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The Last Leg of A-Levels

Hi Everyone! I'm Tierney (Or just T for short) and the end of my A Level journey is growing scarily close.

I have around 9 (!!!) school weeks left until I'm officially done with my A levels, exams and all. It would be great if I could get A's and B's in my final exams, but at the end of the day, I have an unconditional spot at Birmingham City waiting for me, so it would just be bragging rights and my own sense of accomplishment.

I'm currently studying 3 A levels and a BTEC in History, English Literature, Media Studies and Photography and have accepted a place on the Photography course at BCU.

So what's this blog for?

Like most people, I sometimes find it really hard to stay motivated to do revision. I'm sooo bored of going over the same old stuff that I've been looking at for 2 years now, the topics in History aren't really to my tastes, the texts in English aren't my favourites either...

So this is a place for people like me to share their revision techniques, the ups and downs and at the end of it all, a set of (hopefully) killer results! Let's all motivate each other to do the best we can!

I will be posting as often as I can with how my progress is going and sharing some tips I have found useful. I encourage anyone to join in the conversation, whether you're struggling to shake the clutches of procrastination, feeling like your efforts are wasted or just have a link to share with some helpful resources.
Also keep an eye out on BCU's YouTube page because I will be making some revision diaries for you all there as well!

I hope you find this blog useful and stick around!
- T

(edited 6 years ago)

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Reply 1

TierneyM

Hi everyone!

So the Easter Holidays have just ended, and I will shamefully admit that I did not do as much revision as I planned to do. Oops. (I was celebrating my birthday for a few days you gotta cut me some slack there)
This is just a little post to start thinking about revision again and the ways in which to do that. This mostly relates to essay-writing subjects by the way since that's really the only subjects I take, but if you have any tips or tricks for other subjects, share them here for others to try out!

I'm currently preparing for some English mocks as a final little test to show what exactly it is I need to polish up on before the final exam.
My English Literature exam board is AQA. At my sixth form, we study Othello, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Death of a Salesman for paper 1 which is all about tragedy. Paper 2 focuses on social and political protest, and we look at Harvest, Henry IV, and the poetry of William Blake. Not to mention an unseen passage which you need to know how to analyse.

Basically there's a lot to cover. It's HARD to get the balance right of what to revise. I'm sure everyone knows that struggle.

I like to try and cover everything by first going over the parts I am least confident in. For example, I'm not as happy writing an essay about Henry IV, so that is where I would start my English revision.
Also VERY important for ANY essay-writing subject: There is no substitute for practise questions! It's probably the least exciting way to revise, but I find it's the most effective. You are recalling the knowledge you need AND applying it to a question, which is exactly what you need to do in the real thing. If you don't have hours and hours to write essays, even planning out essays is great. It's all about applying your knowledge to a question, because it's all very well knowing stuff, but if you don't know how to write about it then you're stuffed.

So most of my revision will be going over questions, planning them out and writing some up. This helps you find out where your gaps are and what you need to go back to and read over. Perfect if you ask me (even if it's not the most exciting).

I would LOVE to know if anyone else has any other methods of preparing for essay-style exams. Do you have the writing part down and just like to go over the content? Or are you like me and need to apply the information to the questions?

P.S: Don't forget to treat yourself when revising! It's hard enough to stay motivated, so give yourself a little incentive to do well. Have some sweets or something on stand-by. You deserve them.

Happy revising everyone!

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Reply 2

TierneyM

Hello again!

So the last two weeks have been a bit hectic. I've had two English mocks, one at 2 hours 30, and the other at 3 hours, lots of homework tasks to do and trying to balance my social life and other commitments on top of it all. The weekend is a much needed break!

Revision is pretty much in full swing at the moment (although it's been focused on English to get me through the mocks). I've attended a couple lunch-time and after school revision sessions, which I recommend everyone go to as many as they possibly can. Revising on your own is great, but there's nothing better than a teacher to run you through things you're not so confident on. To get the most out of these sessions, come to it with some questions to ask on things you're not so clear on and need to go over again.

I have one more mock on Wednesday for Media Studies which is two hours long (surprisingly one of my shorter exams). I always feel pretty confident with Media, I think I've got the writing side of it nailed, but it's always good to brush up on theories and case studies just to keep it all fresh in your mind. If anyone else is taking Media, don't forget to keep an eye on the news! You have to talk about current affairs in your essays!
Media lends itself well to flash cards and mind maps, so that's how I will be revising my theories and case studies!
I also just note down any interesting stories that I can refer to in the exam. I think that will be more of a cram job to read through just before going in.

My first exam is around 3 and a half weeks away, which feels like a while but it really isn't.
Good luck to anyone who is starting within the next few days/weeks! You can do it! Work hard and treat yourself often! (One of my favourite treats is m&m's and Netflix by the way. I'm always up for Netflix suggestions so if you have a favourite let me know!)

Good luck!

Reply 3

TierneyM

Me again!

What a scorcher of a bank holiday weekend it's been! I've been rushed off my feet at work Saturday and Sunday, then went out to enjoy the sun today so got zero revision done. Sometimes it's good to get away from the books for a while and enjoy yourself though. Back to the grind tomorrow!

My Media Studies mock went pretty well, but again I struggled with timing. You should spend about an hour on each section, and the first section consists of three questions, so the timings are tight. I felt I was running out of time for the last question on that section, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's where I dropped marks.

I got both of my English papers back and got some feedback on those, and I'm pleased to say that I am happy with the results! I got a solid B on both of them, which was lower on the second paper because I misread one of the questions (and when one question consists of like 25 marks, that's a big deal!). At least I have made the mistake now and know to read it super carefully in the real exam.
But I think I'm set up for a good English grade. If I get two really high B's, my coursework should pull me up to an A overall, so I'm very confident!

Whilst we're on the topic, a little lesson on reading questions carefully:
In English, as I'm sure you know, there is often a quote before the actual question. The question I misread was something along the lines of ' "In social and political protest writing, it is social position that often leads to conflict". In the two texts that you have studied, what is the significance of social position?' So really, you shouldn't focus on conflict because that's not what the question is asking, although you can talk about it to further your argument. If you struggle with questions like that, you can get away with completely ignoring the quote and focusing on the question. Use highlighters to pick out the key parts, or to make you focus on the question rather than the quote!

Also, after next week, I should be done with Photography! The week we have to complete the assessed tasks under timed conditions is next week (although our teacher never actually told us that because she's completely useless :unimpressed:

) so after then I will have another 5 hours of free periods in which to knuckle down and revise in. No doubt it will be incredibly useful (and considerably more difficult to get out of bed on a Tuesday morning considering I won't actually have to go to school for any lessons).
I love Photography, that's why I'm taking the topic up at degree level, but the teacher I have had for this year of my A levels has been incredibly uninspiring and the motivation to do anything for the course has been lost. I honestly think if it wasn't for my talented friends who like me to photograph their cosplays, I would have lost all drive to do something I really really love doing. So needless to say I'm glad the class is nearly over and I'll be thankful to get away from that teacher.

So that's my week! I'm happy my mocks went well and I'm confident that my real exams will go just as well. I'm so glad to soon have some more free time to study and I think it will really benefit my final grades. I have a few photography project ideas for the summer after my exams are all finished too which I'm really excited for and I know will re-ignite the fire I have for photography - perfect before setting off to Birmingham before my degree starts!

I hope everyone else's studying is going really well and I hope you have found the time to enjoy the weather too!

Until next week!

Reply 4

TierneyM

Hello again!

Revision has been going well, although I'm starting to feel the pressure now. All my teachers expect me to get A's in all of my subjects, and I'm sitting here staring at my mountain of folders and wondering how on earth I am going to remember it all. It's been a daunting task trying to cram it all into my head!!

I've been trying to tackle History this week and have found a few really useful ways to get my head around it.

So my teacher gave the class a really handy sheet for each subject we study within history with all of the stuff we need to cover on it, so really it can be used as a sort of checklist and a reference point of what to go over next. I think it was taken from the exam board (mine's OCR) or you could use the contents page in a revision guide or text book to consider what you know well and what you don't know so well.

My teacher also gave us an idea for a revision tool. So basically, you take an A3 sheet of paper and create a really detailed mind-map on a topic (I made some on Charles I and James I). Then fold it in half and summarise on an A4 side, then fold and summarise one more time. Whilst it's great to get it in your head whilst making it, it's also really useful to go back to it. Just look at the smallest side you have made and try to elaborate on the basic points you have written down!
So if you're struggling with revision ideas, ask your teachers. They've probably been teaching longer than you've been a student, not to mention they were once a student too. They are a great place to start!

It's very very VERY close to my first exam and I don't really feel very ready. It's for Media AS, and I really need to go over my case studies in more detail. Luckily I made some pretty detailed power-points last year with all the info I need, so I have been reading over them and planning out questions in preparation. I'm thinking I need to make some mind maps, maybe even do that condensing thing that my history teacher told us about.
Also really want to see the new Deadpool film but not even sure if I have time to go right now... Watching films counts as Media revision, right?

Also turns out that my Photography exam wasn't last week at all, but next week (goes to show how useless my teacher is...).
Organisation in my school has never been a strong point, yet they preach 'fail to plan, and plan to fail!!'. Like yeah no kidding, you guys are great examples of what not to do. I'm ready to finally be done...

Reply 5

TierneyM

Me again!

As of today, I have four days until my first A Level exam, and last week I wasn't feeling so confident. In the last week I have been really focusing on Media Studies to prepare for it and feel much better! I've made several mind maps on my case studies and one detailing all the words and wisdoms of David Gauntlett (what a guy). I've even found the time to watch one of the films that my case study is based on, The Babadook, which is great if you haven't seen it! Should be coming to Netflix soon...

With only a few days left I will be psyching myself up. I know how silly it sounds but I am a big believer in a positive mental attitude - if you think you can do it, then you're more likely to do well than if you're not that confident and don't feel prepared. You've spent two, maybe even three years working towards this and there's no reason why you can't do your very best!

I also made Friday a day to relax and went and saw the new Deadpool film. Loved it (and not just because I want to marry Ryan Reynolds). Don't forget occasional treats and trips out are a key part of keeping afloat and de-stressing, which overall contribute to you doing better in your exams. If you still struggle to shake the stress, keep thinking you only have like 5-6 weeks left, a long summer and freedom ahead of you. Don't blow it now after two/three whole years!!!

I'm officially done with Photography - my first subject to be completed! I think my exam went pretty well, and I don't mean to be modest but I am the best in my class when it comes to writing and analysis. I'm certain that I'm going to get a Distinction. Now I have another 5 hours of free time a week to prepare for my other subjects... Bring it on!

I am most concerned for English Lit and History. They are pretty tough A Levels and the two that I have found the most challenging out of the four subjects I take. I have 3 exams for History, so it is my biggest A Level in terms of prep and the amount of content I need to know. The only teacher that knows anything about the crusades has left so I'm fearing that paper the most, but it is the smallest part of the A Level, so if that doesn't go as well as the others it's not a big deal. My teachers have complete faith in me, and I have complete faith in me. Bring it on!

Reply 6

TierneyM

Hi guys!

First exam down, six more to go! My first one was the Media Studies AS resit, so I'm guessing not that many people took it, but it was a good start to my exam season nonetheless. The text that we had to analyse was a period drama from ITV, so not what I was expecting but still pretty manageable. Some of the questions could have been a little bit nicer, but they weren't awful so I won't complain. I was really happy with section B though, so here's hoping for an A!

My next exam is the first day back after the half term, which is A2 Media. I'm pretty happy with when my exams are actually. It gets Media out of the way so I can focus on History and English.

It is of course the crucial final half term before most of the exams, so it will be a busy one. I have planned some fun stuff around my revising time because as I have mentioned before, relaxing is just as important as studying!

So within the first week back, I have Media as I mentioned, the first of my History papers which is on Witchcraft and the first of my English papers on Tragedy. We know that there's definitely at least one moving image piece for Media Studies because the exam board have to let centres know so they can set up video facilities, so that's really nice. My teacher doesn't expect the other media product to be a print piece because print was used quite recently, but my year is the last year to go through this spec, so anything could happen really.

Witchcraft is split into two sections, the first being about historians interpretations of how things went down which are based on the depth studies of witch hunts in Essex, Germany and Salem. Essex came up last year, and Salem was on the specimen paper, which leaves Germany the most likely depth study to come up. Who knows though, it's so hard to guess these things. Germany is the one I know the best out of the three, so I hope it's that one.

I'm pretty confident that if I go over my notes for Tragedy that I will do well in the paper. The first section is really just knowing Othello well, which is more than doable, and as long as you have looked at lots of practise questions and lots of themes relating to tragedy for the other two texts, you should be golden.

So the plan for this week:
- Brush up on Media theories, my case studies and read up on the news.
- Make mind maps for theories and my case studies.
- Look at lots of practise questions to practise applying my knowledge to the questions.
- Revise lots of history, mostly Witchcraft, but a bit of Stuarts too.
- Make mind maps on the topics that I'm not so confident on.
- Make mind maps for the depth studies in Witchcraft.
- Practise questions.
- Brush up on Tragedy, look at the themes relating to it and read through the texts again.
- Read through my notes and scene summaries.
- Read through the texts, look out for key themes and useful quotes.
- Practise questions.

Well that seems like more than enough to be getting on with. I think this week will be a useful one.

Reply 7

TierneyM

Hello!

So I didn't get as much revision as I would have liked this week. I'll be honest, motivation has been pretty tough. The weather has been so humid and gross that it's made me feel a bit icky, and because I haven't been to college, it's been very easy to just lounge around and not do much.

I have done enough revision where I feel really confident on my first history paper, which is on Wednesday. I have made loads of mind maps on each of the depth studies and tested my knowledge with some practise questions. I think I will do really well!

I did a little session on Media Studies as well and I'm feeling pretty confident. If I can find the time to do a little bit of cramming, I probably will, but I think I'm as prepared as I can be really. I know my case studies well, and the first section I find pretty straightforward. Here's hoping the questions are kind!

I haven't done as much English as I wanted to, and my exam is on Thursday. I don't have masses of time, but I'll probably be focusing my revision this week on English because I'm confident on the other papers I have this week. I think I mostly just need to pick out some key quotes that I can use in my answers and of course refresh myself with the events that happen in the texts in the process.

If you can't tell, I'm starting to panic just a little bit! I don't feel entirely prepared, even though I know that I am and that I will do well. I just think I could have started my revision a little bit earlier and I would have been on track. To be honest, I have managed to fend off the stress so far so maybe it's just a little bit of pressure finally manifesting itself. I just keep reminding myself that I know I can do it, I have been doing it for two years, and on top of all that I only have two and a half weeks to go!

I've got a busy week next week, so here's hoping all goes well. I'll let you know.

Reply 8

ireee

I’ve done a lot of revision this week for my chemistry exam on Tuesday. My only regrets are :

Not revising earlier (but who doesn’t regret this?) and not having a good revision technique. In GCSEs I got away with just writing notes but this week I’ve realised that flashcards help soooo much mooore. I’ve done like a hundred of them and still having finished 😭

Reply 9

TierneyM

Original post by ireee

I wish I had started my revision a little bit earlier, but hindsight is a great thing! You'll still do great anyway.
I've kinda gone off flashcards for my A-Levels?? Maybe it's because I take essay subjects so condensing stuff into flashcards doesn't really work. I prefer mind-maps personally!
Finding a technique that works for you is so hard? Everyone learns differently, so my mind-maps might not work for you. Try doing practise questions/papers maybe? Or tasks from text books or revision guides?

Sounds like you've worked really hard though, I have faith in you!!! Good luck!

Reply 10

ireee

Original post by TierneyM

Awww thank you!! Flashcards are for chemistry which is a science, although for my kind of essay subject Film Studies, creating mind maps jog my memory ☺️

Reply 11

TierneyM

Original post by ireee

Awww thank you!! Flashcards are for chemistry which is a science, although for my kind of essay subject Film Studies, creating mind maps jog my memory ☺️

Sounds like you have got a good technique to me!
What do you plan to do after a levels?

Reply 12

ireee

Original post by TierneyM

Sounds like you have got a good technique to me!
What do you plan to do after a levels?

I'll hopefully get into to the University of Nottingham to do Psychology. What about you?

Reply 13

TierneyM

Original post by ireee

I'll hopefully get into to the University of Nottingham to do Psychology. What about you?

I'm doing Photography at Birmingham City University!!
Best of luck! Hope you get to where you want to be! Let me know how your exam goes on Tuesday!

Reply 14

ireee

Original post by TierneyM

I'm doing Photography at Birmingham City University!!
Best of luck! Hope you get to where you want to be! Let me know how your exam goes on Tuesday!

Just to let you know that my chemistry exam went bad. I ran out of time and missed two 6 mark questions, which I knew how to do 😭. I heard that OCR made the paper longer that it was in previous years

Reply 15

TierneyM

Original post by ireee

Ouch, that's rough! If they made it longer than normal then most of the country probably would have struggled too, so try to keep that in mind. If you answered the rest of the paper well then I'm sure you did better than you think!

I had a history exam today - the biggest out of my whole course. It definitely could have gone better, like you I had some serious timing issues. I did manage to answer all of the questions, but a 45 minute essay was written in 20 minutes so... 🙃

Reply 16

ireee

Original post by TierneyM

Yh. Like they say, you might do better than expected. Don’t you also have other papers for history?

Reply 17

TierneyM

Original post by ireee

Yh. Like they say, you might do better than expected. Don’t you also have other papers for history?

Yes, I have one on Wednesday on the Stuarts and then one the week after on Crusades! I'm not prepared for either!!!

Reply 18

TierneyM

Oh my goodness I'm glad the week is over.
It's been such a busy one with three exams and three more to go, but I think I did really well in the exams I sat this week.

First one was Media Studies, and I really really liked the two texts that came up! They were for the American companies AT&T and IBM and the questions were about how the audience can relate to the text, how reliant we are on new media and something about representations (I can't remember now, it feels like a century ago).
The case study questions were very kind and very doable too. I did one of the identity questions and think it went really well! Overall very pleased with how Media Studies has gone!

Next was my biggest History exam - Witchcraft. It was a bit cruel to be honest! So there are three case studies and Essex came up last year, as I've mentioned before, so no one was expecting Essex to come up AGAIN. I was just a little bit salty. I didn't even like the question, which was on Hopkins' motives, so a little bit obscure. All things considered I think that question could have gone much worse and I did the best I could, but (and it's a big but) I spent too much time on it and completely messed up my timing for the rest of the paper. I then spent too much time on the next question and only left myself 20 minutes for an essay that should take around 45 minutes...
I'm trying to keep positive, but I don't think it's going to be my best mark!

And the last exam for this week was the first English paper for Tragedy. Again, another good paper!
The passage at the start was around my favourite character, Iago, so naturally I quite liked that bit because I had a lot to say about him.
The next set of questions were a little bit obscure, and the one I picked focused on a rather minor character - Emilia. Nevertheless, I liked it and had plenty to say.
And the last was about pride, a dream of a question if you ask me, especially regarding the texts I had to study. So all in all a great paper! Very happy.

So next week I have the Stuarts paper and the Political and Social protest paper. I have already been working really hard to prepare for them, especially for the source-based question on Stuarts because we haven't done it in such a long time. I'm a little bit worried about it, but my teacher gives me faith that it will be alright! She's great, and been working equally as hard to make the class feel confident. I've been making some of my favourite fold-down-condensing-mind-maps, which I have found super useful. I'm just a little bit worried that I won't remember the order of events, which is quite important for that question.

I'm quite happy for the next English paper. I think the last of my revising should just be looking over some key quotes that I can use in my answers.

I'm so close to the end and I'm so excited!! Only three more exams to go, even if I'm not looking forward to them, especially the History ones. I think History is my hardest subject, so I'll be interested to see how I did on results day.

I'm going to the seaside with my friend the day after my last exam, have got the annual Midsummer Ball that our school plans to attend AND I'm planning another trip to Birmingham for a weekend away. I've got lots to look forward to and I'm so ready for school to be over!

Until next week!

Reply 19

TierneyM

I AM OFFICIALLY FINISHED WITH MY A-LEVELS!!
What an amazing feeling to finally be done (Although I do write today with a slight hangover so maybe not the MOST amazing feeling :s-smilie:

)

My last exams went pretty well!
I panicked WAY too much for the Stuarts exam and I think that will affect my mark, but it definitely could have gone worse. I just felt that we had not done a source based question in so long that I wouldn't know what I was doing, but once I was in that exam room it all went fine.
The long 3 hour English paper went pretty well too, but I felt I was kinda restricted in the questions because the last two questions didn't fit all three texts I had studied, which left me limited on what I felt comfortable doing. But nevertheless, no catastrophes and I think I did alright, perhaps slightly better in the Tragedy paper though.
By the time it got to my last exam, which was Crusades, I had given up panicking about it if I'm entirely honest. Panicking was a waste of energy with the Stuarts paper because I realised it was fine and there was nothing more I could have done. I did some 'smart revision' for the crusades since there's only a limited amount of things they can ask you, so I just went through those questions. Turned out I was actually really confident going into that exam and I think I did really really well.

As you can imagine the summer celebrations are already underway! I went to the seaside which was a wonderful day (although the sunburn is not), we went out partying for a friend's birthday last night (hence the hangover) and we plan to do much more!

All that's left now is to prepare for university! I'll definitely need to write out a shopping list of what I will need to get and read over it at least 16 times hoping that I haven't missed anything off. I need to sort out a budget because my student finance is cripplingly low and learn all about cost-cutting. And obviously prepare my liver for freshers week... Which I have already started to do.

I've also got a few creative projects planned for the upcoming weeks! My friends have already nabbed me and asked if I can take pictures of their cosplays, since they're avid costume designers and make-up artists. They want to do a music video at some point too, so I'll get to do a little bit of editing. And of course I have my own photography projects planned that I'm quite excited to get started on. If you're interested, I have a website and Instagram page that you should definitely go check out! (@t.mizell.photos).

Thank you to everyone who has followed this blog, and as always I urge you to share your thoughts, revision techniques, where you plan to go and what you plan to do next, or just talk about the next Netflix show you plan to binge!
If you would like some more content, I recommend heading over to Birmingham City's YouTube page for some interesting updates from other students like me.

Hope to hear from you on results day!