Politics Edexcel A-level Textbooks

Hey, just finished Politics A Level
For textbook advice, other than the main one the absolute biggest help to me throughout Y13 (though I wish I’d bought it sooner) was Essentials of UK Politics and Government - honestly the key to doing well at Politics is to keep essay planning and make note of relevant examples in the news, this book has a lot of plans and examples for you to build off of. Download BBC news on your phone and give it a quick look each morning. Definitely start making essay plans early, I kept all mine in a folder on my computer and had people test me on them, and also watch Mr Patel A Level Politics on YouTube! Very helpful. Additionally, old examiners reports are absolutely essential for understanding what a good essay vs bad essay looks like.

Hey, just finished Politics A Level
For textbook advice, other than the main one the absolute biggest help to me throughout Y13 (though I wish I’d bought it sooner) was Essentials of UK Politics and Government - honestly the key to doing well at Politics is to keep essay planning and make note of relevant examples in the news, this book has a lot of plans and examples for you to build off of. Download BBC news on your phone and give it a quick look each morning. Definitely start making essay plans early, I kept all mine in a folder on my computer and had people test me on them, and also watch Mr Patel A Level Politics on YouTube! Very helpful. Additionally, old examiners reports are absolutely essential for understanding what a good essay vs bad essay looks like.

My class used the sixth edition UK politics textbook

i am on a grade D for alevel politics and i want an A i have 10months left is it possible? and how do i improve. i want to go to a good university. i need advice on how to achieve better grades my board is edexcel. I got a U in my last paper but im predicted a C . I REALLY WANT TO IMPROVE BUT IDK HOW TO. i also need help on how to understand the content

Thank you! what is the main one?

Hey! I think this is absolutely possible if you put the work in. I got an A* from two things: essay technique and planning. If you can, I would arrange a meeting with your teacher to go through where you may be going wrong on your essays.
The structure that helped maximise marks for me was:
Introduction - Definition of key term in question, state the points you will argue in each paragraph (e.g in order to evaluate the issue of whether the UK is a two party system, the following points must be considered: devolved bodies, electoral success and the role of the media), then MAKE A JUDGEMENT - very important to scoring high marks (e.g Overall, despite … the UK remains to be a two party system)
3x paragraphs: State your first point in the first sentence then expand a little bit more (e.g Firstly, human rights are well protected due to the Human Rights Act. Introduced under the Blair Government in 1998, this doctrine allowed…), then give an example (current preferably) and evaluate (e.g. this shows how human rights protection is increasing by allowing UK citizens to repeatedly and successfully challenge rights abuses in UK courts). If you have time repeat with a second example. Then introduce a counterpoint in the same paragraph, using the same point evidence evaluate structure. At the end of the paragraph weigh in with a judgement (e.g overall the counterpoint is weaker because …) - this is important as to access top band you need to include judgement throughout not just in the conclusion
Conclusion: State which side you think is stronger and why, comparing it to the counterargument. To maximise A03 I liked to say which was the strongest point and which was the weakest point I used.
Honestly I will always and forever be an essay plan loyalist for learning content, as I feel like although you will very rarely plan the exact question to come up in the exam by learning plans you will absolutely have examples that you can apply to each situation, and by breaking it down into plans it seems less overwhelming. Flashcards are very helpful for remembering case studies, if you look on quizlet there will likely be many ready made sets for each topic. If you struggling with understanding as well Alan the History Nerd is a good channel with explainers on the content.
Hope this helps

Thank you so much. Whats the best way to revise

For my revision I went through both the specification and Mr Patel videos to make sure I had covered all content/ possible questions in my plans or example sheets (I also found lists of questions online or in the textbook that helped as I could tick them off once I’d covered them), and when it came to learning them I mostly wrote the key points in each paragraph from memory on my whiteboard or had people testing me.
I know some people in my class found making cheat sheets, or using Seneca Learning very helpful for each topic. For Paper 3, which is less easy to plan for as it’s the synoptic paper, I essentially had paper sheets with key cases and examples for each topic (so for say the IMF I had examples of successes and failures) and again repeatedly wrote them out on my whiteboard from memory so I didn’t forget them, but you may be more of a visual/auditory learner and want to record yourself saying key examples and listen to it in the bus/car, or use mind maps instead - essentially, it’s whatever gets it into your head lol.
Ultimately, above all essay practice is the best tool to get better! Only 1/3 of your marks actually comes from knowing content, so writing one essay a week (perhaps more closer to the exams) and having your teacher mark it if they have any spare time should be extremely helpful, and again looking through examiners reports is also helpful in boosting essay technique (but please don’t push yourself too early on in the year! Give yourself time to rest! I’d say I didn’t start properly revising until February, although I do wish I’d made my notes sooner lol)