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Studying A-Levels in One Year.

Hello all, I received my AS results a few weeks ago and did pretty bad, due to lack of work put in. I got CEE in psychology, biology, chemistry. For both chem and bio, i got A's in the ISA. My school will not let me carry on for A2, and to be honest, it's almost a blessing in disguise as the teachers are terrible.

So i have decided to go to the library every weekday, relax, and study myself. I will be looking to sit all AS and A2 papers for Bio and Chem (OCR) and A2 papers for Psychology and maybe retake one of the AS. Overall, that is around 11 papers. I have from now to May to revise myself, get the required books and achieve a minimum of BBB. I want A's but BBB is the minimum. I just want to know if this is reasonable. I really regret how I treated my AS levels, and want to make a change. I am more than willing to put in the hours and actually study this time. My school allowed me to come and sit the A2 ISA's in february so that is not a concern.

I just need some motivation and know that this can easily be done, if I start doing 3-4 hours a day from now. What do you guys think? Thanks
i got CDD in as levels, did overall 11 exams in the second year and got AAB in the end, subjects i did were maths physics and chemistry

if you put A LOT of time with not breaking you can do it, use all the online resources too
Original post by FatehL
Hello all, I received my AS results a few weeks ago and did pretty bad, due to lack of work put in. I got CEE in psychology, biology, chemistry. For both chem and bio, i got A's in the ISA. My school will not let me carry on for A2, and to be honest, it's almost a blessing in disguise as the teachers are terrible.

So i have decided to go to the library every weekday, relax, and study myself. I will be looking to sit all AS and A2 papers for Bio and Chem (OCR) and A2 papers for Psychology and maybe retake one of the AS. Overall, that is around 11 papers. I have from now to May to revise myself, get the required books and achieve a minimum of BBB. I want A's but BBB is the minimum. I just want to know if this is reasonable. I really regret how I treated my AS levels, and want to make a change. I am more than willing to put in the hours and actually study this time. My school allowed me to come and sit the A2 ISA's in february so that is not a concern.

I just need some motivation and know that this can easily be done, if I start doing 3-4 hours a day from now. What do you guys think? Thanks

My friend got DUD in AS, dropped the U (maths) and picked up a BTEC. We all made fun of him last year, but that actually made him realise he had to buck up his ideas or he'd be a failure all his life. He finished the btec by april, and retook all AS exams, plus did the A2 exams. Because he had lots of time to revise (he wasn't revising all day all night or anything), he actually ended up getting AA and d* which meant he's now going to king's to do Computer science. What a legend that man is. Long story short: All is not lost :smile:
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 3
Original post by a123a
Yes it is very achievable. I did both OCR A level Biology and Chemistry and I found that the workload from both was quite manageable. Just make sure you use the specification for both and condense your notes as, especially for OCR Biology, there is a lot of content.
I would recommend getting the OCR endorsed books for each of your subjects. This should be complemented with past papers as well. Make sure you give yourself enough time for past papers, as sometimes they can be quite picky and in some respect you have to "learn the mark scheme."

Good luck!


thank you very much. did you do both in one year as I am planning to do?
Hey, I'm thinking about this too. I would like to do this for Chemistry, Physics and Maths but I'm scared it's the wrong decision. I did so poorly at AS so I have to retake my year or become a private candidate. By they way, hope you don't mind me asking but why didn't you join a school to finish as it's free. Doing things independently means paying for practicals, exam centres and exam entry fees which could cost up to Β£600 or more. So far, mine is amounting to Β£550 for all three excluding practicals.
Reply 5
Original post by randomuser1
My friend got DUD in AS, dropped the U (maths) and picked up a BTEC. We all made fun of him last year, but that actually made him realise he had to buck up his ideas or he'd be a failure all his life. He finished the btec by april, and retook all AS exams, plus did the A2 exams. Because he had lots of time to revise (he wasn't revising all day all night or anything), he actually ended up getting AA and d* which meant he's now going to king's to do Computer science. What a legend that man is. Long story short: All is not lost :smile:


That's so amazing, I was just wondering how did he get into Kings as surely his predicted grade would not have been that high and would have to apply somewhere else? Did he go through adjustment?
Original post by Tolani98
That's so amazing, I was just wondering how did he get into Kings as surely his predicted grade would not have been that high and would have to apply somewhere else? Did he go through adjustment?

Nope, he just got an offer first time. He did a bit of begging and the teachers realised he'd work hard so predicted bb for his a levels.
Reply 7
Original post by randomuser1
Nope, he just got an offer first time. He did a bit of begging and the teachers realised he'd work hard so predicted bb for his a levels.


Oh wow! He got DD, and got predicted BB?! He's so lucky, how did Kings know that he'd be a good enough candidate to accept him first time? Surely his personal statement must have been outstanding.
Original post by Tolani98
Oh wow! He got DD, and got predicted BB?! He's so lucky, how did Kings know that he'd be a good enough candidate to accept him first time? Surely his personal statement must have been outstanding.

Yeah he was lucky, it was the same school he had been at since year 9 so the teachers knew him well. I think the predicted grades got him the offer tbh.
Original post by goodmorning1
i got CDD in as levels, did overall 11 exams in the second year and got AAB in the end, subjects i did were maths physics and chemistry

if you put A LOT of time with not breaking you can do it, use all the online resources too


Wow well done on that big improvement, what are your tips for improving in physics? i got a B at AS and want an A at A2. I am resitting both AS papers
Original post by SheLikeTheMango
Wow well done on that big improvement, what are your tips for improving in physics? i got a B at AS and want an A at A2. I am resitting both AS papers


the practicals are crucial as hell, i got an A in AS and a B in the A2 practicals, if you get C or low B in one of them, it'll put a lot of pressure for your exams

use physicsandmathstutor website for physics, i 100% recommend it and is so useful. i used only this website during revision period to do well

if you are doing edexcel which is what i did, i think unit 4 (the unit you will start this year) is the hardest. make sure to put A LOT of effort from now until december to completely grasp the unit and the past papers. i got an A* in the jan mock unit 4 to show how much you need to do of unit 4 next 2-3 months

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