Help! 9 A level exams

hey!

I am planning on retaking 3 modules from my AS, which will leaves me with 9 exams in June. Is this too much ??? Anyone with experience that can help me, like how did you manage your time in between the exams?

Reply 1

kelefi

i had 9 AS exams last year, gonna have 9 A2s this year,

its not too much in my opinion. my exams were organised like;
exam 1
*1 week break*
4 exams (no breaks between, 1 each day)
*1 week break*
4 exams (no breaks between, 1 each day)

in terms of time management, when you get breaks, use them. i spent the day after each exam period relaxing. then I got right into revising for the exams. start with your weakest first so you can revisit it before you do the actual exam.

BTW, which subjects are you doing?

Reply 2

000alex

I had 14 exams in the 2nd year and what helped the most was making a timetable and giving up whatever might distract you - you can do all those other things later whereas with A-Levels you can't.
Something I wish I had done is made the timetable/started revising earlier.

Also depends on what grades you are aiming for. If you want A*'s revise well enough to get above 80% on AS subjects and put the rest of the time into the A Levels as 90%+ is a lot harder.

Put more time into things you are weaker in and/OR what your universities of preference want

Never miss a day on your timetable > regret when it piles up

Reply 3

Coconut29

Original post by kelefi

I do Biology, Chemistry and Psychology. What about you?
If I do retake from the week starting the 6th June until the 24rth will be full, with mostly one day gap in between each exam, and 4 exams one day after the other. This is how my exams will be organised
Week 1- exams on monday, tuesday and friday
Week 2- 2 exams on monday, one exam on thursday
Week 3- exam on wednesday and thursday

This is what is freaking me out are the back to back exams !

When did you start revising for each exams? what did you do when you had 4 exams back to back?

Reply 4

Coconut29

Original post by 000alex

Wow 14 exams! that must have been very stressful! How did it go for you? do you feel like by having all those exams reduced you chance of getting a better grade because you had so many exams to focus on?

I really want to get 2 A* for bio and psychology, and thats the reason i am retaking, since I got two Bs for those subjects.

What subjects did you take? if you any that I am doing, can you please share any tips on getting better results this time round?

Reply 5

000alex

Original post by Coconut29

Wow 14 exams! that must have been very stressful! How did it go for you?

Yea was really stressful, but when you finish your last exam it feels so good :biggrin:

In the end I got A*A*AA - a mark away from another A* but oh well...

Original post by Coconut29

do you feel like by having all those exams reduced you chance of getting a better grade because you had so many exams to focus on?

In a way yes - took a couple of extra modules as a "back up" but ended up doing rubbish in all of the extra ones and I didn't need them at all - should've used the time for my main modules instead.

Original post by Coconut29

I really want to get 2 A* for bio and psychology, and thats the reason i am retaking, since I got two Bs for those subjects.What subjects did you take? if you any that I am doing, can you please share any tips on getting better results this time round?

Did maths/physics/economics.I got a B in physics at AS but chose to not resit and instead work harder in the second year to try and average the UMS and ended up with an A* so was a good decision.Our subjects aren't that similar so I would just follow normal advice (e.g. start revising early and work hard) but in physics I went from a B to A* because I started reading on stuff that wasn't taught in class. Not sure if it applies to bio/phsyc but in physics searching google/youtube for different ways of learning/visualizing topics definitely helped a lot (especially with 6 markers if they have that in bio) - best to talk with someone that did those subjects though!
I think two A*'s should be easy for you if you really want it :P

Reply 6

Coconut29

Original post by 000alex

Yea was really stressful, but when you finish your last exam it feels so good

In the end I got A*A*AA - a mark away from another A* but oh well...

When did you specifically started to revise for both A2 and AS resits?

Original post by 000alex

Not sure if it applies to bio/phsyc but in physics searching google/youtube for different ways of learning/visualizing topics definitely helped a lot (especially with 6 markers if they have that in bio) - best to talk with someone that did those subjects though!
I think two A*'s should be easy for you if you really want it :P

Well If you can go from a B to an A* in physics ( which I heard is really hard) I can surely do it for bio and psychology! Even then, If I couldn't even get an a at as, I kinda doupt that i will get 90% in my A2 :s-smilie:

but, you never know, if i work smarter, rather than harder I should get it

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 7

TajwarC

I did 16 in my second year of A-Level, which was way to much (I resat too many modules). 9 is perfectly doable!

Reply 8

citydeer

one of my friends had 19 exams this year and she did well, you just need to make sure you manage your time and start revision early!

i only had 7 but two of these were resits - start resit revision early (i did 2 hours a week all year) and started my A2 revision around janurary (just making notes and understanding concepts, real revision of practice exams etc. started around march for me!)

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 9

rxns_00

Original post by Coconut29

Mate I had 18, 9 would be a bliss.

Honestly as long as you revise for each exam very well and feel prepared for each one, you could even have 2-3 exams in one day and feel very confident

Reply 10

Coconut29

Original post by RonnieRJ

Mate I had 18, 9 would be a bliss.

Honestly as long as you revise for each exam very well and feel prepared for each one, you could even have 2-3 exams in one day and feel very confident

Thats a lot! how did it go? did your grade improve a lot?

Reply 11

rxns_00

Original post by Coconut29

Thats a lot! how did it go? did your grade improve a lot?

Oh no no those weren't retakes, I had 18 exams just for my AS year :tongue:

will have another 17-18 next year too :|
But they went very well! Honestly the key is not neglecting any exams, as long as you split revision equally you're good to go! :smile:

Reply 12

Coconut29

Original post by RonnieRJ

Oh no no those weren't retakes, I had 18 exams just for my AS year :tongue:

will have another 17-18 next year too :|
But they went very well! Honestly the key is not neglecting any exams, as long as you split revision equally you're good to go! :smile:

Ahahaha

sorry, I am glad they went good! Good luck with your other 18 exams next year. Yes, i think you are right, this time i will make sure that i focus on each subjects equally :dance:

Reply 13

Nangnang

Original post by Coconut29

My boyfriend had 13 exams, didn't really have a problem :smile:

Reply 14

rxns_00

Original post by Coconut29

Ahahaha

sorry, I am glad they went good! Good luck with your other 18 exams next year. Yes, i think you are right, this time i will make sure that i focus on each subjects equally :dance:

That's ok no worries and aw thank you good luck to you too! Yeah that's definitely one of the things to remember when you have a lot of exams :tongue: