The Student Room Group

How do I study 4 alevels

Hi guys,
so I am doing 4 alevels,further maths,maths,computer science and economics.I am alway getting around 85 percent in majority of my test,i lose about 5 to 8 marks.i am genuinely so upset with my self because i try alot to get 1 or 2 marks off but i haven't gotten that,what should u do to get 100 percentage
(edited 6 months ago)
Okay... probably brush up your writing first. Your post is barely readable...
I know you aren't taking English, but if anyone is actually being picky about grammar, it's goddamn mathematicians.

Again, it's hard to diagnose what's wrong without context. Could you be more specific (probably need to be more specific than you think)? Have you talked with your teacher about it (I should probably stress we have no idea what "it" means specifically)?
(edited 6 months ago)
Reply 2
Simple answer would always be more studying. Practice papers and practice questions.
Easy solution would be to drop an A level. There's not really a benefit to 4 A levels as far as I know. Just a lot more work.
Reply 3
I am sorry so for well my grammar,spelling and all that,I was kinda half asleep.Well I am planning to drop an alevel but not just yet as I am testing which subject I should drop,which will depend on my grades I am currently getting and which one I have passion for,I am aiming to lose no marks or only 1 or 2 marks in my topic tests but I lose around 5-8 marks.In my opinion that is bad as I had been 1 mark away for a the highest grade for gcse.I have been consistent with my revsion I prepared alot for this math test but i lost about 8 marks.When I did the paper I had harder questions than i had ever come across,and I did alot of practise questions.I just honestly want to higher grades and do well.Is there any websites or any hard revsion questions I could do for my subjects??
Reply 4
Original post by .,...
I am sorry so for well my grammar,spelling and all that,I was kinda half asleep.Well I am planning to drop an alevel but not just yet as I am testing which subject I should drop,which will depend on my grades I am currently getting and which one I have passion for,I am aiming to lose no marks or only 1 or 2 marks in my topic tests but I lose around 5-8 marks.In my opinion that is bad as I had been 1 mark away for a the highest grade for gcse.I have been consistent with my revsion I prepared alot for this math test but i lost about 8 marks.When I did the paper I had harder questions than i had ever come across,and I did alot of practise questions.I just honestly want to higher grades and do well.Is there any websites or any hard revsion questions I could do for my subjects??

Your tests may not be the same as exam questions, but 85% is generally a*, so not really sure why you think its bad. Depending on what you want to do in the future, doing some supercurriculum stuff may be more beneficial and may have the side effect of improving your marks (slightly) in the relevant subject.

But doing exam questions are usually the way to get an idea of your performance/practice/improve and if you want to leave your boards exam papers for later on, doing other boards would a sensible thing to do. For maths/further maths, drfrost has a reasonably large question bank, a reasonably wide range o exam papers are on physics and maths tutor, ...
(edited 6 months ago)
Reply 5
Original post by mqb2766
Your tests may not be the same as exam questions, but 85% is generally a*, so not really sure why you think its bad. Depending on what you want to do in the future, doing some supercurriculum stuff may be more beneficial and may have the side effect of improving your marks (slightly) in the relevant subject.

But doing exam questions are usually the way to get an idea of your performance/practice/improve and if you want to leave your boards exam papers for later on, doing other boards would a sensible thing to do. For maths/further maths, drfrost has a reasonably large question bank, a reasonably wide range o exam papers are on physics and maths tutor, ...

Thank you for the drfrost,I never heard about that website,for supercurriculum stuff what do you recommend.I am planning to do an economics degree or something related to it,so i thought i should read so economics related books.I also applied to volunteer at a charity shop so like i thought i could be like helping out as well as handling money.Also my SFC tutor told me that if i drop 1 alevel,to go to good uni i need to do an EPQ.Is that the case?Cause i know someone who did 3 alevels and got A* but they didnt do an EPQ,the only difference from them and me is that they did better in gcse so they went to a good sixth form compared to me i am going to a SFC.
Reply 6
Original post by .,...
Thank you for the drfrost,I never heard about that website,for supercurriculum stuff what do you recommend.I am planning to do an economics degree or something related to it,so i thought i should read so economics related books.I also applied to volunteer at a charity shop so like i thought i could be like helping out as well as handling money.Also my SFC tutor told me that if i drop 1 alevel,to go to good uni i need to do an EPQ.Is that the case?Cause i know someone who did 3 alevels and got A* but they didnt do an EPQ,the only difference from them and me is that they did better in gcse so they went to a good sixth form compared to me i am going to a SFC.

Cambridge supercurriculums for economics (and maths ...)
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf
If youre aiming for a "top" university, extra curriculum (charity shop) have little value for a uni appllication but the supercurriculum stuff does. I have no idea what an sfc (scottish funding council?) tutor is or which universities youre thinking of applying to, so its hard to give any sensible advice about whether 4 a levels or 3 + epq is best. If youre unsure, why not look at the website / contact the university(s) youre interested in? Universities will normally assume youre doing / make offers based on 3 a levels and any extra is pretty much your own choice. Its not generally necessary and gcse results are generally not that important for university applications (apart from in a few cases).
Reply 7
Original post by mqb2766
Cambridge supercurriculums for economics (and maths ...)
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf
If youre aiming for a "top" university, extra curriculum (charity shop) have little value for a uni appllication but the supercurriculum stuff does. I have no idea what an sfc (scottish funding council?) tutor is or which universities youre thinking of applying to, so its hard to give any sensible advice about whether 4 a levels or 3 + epq is best. If youre unsure, why not look at the website / contact the university(s) youre interested in? Universities will normally assume youre doing / make offers based on 3 a levels and any extra is pretty much your own choice. Its not generally necessary and gcse results are generally not that important for university applications (apart from in a few cases).


sfc stands for sixth form college,thank you for the advice.What would you consider supercurricular stuff because my tutor told me volunteering,work experience and summer schools or anything related to going beyond for your alevel subject is supercurricular.So as i mentioned i was going to do volunteering and read books related to economics.I was also planning to maybe apply for work experience related to banks but competition makes the chances low.I also thought about how i would have a long break after alevels and thought maybe i could do something where it could show my leadership skills(for example there was like events i can participate in and lead).Would that be enough along with the good grades,cause good grades is the major factor right?I am not sure what to do in the sense of doing supercurricular stuff for my degree i want to do,futhermore i haver strict parents who want me to soley focus on my alevel studies and not to invest time in anything else which will take up my time.
(edited 6 months ago)
Reply 8
Original post by .,...
sfc stands for sixth form college,thank you for the advice.What would you consider supercurricular stuff because my tutor told me volunteering,work experience and summer schools or anything related to going beyond for your alevel subject is supercurricular.So as i mentioned i was going to do volunteering and read books related to economics.I was also planning to maybe apply for work experience related to banks but competition makes the chances low.I also thought about how i would have a long break after alevels and thought maybe i could do something where it could show my leadership skills(for example there was like events i can participate in and lead).Would that be enough along with the good grades,cause good grades is the major factor right?I am not sure what to do in the sense of doing supercurricular stuff for my degree i want to do,futhermore i haver strict parents who want me to soley focus on my alevel studies and not to invest time in anything else which will take up my time.


It partially depends on the universities you want to apply to, which youve not really said. Supercurriculum stuff is really reated to the subject and the examples in that cambridge pdf are typical for such universities. Though if youre interested in economics, it would be better to ask in that forum rather than maths. Extracurriculum stuff like charity shop work is pretty much padding for your personal statement. Sounds ok, but not really that much value and youre often better off (academically) spending time on your studies/supercurriculum stuff.
Reply 9
Original post by mqb2766
It partially depends on the universities you want to apply to, which youve not really said. Supercurriculum stuff is really reated to the subject and the examples in that cambridge pdf are typical for such universities. Though if youre interested in economics, it would be better to ask in that forum rather than maths. Extracurriculum stuff like charity shop work is pretty much padding for your personal statement. Sounds ok, but not really that much value and youre often better off (academically) spending time on your studies/supercurriculum stuff.

Thank you for helping me understand what I can do for my supercurriculum stuff.So if I read articles and books recommended by the pdf i should be good as that would count as extracurricula stuff.I want to go to LSE(which has very high competition) and study economics degree.
Reply 10
Original post by .,...
Thank you for helping me understand what I can do for my supercurriculum stuff.So if I read articles and books recommended by the pdf i should be good as that would count as extracurricula stuff.I want to go to LSE(which has very high competition) and study economics degree.

Youre really better off asking in the economics forum and have a proper look at the lse information. The cambridge pdf is indicative, and
https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Assets/PDF/Advising-Advisers-2018-The-Personal-Statement.pdf
seems relevant, though from a quick google there is a fair bit of advice about how to write such a personal statement (what super curriculum stuff is relevant). Also I believe they (lse) say that taking tmua is helpful in getting an offer. I think its being withdrawn in 2024, so it would be worth contacting them about if/what theyre replacing it with. Putting the effort into preparing for that/its replacement would be important.

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