Why does everyone have such high grades on tsr?

I'm not jealous or anything I'm genuinely curious. Every forum I go on, people have all 9s or 8s or 7s or
9-7 or for a levels a*, congratulations to them but how and why? I was just wondering as 5% of pupils in the uk get a 9 and so many on tsr have got it. Please don't say they just revised, I need genuine advice as I'm going to sixth form on how to get a*-b grades (I'm studying biology, chemistry and maths)
Thanks

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 1

Kibser

18

People who take an active interest in their education, i.e. using student forums like TSR, are more likely to be better achieving. People who don't care as much are less likely to be using all the resources available to them.

Original post by GTT21

I'm not jealous or anything I'm genuinely curious. Every forum I go on, people have all 9s or 8s or 7s or
9-7 or for a levels a*, congratulations to them but how and why? I was just wondering as 5% of pupils in the uk get a 9 and so many on tsr have got it. Please don't say they just revised, I need genuine advice as I'm going to sixth form on how to get a*-b grades (I'm studying biology, chemistry and maths)
Thanks

self-selection bias :smile:

students on TSR in my experience are more likely to be a part of those 5%
also some people inflate their grades and those that don't do as well may just not announce their grades to the public

Reply 3

Rufus The Red

20

1. People looking to get higher grades are more likely to be drawn to an academic site - meaning TSR is not representative.
2. People with higher grades are more likely to post about it - skewing what you see on TSR.

Reply 4

Reality Check

22

Original post by GTT21

I'm not jealous or anything I'm genuinely curious. Every forum I go on, people have all 9s or 8s or 7s or
9-7 or for a levels a*, congratulations to them but how and why? I was just wondering as 5% of pupils in the uk get a 9 and so many on tsr have got it. Please don't say they just revised, I need genuine advice as I'm going to sixth form on how to get a*-b grades (I'm studying biology, chemistry and maths)
Thanks

There's lots to unpick here.

1. It's a cliché on TSR for a reason: it's always attracted high-ability students. It also attracts neurotic students who are convinced that they're not working hard enough, and a lot of students from first and second-generation immigrant backgrounds, where 'failing' (eg not getting 9s or A*s across the board) is seen as far more of a travesty as it would be for native British students (overgeneralising, but you get the point).

2. A good proportion of these students do not have the grades they claim to have. You must not take everything you read here at face value. TSR's 'I've got 14 grade 9s' is making up for the fact that some students are very lacking in other areas, like social skills, sporting ability etc.

3. TSR has never been representative of the UK student cohort, and again you must remember that. When you go on a thread and see that everyone seems to have A*s, you have to remember that any normal thread (eg a representative sample of the student cohort) would have most people getting C grades. Remember that :smile:

Reply 5

Reality Check

22

Original post by GTT21

I'm not jealous or anything I'm genuinely curious. Every forum I go on, people have all 9s or 8s or 7s or
9-7 or for a levels a*, congratulations to them but how and why? I was just wondering as 5% of pupils in the uk get a 9 and so many on tsr have got it. Please don't say they just revised, I need genuine advice as I'm going to sixth form on how to get a*-b grades (I'm studying biology, chemistry and maths)
Thanks

Also, if you got, say, AAB at A level then you would have done better than the vast majority of the UK student cohort and achieved an excellent result. The fact that this might not be 'stellar' from a TSR point of view is irrelevant to the achievement.

Reply 6

Look at Moii

4

Original post by GTT21

I'm not jealous or anything I'm genuinely curious. Every forum I go on, people have all 9s or 8s or 7s or
9-7 or for a levels a*, congratulations to them but how and why? I was just wondering as 5% of pupils in the uk get a 9 and so many on tsr have got it. Please don't say they just revised, I need genuine advice as I'm going to sixth form on how to get a*-b grades (I'm studying biology, chemistry and maths)
Thanks

Remember that the vast majority of people who come onto forums consume the content but don't actively post! :smile:

The Student Room is a forum for everyone, no matter their study or vocation choices, grades or personal circumstances. With millions of visitors every month, our audience is more varied than you may think :h:

(Personally, I didn't get a single A in my studies!) All the best for your Sixth Form journey! :banana:

Reply 7

GTT21

OP

16

Original post by _Mia101

self-selection bias :smile:

students on TSR in my experience are more likely to be a part of those 5%
also some people inflate their grades and those that don't do as well may just not announce their grades to the public

Original post by Rufus the red

1. People looking to get higher grades are more likely to be drawn to an academic site - meaning TSR is not representative.
2. People with higher grades are more likely to post about it - skewing what you see on TSR.

Original post by Reality Check

There's lots to unpick here.

1. It's a cliché on TSR for a reason: it's always attracted high-ability students. It also attracts neurotic students who are convinced that they're not working hard enough, and a lot of students from first and second-generation immigrant backgrounds, where 'failing' (eg not getting 9s or A*s across the board) is seen as far more of a travesty as it would be for native British students (overgeneralising, but you get the point).

2. A good proportion of these students do not have the grades they claim to have. You must not take everything you read here at face value. TSR's 'I've got 14 grade 9s' is making up for the fact that some students are very lacking in other areas, like social skills, sporting ability etc.

3. TSR has never been representative of the UK student cohort, and again you must remember that. When you go on a thread and see that everyone seems to have A*s, you have to remember that any normal thread (eg a representative sample of the student cohort) would have most people getting C grades. Remember that :smile:

That makes sense why almost everyone has 9-7. That's why I see so many students say they get 11 9s. Thanks for explaining this to me!

Original post by Kibser

People who take an active interest in their education, i.e. using student forums like TSR, are more likely to be better achieving. People who don't care as much are less likely to be using all the resources available to them.

That's true

Original post by Reality Check

Also, if you got, say, AAB at A level then you would have done better than the vast majority of the UK student cohort and achieved an excellent result. The fact that this might not be 'stellar' from a TSR point of view is irrelevant to the achievement.

You're right I should compare results to myself on tsr.

Original post by Look at Moii

Remember that the vast majority of people who come onto forums consume the content but don't actively post! :smile:

The Student Room is a forum for everyone, no matter their study or vocation choices, grades or personal circumstances. With millions of visitors every month, our audience is more varied than you may think :h:

(Personally, I didn't get a single A in my studies!) All the best for your Sixth Form journey! :banana:

Honestly, I needed this! Thank you so much.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 8

mnot

Universities Forum Helper

20

Original post by GTT21

I'm not jealous or anything I'm genuinely curious. Every forum I go on, people have all 9s or 8s or 7s or
9-7 or for a levels a*, congratulations to them but how and why? I was just wondering as 5% of pupils in the uk get a 9 and so many on tsr have got it. Please don't say they just revised, I need genuine advice as I'm going to sixth form on how to get a*-b grades (I'm studying biology, chemistry and maths)
Thanks

1) They dont
2) People lie
3) People rarely boast about being average, even though inevitably that is where the majority of the population sit.

It is also true that TSR probably has a very biased demographic, people who come to a forum with dedicated sections to discuss academics more likely to be self motivated focused on achieving certain academics? Of course.

Reply 9

mnot

Universities Forum Helper

20

Original post by Reality Check

There's lots to unpick here.

1. It's a cliché on TSR for a reason: it's always attracted high-ability students. It also attracts neurotic students who are convinced that they're not working hard enough, and a lot of students from first and second-generation immigrant backgrounds, where 'failing' (eg not getting 9s or A*s across the board) is seen as far more of a travesty as it would be for native British students (overgeneralising, but you get the point).

2. A good proportion of these students do not have the grades they claim to have. You must not take everything you read here at face value. TSR's 'I've got 14 grade 9s' is making up for the fact that some students are very lacking in other areas, like social skills, sporting ability etc.

3. TSR has never been representative of the UK student cohort, and again you must remember that. When you go on a thread and see that everyone seems to have A*s, you have to remember that any normal thread (eg a representative sample of the student cohort) would have most people getting C grades. Remember that :smile:

PRSOM

Reply 10

Mesopotamian…

21

The reasons why TSR seems to have a large proportion of stellar students has been covered well above.

As for the advice you’re looking for:
- Revise as you go along the year - don’t leave it until the last few months.
- Past paper practice - I cannot emphasise this enough. Exam technique is, in my opinion, the single most important skill you need to excel in exams. You can only develop this through practicing past papers over and over again.
- Complete all homework set, even if it’s just a bunch of questions from the text book or a sheet of questions your teacher gives you.
- Complete all the questions in the text books. The more practice, the better.

For reference, I also did chemistry, biology and maths A Level (+ AS physics).

Reply 11

GTT21

OP

16

Original post by Mesopotamian.

The reasons why TSR seems to have a large proportion of stellar students has been covered well above.

As for the advice you’re looking for:
- Revise as you go along the year - don’t leave it until the last few months.
- Past paper practice - I cannot emphasise this enough. Exam technique is, in my opinion, the single most important skill you need to excel in exams. You can only develop this through practicing past papers over and over again.
- Complete all homework set, even if it’s just a bunch of questions from the text book or a sheet of questions your teacher gives you.
- Complete all the questions in the text books. The more practice, the better.

For reference, I also did chemistry, biology and maths A Level (+ AS physics).

This is what I need, do I need to make revision notes?

Reply 12

Mesopotamian…

21

Original post by GTT21

This is what I need, do I need to make revision notes?

You can, I’d say revision notes are more useful for biology as it’s more content-based. For chemistry, I made notes but I didn’t find them as useful, personally. For maths, don’t even bother. Go straight to practice questions.

Reply 13

GTT21

OP

16

Original post by Mesopotamian.

You can, I’d say revision notes are more useful for biology as it’s more content-based. For chemistry, I made notes but I didn’t find them as useful, personally. For maths, don’t even bother. Go straight to practice questions.

Thanks

Reply 14

Wise Goldie

17

Original post by Mesopotamian.

You can, I’d say revision notes are more useful for biology as it’s more content-based. For chemistry, I made notes but I didn’t find them as useful, personally. For maths, don’t even bother. Go straight to practice questions.

i dont i have no grades im mr thick lol :u:

Reply 15

Interea

19

Original post by GTT21

This is what I need, do I need to make revision notes?

Some form of revision notes would definitely be helpful for the sciences, you end up with so many notes and worksheets by the end that it can all be a bit overwhelming if you don't summarise at all. For example, I ended up with 2 big lever arch files for chemistry by the end of year 13, both completely full to bursting point with over-detailed class notes and worksheets we'd been given (so literally hundreds upon hundreds of pages), but my summary revision notes cut everything down to about 40 pages - much more manageable! :smile:

As above, maths is all about practice, and most textbooks have good summaries at the end of each chapter anyway (plus sites like Physics and Maths Tutor tend to have summaries too), so revision notes aren't necessarily the best use of your time.