Retakes? Please help!

To be honest, I think you're school are bang on the money.

Hey!

I was kinda in your position, came out of AS with ABBB and I needed AAA for dentistry.

I'd definitely retake the unit 2 modules in the sciences and maybe even unit 1 for chemistry. OCR unit 1 chemistry and biology links together with the A2 exams because it's all synoptic (same kinda stuff comes up). If you also feel stronger for one of your AS computing exams, you might consider retaking that too, just to make sure you can get a boost to get AAA at the end. Basically, if you can, try to get A's guaranteed in your AS.

BUT

It all depends on whether you can handle the extra exams. I retook all of my chemistry and biology modules to make sure I hit the A because I knew A2 was going to be hard and because at the end of the day, the stuff you learn at AS comes up in A2, so it was kinda like revision. Aim high, but be realistic. If you think your other exams are going to suffer then it's best to pick and choose exams that you feel more confident with. Your AS's should have given you a scope of what to expect in A2, because it's only going to get harder.

Best of luck!

Okay i'll try to make this as easy and simple as possible

I got BBCC in biologyOCRA, computingOCR, chemistryOCRB and physicsOCRA, and I carried on with biology, chemistry and computing

I need to get AAA if not AAB AT LEAST to do the course I want to do at the uni I want to do it (Pharmacy at UCL) but the aim is AAA

Basically my question is, do I NEED to do retakes to get AAA?

currently my school have set me up to retake unit 2s for chemistry, biology and physics

I'll break down my UMS for you

BIOLOGY - overall = B
Unit 1: 83/90 - A
Unit 2: 83/150 - D
Unit 3 (cwk): 45/60 - B

Need to get 269/300 this year to get an A overall (240 is an A)

CHEMISTRY - overall = C
Unit 1: 65/90 - B
Unit 2: 86/150 - D
Unit 3 (cwk): 43/60 - B

Need 286/300 to get A overall (240 is an A)

COMPUTING - overall = B
Unit 1: 75/100 - B
Unit 2: 74/100 - B

Need 171/200 to get A overall (160 is an A)

PHYSICS - overall = C
Unit 1: 61/90 - C
Unit 2: 79/150 - D
Unit 3 (cwk) - 44/60 - B

Need to retake unit 2 to get A in AS as I didn't carry on at A-level so need to get 135/150 in my retake (and 120 is an A in that exam)

SO what do you guys think? worth retaking all units? which ones should I retake? any tips and tricks? any success stories? I'm feeling super stressed so any advice to make this easier would be helpful...

Thank you

I'm in near enough the same situation as you in biology, you got 211/300 ums in Biology and I got 212/300, I need an A also, but my school is not letting me retake any exam and I am not really interested in looking for somewhere else to take the exam, it is just extra hassle.

So I need to get 268/300 in A2 for an A, just one ums less than you, but we might aswell aim for the A* grade as that is 270/300 in A2. lol. Good Luck!

I know

Why's your school not letting you retake -_-

I'm finding biology alright SO FAR, except we have just RUSHED through the liver and I have no idea wtf is going on with that...

I get photosynthesis, respiration etc because I like to think I'm good at Chemistry even though my C proves otherwise lol

I don't know what the neurones look like gonna dedicate some of my half term to GCSEs because I'm building on nothing rn and it's gonna collapse

I've been getting Bs on the mini class tests so hopefully that improves...

Good luck to you too and let me know how you get on! hopefully we can get the As

How much are everyones resits costing?

My college is trying to charge me £45 per paper and I've got like 6 resits I want to do. FFS I hate this country and it's extortionate prices sometimes, I got to basically rob a bank to pay for a few exams.

My school think I did good enough in all my Biology exams so I shouldn't retake, as it will jeopardize my time for revision for A2 exams (I got Bs in both exams and the coursework).

Sounds like you are doing well. We have just finished module 1 of f214 and module 1 of f215. My F214 teacher is so f***ing awful, so basically I have to self-teach all the stuff for that.

You are doing better than me in class tests. I have gotten Cs and Ds so far, but really going to try this year, I need an A so badly lol

Thanks for the response! Wow you got ABBB and STILL retook?! the determination ! How did you manage your time?! What subjects did you take at AS and which one did you drop? Also did you sit ALL of your exams in June or was this when January exams were still a thing? I got a high A in my unit 1 bio so I'm not touching that, but yeah the exams i got Ds in i'll retake, cos some of the stuff I'm revising anyway because it's coming up in A2 right now and I need to understand it. Did you have a revision timetable... did you use extra textbooks? What's your secret lol?

Sorry about all the questions I'm just super stressed and glad i found you and need to KNOW

Haha no worries. I took maths, bio, chem and physics. Initially dropped physics but took it up again to keep engineering as an option.

Yup, sat them all in June, which looked like a nightmare in the weeks leading up to it, but if you take each day at a time, and plan out exactly what you need to cover each day leading up to each exam you'll be fine.

I didn't have a revision timetable (can't stick to timetables :P) but I did follow the specification very closely in the last few weeks and wrote out everything in the textbook again in my own words.

There are a few model answer documents that usually fly around exam time and basically has all the model answers to typical content questions. Learn them, but be cautious cos they're really trying to trip people up nowadays with questions.

I did use a few revision guides but that was to summarise and help recap your learning - sometimes Its hard re-reading the fat OCR books, especially if it's the day before the exam and you feel like you've read it a hundred times already..

When exam season started I re-did my notes on powerpoint, with each slide covering a specification point for each exam in a subject. The slide had everything that specific point covered. I had like 40 - 60 slides at the end of it for one subject! I'd print off all the slides for a specific exam 2-3 days before it and use blu tac and stick them to the wall on my room, so, literally everything I needed to know was in front of me, all the time

I made sure I revised in my room and whenever I had a question I'd just look up at my wall and find the answer! It worked best with keywords and definitions.

I'm not saying do what I did, but try something that works best for you, experiment with things during your mock exams in december/january and perfect your revision technique.

PS: If you're interested, I'll try and find a couple of the powerpoints I used when I'm back home again. I did Edexcel biology, but you might be able to use the slides as reference or at least follow it if you think it works for you

Thanks again for the response! omg you carried on with physics you are BRAVEEEE haha, 4 A2s, all retakes, all in June as well you must've had NO social life omG! Well i don't have much of one either so no sacrifices need to be made lol

i can't stick to time tables either but i did roughly what you did for unit 1 bio except instead of powerpoint i used coloured A4 paper and did every module in a different colour and each A4 paper covered one or two spec points... but only had enough time to do it for bio which is why i'm starting earlier this year and i got 92% ums in unit 1 so it must've worked!

it does take a lot of time and work but i guess that's why it works right? Maybe typing up will work faster than manually making posters

memorising model answers is a really good point especially for bio and some chem questions! It also probably works for computing because the same questions are basically asked every year so will DEFINITeLY steal that!

Thank you SO SO SO much for the help! I will definitely use your tips!

Haha yup, my social life went out the window, but it payed off
Nice one on the 92%! Yeah, if you start early you'd have nothing to worry about

No worries, good luck!

I bet your social life is so much better now though!

and thanks! gonna need it

You'd be surprised

Fresher's week was all fun and games but now we're getting assignments back to back, it's like the calm before the storm!

But yeah, it's pretty awesome.

Where else are you thinking of applying to? UCL is fantastic uni though, been there a few times for a few public lectures.

Yeah but hey, you got to break the ice and now you get to do what you love !

if i do get the grades i'll go for UCL, KCL, Manchester (still applying for that now with predicted ABB but doubt i'll get an offer), Cardiff and Aston

right now I'm applying for Manchester, Brighton, Hertfordshire, Reading and Medway because I'm predicted ABB and that's the lowest range, plus some take points so my dropped AS could help haha

Not an expert but those seem like good choices, especially the ones from ABB. But fingers crossed you get the higher prediction cos any one of the first 5 uni's would be great!

yep i think if i got all offers this year and dont exceed the requirements i'll go to Brighton it looks really good and it's good for pharmacy too! but i do like my choices so i wouldn't mind going to the other unis

if i do end up with AAA i would go for UCL

submitting my UCAS application soon... wish me luck