I got all A*'s at GCSE and A-Level: ask me anything (advice thread)

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english: watch Mr Bruff videos, print out extracts relevent to the video and annotate them using the sample essays and annotation videos (would highly recommend this as the day before my english GCSE, I annotated the exact extract for A Christmas Carol that I got in my exam and I had very thorough notes on it) Also to reread the books, use audiobooks and always have it in the background playing (find it on youtube)
science: all past papers and rewriting the revision guide (they tell you not to do this but its literally the way i got an A* in every single science)
history i didnt do
french i didnt do but for spanish i used the app duolingo for vocab, sometimes quizlet and I also created phrases with really complicated tenses (that would only be taught at a-level), memorized them and then used these in my writing as it basically guarantees you high marks

thanks u so much

Reply 41

GetGradenines

Original post by rose236

you cant get an A* at AS :smile:

i forgot, im out

Reply 42

emilyfields101

Original post by rose236

At GCSE I got 11 A*'s (maths, english lang/lit, biology, chemistry, physics, business, spanish, geography, photography, ICT) and at A-Level I got 3 A*'s in maths, economics, and biology, an A* in my EPQ and an A in AS further maths (which I self-taught). I am open to answering any questions about my grades or the subjects I took and will try my best to give advice :smile:

video about my experience applying to cambridge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNrmxbfAlyU&t=5s

Hi! I'm trying to decide about my a levels and i was wondering what is it like to do economics? is it easy to revise for and does it take a few weeks to understand the whole concept. my school didn't do it a gcse level so doing it at a level is worrying me a bit as it is such a new subject to me. do you have any advice about economics at a level in general and how to do well at the subject? Thank you!

Reply 43

username4347578

Hey! I’m doing bio chemistry maths and want to get an A for bio and chem and an A* for maths. Is it possible if I work hard from day one, make revision notes, ask teacher questions and make sure that I completely understand everything?

Reply 44

rose236

a lot of people are asking very similar questions so I made a video summarising what most people are asking, please watch this if you are a GCSE student before asking any more questions :smile:

https://youtu.be/o1f65qpdGno

Reply 45

a-rose02

What made you want to study economics as a degree?

Reply 46

rose236

Original post by emilyfields101

I found economics to be hard, despite the fact I've read several economics books and am doing economics at university. The actual content is okay, some concepts are very hard to initially wrap your head around though. The exam and marking is the issue. It isn't easy to revise for since it is an essay subject. I recommend looking at econplusdal on youtube. Watch a few videos and it will give you a good idea of what you will be studying. Watching his videos was the best revision I did (watch every single video if you can- there are a lot). I didn't do GCSE economics so don't worry about that but I did do business which had some overlap. You can't understand the whole concept in a few weeks. Going into my exam I hadn't revised everything since there is so much to learn. I can't really tell you how you will find it as everyone is different but you will be good at micro if you like maths and good at macro if you like humanities.

Reply 47

emilyfields101

Original post by rose236

Thank you so much this was really helpful! Also another question how maths based is economics (I got a 7 in maths at gcse)

Reply 48

rose236

Original post by ArtmisKco

What did you get in those 3 subjects at GCSE? I've heard that chemistry is very hard as an A-Level but I can't tell you much about that since I didn't do it. For biology yes you can definitely get an A if you do all that! Biology is purely based on understanding content and being able to apply it (plus 10% of the marks have to be maths so if you are good at maths you already have an advantage as it's very basic). Maths is a tricky one. I was on edexcel and our maths paper got leaked this year. Also the exam was wayyy harder than any other practice paper or specimen so even if you know the content it's hard to be prepared! Definitely do all that but remember, at A-Level, its very hard to understand absolutely everything. As someone who got A*'s in everything, I still don't understand some concepts, sometimes you just have to accept something without fully understanding it.

Reply 49

jjjjhjhjhhjjhjhj

What universities did u apply to?

Reply 50

rose236

Original post by a-rose02

What made you want to study economics as a degree?

I want to go into the finance industry so economics was the best degree for that. Also, I really like maths but didn't want to do a pure maths degree at uni (that would be too much maths for me) so economics seemed like a good one to pick since I don't like physics etc.

Reply 51

rose236

Original post by jjjjhjhjhhjjhjhj

What universities did u apply to?

Cambridge (Trinity College), Warwick, Durham, Bath, Loughborough

Reply 52

jjjjhjhjhhjjhjhj

How did u find the ecaa??

Reply 53

rose236

Original post by jjjjhjhjhhjjhjhj

How did u find the ecaa??

I explain it in the cambridge video linked on the first page so i'm not going to write it out again but it isn't easy, multiple-choice section is so tight for time, essay was fine

Reply 54

jjjjhjhjhhjjhjhj

Ok thanks.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 55

rose236

Original post by emilyfields101

Thank you so much this was really helpful! Also another question how maths based is economics (I got a 7 in maths at gcse)

Not very. Maths calculations are very basic and only occur during the short answer or multiple-choice section. But if you have a mathematical brain people tend to prefer micro.

Reply 56

emilyfields101

Original post by rose236

video about my experience applying to cambridge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNrmxbfAlyU&t=5s
how to get all A*'s at GCSE: https://youtu.be/o1f65qpdGno (PLEASE WATCH THIS BEFORE ASKING A QUESTION ABOUT GCSE's)

Hi I was wondering how maths based economics a level (edexcel) was? I got a 7 in maths gcse so just wondering how challenging it is?

Reply 57

rose236

Original post by emilyfields101

Hi I was wondering how maths based economics a level (edexcel) was? I got a 7 in maths gcse so just wondering how challenging it is?

the maths is very easy, basic percentage change, dividing and multiplying

Reply 58

15drai

Hi I’m going into year 11 next week and my weakest topic is French - I was wondering how you made revision resources for Spanish? Did you take all your old Spanish class work and condense/rewrite then into notes or just make flash cards from them?