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My attempt at a comeback

Just when I thought GCSE's were the hardest thing ever, I met A levels. :frown:

During my AS year, I didn't try as hard as I should have, and really underestimated the amount of effort and work that needs to go into A levels.

As I would love to study medicine, this has meant I've had to take a gap year, and apply after hopefully getting the grades I need. :crossedf:

SO this is my attempt at a comeback.
(edited 8 years ago)

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Reply 1
You're brave for doing those subjects, jeeez!
I flopped at my AS's as well (although I'd have been more than happy with your grades!), I carried on to my A2's and have forced myself to have a total turnaround this year, determined to get the grades I need.
Good luck!!
Reply 2
Original post by bmjordan
You're brave for doing those subjects, jeeez!
I flopped at my AS's as well (although I'd have been more than happy with your grades!), I carried on to my A2's and have forced myself to have a total turnaround this year, determined to get the grades I need.
Good luck!!


Thanks! I almost dropped physics at the beginning of A2, but since there is only 4 people in my class (and its more fun) , and about 20 in RS, I thought I might as well keep it. Lets hope I don't regret that. :colondollar: What did you get for AS and what do you need for A2? I honestly think anyone can turn around their grades if they try hard enough, so good luck!
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Goodluxk.I also hope to do medicine but I want one with a foundation year.I also got **** GCSE grades (5A s, 2 Cs and 1 Bs).I'm currently doing AS physics, Chemistry, biology and Single Maths.
What universities are you applying for?
Oh and may Mathematical probability be on your side 👍.
Reply 4
Original post by UnknownAnon
Thanks! I almost dropped physics at the beginning of A2, but since there is only 4 people in my class (and its more fun) , and about 20 in RS, I thought I might as well keep it. Lets hope I don't regret that. :colondollar: What did you get for AS and what do you need for A2? I honestly think anyone can turn around their grades if they try hard enough, so good luck!


I am no where near as smart are you - but I need 300 UCAS, so 3 B's or an A, B and C. I got one B and two D's at AS - not good. I only took three subjects, I dropped History in Year 12. But hey-ho, fingers crossed, hopefully hard work between now and June will get me the grades I need, I'm resitting two modules from last year, so we'll see! Good luck to you too :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by Kadak
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Goodluxk.I also hope to do medicine but I want one with a foundation year.I also got **** GCSE grades (5A s, 2 Cs and 1 Bs).I'm currently doing AS physics, Chemistry, biology and Single Maths.
What universities are you applying for?
Oh and may Mathematical probability be on your side .


Don't worry about your GCSE grades, they're not as bad as you think! And they won't matter too much, so long as you meet the other requirements and do plenty of work experience, so good luck! If you need any advice about the work experience, I'd be happy to help :smile:. I'm not 100% sure where I'm going to apply yet, but I'm mostly looking at Imperial, UCL and Kings. Are you going to apply for the EMDP at Kings?

And good luck with those subjects! They're hell but well worth it.
Reply 6
Original post by bmjordan
I am no where near as smart are you - but I need 300 UCAS, so 3 B's or an A, B and C. I got one B and two D's at AS - not good. I only took three subjects, I dropped History in Year 12. But hey-ho, fingers crossed, hopefully hard work between now and June will get me the grades I need, I'm resitting two modules from last year, so we'll see! Good luck to you too :smile:


What subjects do you take? I can understand why you dropped history, it was my favourite at GCSE, but even I wouldn't have been able to survive all that work at A level. Hard work is definitely the way to go! And coffee. Coffee is very important :biggrin: If I can manage to bring my D to an A or A*, I'm sure you can also do that with your grades!
Original post by UnknownAnon
Don't worry about your GCSE grades, they're not as bad as you think! And they won't matter too much, so long as you meet the other requirements and do plenty of work experience, so good luck! If you need any advice about the work experience, I'd be happy to help :smile:. I'm not 100% sure where I'm going to apply yet, but I'm mostly looking at Imperial, UCL and Kings. Are you going to apply for the EMDP at Kings?

And good luck with those subjects! They're hell but well worth it.

I live in Thurrock Essex so I'm not sure if I'm eligible for Kings programme as they specify only the Kent and London areas.
Original post by UnknownAnon
Don't worry about your GCSE grades, they're not as bad as you think! And they won't matter too much, so long as you meet the other requirements and do plenty of work experience, so good luck! If you need any advice about the work experience, I'd be happy to help :smile:. I'm not 100% sure where I'm going to apply yet, but I'm mostly looking at Imperial, UCL and Kings. Are you going to apply for the EMDP at Kings?

And good luck with those subjects! They're hell but well worth it.


If you want to apply for Medicine at UCL, you'll want to aim for the A* in either Biology or Chemistry - their typical offer now for Medicine is A*AA with the A* in either of those subjects. :smile:

Good luck!
Reply 9
Original post by usycool1
If you want to apply for Medicine at UCL, you'll want to aim for the A* in either Biology or Chemistry - their typical offer now for Medicine is A*AA with the A* in either of those subjects. :smile:

Good luck!


Thank you! I thought the A* could be in any subject but guess I was wrong. I think I should be able to get it for biology, it seems to be my strong point.
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Yeah I am definitely going for the A* in Biology when I do A2.
Good luck OP, I'm sure you can turn it around! (Although I'd expect your A* to come from Biology as it seems by far to be your biggest strength!).

I currently have 2 B's at A-Level (Biology and Geography) and an A in English Lit AS. Need to get AAB to meet my firm, so retaking a module in Geography while I do English Lit A2.

Also started Religious Studies and Sociology AS to keep me busy, any tips on how to get a B in RS? I'd be happy with that...we've done practice essays and out of every subject I've ever done this one is the tighest for time by far! It's ridiculous, it's less than a minute per mark!
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by UnknownAnon
What subjects do you take? I can understand why you dropped history, it was my favourite at GCSE, but even I wouldn't have been able to survive all that work at A level. Hard work is definitely the way to go! And coffee. Coffee is very important :biggrin: If I can manage to bring my D to an A or A*, I'm sure you can also do that with your grades!


I had a coffee before every one of my exams last year. Definitely helped me get some A's in some of the longer papers I think, as without it I get tired pretty quickly.
Original post by Comeback
Good luck OP, I'm sure you can turn it around! (Although I'd expect your A* to come from Biology as it seems by far to be your biggest strength!).

I currently have 2 B's at A-Level (Biology and Geography) and an A in English Lit AS. Need to get AAB to meet my firm, so retaking a module in Geography while I do English Lit A2.

Also started Religious Studies and Sociology AS to keep me busy, any tips on how to get a B in RS? I'd be happy with that...we've done practice essays and out of every subject I've ever done this one is the tighest for time by far! It's ridiculous, it's less than a minute per mark!


Thank you! I think we all need luck when it comes to A levels! Yep biology is my biggest strength, although truth be told, I find it the most boring :colondollar: For our Christmas mock, I thought I did really bad for biology- at least a D, but ended up getting an A! :biggrin:

I agree about the time! All essay subjects are pretty pressed for time tbh. Which exam board are you on? Edexcel is pretty good to get a good grade in- nearly everyone in my class got A-B. I think my tip would be to make plans before writing an essay, and then just practice answering questions, until you stop waffling and just write down just the facts.

Do you find RS interesting? I found it absolutely fascinating.
Original post by Comeback
I had a coffee before every one of my exams last year. Definitely helped me get some A's in some of the longer papers I think, as without it I get tired pretty quickly.


I did all-nighters before my AS exams, so had a pretty unhealthy relationship with coffee! But it has saved me a lot, so I owe it :wink:
Original post by UnknownAnon
Thank you! I think we all need luck when it comes to A levels! Yep biology is my biggest strength, although truth be told, I find it the most boring :colondollar: For our Christmas mock, I thought I did really bad for biology- at least a D, but ended up getting an A! :biggrin:

I agree about the time! All essay subjects are pretty pressed for time tbh. Which exam board are you on? Edexcel is pretty good to get a good grade in- nearly everyone in my class got A-B. I think my tip would be to make plans before writing an essay, and then just practice answering questions, until you stop waffling and just write down just the facts.

Do you find RS interesting? I found it absolutely fascinating.


I'm on the welsh board WJEC (although my school isn't welsh so I don't really understand why :tongue: )

Sounds like good advice, I have been waffling a lot so far.

It is incredibly interesting, it has influenced my way of thinking greatly! It is incredibly complex, some topics have taken me a very long time to get my head around.
Original post by Comeback
I'm on the welsh board WJEC (although my school isn't welsh so I don't really understand why :tongue: )

Sounds like good advice, I have been waffling a lot so far.

It is incredibly interesting, it has influenced my way of thinking greatly! It is incredibly complex, some topics have taken me a very long time to get my head around.


I had that exam board for GCSE ICT, it was completely random and unexpected :confused:. My first exam (which I'm retaking) had the topic of miracles, evil and suffering, utilitarianism and situation ethics. It has influenced my thinking too! I'd like to think it made me a more open person :tongue:
Good luck! :h: Keep us updated on how you get on :yep:
I don't know how often I should update, so I might do weekly posts, unless people would rather read daily posts? What do you think?

I know quite a few of my friends make revision plans, with hour-to-hour activities, but that just doesn't seem to work for me, and I end up breaking my revision plans, (and then making them again to procrastinate:eek:). So I've decided to be flexible in my timings, but focus each day on one subject.

For example:
Monday: Revise for my AS retakes
Tuesday: Revise for unit 1 of A2 chemistry (which we've finished)
Wednesday: Revise for Unit 2 of A2 chemistry up until we've done in class (because going too far ahead of class confuses me and puts me off).
Thursday: A2 Unit 1 physics
Friday: A2 unit 2 physics
Saturday: A2 Unit 1 Biology
Sunday: A2 unit 2 biology.

Also does anyone have any tips on how to wake up when you start revising? Coffee doesn't seem to work too well for me anymore (although that doesn't stop me from having one daily every morning :rolleyes:) And it means I end up having to read topics a few times, before I realise what I'm reading. :frown:

:colone: Thanks for any help in advance.
Original post by Gingerbread101
Good luck! :h: Keep us updated on how you get on :yep:


Thank you! And I shall do my best to update.

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