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How do I revise and plan revision for summer a-level exams in less than 6 months?

Hey,
I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to revise for a-levels and get A's/A*s? I'm doing my exams in the summer and haven't done any form of revision for it yet and didn't really pay much attention in class either... I just got an offer for uni and I really want to go so need to get high grades. I now have all of this content to learn (I'm doing English Lit, Biology and Business); any advice on how to do so and still achieve good grades in a short space of time? I really don't wanna repeat year 13 but have no idea where to start w revision/how much to do? :/ Is it too late to get high grades if I start learning the content now?
(edited 2 years ago)
Reply 1
The only subject I have experience with is Biology and I found it really hard to revise for mainly because of the amount of content. Firstly I would make a timeline of which topics I would like to cover in the space of time and allocate how much time was needed depending of the degree of difficulty of the topic or how long it was eg 2 days for cell structure and 4 days for genetic engineering . Also make sure to keep checking your spec because that helps you try to frame your revision around what you'll be tested on. The key with Biology for me was just making sure I really understood the content so after reading a section I would try to write as much as I remember down and do this a few times as well, I would even use a whiteboard and pretend I'm a teacher and had to teach it to someone lol, this helps in figuring out how well I understood. Another thing that really helped me was doing past papers, there are some websites that compile topic specific past paper questions but I would usually just open a bunch of papers and find relevant questions, this helps with exam technique, answering the question etc. Towards my exam I aimed to do about 30-40 full papers. Watching videos was super helpful as well especially when you needed different kinds of explanations to understand something, it also helped with visualising certain things like a lot of processes in Biology take place in steps and I found it hard to picture but there are some helpful animations e.g muscle contraction or how respiration takes place. Watching youtubers give tips was helpful too, I found Unjaded jade's video on making flash cards really good, it shows how to make flash cards that make you think but I suggest using summary notes/ flash cards once you've understood a topic and need to just consolidate. I found active studying a lot better for me as I could not sit and write notes, so answering questions and explaining to people really helped, don't be scared to get things wrong in fact it's good if you keep messing up because it helps you remember better. I'm sorry if this was a bit rambly but I hope you found something useful and don't stress, try your best and you'll be fine. My final tip would also be to enjoy revision, I know that sounds silly but when you think of it as like a fun activity to learn and test yourself rather than something scary makes it a lot easier. Good luck :smile:
Original post by Taco_h
The only subject I have experience with is Biology and I found it really hard to revise for mainly because of the amount of content. Firstly I would make a timeline of which topics I would like to cover in the space of time and allocate how much time was needed depending of the degree of difficulty of the topic or how long it was eg 2 days for cell structure and 4 days for genetic engineering . Also make sure to keep checking your spec because that helps you try to frame your revision around what you'll be tested on. The key with Biology for me was just making sure I really understood the content so after reading a section I would try to write as much as I remember down and do this a few times as well, I would even use a whiteboard and pretend I'm a teacher and had to teach it to someone lol, this helps in figuring out how well I understood. Another thing that really helped me was doing past papers, there are some websites that compile topic specific past paper questions but I would usually just open a bunch of papers and find relevant questions, this helps with exam technique, answering the question etc. Towards my exam I aimed to do about 30-40 full papers. Watching videos was super helpful as well especially when you needed different kinds of explanations to understand something, it also helped with visualising certain things like a lot of processes in Biology take place in steps and I found it hard to picture but there are some helpful animations e.g muscle contraction or how respiration takes place. Watching youtubers give tips was helpful too, I found Unjaded jade's video on making flash cards really good, it shows how to make flash cards that make you think but I suggest using summary notes/ flash cards once you've understood a topic and need to just consolidate. I found active studying a lot better for me as I could not sit and write notes, so answering questions and explaining to people really helped, don't be scared to get things wrong in fact it's good if you keep messing up because it helps you remember better. I'm sorry if this was a bit rambly but I hope you found something useful and don't stress, try your best and you'll be fine. My final tip would also be to enjoy revision, I know that sounds silly but when you think of it as like a fun activity to learn and test yourself rather than something scary makes it a lot easier. Good luck :smile:

This is really helpful thank you :smile:! I'll try thinking of it as fun too haha. I also think active revision could be something to try as I find I zone out a lot whilst making notes
(edited 2 years ago)

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