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What is your single most important piece of advice for getting As and A*s?

I know there’s a lot involved in learning, revising etc. but if you could somehow summarise it down or give a single best point, what would you say?

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Easy answer: Revision websites. It's like having your own personal tutor for free.

I went from getting pretty average GCSEs (As and Bs) to being predicted A*A*A at A level.

I highly recommend revisely if you're doing maths and science based subjects - it's been a real break through for me. Hope this helps!
I would say condensing notes and exam practise to ensure ur knowledge is on point
Original post by Minchico
Easy answer: Revision websites. It's like having your own personal tutor for free.

I went from getting pretty average GCSEs (As and Bs) to being predicted A*A*A at A level.

I highly recommend revisely if you're doing maths and science based subjects - it's been a real break through for me. Hope this helps!


Sick, I’ll take a look - how’d you find it?
Original post by Travis_Scott
Sick, I’ll take a look - how’d you find it?


Don't remember to be honest, it was a while ago.
Original post by Minchico
Don't remember to be honest, it was a while ago.


Okay cheers, I’ll let you know if it works for me.
bear™'s route to success: forget about being cool... close your social media.... put your phone in the freezer.... work your patootie off.
Focus more on your teacher feedback, it’s there for a reason and pretty helpful
ummm, idk really know sorry.
Original post by Minchico
Don't remember to be honest, it was a while ago.


What subjects are you doing?

I know this is a open, vauge questions, but can you give me a quantitative answer? How many hours did week/day do you study for AS Levels?

Thanks, its a big help, I'm planning a schedule and I'm just lost.
Original post by the bear
bear™'s route to success: forget about being cool... close your social media.... put your phone in the freezer.... work your patootie off.


Not sure if putting my phone in the freezer is the best idea!
meet all your internal deadlines and take your own initiative to do extra work
I have learnt so far that:
- Condensing notes and making mind maps helps, keeps knowledge up to date
- Teachers feeback and reflecting on work makes sure you know how to improve
- Making sure you understand rather than memorise
-Using revision websites and making a habit/timetable for revising every day with breaks
- Practice,Practice and practice - this is one the most fundamental ways of achieving high grades as this makes you more efficent in exam and you know what the examiner is looking for. Also relieves stress in the exam

This is it so far,
I'll add more when I get the chance
:smile:
Original post by HeadHoncho
Focus more on your teacher feedback, it’s there for a reason and pretty helpful


I should start going to them for help more often tbh, cheers
Reply 14
Avatar for _NMcC_
_NMcC_
15
Don't obsess over making 'notes'. It's good to have the information on paper, but it's ultimately useless if you don't know how apply it. You can know the information inside-out and still not know how to approach a question based on the material.

Obsess over past paper questions. For Science and Maths they are the key to As and A*s.
I feel that especially with Maths and the Sciences, its important to understand the actual content rather than simply memorising details. The new exams are designed to test application more over definitions/regurgitating textbook answers. That will tell the difference between an A and an A* imo.
Original post by CoolCavy
meet all your internal deadlines and take your own initiative to do extra work


Yeah I think meeting your own deadlines is important because it’s easy to give up if you miss them a couple of times
My main two pieces of advice are:

1) Make sure you properly understand the content before moving on, rather than just memorising it. If you can answer questions by working things out from concepts you are familiar with, it means you have to memorise a lot less

2) Have a good understanding of what the examiner is looking for, it means when you answer questions you can save time and effort by answering more concisely and be pretty sure you'll get the mark, rather than writing a load of stuff down and not being sure if you've written something close enough to the markscheme
Original post by Faction Paradox
My main two pieces of advice are:

1) Make sure you properly understand the content before moving on, rather than just memorising it. If you can answer questions by working things out from concepts you are familiar with, it means you have to memorise a lot less

2) Have a good understanding of what the examiner is looking for, it means when you answer questions you can save time and effort by answering more concisely and be pretty sure you'll get the mark, rather than writing a load of stuff down and not being sure if you've written something close enough to the markscheme


This is some great advice, cheers!
Write the same answer as the one on the mark scheme in your final exams.

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