Both my parents haven't worked since the 1980s and I've got a Cambridge offer AMA

A B grade is just about above average so these are not good grades but you are not an idiot as you still passed, if you don't get Cs in both English and Maths then you are an idiot.

Its probably best to look on my thread it has loads of tips and notes on a lot of the topics of that unit, close to the exam I was just answering any question people posed and this helped me remember key details for questions but the whole unit is pretty simple and some people learned set answers for each topic it was that repetitive make decent notes on your fieldwork and look over past papers and you should do fine.I'm not sure whether I can give any better advice than that as I thought I had done much worse in the exam and didn't do that well in my mock I was lucky really.My notes weren't too large they only took about an hour to go over but that meant I could go over them more and learn the key facts.

I don't work out as I couldn't really be bothered and it costs money, which I am not prepared to pay.

I don't really get how their story is much worse, my parents have never worked for decades nevermind takeaways.I have witnessed my mam have a mental breakdown and my dad threaten my brother with a lighter(due to mental illness I think) and I went to mental hospitals regularly when I was a child to visit them my parents have both been in multiple times.

And... at what point do you start to enjoy life? Travelling, concerts, friendships, mistakes and good choices... I could go on. You say there isn't much point to life if you don't succeed academically. Is that really all you ask from life? Not going to mention arrogance or superficiality. Just, really, really sad.

Most people have graduated by the time they're 22, life expectancy in this country is 80-odd. Also, I haven't graduated yet and have managed to travel, make friends, mistake, good choices, had four jobs, been in a relationship for nearly five years, lived out, paid bills/taxes (unfortunately). Life doesn't just stop/start based on whether you're studying or not.

I have always went through life defining myself by grades eg.I've progressed from GCSE to A Level any time outside study is relaxing from studying/maybe being a bit lazy, life is like levels in a game really and you have to try and get through each level and the current level is A Level.

And... at what point do you start to enjoy life? Travelling, concerts, friendships, mistakes and good choices... I could go on. You say there isn't much point to life if you don't succeed academically. Is that really all you ask from life? Not going to mention arrogance or superficiality. Just, really, really sad.

I already have work experience?everyone is supposed to do some in Y10-some people backed out though.Your degree is suppose to get you a graduate job not experience.A grade B at GCSE shows you aren't really that good its only slightly above average and by getting a grade B you are making a whole lot harder on yourself to do well at A Level its a good indicator for success at A Level and most importantly grades are an indicator of how intelligent you are and good grades generally mean you perceive the world in an intelligent way because if you get lower grades then you are closer to the intelligence of an animal.

The other goals I want are out of reach like I don't think I will ever get a girlfriend but I don't want to travel or go to concerts or go out with friends(I am some college friends though) these activities are too enduring.

Not necessarily out of reach. And also not those specific things but you genuinely don't enjoy anything else bar studying? In any case congratulations and wish you every success in life, hope you find the experience enjoyable.

What a ridiculous statement. Grades mean nothing in the real world. God, I'd hate to go to Cambridge if there are people like you there! I have friends who had A grades at GCSE and E grades in the same subjects at AS. GCSEs are memory tests, they mean absolutely nothing. Your piss poor grammar and punctuation really isn't consistent with your elitist nonsense, either.

A B also isn't a "low grade". A low grade would be a D or an E. You can rote learn most GCSE subjects anyway. If you have a poor memory, you're screwed.

GCSEs are more than memory tests there were quite a few applied questions on GCSE Science questions and the same could be said for all the GCSEs, I tried very hard and revised very hard for the subjects I found really hard not Maths(as this was easy) and I still got some As showing they were more than memory tests.I actually think GCSEs are underrated like you see people getting A/A*s across the board at A Level who got Bs and Cs or worse in quite a few GCSEs GCSEs could be classed as harder as they assess a wider range of knowledge, requiring you to be intelligent at everything.

I have so far found that A Levels are a natural progression from GCSEs with overlapping content so I don't get how some people go from A to E, people in my classes at college generally continued their success at A Level there was a student who didn't have a good attitude and didn't put in much work but they ended up turning it round and getting good grades like they did at GCSE.

Nah. Lots of definition questions and questions where all you had to do was memorise information, especially for Biology. Apart from that, yes, there were application of knowledge questions here and there (more so in physics and chemistry), but it was still often a case of using an equation for the calculations that you'd memorised (or that had been given to you). History was pure memorisation of events. ICT was also pure memorisation, except for the odd application question. Maths was all about understanding, because you had to follow a set of rules to answer a question. English was memorising quotes, but apart from that it was largely about the quality of writing, so it's a subject you have to be good at. Languages were memorisation of vocab.

A Levels are nothing like GCSEs! The content is far more rigorous in terms of depth, and if you don't understand it, you've had it. You'll still get the odd memorisation parts, though. CH4 and CH2 for chemistry are largely about memorising reactions and mechanisms, bar the odd application question and calculations. But who cares if I know how to oxidise an alcohol now? I won't remember the reagents in a years' time.

English wasn't about memorising quotes?I don't think I had to memorise a single one, all my exams were open book it was really about what you got on the day not much with memorisation.

There were about as many definition questions and memorisation at GCSE as there is at A Level now I think at A Level(more AS) you can still get to fill in tables on what is pretty much memorisation that was a 7 marker in AS Physics.In Languages you really needed practice at interpreting things in the right context, learning vocab wasn't enough as there was so much too learn but the coursework was 100% memorisation though.A Level Physics is a lot like the GCSE with lots more calculations there is much more conceptual stuff I would say but I don't think the jump is that big.

I was able to self learn most of the A Level Maths (C1-C4) back in Y11 and I am doing it again now but I suppose it is harder than GCSE but GCSE was really easy but I don't see how someone should struggle if they did well in the GCSE I think the important thing is making sure you have got to grips with all of the GCSE syllabus or at least the main important parts, for Maths and Physics it should all follow on naturally if you do remember those parts and often it just feels like an extension(my AS Maths teacher use to go on on showing how the content really wasn't much harder than GCSE yet people struggled).

We had to memorise quotes, my exam wasn't open book. Weirdly, though, the A2 exam is open book.

Yes but the content is harder at A Level, so although there's memorisation, the application questions are far harder. That's why I got an A at GCSE and an E at AS and so did a lot of people I know (chemistry). I'm thinking I should have taken physics since although I'm bad at maths, the calculations were easy at GCSE, but then the content must be harder. I think the main issue with A Level sciences is the volume of the content, too, as there's loads of it. Biology is hard especially because the mark schemes change from year to year in terms of what specific words they'll accept. Languages are sometimes application, but I got As just by learning vocab and guessing the meaning of things based on memorised vocab. Maybe I just have an aptitude for languages, I don't know.

I find maths very difficult. I always have. When it's explained to me, it's easy, but I have difficulty interpreting the questions sometimes. That's why I liked physics- just use an equation and that's that, mostly.

A B grade is just about above average so these are not good grades but you are not an idiot as you still passed, if you don't get Cs in both English and Maths then you are an idiot.

AMA