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How to revise/learn A2?

I got my AS results today and got BCCD in maths, biology, chemistry, physics in that order.
I want to bring my grades up to ABB min and want to know what techniques i should use to revise as all i did last year was answer the questions in the books and past paper questions
What other techniques should i use :smile:
I dont know what learning techniques are the best for me

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Original post by toonervoustotalk
I got my AS results today and got BCCD in maths, biology, chemistry, physics in that order.
I want to bring my grades up to ABB min and want to know what techniques i should use to revise as all i did last year was answer the questions in the books and past paper questions
What other techniques should i use :smile:
I don't know what learning techniques are the best for me


When you answered past paper questions last year did you also then get the mark schemes to check your answers? Perhaps it would help if you ordered scripts back and spoke to your teachers. They might be able to identify particular aspects of your exam style that could be worked on. Did you notice finding any particular aspects hard? How did you expect to do after you sat the exams?
Original post by Craghyrax
When you answered past paper questions last year did you also then get the mark schemes to check your answers? Perhaps it would help if you ordered scripts back and spoke to your teachers. They might be able to identify particular aspects of your exam style that could be worked on. Did you notice finding any particular aspects hard? How did you expect to do after you sat the exams?

Yes i did go over the paper again using the mark schemes :smile:
Ok will ask for scripts back so i can see where i need to improve
Do you have to pay for your scripts?
After an exam i usually feel good until i start talking to other students :frown:
Original post by toonervoustotalk
I got my AS results today and got BCCD in maths, biology, chemistry, physics in that order.
I want to bring my grades up to ABB min and want to know what techniques i should use to revise as all i did last year was answer the questions in the books and past paper questions
What other techniques should i use :smile:
I dont know what learning techniques are the best for me


Practice, read examiner reports and more practice
Original post by toonervoustotalk
Yes i did go over the paper again using the mark schemes :smile:
Ok will ask for scripts back so i can see where i need to improve
Do you have to pay for your scripts?
After an exam i usually feel good until i start talking to other students :frown:

Yeh you do. When I was a student it was £8 per script but I don't know what it is now. The advice by Not Anonymous is good :p:

As to talking to other students.... well don't :wink:
Original post by Not Anonymous
Practice, read examiner reports and more practice

Thanks :h: i have never read them. Will start though
Original post by Craghyrax
Yeh you do. When I was a student it was £8 per script but I don't know what it is now. The advice by Not Anonymous is good :p:

As to talking to other students.... well don't :wink:

Ok will ask my college tomorrow :smile:
Ok i will try not to talk to them :smile:
Reply 6
Avatar for hannb98
hannb98
3
So I did geography, economics, biology and psychology so quite different to your subjects, but I thought I'd share what I did anyway bc it might help others.
I bought a5 notebooks and made revision notes on everything in a fair amount of detail (start early), then read through it a couple of times, and then summarised the pages on sticky notes. Basically I just processed the information over and over until it sunk in. I wish I'd started actually learning the information earlier rather than just producing more and more revision materials, so this year I'm going to start much earlier on learning the material (as we go throughout the year). Once I'd learned a fair amount I started doing practice papers which we hadn't done yet in class, marked them and found out where the areas I fell down were, go over the problem areas and read the examiners reports (which are so useful, take advantage of examiners giving you sample answers and telling you what to do and what not to do)
For any essay subjects think of possible essay titles and make plans instead of writing out the whole essay which takes forever..

I got AAAA in my AS exams this year and this is pretty much everything I did. I used to revision guides a little bit but didn't find them particularly useful, wish I hadn't spent the money on them.
Reply 7
Avatar for itsgrace_
itsgrace_
Are there any good revision/learning sites for Business Studies A2? I really need to do well in this subject but my AS results were extremely disappointing (CBD - Fine Art, Media Studies, Business Studies).

I want to start early so was thinking of writing revision notes etc. Just need suggestions on websites or other revision/learning sources?
Original post by toonervoustotalk
Yes i did go over the paper again using the mark schemes :smile:
Ok will ask for scripts back so i can see where i need to improve
Do you have to pay for your scripts?
After an exam i usually feel good until i start talking to other students :frown:


Original post by Craghyrax
Yeh you do. When I was a student it was £8 per script but I don't know what it is now. The advice by Not Anonymous is good :p:

As to talking to other students.... well don't :wink:

I'm sure your school can tell you this but it costs £11 per paper as standard (you will get it between 21st September and 14th November), you can get it back as a priority for £13 per unit (then it will arrive by 10th September, meaning you can meet the deadline for remarks if you wish)
I'm going to try this when I go to University (been on a gap year and didn't have exams in college (BTEC)
But write down all of your revision notes... Then record your-self reading out loud and listen to it on the train/bus, maybe to sleep?
Reply 10
Avatar for iish
iish
3
Original post by toonervoustotalk
I got my AS results today and got BCCD in maths, biology, chemistry, physics in that order.
I want to bring my grades up to ABB min and want to know what techniques i should use to revise as all i did last year was answer the questions in the books and past paper questions
What other techniques should i use :smile:
I dont know what learning techniques are the best for me


Concentrate on your weakness' and avoid repetition of stuff you know. Take things a topic at a time, and make comprehensive notes of the textbook, but in a way which you understand. Always understand before moving to the next topic. Those are the steps I took. :-)
Original post by itsgrace_
Are there any good revision/learning sites for Business Studies A2? I really need to do well in this subject but my AS results were extremely disappointing (CBD - Fine Art, Media Studies, Business Studies).

I want to start early so was thinking of writing revision notes etc. Just need suggestions on websites or other revision/learning sources?


Tutor2u! Helped me get an A* in business
(edited 8 years ago)
Examiner's reports are your best friend. Also, ankidroid.
any tips for economics psychology and eng lit?
Original post by hannb98
So I did geography, economics, biology and psychology so quite different to your subjects, but I thought I'd share what I did anyway bc it might help others.
I bought a5 notebooks and made revision notes on everything in a fair amount of detail (start early), then read through it a couple of times, and then summarised the pages on sticky notes. Basically I just processed the information over and over until it sunk in. I wish I'd started actually learning the information earlier rather than just producing more and more revision materials, so this year I'm going to start much earlier on learning the material (as we go throughout the year). Once I'd learned a fair amount I started doing practice papers which we hadn't done yet in class, marked them and found out where the areas I fell down were, go over the problem areas and read the examiners reports (which are so useful, take advantage of examiners giving you sample answers and telling you what to do and what not to do)
For any essay subjects think of possible essay titles and make plans instead of writing out the whole essay which takes forever..

I got AAAA in my AS exams this year and this is pretty much everything I did. I used to revision guides a little bit but didn't find them particularly useful, wish I hadn't spent the money on them.


Do you have any tips specific to biology?
Reply 15
Avatar for hannb98
hannb98
3
Original post by vd12345
Do you have any tips specific to biology?


Yeah sure! I did WJEC and there was a heck of a lot to learn, how I revised biology was I broke it down into all the topics and at the end of every unit test I made revision notes and then in Easter hols I finished those up, once I'd done that I went through and summarised each a5 page of revision notes on a post it or two, learned it through reading and processing it, I did past paper questions throughout the year but I had a couple of whole papers saved which i did in the days running up to the exam. Then on the week before each day I did a topic and made very condensed summary cards, and then I did the exam😊😊 hope this helped, pretty much you just have to spend the time learning it and WJEC was so picky on the mark scheme so make sure you use those to ensure you're wording is correct!
I and two of my close friends got A*A*A*
Just do past papers.
Original post by Leking9
Tutor2u! Helped me get an A* in business


That's amazing! Congrats! :smile:

Thanks for the suggestion too, I'll be using that then :tongue:
Original post by itsgrace_
Are there any good revision/learning sites for Business Studies A2? I really need to do well in this subject but my AS results were extremely disappointing (CBD - Fine Art, Media Studies, Business Studies).

I want to start early so was thinking of writing revision notes etc. Just need suggestions on websites or other revision/learning sources?


I've just finished A2 business studies with OCR and I got an A (which was disappointing for me as I've been getting close to 100% in all past papers and my teacher marks the actual exam papers).

I found that with business, it was not the content that I needed to worry about, it was the essay technique. Once you get the technique right then you are pretty much sorted to get full marks on any essay. I found it was useful to stick to the same structure for every essay and then you would know you're getting good marks.

For the 13, 18 and 23 markers:
-(no introduction as it gains no marks and wastes time during the exam)
Paragraph 1:
- first point arguing for something (depending on question maybe a method for something, a stakeholder with a particular view, a reason for something etc)
-briefly explain the point, ie say why in one or two sentences.
-in the same paragraph argue the flip side of the point (against it)
-explain why the point may not be the case
- evaluate the point in the same paragraph by deciding which side of the argument is likely to be stronger and saying whether the method is likely to actually achieve what they want to achieve.
-explain in a fair amount of depth (this is what scores the high marks, and so even if you didn't get time for a conclusion at the end, you can still get min 14/18 if you evaluate throughout), so for example say that even though tqm may cost alot initially, it will reduce waste from defects in the long term which will not only save them money but it could also improve their brand reputation which could increase sales, therefore it is a good method of quality control.

Paragraph 2 & 3:
-do the same as paragraph 1 but for 2 more different points.
- usually in my essays para 1 ended up being much longer than 2 and 3 which was mostly due to running out of time but that doesn't matter because most marks are picked up in para 1 anyway.

Conclusion/Evaluation:
- state out of the three main points which one is the best method to use/which stakeholder is the most important/which point is the strongest
- explain your reasoning for this by saying why it is stronger than the others
- comparisons of the other points are also useful
- other good evaluative points are long term vs short term, something will only work if../it would depend on..and then say what you would recommend in different scenarios.

I hope this helps, as you can see it is important to do a lot of timed essays (especially for the case study paper) because you need to write fast, and my most important piece of advice is to make decisions because this is what gets evaluation marks.


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Maths97Student
I've just finished A2 business studies with OCR and I got an A (which was disappointing for me as I've been getting close to 100% in all past papers and my teacher marks the actual exam papers).

I found that with business, it was not the content that I needed to worry about, it was the essay technique. Once you get the technique right then you are pretty much sorted to get full marks on any essay. I found it was useful to stick to the same structure for every essay and then you would know you're getting good marks.

For the 13, 18 and 23 markers:
-(no introduction as it gains no marks and wastes time during the exam)
Paragraph 1:
- first point arguing for something (depending on question maybe a method for something, a stakeholder with a particular view, a reason for something etc)
-briefly explain the point, ie say why in one or two sentences.
-in the same paragraph argue the flip side of the point (against it)
-explain why the point may not be the case
- evaluate the point in the same paragraph by deciding which side of the argument is likely to be stronger and saying whether the method is likely to actually achieve what they want to achieve.
-explain in a fair amount of depth (this is what scores the high marks, and so even if you didn't get time for a conclusion at the end, you can still get min 14/18 if you evaluate throughout), so for example say that even though tqm may cost alot initially, it will reduce waste from defects in the long term which will not only save them money but it could also improve their brand reputation which could increase sales, therefore it is a good method of quality control.

Paragraph 2 & 3:
-do the same as paragraph 1 but for 2 more different points.
- usually in my essays para 1 ended up being much longer than 2 and 3 which was mostly due to running out of time but that doesn't matter because most marks are picked up in para 1 anyway.

Conclusion/Evaluation:
- state out of the three main points which one is the best method to use/which stakeholder is the most important/which point is the strongest
- explain your reasoning for this by saying why it is stronger than the others
- comparisons of the other points are also useful
- other good evaluative points are long term vs short term, something will only work if../it would depend on..and then say what you would recommend in different scenarios.

I hope this helps, as you can see it is important to do a lot of timed essays (especially for the case study paper) because you need to write fast, and my most important piece of advice is to make decisions because this is what gets evaluation marks.


Posted from TSR Mobile


WOW! This helped so much! Thank you! I've just made a presentation including everything you said (and some other things I found on the internet). I hope to share this with the rest of my class. Thanks so much for writing all of that! Really helps :biggrin:

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