A level struggles

Original post by dannydevil117

I recently started A-Levels and my subjects are: English Lit, Psychology, Sociology and History, so far the only subject which I actually enjoy is History. My main worry is that in Psychology and Sociology I have already managed to get U's in some practice exams. I wish to drop English literature as that's something I can't seem to do but I don't think I can do psychology and sociology either. I also struggle to remember large amounts of information so I feel like I'm gonna fail my A-Levels already

You are not going to fail your alevels!! Be optimistic ! :smile:

The key with sociology is to perfect your essay writing technique and then just practice the exam questions. I dropped sociology after AS but I got an A, maybe I could give you some tips on essay structure, planning etc? lemme know.
With psychology, there is a lot of memorisation involved-esp in y13 (hundredss of names and studies) but remember, nothing is impossible! make mind maps for each exam paper of all the studies you need to know for that exam. Again, perfect your essay writing technique and do past papers; maybe under timed conditions-because some of these exams are really tight for time. Make sure you've written every single essay that can possibly come up and then use those essays as model essays to 'revise' from (after they've been marked. If you don't get full/ almost full marks on that essay, then act on any feedback till the essay is worth all the marks). Never underestimate the weight of research methods in these psy exams (I neglected it And I genuinely think that cost me the A* grade because I was half a mark off and I feel like I deffo didn't do great on research methods. I found it extremely boring and so did the teacher so she just sort of skipped Over it . I never really went over it at all before the exam in y 13 because it put me to sleep. Well, I found the whole subject really boring actually loll. Ah well... :wink:

). Research methods section is usually the part that's easier to get full marks, or very close to full marks in.
Don't worry, you have tonss of time till your exams.
If you have any questions, do ask :smile:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 2

OP

Original post by Terrificmagenta

You are not going to fail your alevels!! Be optimistic !
The key with sociology is to perfect your essay writing technique and then just practice the exam questions. I dropped sociology after AS but I got an A, maybe I could give you some tips on essay structure, planning etc? lemme know.
With psychology, there is a lot of memorisation involved-esp in y13 (hundredss of names and studies) but remember, nothing is impossible! make mind maps for each exam paper of all the studies you need to know for that exam. Again, perfect your essay writing technique and do past papers; maybe under timed conditions-because some of these exams are really tight for time. Make sure you've written every single essay that can possibly come up and then use those essays as model essays to 'revise' from (after they've been marked. If you don't get full/ almost full marks on that essay, then act on any feedback till the essay is worth all the marks). Never underestimate the weight of research methods in these psy exams (I neglected it And I genuinely think that cost me the A* grade because I was half a mark off and I feel like I deffo didn't do great on research methods. I found it extremely boring and so did the teacher so she just sort of skipped Over it . I never really went over it at all before the exam in y 13 because it put me to sleep. Well, I found the whole subject really boring actually loll. Ah well... ). Research methods section is usually the part that's easier to get full marks, or very close to full marks in.
Don't worry, you have tonss of time till your exams.
If you have any questions, do ask

Hi, thank you for your response and I would appreciate it so much if you could help with sociology and possibly give me tips on A-levels. Also with psychology I don't like how all the questions are outline and evaluate so I don't know if I should keep doing it or drop it but in all honestly I hate 3/4 of my subjects so I don't know whether to drop english literature or psychology

Reply 3

Original post by dannydevil117

Hi, thank you for your response and I would appreciate it so much if you could help with sociology and possibly give me tips on A-levels. Also with psychology I don't like how all the questions are outline and evaluate so I don't know if I should keep doing it or drop it but in all honestly I hate 3/4 of my subjects so I don't know whether to drop english literature or psychology

I will send you any tips i can think of in a bit :smile:

Howcome you dont like outline and evaluate qs? Is it structure or the content?? How long are the AS psy essay questions for new spec??

Reply 4

OP

Original post by Terrificmagenta

I will send you any tips i can think of in a bit
Howcome you dont like outline and evaluate qs? Is it structure or the content?? How long are the AS psy essay questions for new spec??

I generally don't like them because I don't really understand the structure but more so I can't remember the content. We have 12 markers and 16 markers so generally it's a couple of pages at least.

Reply 5

Slushy

1

Those are the exact A levels I did in my As year and I ended up dropping history. In psychology, year 13 is so much more difficult and looking back at it, I feel as though As was just a breeze in that all you have to do is outline and evaluate and memorise basically. As for English, I also considered dropping it at first but now I enjoy it so much more as we are currently doing poetry (something I'm good at). To ace this, I'd suggest to look at the mark sceme and examiner reports on sample essays and also make a list of possible questions and practice writing up some model answers. However as you still have plenty of time till exams, just stay focused and keep on top of everything, also feel free to ask teachers for help if you are unsure of anything.

As much as I actually enjoy psychology and wish to study it at uni, I'd say to drop it in your case. As if you mentioned you are bad at memorising and are already struggling, then it's going to get even more challenging especially if you don't enjoy it. Also, sociology (my easiest subject) has a lot of content too and it can get a bit overwhelming doing both sociology and psychology (another factor to consider). To do well, you must know your theorists and studies, key concepts definitions and for everything you learn make sure you can back it up with examples. Again, looking at the specification and mark schemes is always a good idea so that you know exactly how to lay out a question and what the examiners are looking for and how to reach the top band answer.
Sorry for the rambling but do let me know if you have any more questions :smile:

Reply 6

OP

Original post by Slushy

Those are the exact A levels I did in my As year and I ended up dropping history. In psychology, year 13 is so much more difficult and looking back at it, I feel as though As was just a breeze in that all you have to do is outline and evaluate and memorise basically. As for English, I also considered dropping it at first but now I enjoy it so much more as we are currently doing poetry (something I'm good at). To ace this, I'd suggest to look at the mark sceme and examiner reports on sample essays and also make a list of possible questions and practice writing up some model answers. However as you still have plenty of time till exams, just stay focused and keep on top of everything, also feel free to ask teachers for help if you are unsure of anything.

As much as I actually enjoy psychology and wish to study it at uni, I'd say to drop it in your case. As if you mentioned you are bad at memorising and are already struggling, then it's going to get even more challenging especially if you don't enjoy it. Also, sociology (my easiest subject) has a lot of content too and it can get a bit overwhelming doing both sociology and psychology (another factor to consider). To do well, you must know your theorists and studies, key concepts definitions and for everything you learn make sure you can back it up with examples. Again, looking at the specification and mark schemes is always a good idea so that you know exactly how to lay out a question and what the examiners are looking for and how to reach the top band answer.
Sorry for the rambling but do let me know if you have any more questions

Hey thank you for your response and my only issue is I can't do english either like I have no interest in poems and can't write concise detailed pages on them so I feel like I could get a better grade by doing psychology but idk

Reply 7

Original post by dannydevil117

I generally don't like them because I don't really understand the structure but more so I can't remember the content. We have 12 markers and 16 markers so generally it's a couple of pages at least.

Heyy,

So I'm no alevel expert- not in any way! (disclaimer loll) :redface:

With Psychology I'd say all you need is the perfect essay structure and a fast hand (particularly in y13)- which I'm sure you can get with practice! Once you've perfected that one essay, you can apply the same technique/plan to all essay questions and it gets a lott easier with time. And yes, do make sure you know all the names of the hundreds of different psychologists and their studies- I know, seems pointless and can be pretty boring and frustrating... But. Just. Do it :wink:

Maybe make mind maps for each exam paper of all the studies you need to know for that exam. Again, perfect your essay writing technique for y13 and do past papers; maybe under timed conditions-because some of these exams are really tight for time. Make sure you've written every single essay that can possibly come up. Staple all the possible essay q answers for each unit together and then use those essays as model essays to 'revise' from (after they've been marked. If you don't get full/ almost full marks on that essay, then act on any feedback till the essay is worth all the marks). I remember reading thru and highlighting my essays just before the exams.
Never underestimate the weight of research methods in these psy exams (I neglected it And genuinely think that cost me the A* grade because I was half a mark off and I feel like I deffo didn't do great on research methods. I found it extremely boring and so did the teacher so she just sort of skipped Over it. I never really went over it at all before the exam in y 13 because it put me to sleep.). Research methods section is usually the part that's easier to get full marks, or very close to full marks in because (in y13) the rest of the paper is mostly essay based and essay marking is so subjective.
Oh. I forgot to mention- Use your textbook and any additional class notes/handouts to write your psychology essays. I didn't even have a textbook in yr12 (for some reason, my sixth form assumed that some crappy AS psy revision guide would be fine? Loll, I stuffed that somewhere and forgot all about it). BUT my Main source in y12 (apart from class notes) was http://www.simplypsychology.org/ I'm not sure how much the site has changed since then (it's been a year), but it worked as a pretty awesome AS psychology textbook at the time! Maybe check it out; I remember it being structured very well.
Oh, your 12 markers deffo shouldn't be a couple of pages long- make them a lot more precise, you can still get all the marks and it makes your life a lot easier. If I can find my Yr12 stuff, i'll show you one of my 12 markers

I will send you those Sociology essay structure tips, hopefully tomorrow- dw I haven't forgotten :redface:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Terrificmagenta

Heyy,

So I'm no alevel expert- not in any way! (disclaimer loll) :redface:

With Psychology I'd say all you need is the perfect essay structure and a fast hand (particularly in y13)- which I'm sure you can get with practice! Once you've perfected that one essay, you can apply the same technique/plan to all essay questions and it gets a lott easier with time. And yes, do make sure you know all the names of the hundreds of different psychologists and their studies- I know, seems pointless and can be pretty boring and frustrating... But. Just. Do it :wink:

Maybe make mind maps for each exam paper of all the studies you need to know for that exam. Again, perfect your essay writing technique for y13 and do past papers; maybe under timed conditions-because some of these exams are really tight for time. Make sure you've written every single essay that can possibly come up. Staple all the possible essay q answers for each unit together and then use those essays as model essays to 'revise' from (after they've been marked. If you don't get full/ almost full marks on that essay, then act on any feedback till the essay is worth all the marks). I remember reading thru and highlighting my essays just before the exams.
Never underestimate the weight of research methods in these psy exams (I neglected it And genuinely think that cost me the A* grade because I was half a mark off and I feel like I deffo didn't do great on research methods. I found it extremely boring and so did the teacher so she just sort of skipped Over it. I never really went over it at all before the exam in y 13 because it put me to sleep.). Research methods section is usually the part that's easier to get full marks, or very close to full marks in because (in y13) the rest of the paper is mostly essay based and essay marking is so subjective.
Oh. I forgot to mention- Use your textbook and any additional class notes/handouts to write your psychology essays. I didn't even have a textbook in yr12 (for some reason, my sixth form assumed that some crappy AS psy revision guide would be fine? Loll, I stuffed that somewhere and forgot all about it). BUT my Main source in y12 (apart from class notes) was http://www.simplypsychology.org/ I'm not sure how much the site has changed since then (it's been a year), but it worked as a pretty awesome AS psychology textbook at the time! Maybe check it out; I remember it being structured very well.
Oh, your 12 markers deffo shouldn't be a couple of pages long- make them a lot more precise, you can still get all the marks and it makes your life a lot easier. If I can find my Yr12 stuff, i'll show you one of my 12 markers

I will send you those Sociology essay structure tips, hopefully tomorrow- dw I haven't forgotten :redface:

Thank you so much for your help i'm appreciating it and taking aboard what you are saying.

Reply 9

Original post by dannydevil117

Thank you so much for your help i'm appreciating it and taking aboard what you are saying.

Heyy. Sorry this is so late, not been too well and had loads of work due for uni

.Interms of Sociology essay structure, try using the PEEL method (Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link) for EVERY paragraph in the essay-apart from the intro and conclusion.I always included an introductory paragraph, a conclusion and had SIX paragraphs in between (I think the questions were 24 markers, but could be getting mixed up with A2 psy)And it was something along the lines of:
Introduction
Para 1- For (PEEL)
Para 2- Against (PEEL)
Para 3- For (PEEL)
Para 4- Against (PEEL)
Para 6- For (PEEL)
Para 6- Against (PEEL)
Conclusion

Your evidence is your study (even just mentioning a theorists name).
Say your question was :

Asess whether or not childhood is being lost in society today.
your link would be something along the lines of 'therefore Postman argues that due to children being given the same rights as adults, having more similar dress code to their elders and so on, childhood is infact being lost in society today.
You NEED to do this for EVERY paragraph

Ik this is really brief, I will send you examples when I find my AS stuff, need to look for it

Reply 10

OP

Original post by Terrificmagenta

Heyy. Sorry this is so late, not been too well and had loads of work due for uni

.Interms of Sociology essay structure, try using the PEEL method (Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link) for EVERY paragraph in the essay-apart from the intro and conclusion.I always included an introductory paragraph, a conclusion and had SIX paragraphs in between (I think the questions were 24 markers, but could be getting mixed up with A2 psy)And it was something along the lines of:
Introduction
Para 1- For (PEEL)
Para 2- Against (PEEL)
Para 3- For (PEEL)
Para 4- Against (PEEL)
Para 6- For (PEEL)
Para 6- Against (PEEL)
Conclusion

Your evidence is your study (even just mentioning a theorists name).
Say your question was :

Asess whether or not childhood is being lost in society today.
your link would be something along the lines of 'therefore Postman argues that due to children being given the same rights as adults, having more similar dress code to their elders and so on, childhood is infact being lost in society today.
You NEED to do this for EVERY paragraph

Ik this is really brief, I will send you examples when I find my AS stuff, need to look for it

I will make sure to definitely use this for my next essay and I hope you feel better soon. Also are you supposed to add criticisms in the paragraphs?

Reply 11

bzfnqyd

14

Original post by dannydevil117

I recently started A-Levels and my subjects are: English Lit, Psychology, Sociology and History, so far the only subject which I actually enjoy is History. My main worry is that in Psychology and Sociology I have already managed to get U's in some practice exams. I wish to drop English literature as that's something I can't seem to do but I don't think I can do psychology and sociology either. I also struggle to remember large amounts of information so I feel like I'm gonna fail my A-Levels already

First of all, don't worry too much about the Us at this stage. Yes they aren't great, but my friend got a U for one of his subjects in the January mocks last year and ended up coming out with a high B - if he works hard at A-level he may even pull off an A. You can and will improve.

If you need help with English lit I'm happy to help - I'm no genius but I'm predicted A/A* so I vaguely know what I'm doing. Enough to give you a couple of tips anyway.

With memorising it's all about finding the right technique. Making notes tends to be what people advise, but it doesn't work for everyone and it certainly doesn't work for me. Colour coding everything helps some people - personally it only means I remember that the information I need was written in green and not the information itself, but some of my friends swear by it. If you're a visual learner then mind maps can help. I'm quite an auditory learner so all my notes are actually in the form of voice recordings which I listen back to. Songs and neumonics are usually helpful too, or sometimes just repeating things out loud until they go in. Some people find it easier to learn if they're moving. I have one friend who goes out jogging and listens to recordings of lectures through headphones. I always swear by a trusty set of flashcards for learning quotes (I prefer them on paper but Quizlet is good too). There are a ton of different techniques, it's just about finding the ones that work. Whatever you do, don't just copy out your notes and stare at them. That works for some people, but not most of us.

The last thing is not being afraid to ask for help. If there are support sessions, go to them. If you don't know the answer to something in class, ask, even if it's obvious and people think you're stupid - better your classmates or your teacher than the examiner, and there will often be other people who don't know the answer and are too afraid to ask. There's such a stigma around asking for help, but there shouldn't be. Take advantage of what's there.

Good luck, and if you like feel free to message me about English lit (although there will be other people on here and at school more able to help you).

Reply 12