Advice for getting A*s in A levels

Hi
I am doing Biology chemistry and history a levels
I am aiming for minimum 3As in a levels
Does anyone have any tips to get As with revision and general school organisation tips please
Thank you :smile:

(edited 4 months ago)

Reply 1

unknown20001

11

drop a levels and run away forever

Reply 2

670351

OP

10

if only that was an option :frown:

Reply 3

ActiveEccentric

12

Original post by 670351

Hi
I am doing Biology chemistry and history a levels
I am aiming for minimum 3As in a levels
Does anyone have any tips to get As with revision and general school organisation tips please
Thank you :smile:

For bio and chem - I recommend Isaac Physics (for bio and chem). They have practice questions for biology and chem A-levels, even books for chemistry (physical chemistry, for chem A-level).

For revision, use website blockers, block everything unnecessary. Use Flora to block your phone.
Hodder's "How to get an A" books.

Reply 4

unknown20001

11

Original post by 670351

if only that was an option :frown:

i wish i could help 😔

Reply 5

670351

OP

10

Original post by ActiveEccentric

For bio and chem - I recommend Isaac Physics (for bio and chem). They have practice questions for biology and chem A-levels, even books for chemistry (physical chemistry, for chem A-level).

For revision, use website blockers, block everything unnecessary. Use Flora to block your phone.
Hodder's "How to get an A" books.

thank you so much

Reply 6

freeman9

5

Using predicted papers does not help but revising and solving past papers can markedly improve your grades. You can find past papers on various website.

Reply 7

ActiveEccentric

12

Original post by 670351

thank you so much

No problem! When in doubt for science subjects solving problems is probably the best way to revise, other than solving past paper questions.

Isaac Physics, PMT etc. is why I didn't fail physics even more than I could've.

Hello,

Best of luck on your exams.

My top tips:

1.

Use the syllabus as a check list to ensure you have covered all the materials.

2.

Youtube is your best friend! There are many revision videos that have tips and tricks.

3.

PAST PAPERS (and when you get bored just read the markschemes hehe)

4.

Active recall and spatial repetition.

Best of luck,
Haya- MBBS V

Reply 9

670351

OP

10

Original post by UCLan Student

Hello,

Best of luck on your exams.

My top tips:

1.

Use the syllabus as a check list to ensure you have covered all the materials.

2.

Youtube is your best friend! There are many revision videos that have tips and tricks.

3.

PAST PAPERS (and when you get bored just read the markschemes hehe)

4.

Active recall and spatial repetition.

Best of luck,
Haya- MBBS V

Thank you

Reply 10

reima.04

8

literally what i did step by step to get A* :
1) print out the spec and make flashcards from the prompts. i found making my own flashcards solidified my understanding
2) everyday go through some of the flashcards. its better to do 20 a day consistently than do 300 one day and then take a break for days
3) after you get confident with the flashcards and you know your stuff, do a topic pack from PMT.
4) the key for bio imo is to mark yourself as harsh as you can. go through the mark scheme, for any mistakes you made, if you think it was an important thing, then make a flashcard out of it. if you didn't understand why it is wrong, go through YouTube videos, ask your teachers or post it on tsr and someone will reply.
5) i repeated steps 1-4 from October to feb and by that time i was pretty confident on the actual content.
6) and then (this is what i did, some people might start earlier or later idk) 3 months before my exams, i started to do 1-2 past papers a day. if you run out of past papers, do AS papers and other exam boards. ( i wouldn't really recommend doing other exam boards for biology because their wording for the mark schemes might be different and you want to stay as close to the wording of your specific exam board)
and finally, don't tire yourself. know when you need to take breaks. I hope everything goes well x

Reply 11

emm4nuella

Debate & Current Affairs Helper, Study Forum Helper

19

does anyone have any general tips for psychology and/or sociology AQA a level too? would love some advice :smile:

Reply 12

kitty2005

12

Can anyone give advice for biology paper 2 especially with the application questions? I usually do better in paper 1 than paper 2.

Original post by 670351

Hi
I am doing Biology chemistry and history a levels
I am aiming for minimum 3As in a levels
Does anyone have any tips to get As with revision and general school organisation tips please
Thank you :smile:

Hi @670351,

I took Biology and Chemistry during my A-Levels as well, a piece of advice I commonly heard was to drill exam past papers. This may seem very broad and general, but I found it to be the most useful. You might also find it useful to write down those questions on a flashcard, and write the answers in memorable bullet points on the back of it. Flashcards are also useful for memorising biological processes and mechanisms.

In terms of chemistry, for inorganic you would be required to be familiar with calculations so do practice some past paper questions covering those. Whereas for organic chemistry, you would be required to have a good understanding of organic mechanisms and naming organic compounds. Depending on your exam board, you may be required to draw out these mechanisms as well. There are plenty videos online highlighting the processes of these mechanisms. After you have gone through your past papers, identify where you got wrong answers and try to understand why that happened.

In terms of school organisation tips, I think it's important that you devise a revision schedule to ensure that your revision sessions are going coherently. A routine that worked for me, was to revise the same subjects I had that day in school. I would go over the notes I made in class that day, re-read them, refine and elaborate on them.

Hope this helps,
Danish
BCU Student Rep

Reply 14

username6294950

10

Original post by ActiveEccentric

For bio and chem - I recommend Isaac Physics (for bio and chem). They have practice questions for biology and chem A-levels, even books for chemistry (physical chemistry, for chem A-level).

For revision, use website blockers, block everything unnecessary. Use Flora to block your phone.
Hodder's "How to get an A" books.

Hi, I am in year 12 and does Issac physics website cover all exam boards content and I bought the Hodder’s How to get an A in biology book at the start of the year september. how do you think I should be using it? like should be doing the questions in the book I have also been reading the section towards the end on how to revise

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 15

ActiveEccentric

12

Original post by emmanuella16

Hi, I am in year 12 and does Issac physics website cover all exam boards content and I bought the Hodder’s How to get an A in biology book at the start of the year september. how do you think I should be using it? like should be doing the questions in the book I have also been reading the section towards the end on how to revise

Ideally read the whole book. But if you don't know how to revise you should read the section towards the end on how to revise. It helped me, scrape an A for psychology in 2023 (Although I got almost A in 2022 so...). Doing the questions is also good practice - even if it's not exactly relevant you can still learn from the writing style.

Reply 16

username6294950

10

Original post by ActiveEccentric

Ideally read the whole book. But if you don't know how to revise you should read the section towards the end on how to revise. It helped me, scrape an A for psychology in 2023 (Although I got almost A in 2022 so...). Doing the questions is also good practice - even if it's not exactly relevant you can still learn from the writing style.