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A-levels

Are there any a- levels I should try and avoid. At the moment I have chosen psychology, sociology and BTEC science. I am predicted 5’s in my GCSE’s. Thanks
English lit is hell - don't pick it.
Original post by anonymoustony
English lit is hell - don't pick it.

Agree. English lit was the biggest mistake I made. There were many tears. Made me feel like going back to A Level Biology which I dropped.
I loved psychology though. Good thing since I’m studying it at uni :u:
Reply 3
Avatar for RosieL04
RosieL04
OP
9
Original post by Phoenixfeather99
Agree. English lit was the biggest mistake I made. There were many tears. Made me feel like going back to A Level Biology which I dropped.
I loved psychology though. Good thing since I’m studying it at uni :u:

Do you think English lit & Lang would be the same?
Original post by RosieL04
Do you think English lit & Lang would be the same?

I don’t know. However I did miss the creative writing side of things in English Lang which you don’t do in literature. To like any English A Level you have to love reading. You have to re-read the same books over and over and you can only sanely do that if you love the subject. I like reading and I enjoy a book, but not to the extent that A Level requires.
If reading and writing is something that you are passionate about then give English Lang a go. Most colleges allow to to swap and drop in the first few weeks, so if you hate it you can always change, and if you wished that you could take it, you could always swap a subject to take English.
Original post by Phoenixfeather99
Agree. English lit was the biggest mistake I made. There were many tears. Made me feel like going back to A Level Biology which I dropped.
I loved psychology though. Good thing since I’m studying it at uni :u:


same, I wish wish wish I picked geography instead. in year 13 now and working at a D when exams are weeks away. I got a 9 at gcse and thought I did well - let me pick it. Never again. do you have any tips on revising English?
Original post by anonymoustony
same, I wish wish wish I picked geography instead. in year 13 now and working at a D when exams are weeks away. I got a 9 at gcse and thought I did well - let me pick it. Never again. do you have any tips on revising English?

Do practice questions like your life depends on it. I got scrapped a D by 1 mark in my last mock, 6 weeks before A Levels started. I ended up with a high B.
I would do every past paper that I could get my hands on. I would do them open book and not against the clock. I’d probably spend around 2-3hours on each. Planning the essay, searching for quotes and evidence. Reading similar essays that I found online. I’d then get my teacher to mark them. If I was happy with the mark then I would file away the essay. If I wasn’t, I’d go back to it a few days later and improve in the areas that my teacher highlighted. I probably wrote 30 essays in those 6 weeks. My teacher referred to me as an essay machine. However, I saw my grade improve every week, quotes and ideas started to come quicker and easier. Then in the 48hours before my exam, I would read and re-read all the relevant essays that I had filed away. I will tell you that I cried a lot, but I made sure to leave time to revise for my other subjects and I made sure to stop revision at 8pm every day other than the night before an exam when I would stop at 10pm. It’s important not to burn yourself out. You need to look after yourself. You have a lot longer than 6 weeks, so it is perfectly possible for you to boost your grade. I’d suggest doing 2 open book essays a week and get them marked by your teacher. If your happy with the grade, file it. If your not, leave it for a week and then re-write it and get it marked, then file or repeat etc. Keep doing this, and then you’ll have a massive database of essays with information to look back over before the exam or when your writing another practice essay.
Original post by Phoenixfeather99
Do practice questions like your life depends on it. I got scrapped a D by 1 mark in my last mock, 6 weeks before A Levels started. I ended up with a high B.
I would do every past paper that I could get my hands on. I would do them open book and not against the clock. I’d probably spend around 2-3hours on each. Planning the essay, searching for quotes and evidence. Reading similar essays that I found online. I’d then get my teacher to mark them. If I was happy with the mark then I would file away the essay. If I wasn’t, I’d go back to it a few days later and improve in the areas that my teacher highlighted. I probably wrote 30 essays in those 6 weeks. My teacher referred to me as an essay machine. However, I saw my grade improve every week, quotes and ideas started to come quicker and easier. Then in the 48hours before my exam, I would read and re-read all the relevant essays that I had filed away. I will tell you that I cried a lot, but I made sure to leave time to revise for my other subjects and I made sure to stop revision at 8pm every day other than the night before an exam when I would stop at 10pm. It’s important not to burn yourself out. You need to look after yourself. You have a lot longer than 6 weeks, so it is perfectly possible for you to boost your grade. I’d suggest doing 2 open book essays a week and get them marked by your teacher. If your happy with the grade, file it. If your not, leave it for a week and then re-write it and get it marked, then file or repeat etc. Keep doing this, and then you’ll have a massive database of essays with information to look back over before the exam or when your writing another practice essay.


Thank you so much! This gives me hope as I really want a B at least. I have about 40 essay questions for each book already which I will do. Again thanks for the reply
Reply 8
Avatar for xozxexo
xozxexo
13
I have heard from my friends that a level history is horrible. Not so much the content but the exams are horrible
Don’t do geography alevel please don’t unless you’re aware with what the school uses as teaching materials and whether they have the effort and love to teach you like an average normal teacher. Also look back on past papers coz it’s boring. I should’ve picked psychology it’s much easier and my friends enjoy it a lot. So don’t pick it
Original post by xozxexo
I have heard from my friends that a level history is horrible. Not so much the content but the exams are horrible

Just for the op I do history and the exams aren’t that bad, especially once you learn the structure to them.
Original post by anonymoustony
Just for the op I do history and the exams aren’t that bad, especially once you learn the structure to them.


Heard there was a horrible final exam which includes too many essays for the time given? Not sure tbf
Original post by xozxexo
Heard there was a horrible final exam which includes too many essays for the time given? Not sure tbf

yeah, the timings are really tight but that is the case with essay exams I think. on aqa, 3 sources and 2 essay questions on each paper which is not easy in the time you get but with practise it should be possible.

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