I don't know if I'll be able to get an A in my a-level

Hi All,

I've got a medical offer that requires an A in English literature, and that's it, that's all I've got left. I'm resitting so ita the only A-level I'm doing this year. But even then I'm so lethargic it's actually painful. I sit down to do a mock and I give up half way through the first essay. I take like 3 hours doing essays. I get very good marks in them, but could I even replicate those in my actual exam?

Does anyone have any advice or tips? Anything helps, as long as it gets me an A

Reply 1

Germanisdeadlol

5

Original post by YaLocalWarship

Hi All,

I've got a medical offer that requires an A in English literature, and that's it, that's all I've got left. I'm resitting so ita the only A-level I'm doing this year. But even then I'm so lethargic it's actually painful. I sit down to do a mock and I give up half way through the first essay. I take like 3 hours doing essays. I get very good marks in them, but could I even replicate those in my actual exam?

Does anyone have any advice or tips? Anything helps, as long as it gets me an A

Hi, I'm in year 12, and currently getting around 35-40/40 on most essays and similar percentages on poetry and other things. I'd recommend that you make sure to analyse METHODS and CONTEXT. Make sure you're confident in your vocab and use good, nuanced vocab to analyse. For example, with John Keats, you wanna talk about the aesthetic of Negative Capability, as well as contemporary opinions. Methods are a really big thing however. I'd focus on getting down a solid structure, and having a set amount expected per paragraph per essay so you don't write too much or too little for one part of the essay. Try make sure the essay is balanced and cohesive. I'd just make sure you understand certain allusions to other plays/books as well as methods within sentences. EG: Iago's "I am not what I am" in Othello is an allusion to exodus (the bible) where god says "I am what I am". This juxtaposes God and Iago making Iago seem demonic/satanic. In your exam, you want to use better vocab, but ideas like that are quite strong. Just make sure you have good analysis of methods/context/vocab. Try and learn what essay structure suits you.

Reply 2

psychstudent2625

15

i would suggest you start writing essays in timed conditions, like perhaps 3 a week, or as much as possible really, as long as it is in timed conditions. Give those to your teacher to get marked and see what average score youre getting and how you could improve it. An important point is to make sure you dont play around and give rather concise but sophisticated answers rather than make the examiner 3 sentences to find your point and another few sentences to find your evidence. good luck!

Reply 3

StudyMind

8

Original post by YaLocalWarship

Hi All,

I've got a medical offer that requires an A in English literature, and that's it, that's all I've got left. I'm resitting so ita the only A-level I'm doing this year. But even then I'm so lethargic it's actually painful. I sit down to do a mock and I give up half way through the first essay. I take like 3 hours doing essays. I get very good marks in them, but could I even replicate those in my actual exam?

Does anyone have any advice or tips? Anything helps, as long as it gets me an A

Heya!
I would recommend making yourself do regular mocks in a timed condition. Basically replicating the exam conditions :h:

I would also recommend allocating time on each section for yourself so you don't continue writing for hours. Pre-planning the material and how long you will spend on each section helps with saving time!

I hope this helps!
Milena
UCL PFE
Study Mind

Reply 4

anoraeb

12

I’m in a similar position im only retaking a level maths but i am struggling bc i have forgotten most, would you be interested in being study buddies ? ik its different subjects but im looking for someone so we can motivate eachother

Reply 5

conniecb

5

timed practise!!!!! if your doing well in essays you write outside of timed conditions and its replicating that which will bring your marks down in exams then the best way to get better is to started doing practise/past papers in timed conditions. i would spend some time making plans for lots of questions first, and coming up with arguments you can restructure to fit different questions. when you write your essays you shoudnt really be spending time thinking of new ideas, but rather just putting things together in new ways. spend some time revising quotes/scenes etc before you do an essay, because if you have nothing to say then obviously it will take you longer. good luck!!!!

Original post by YaLocalWarship

Hi All,

I've got a medical offer that requires an A in English literature, and that's it, that's all I've got left. I'm resitting so ita the only A-level I'm doing this year. But even then I'm so lethargic it's actually painful. I sit down to do a mock and I give up half way through the first essay. I take like 3 hours doing essays. I get very good marks in them, but could I even replicate those in my actual exam?

Does anyone have any advice or tips? Anything helps, as long as it gets me an A

Reply 6

YaLocalWarship

OP

3

Original post by anoraeb

I’m in a similar position im only retaking a level maths but i am struggling bc i have forgotten most, would you be interested in being study buddies ? ik its different subjects but im looking for someone so we can motivate eachother