partial? what are the requirements to receive a scholarship?

Ah sorry, that wasn't particularly clear.

The scholarship is separate from Exeter. I received a scholarship from the Royal Geographical Society. They award you money to go travelling but you have to do various tasks around it, like organise your own gap year, be a geography ambassador, write a proposal etc. Really excited.

The requirements for me getting into Exeter were just the same as anyone else. It was AAA-AAB and I received the lower offer. :smile:

Reply 587

lozasaurus99

Original post by tuly92

CDDE in AS,and came out with AAB! Now at 2nd best university in london for psychology and in final year. I'd say its possible :smile:

Woww! !!

ucl? ?

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Reply 588

rakib567

Original post by tuly92

CDDE in AS,and came out with AAB! Now at 2nd best university in london for psychology and in final year. I'd say its possible :smile:

Nice how did u turn those C into A?

Reply 589

lozasaurus99

Original post by tuly92

No at royal holloway. Ucl would be the number 1 :smile:

I retook it and then i just studied throughout the whole year really.

Did you resit whole AS ? Well done :smile:

Ucl is always there for postgraduate study! Anything is possible! ! I've seen someone go from Kent uni to postgraduate masters at Oxford! :smile:

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Reply 590

andf1997

Original post by nukethemaly

For any science students (especially Biology and chemistry) and Maths, it's very very easy to be hard-working and knowing your stuff, but still ending up on a C, what AS students don't realise is how big a jump A-levels are from GCSEs (especially in terms of marking). A-levels don't just require knowledge, they require tactics, you need to understand WHAT the question in your exam paper is asking and HOW you should answer it. So it's not about what you know, it's about WHERE you put it and HOW you present it! Exam technique is really important as well as knowing your specification inside out!

This is what I did to go from DDDE to A*A*AA:

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Keep yourself organised, don't set yourself the amount of hours you'd revise in an evening, instead set yourself targets (say to yourself "okay I'm going to finish making notes for this chapter today") and stick to them!

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Make notes according to your exam board's specification. Honestly literally know your specification inside out. This is especially important for anyone doing OCR chemistry and Edexcel Biology.

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For maths: I used examsolutions and I did textbook chapters a lot before starting on past papers to make me confident. After I did past papers I tallied which topics I kept losing marks on then I looked up questions in past papers specific to that topic and did them all!

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For Edexcel Biology, the examiner reports are a BIG life-saver. They not only show you the answers previous candidates have written but also how many marks they achieved for it (these can be found on the official Edexcel website). Biology mark schemes are usually very basic, so examiner reports help you in perfecting your exam technique

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For OCR chemistry: I did OCR (B) so this is what I used: http://www.rswebsites.co.uk/science/Documents/A%20Level%20Chemistry/Chemistry%20Past%20Papers/Index.htm, I literally did every past paper ever. With OCR chemistry you'll slowly start to understand that their papers are really repetitive but their mark schemes are REALLY specific. So it's a good idea to memorise the big 6 markers for which the mark scheme never changes. Also, if you can find yourself something similar to what that link has to offer then that would be helpful!

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Obviously, give yourself a break every now and again, but don't keep delaying targets. You don't want work piling up.

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Get your teachers to mark your past papers as much as possible.

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Watch YouTube videos for anything you don't quite understand in Biology or chemistry (you'd be surprised at the amount of education crap on YouTube)

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I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to make your own notes. I mean, it's good to find online notes, but reading through them didn't really help me a big deal.

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Try CGP revision guide for Edexcel Biology, they really did help me, but NEVER rely on revision guides to cover everything (especially for OCR Chemistry). Make sure you look through the specification and tick off stuff that you know!

That's all I can think of right now, sorry it's a lot of reading but I hope it helps someone.

Did you resit AS year? or did you carry on into A2 with those results. I currently do Edexcel Biology and now in A2. I came out with CCDE at AS but carrying on and resitting modules in June, btw coming out with A* are amazing!!!!! wish i could get them

Reply 591

andf1997

Original post by laurennnxox

Id love to know some tips!
At AS i got CCDE (History, Psychology, Chemistry and Biology)
I need to get ABB to get to the uni i want. My biggest concern is not getting a B in biology as its my weaker subject. Im currently sitting on a C/D borderline and i just can't seem to progress!!

omg i do exactly the same subjects as you and got exactly the same grades however got an E in history

Reply 592

Abzey_97

Original post by ShafTJB

Messed around first year. Got BCCC. Worked a bit harder during A2s and managed AAB in Maths Economics and Physics. Hard work pays off!

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Did you get offers at any unis? did u apply to unis that wanted AAB?

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Reply 593

sellerofdreams

Original post by rakib567

If u get 80% overall with 90% at a2 u fet an a*. Considering that u beed over 90% ar a2 anyway u would achieve an a*. If u retake and get 85% as and 75% a2 then u get an A becayse u dont have 90% at a2. I dont know About CIE but i am retaking as bio abd chem alongside a2

That's wrong for CIE. For cie you need to get 90 overall.

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Reply 594

rakib567

that's why i said that i didn't know about CIE :unimpressed:

Reply 595

GoldenEmblem277

I have BBCC at AS. Dropped one of the Cs, so I wanna boost my BBC to AAB at A2. I'm resitting 2 papers- one I got a C in, the other I got a D in. I'm working my *** off- did 15 hours of School work in 2 days (including lesson time.) Is it possible?

Reply 596

abida.I

Original post by GoldenEmblem277

Im in the same exact position as you. I think the best thing is to rewrite notes, pay attention in lessons and dont fall back. good luck :smile:

Reply 597

GoldenEmblem277

Original post by abida.I

Im in the same exact position as you. I think the best thing is to rewrite notes, pay attention in lessons and dont fall back. good luck :smile:

I don't normally do the 1st one, but I happily do the latter two.

Reply 598

abida.I

Original post by GoldenEmblem277

I don't normally do the 1st one, but I happily do the latter two.

me too until recently. its really great for revision and it helps you memorize things easily. :biggrin:

Reply 599

Rallycross2

I'm thinking of doing Maths, Physics and Chemistry in A2. If anyone has taken this combination of subjects can you tell me how you found it and whether Maths is as difficult later on in the course as people tend to say?

I sorry if I have posted this on the wrong thread. Just that I've only been on for 2 days.