Panicking with my A-levels

I have assessments coming up soon and I’m behind in a-level content. I take business, economics and history.

I’m rlly confused in economics like i don’t understand the diagrams at all and I keep getting low marks in the exam questions.

And for history im struggling to have enough time to write essays in exam conditions.

Could I have some advice for any of these subjects? Also I just can’t seem to be productive.

The assessments are after Christmas and I still haven’t started revising. I come home and don’t do anything and I can’t seem to motivate myself. I keep procrastinating and then feel rlly guilty about it.

Thanks for reading and any help will be appreciated :smile:

Reply 1

squirrelmonkey12

Original post by meymey:)

Hey there!
I did history-what exam board are you doing and what topics?

Reply 2

thegeek888

If you use the tutor2u economics guides for Economics AS and A-Level you should get a respectable grade from anywhere with at least a B or C and maybe an A if your essay writing is up to scratch.

History is very difficult, as one of my friends got A* GCSE History and struggled to scrape a D in A-Level History. It all depends on the topics you are studying in A-Level History.

Also try to google and youtube resources for Economics as you'll be suprised! :wink:

Reply 3

meymey:)

Original post by squirrelmonkey12

Hey there!
I did history-what exam board are you doing and what topics?

I’m doing AQA (Tudors and Nazis & dictatorship)

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 4

en8827

Original post by meymey:)

I’m doing AQA

I did edexcel history so I cant help much with specific subject content. as for writing under exam conditions i can really just say practice. if finding things to talk about is difficult for you you could make quizlets with key knowledge points that you want to remember off the cuff (stats, general ideas etc). That way when you look at the questions on the exam itll be less stressful. Also - you can draw up a quick plan before starting your essay (bullet points). examiners are more likely to just assume you know what your talking about if you do that.

Reply 5

meymey:)

Original post by thegeek888

I'll have a look. thank u so much :smile:

Reply 6

squirrelmonkey12

Original post by meymey:)

I’m doing AQA (Tudors and Nazis & dictatorship)

I think the main thing is to do as many practice essays as you can in your free time. Plan them, and then time yourself as your write them and hand whatever you manage to write it to your teacher. Remember not to cram everything in at once, only pick a couple of crucial evidence for each paragraph and make sure you explain how they're relevant to the question.

The thing is, though I did do Tudors and Nazis, my year never actually did the exams due to covid and instead our teachers ranked us and we got our results that way. I do remember struggling though, like you did, with writing essays in the time and I remember this helping. But I don't know how much it would have affected my mark if I'd actually taken the exam.
Hope that helps and good luck! :-)

Reply 7

_Rusty_

Volunteer Team

Original post by meymey:)

Ok, so the first thing you need to do is take a step back. From what you have written it almost seems like you think the issues you have are unchangeable and out of your hands. However, you have asked for advice so that is not the case at all.

I didn't take any of those subjects at A Levels but all A Levels require one thing - proactivity. Speak to your teachers, see what advice they can give you because, at the end of the day, they know you and will most likely know things you can improve on which will help your grades.

In terms of getting low marks on exam questions, I think really analysing the mark schemes after doing a question is really useful. Repeated exposure really helped me in Bio and Chem and resulted in me getting 90+% on all my exams because I could see Question X and knew I had to answer it by saying A, B and C.

Final point, the best way I found to get motivated was planning. If you know what you have set out to do, there is less room for procrastination. Eg. 5 exam questions for each subject per day, if they have to get done, they have to get done. Start out small, don't give yourself too much work because at the start it can be very overwhelming. Plan, give yourself breaks and praise yourself for when you do well or make improvements - which don't happen straight away.

All the best, Merry Christmas :biggrin: