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I actually give up

I literally revise 5 hours a week for each subject ( most of the time even more). I do active recall, spaced repetition and literally every question in Physics and maths tutor and still get Bs in maths and chem. Not that there is anything wrong with a B, but I want to apply for medicine or dentistry and I want A*A*A. I literally got all 9s at GCSE and now I'm getting Bs at A level, which is even more important. I keep on losing marks cause of silly stupid mistakes, what should I do?

Reply 1

lalalizahhhh

Tbh ur doing better than me man. I study all the damn time, forego my health and family life and I get Us. I've been hating myself from the beginning, everyone is doing better and greater than I am.

Reply 2

Muhammad Razak

Original post by val7322

My advice would be about those mistakes. Are you really looking at them? Are highlighting where u went wrong and what to do better next time? Are u revising the topic of the Qs u didn't do too well on? Maybe assess exam technique? Also, something to think about. Is your revision accurate? I remember I was decent at Chem at A1 but ended up getting an A in the exam bc I wasn't revising maybe accurate enough. When I started being more diligent w my revision I was achieving A*. Make sure you're revision is diligent and accurate. Next thing to think about. Are u using the specification when revising? If not that's a massive issue imo. Specification let's u k what is most important to remember/ learn per topic. Have u tried blurting out everything u remember about a topic w/o looking and comparing it to textbook / resources? This refines your knowledge. Most of what I've said so far applies to Chem for the most part. Maths is all about Qs. The more Qs the more revision it is. The more Qs the quicker u get at answering them allowing u to answer all Qs in an exam to a higher degree. I'm assuming you've been doing past papers. So that means the Qs u fail on u should redo practice Qs from textbook on that topic. As many as u need to feel confident. An extra point is to utilise the textbook for each and every topic in both chem & maths. Edexcel had a decent textbook to get u started. For me it made sure I was managing As or Bs w/o exam practice. Once I had tonnes of exam practice (literally sat so many past papers under exam conditions in A2) it pushed me over the edge for problem solving. It's what helped me achieve an A* w the last time exams were held properly (2019). I hope this helps :smile:

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 3

username5886907

there isnt much recall to do in physics, you gotta master deez exam questions

Reply 4

Reality Check

Original post by val7322

I do always question why everyone thinks that an A* is achievable for everyone and anyone, just so long as you 'do enough work'. Maybe you're consistently getting B grades despite all this constant work because that is your academic limit, and an A* is unachievable. I'm not saying you 'definitely can't get an A*', because I know nothing of your aptitude, work ethic and so forth - and neither do I know how far you are into your course (are you a Yr13?). Regardless of all this, perhaps A*A*A* when you're currently on BBB isn't realistic, and surely it would be sensible to make alternative plans as well as just medicine/dentistry. Do you have a plan B (pardon the pun)?

Unfashionable opinion, I know - but still realistic.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 5

xavier56678

Original post by Reality Check

Surely someone achieving 9s at GCSE has the potential to get an A*?

Reply 6

Thisismyunitsr

Don’t give up bro. Belize in yourselves

Reply 7

Reality Check

Original post by xavier56678

Surely someone achieving 9s at GCSE has the potential to get an A*?

Gosh no, not at all. It's obviously much more likely that someone getting a 9 at GCSE is going to go on to do very well at A level, but that doesn't mean that a 9 at GCSE is proof positive of an ability to get an A* at A level. I know an awful lot of students who got 8s and 9s at GCSE and went on to get relatively mediocre grades at A level - just because the step up in difficulty between GCSE and A level is so vast.

Not to belittle the achievement of Yr11s, but GCSEs are very easy in the grand scheme of things. For instance, in my subject - biology - you needed 134 out of 200 in the 2019 examination series to get a grade 9. This is only two-thirds of the total marks. For a grade 8, it's just 120/200 or 60%. In other words, you can get 4 out of every ten 'questions' wrong and still end up with a Grade 8. Once you strip out the foundation-level questions (which you'd expect most Higher level students to be able to answer), there really aren't many more marks left to score before you get to the A* territory. In other words, a reasonably capable student really shouldn't have much trouble getting to the 8/9 level at GCSE - and you certainly don't need to be a genius, or exceptionally gifted to get there.

My post isn't meant to be negative or demoralising, but realistic. I obviously hope the OP is able to achieve A*s as they desire, but there is always a real possibility that this just isn't achievable, regardless of the amount of work - and it's honest, realistic and responsible to advise people to perhaps make alternative plans just in case they can't (note 'can't, not 'don't) get the grades they want.

Reply 8

BlueChicken

Original post by val7322

Kind of answered your own question there - if you know you're making silly mistakes, then you've got to stop making them. Identify where they are coming from and fix them. Good luck!

Reply 9

CatInTheCorner

I think they're working hard enough, maybe it's technique. They could also be WP. OP, if you live in an underprivileged area, go to a state school, etc, your offers for medicine could include B's. Newcastle gives BBB offers for medicine for PARTNERS WP students :smile:

Reply 10

anonymousc0w

if you have to get those A*s, i personally think that 5 hours a week per subject is not enough. i know many people who have to self study for 5 hours a day to get straight A*s. it is a lot of work but its the only way you can get those grades to do medicine.

Reply 11

leoishush

Original post by Reality Check

Maybe I'm over- reacting. Im currently A/A* for bio B for maths (because during the assessment I couldnt read my own writing) and one mark of an A for chemistry (because my mechanisms weren't big enough and I keep on making silly mistakes). But the fustrating thing is I always make these silly mistakes no matter how much I revise

Reply 12

username5752649

Just micro-drill on those silly mistakes. Keep writing those mechanisms out until you get full marks every single time, be it 7 times or 15 times. Make sure you get them right at least 5 times in a row, and repeat a week later. Honestly, I disagree with having an academic limit, especially at A level. IMO there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to remember something; some people just need to take more time. Also, even though I mentioned micro-drilling at the start, ideally you should minimise rote-learning. Understand where those mechanisms come from, and understand why you're doing the operations you're doing in maths questions. Also, I know it's late, but were there topics at GCSE you didn't FULLY understand? Make sure you fully understand those now because they will provide solid foundations for your A-levels. The other thing is exam timing. If you get full marks during your practice but you make silly mistakes in your exam, when you're revising, make sure the knowledge feels intuitive - don't just brush it off thinking you've got the hang of it just because you can recognise it, because in the exam you need to reserve your energy for thinking of actually difficult questions. Once you've used up your "energy reserve" in your exam, it's highly likely that you won't even be able to spot your own mistakes when you check your work again, hence your repeated mistakes.

At GCSE, did you get threshold 9s or were they high or solid 9s? What I've found is that those who actually got full marks / high marks are achieving the best at A level, but those who scraped through a 9 or 8 are struggling to get the grades (given that you actually do work.) That might be why the GCSE to A-level jump looks greater for some despite getting the same grades. Don't lose hope. You've got this and you've got Medicine in the bag. :smile:

Reply 13

Reality Check

Original post by val7322

Just sounds like exam prep then, if you're that close to the boundaries. You've got a fair bit of time left before the examinations. Silly mistakes are always frustrating, and it's not realistic to think that you'll eliminate them entirely - even 3rd year mathematicians get signs the wrong way round sometimes!