Aiming not to fail - a year 13 student trying her best

Ok - so being honest here - not doing so good with A levels and kind of kidded myself into thinking it was all going to work out. Recently had mock exams and didn't revise a lot thinking that because I worked a bit over the summer that I was going to be ok - it wasn't (and it went a bit like this :trytofly:

). I'm not saying I didn't improve becuase I did but I need to push myself further because I know I can do better and when I look back at myself, I don't want to be dissapointed or regret not working as hard.

Not only will this document my work but also can provide me (and hopefully you as well) some motivation :smile:

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll be back for the next one!

Reply 1

Jihoooo

12

I honestly relate to you lots !!! Good luck to all of us ^^

Reply 2

loki_blck widow

OP

8

Hi - so quite busy this holiday because it's diwali and there a quite a few bits and bobs that I need to do with family and it's feeling a bit hectic. I'm finding it a bit hard to focus in the times I've allocated to studying but I just have to power through. Also realised I haven't said anything about what I want to do or my grades so here it is:

I want to study physiotherapy at uni (still don't know where)
currently do Biology (OCR A), Chemistry (AQA) and English Literature (AQA B)
been predicted AAC (C in chem)

I need to get a minimum of AAB for physiotherapy but in my last mocks, I got a UDC which is nowhere near what I need + want. I know I can improve if I try hard and have evidence. Last year I was getting U's and E's consistently in english and it moved up to a C in this recent mock (I wrote an A and D grade essay which evened out to a C so I know I can get A's in english!). I also have mocks coming up in December and I want to get good grades for it to show myself I can do it and also let my teachers know that I'm serious about improving.

Today, I aim to get through:
- 4 chem topics
- most of module 2 in biology (the basics in biology)
- finish my plant responses independent learning booklet
- update my essay plan for english coursework (I need to finish the 1st draft of this holiday)
- write either the introduction or conclusion of the essay

I need to pop out at 4 so I'm going to get the chemistry and english done before I leave and do the biology when I get back. I think I'm going to make this a daily thing in the holidays to hold myself accountable and do weekly updates when I get back to college. I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow!

also thanks @Jihoooo - good luck to anyone reading this!

Bella
:h:

Reply 3

loki_blck widow

OP

8

So Sunday didn't go as planned - I only finished 1 chemistry topic and didn't do any of the biology or english that I had planned. I did ended up doing the respiration topic in biology and then was busy with helping my family prepare for diwali. I didn't plan out to do any work yesterday as it was diwali yesterday and hope to catch up on work today becuase I'm not sure how much work I can get done tomorrow (it's the indian new year) and so we'll be celebrating that.

Today I aim to do:
- chem 3.3.2, 3.3.3 and 3.1.2
- bio plant and animal responses
- 1/2 of my english essay
- find physiotherapy clinics near me for work experience
- edit personal statement

I'll update at the end of the day and let you know how it goes! I didn't do my best the last 2 days but that doesn't mean I should give up now. Even if you haven't done great so far, you can still turn it around. I hope you're day goes to plan :smile:

Bella

Reply 4

Jess_Lomas

17

Hi,
I got an A* in biology and an A in chemistry the biology was a different exam board but chemistry was the same. If you would like any help with either just message I think that the biology will be quire similar anyway

Reply 5

starrynight01

16

Original post by loki_blck widow

So Sunday didn't go as planned - I only finished 1 chemistry topic and didn't do any of the biology or english that I had planned. I did ended up doing the respiration topic in biology and then was busy with helping my family prepare for diwali. I didn't plan out to do any work yesterday as it was diwali yesterday and hope to catch up on work today becuase I'm not sure how much work I can get done tomorrow (it's the indian new year) and so we'll be celebrating that.

Today I aim to do:
- chem 3.3.2, 3.3.3 and 3.1.2
- bio plant and animal responses
- 1/2 of my english essay
- find physiotherapy clinics near me for work experience
- edit personal statement

I'll update at the end of the day and let you know how it goes! I didn't do my best the last 2 days but that doesn't mean I should give up now. Even if you haven't done great so far, you can still turn it around. I hope you're day goes to plan :smile:

Bella

Wishing you the best for a productive day!! I’ve also got lots to do 😂 we’ve got this! 😁

Reply 6

loki_blck widow

OP

8

okayyy - I know I said I was going to update daily but I guess I'll just update it whenever:

I'm going back on monday and feel ok about how the holidays went in terms of how much work I got done. I have my next set of mocks in december and I definately think I'm getting a better grade because we'll have a week off before for studying and I've started revision earlier. That being said, it will cover all the topics we've learned so far so I have my work cut out for me. Will probably update on monday.

Thanks for your comments and for reading!
Bella
:h:

Reply 7

loki_blck widow

OP

8

Hi,
It's been a while since I last updated. The Easter holidays have started, and my first a-level exam is in 53 days.
Recently I've made some changes to how I'm working/revising for exams.
I've also gotten 2 offers, one of them being my first choice where I need minimum ABB which I think has been the real wake-up call. Obviously it's late but there's no point wasting time now - I just have to work.

I realised that I really had to focus on working effectively and not waste time just trying shove a lot of effort into working, but actually analysing the best route to take when revising because I don't have any time to waste.

For Chemistry, I'm still finding it really hard but I have gotten a tutor for it as the work I was doing wasn't enough to properly boost my grades in this short space of time.
For Biology, I have been working on raising my grades and it is working so I haven't gotten a tutor, but I have bought some flashcards that are specific to my spec which I have found to help (going through 10 a day).
The good news is that my English revision is great and I am at the level I want to be at - I've gone from getting U's and E's to consistently getting B's which is the minimum I need. For English, I think it would be great to get A's but now that I've gotten to a high B, I'm going to mainly focus on improving my Biology and Chemistry grades, whilst maintaining the level of revision I'm doing for English so that grade doesn't start to slip. I was afraid to properly identify what and where I needed to improve as I knew it was a lot and didn't really want to deal with it, but honestly I don't have any more time now. I have to give it my best shot so I don't regret it. Also making plans for the summer gives me something to look forward to after the exams.

Good luck to everyone,
Bella

Great news that you've had an offer from your first choice! I know what you mean about it being a wake up call - suddenly all starts to feel a bit real, doesn't it?

Also sounds like getting a tutor for your chemistry was the right move, hopefully they'll be able to guide to towards your goal. I always think effective revision is a skill in itself - there are loads of great resources here on TSR that can help make things a bit easier. Congrats on your English too, sounds like you're on the right path!

Great idea to give yourself some summer plans to look forward to as well, what sort of fun things will you be doing?

Good luck!!!

OP

Hi,
I'm going to try and make this more of a record of what work I've been doing to hold myself accountable and also to give myself motivation when I look back at what I've done so far (also feel free to reply with what you've been doing/what your going to do this week!).

For Chemistry, I've done 1 paper, gotten it marked and will go through the questions I got wrong and will also do another paper this week. I have also been revising content that I'm not so great at e.g. Electrode potentials. For Biology I've only been doing exam questions but will do a paper tomorrow (and will mark it and go through what I got wrong). For English I haven't written any essays yet but have been doing small tasks from my teacher daily e.g. reading critical articles on my texts and annotating blank copies of poems that will help with revision. I will write an essay today and compare it to some model answers that I have in case there were any points that I missed or if I made any good points that I can make note of for later revision.

@Pwca I'm really looking forward to the summer holidays. I love cooking but haven't had too much time to learn how to make my favourite recipes so I'm going to make them with my mum. I'm also going to visit my cousin for a week which will also be great. In general, just having time for my hobbies, meeting up with friends and taking the time to relax in the sun is also really pushing me to make the effort to get good grades so I can enjoy the summer properly. If anyone else reading this also has anything planned for the summer - let me know - writing it out always makes it seem more of a concrete goal.

Thank you @csyqnxwk,
good luck everyone,
Bella

Original post by loki_blck widow

@Pwca I'm really looking forward to the summer holidays. I love cooking but haven't had too much time to learn how to make my favourite recipes so I'm going to make them with my mum. I'm also going to visit my cousin for a week which will also be great. In general, just having time for my hobbies, meeting up with friends and taking the time to relax in the sun is also really pushing me to make the effort to get good grades so I can enjoy the summer properly. If anyone else reading this also has anything planned for the summer - let me know - writing it out always makes it seem more of a concrete goal.

That sounds like a wonderful summer and I agree about writing things out. Concrete goals = achievable goals :smile:

Good luck!

Reply 12

loki_blck widow

OP

8

Hi,
I don't know if anyone is going to read this, but I thought I should just do a quick update and formally close the horrendous chapter of my life that was A-levels.
I didn't end up getting all the grades I aimed for but it was good enough to let me study Physiotherapy. I'm proud to say I really did try my best in those exams and my only regret is that I didn't try to improve my grades sooner. Uni is hard, someone told me that A-levels were going to be the hardest exams, but Uni is somehow proving to be harder. It's not too bad though and after going through those last few months leading up to the A-levels, desperately trying to cram information into my head as a last hope, I know I couldn't survive that again. So I have learnt to stay on top of Uni work, and although its hard, I haven't given up yet which I guess is a good sign :smile:

I want to thank everyone who replied to my posts and cheered me on, I hope you all achieved your goals. I will be starting a new thread for physiotherapy so I can hold myself accountable and have something to look back on. Reading some of these posts seems a bit surreal now, I guess now I've finished my A-levels, I didn't realise how much effort I had put into improving but it's inspired me to carry on now.

Thank you again for supporting me and good luck with whatever you're doing now,
Bella

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 13

emm4nuella

Debate & Current Affairs Helper, Study Forum Helper

19

Original post by loki_blck widow

Hi,
I don't know if anyone is going to read this, but I thought I should just do a quick update and formally close the horrendous chapter of my life that was A-levels.
I didn't end up getting all the grades I aimed for but it was good enough to let me study Physiotherapy. I'm proud to say I really did try my best in those exams and my only regret is that I didn't try to improve my grades sooner. Uni is hard, someone told me that A-levels were going to be the hardest exams, but Uni is somehow proving to be harder. It's not too bad though and after going through those last few months leading up to the A-levels, desperately trying to cram information into my head as a last hope, I know I couldn't survive that again. So I have learnt to stay on top of Uni work, and although its hard, I haven't given up yet which I guess is a good sign :smile:

I want to thank everyone who replied to my posts and cheered me on, I hope you all achieved your goals. I will be starting a new thread for physiotherapy so I can hold myself accountable and have something to look back on. Reading some of these posts seem a bit surreal now, I guess now I've finished my A-levels, I didn't realise how much effort I had put into improving but it's inspired me to carry on now.
Thank you again for supporting me and good luck with whatever you're doing now,
Bella

hey what advice would you give to current a level students? :smile:

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 14

loki_blck widow

OP

8

Original post by emm4nuella

hey what advice would you give to current a level students? :smile:

I think the main one would be not to give up. Take a break if you need to, get a tutor if you can afford it, ask your teachers for help, and there are a LOT of resources online that can help.

Don't burn yourself out and always remember as long as you pick yourself up, try again and remember what your aiming towards, you'll be ok. I know how overwhelming it can feel but remember that you're not alone and you can always reach out and ask for help.

I think especially for someone who was in my condition where I only realised that I needed to improve in year 13 with only a few months left, the hardest parts for me was starting. I felt like I was already so behind that there was no point in trying to catch up. I struggled to ask for help and I'm not going to lie, my pride took a hit when I did because I had gotten good GCSE's and thought A-levels would be the same. But I did it and I'm so glad I did.

After asking for help, assessing my current levels was another hit to my pride. After doing questions for each topic, I realised how behind I was again and so it made it hard to make realistic goals and keep myself accountable to them, hence this thread. It would have been so easy to keep lying to myself and think I didn't need to seriously improve, but I did. You could form a study group, study online on discord, there are loads of different ways to keep yourself accountable, you just need to find the one that's right for you. Make sure you stay truthful to yourself.

It's hard to not let it all affect your mental health so try and find a healthy escape as well, like walking, any other form of exercise, cooking, knitting? I don't know, whatever calms you down and keeps you rooted. At the end of the day, they are only grades. But they can affect how your life turns out to some extent so you just need to come to terms that it's important for now but I promise you, a few years after they're over, they'll become a vague memory like your SAT's in year 6.

Good luck to anyone currently studying for their A-levels, I know it's hard but for what it's worth, I believe you can do it :smile:

Reply 15

mqb2766

21