A Level ACTION PLAN to GOOD GRADES

Hi,

I just recieved my GCSE results last week: 1 A the rest Cs.

I'm not exactly happy with my results because it means that I don't get to do Maths or any of the sciences.. but none the less I passed!

With my results I could only get into an ok/bad sixth form college doing Economics, History and Art.

Anyway, I'm here to ask for your guy and gal's tips, advice or guides on how to get atleast an A at A level. At the end of A levels I would like to go to UCL and study Architecture and then hopefully complete all the other parts to become a fully chartered Architect.

The sort of tips that I'm looking for are tips at the early stages of a level and less on revision, like what I should be doing before my class like reading ahead to the next topic so that I become ahead of everyone else? What should I be doing after class, like should I be reviewing my notes from the class I just had? What should I be doing during my study period and stuff like that.

Also I think it would be helpful if you can talk about the mistakes you had while you were studying for your a levels.

I do plan on going full extreme hardcore mode and have a full mindset of doing work all the time and practically have no social life, but obviously I will take in to consideration the need for rest.

Thanks in advance

To start with: no matter how hardcore your mindset is at the beginning, there is a 99% chance that you will not live up to this. But the higher you aim the more work you're likely to do (:

Thank you so much for the advice, DeafeningSilence and thank you for sharing your regrets.



I understand what you mean when you say that I might not live up to the mindset that I will intitially have. I have seen a lot of people say I'm gonna change my life around, no more detentions, no more exclusions, no more saturday detentions and I must admit, that was me at GCSE, but after reviewing my faults and failures during gcse and finally realizing how important a levels are for getting into uni I'm going to fight whatever urge I have to get the A lvl results I need. I promise

Well that's an awesome mindset! More often than not people I met were disappointed with their grades this year. Every time it was clear, at least to me, they probably could've done more. I didn't do enough at the beginning of the year, but the fear soon set in and when you get that feeling and that motivation you will do the work! If you've had disappointing GCSE's that might be helpful to fuel that feeling haha !

I've also done both History and Econ so if you have any specific questions let me know.... Also, just putting it out there, but is there no way of you doing maths at all? Just because I've heard that's pretty vital for most Architecture degrees (:

I think there is more than enough fuel to motivate me haha

Would be awesome if you could give me tips on how to improve my eassy writing skillz. I was decent on the factual stuff and dates but I was terrible with dealing with exam technique and especially forming ideas/opinions in history. That was the biggest turn off for me when I was studying History

There is actually a way for me to study maths but that will mean me working independetly and relying on tutors online which just sounds dodgy unless I get a tutor who'll see regularly each week but that all means paying a fee. I know its worth a few hundrew quid but studying four a levels sounds tough from what I hear from friends and I also have a plan on working part time while doing A levels but I'm still not 100% sure on that ^^

UCL doesn't have specific subject requirements at A level but you need to have had passed english and maths AND have had studied a language at GCSE which might be a problem but I will confirm with their admissions hotline. Studying A lvl maths will certainly give me an edge at the applying stage but hopefully my art will make up for that.

Thank you so much for your help!! )

It will be a lot more facts than at GCSE, I did 0 revision for GCSE but hours for A-Level. But if you've got the basic skill you should be fine! Essay writing is, unfortunately, a matter of practise. Do some practise questions and get your lecturer to mark them, if possible. In general though, when it comes to opinions, always sound confident, whether you believe yourself or not. It's entirely possible to predict the sort of questions that'll come up- if you're prepared to put the revision in, you can form a lot of opinions before the exam! Getting your own personal structure is good so you know when and where to put things in.

I would certainly look into things regarding subjects! You don't want to get halfway through your a levels after so much hard work and realise you have slim chances without maths. In terms of time, I managed 3 days a week of netball, boyfriend, social life and a weekend job and came out with 4 A's at the end of the year! It's definitely possible if you can organise things.

No problem! I would have loved as much advice as possible so I'm happy to give it haha.