The Student Room Group

Help with grades needed asap

Hello. I'm a year 13 student, and recently, I got my predicted grades, which are BBC (edexcel maths, aqa chem, and aqa bio respectively. I'm going to try and convince my teacher to predict me a B at least because my school is strict with increasing predicted grades :frown: I just want advice on how to do better. I revised a ton for my end of year 12 exams but got a C and Ds, which totally sucked. I'm not really looking for pity or to be made fun of, though. I just want advice on how I can improve. Currently, I do biology flashcards whenever I remember, mostly on the bus, and I do exam questions on pmt for chemistry and also bio. And for maths, I don't even know how to revise properly except for doing the textbook questions, which my teacher recommended when I asked for advice. I mostly just feel like I work so hard before my exams, but I never seem to get the best grades. Like I feel like I go into the exam feeling like I know the content and then I don't get anything like the questions confuse me, even though I do past paper questions at home.

I want to achieve As in my real exams and I have mocks in a couple weeks so hopefully at least improve my grades to all Bs by that time, which I know will be difficult but I'm willing to try. If anybody has advice on how I can achieve this, I will be forever grateful.
Reply 1
Original post by qhoulia
Hello. I'm a year 13 student, and recently, I got my predicted grades, which are BBC (edexcel maths, aqa chem, and aqa bio respectively. I'm going to try and convince my teacher to predict me a B at least because my school is strict with increasing predicted grades :frown: I just want advice on how to do better. I revised a ton for my end of year 12 exams but got a C and Ds, which totally sucked. I'm not really looking for pity or to be made fun of, though. I just want advice on how I can improve. Currently, I do biology flashcards whenever I remember, mostly on the bus, and I do exam questions on pmt for chemistry and also bio. And for maths, I don't even know how to revise properly except for doing the textbook questions, which my teacher recommended when I asked for advice. I mostly just feel like I work so hard before my exams, but I never seem to get the best grades. Like I feel like I go into the exam feeling like I know the content and then I don't get anything like the questions confuse me, even though I do past paper questions at home.
I want to achieve As in my real exams and I have mocks in a couple weeks so hopefully at least improve my grades to all Bs by that time, which I know will be difficult but I'm willing to try. If anybody has advice on how I can achieve this, I will be forever grateful.

Don’t give up, i am in a similar position to you. Don’t let your past grades get to you. One of my teachers said for biology since there is a lot of content record yourself explaining a topic once you understand it on YouTube (private) Since that will help with memory. Just remember that with biology and chemistry you need to do a lot of exam questions and make sure you memorise the ones you get wrong after you understand how to answer them (by asking help from teachers) Also watch YouTubers like unjaded jade as she gives really good advice. For maths don’t revise from just the textbook, go onto maths genie or pmt and make sure you watch a video first if you don’t understand the concept.
Reply 2
Original post by qhoulia
Hello. I'm a year 13 student, and recently, I got my predicted grades, which are BBC (edexcel maths, aqa chem, and aqa bio respectively. I'm going to try and convince my teacher to predict me a B at least because my school is strict with increasing predicted grades :frown: I just want advice on how to do better. I revised a ton for my end of year 12 exams but got a C and Ds, which totally sucked. I'm not really looking for pity or to be made fun of, though. I just want advice on how I can improve. Currently, I do biology flashcards whenever I remember, mostly on the bus, and I do exam questions on pmt for chemistry and also bio. And for maths, I don't even know how to revise properly except for doing the textbook questions, which my teacher recommended when I asked for advice. I mostly just feel like I work so hard before my exams, but I never seem to get the best grades. Like I feel like I go into the exam feeling like I know the content and then I don't get anything like the questions confuse me, even though I do past paper questions at home.
I want to achieve As in my real exams and I have mocks in a couple weeks so hopefully at least improve my grades to all Bs by that time, which I know will be difficult but I'm willing to try. If anybody has advice on how I can achieve this, I will be forever grateful.

Hello. I’m in yr13 too- I do aqa chem and got an A* in edexcel maths last summer (don’t take bio I’m afraid).
Overall, I’ve think past paper qs are the best way to go revision wise, especially before tests, but make sure to make good use of the mark schemes as they tell you exactly what examiners want to hear for worded qs. If you struggle with the big maths questions in chem, maybe try some of the old specification papers too, as they break up these types of questions into multiple parts which can help you with the method. In terms of other chem resources I think the chemrevise notes are very helpful to fill in gaps in knowledge, and YouTube channels like allery chemistry are good for info specific to the aqa specification.
For maths, I think a lot of it is just practice, maybe check out some YouTube channels like Bicen maths for specific topics. Last year I watched his ‘everything you need to memorise’ videos before mocks/the exams and these helped me remember the bits not on the formula sheet (these were particularly helpful for applied topics).
Good luck- I hope there’s something there that can help!
Reply 3
Original post by safsta
Don’t give up, i am in a similar position to you. Don’t let your past grades get to you. One of my teachers said for biology since there is a lot of content record yourself explaining a topic once you understand it on YouTube (private) Since that will help with memory. Just remember that with biology and chemistry you need to do a lot of exam questions and make sure you memorise the ones you get wrong after you understand how to answer them (by asking help from teachers) Also watch YouTubers like unjaded jade as she gives really good advice. For maths don’t revise from just the textbook, go onto maths genie or pmt and make sure you watch a video first if you don’t understand the concept.

hi, thanks for the youtube idea! it sounds really helpful so ill try it out and also the subject tips🙂 i try to not let my past grades get to me but its difficult when i barely improve or do worse than before☹️ but ill try to be more positive since i do have faith in myself that i can work hard and hopefully get the grades I want
Reply 4
Original post by erm.1326
Hello. I’m in yr13 too- I do aqa chem and got an A* in edexcel maths last summer (don’t take bio I’m afraid).
Overall, I’ve think past paper qs are the best way to go revision wise, especially before tests, but make sure to make good use of the mark schemes as they tell you exactly what examiners want to hear for worded qs. If you struggle with the big maths questions in chem, maybe try some of the old specification papers too, as they break up these types of questions into multiple parts which can help you with the method. In terms of other chem resources I think the chemrevise notes are very helpful to fill in gaps in knowledge, and YouTube channels like allery chemistry are good for info specific to the aqa specification.
For maths, I think a lot of it is just practice, maybe check out some YouTube channels like Bicen maths for specific topics. Last year I watched his ‘everything you need to memorise’ videos before mocks/the exams and these helped me remember the bits not on the formula sheet (these were particularly helpful for applied topics).
Good luck- I hope there’s something there that can help!

hey thanks for the advice and congrats on getting an A* that is amazing!! my worst subject is maths so that's so impressive to me lol. i find that i somewhat know the content but the when i acrually sit to do the exams the questions are so difficult i barely understand them and only get the really easy ones right, especially with applied and the harder pure topics like trig. i have heard bicen maths is quite helpful so i will try that. if you have any other tips on how to get better at tackling more difficult questions that'd be amazing. thank you for advice! :smile:
Original post by qhoulia
Hello. I'm a year 13 student, and recently, I got my predicted grades, which are BBC (edexcel maths, aqa chem, and aqa bio respectively. I'm going to try and convince my teacher to predict me a B at least because my school is strict with increasing predicted grades :frown: I just want advice on how to do better. I revised a ton for my end of year 12 exams but got a C and Ds, which totally sucked. I'm not really looking for pity or to be made fun of, though. I just want advice on how I can improve. Currently, I do biology flashcards whenever I remember, mostly on the bus, and I do exam questions on pmt for chemistry and also bio. And for maths, I don't even know how to revise properly except for doing the textbook questions, which my teacher recommended when I asked for advice. I mostly just feel like I work so hard before my exams, but I never seem to get the best grades. Like I feel like I go into the exam feeling like I know the content and then I don't get anything like the questions confuse me, even though I do past paper questions at home.
I want to achieve As in my real exams and I have mocks in a couple weeks so hopefully at least improve my grades to all Bs by that time, which I know will be difficult but I'm willing to try. If anybody has advice on how I can achieve this, I will be forever grateful.

hey, I do ocr biology chem but edexcel maths! I'm in sort of a similar position to you in regards to my grades and i feel as if i start working hard closer to exams but by then its too little too late. I was just wondering if you wanted to be sort of study buddies and make sure we both are working, even though we do different exam boards for sciences i think we both would benefit from it! lmk if your down!
Original post by qhoulia
Hello. I'm a year 13 student, and recently, I got my predicted grades, which are BBC (edexcel maths, aqa chem, and aqa bio respectively. I'm going to try and convince my teacher to predict me a B at least because my school is strict with increasing predicted grades :frown: I just want advice on how to do better. I revised a ton for my end of year 12 exams but got a C and Ds, which totally sucked. I'm not really looking for pity or to be made fun of, though. I just want advice on how I can improve. Currently, I do biology flashcards whenever I remember, mostly on the bus, and I do exam questions on pmt for chemistry and also bio. And for maths, I don't even know how to revise properly except for doing the textbook questions, which my teacher recommended when I asked for advice. I mostly just feel like I work so hard before my exams, but I never seem to get the best grades. Like I feel like I go into the exam feeling like I know the content and then I don't get anything like the questions confuse me, even though I do past paper questions at home.
I want to achieve As in my real exams and I have mocks in a couple weeks so hopefully at least improve my grades to all Bs by that time, which I know will be difficult but I'm willing to try. If anybody has advice on how I can achieve this, I will be forever grateful.

I would say focus less on memorisation (flashcards) and more on understanding. I don't do maths but i can certainly say that understanding processes in biology and chemistry lightens the mental load of it all, as well as giving you a confidence boost as once you realise you've understood something, there is no need for hectic memorisation and you are able to answer nearly every question as long as you apply your understanding correctly. Although understanding may take slightly longer than memorising, you wont have to revise it as much. Additionally i would say look for repeating trends in past papers because i've realised that for chemistry (especially paper 2) basically the same topics come up each year, so i would say focus on those.
hope this helps, good luck :smile:
Reply 7
Original post by vanillaxox_v
hey, I do ocr biology chem but edexcel maths! I'm in sort of a similar position to you in regards to my grades and i feel as if i start working hard closer to exams but by then its too little too late. I was just wondering if you wanted to be sort of study buddies and make sure we both are working, even though we do different exam boards for sciences i think we both would benefit from it! lmk if your down!

hii sorry i didn't reply sooner ive been busy with mocks and sending off my ucas application lol but i would love to be study buddies if you're still interested?
Reply 8
Original post by gargantuan-snore
I would say focus less on memorisation (flashcards) and more on understanding. I don't do maths but i can certainly say that understanding processes in biology and chemistry lightens the mental load of it all, as well as giving you a confidence boost as once you realise you've understood something, there is no need for hectic memorisation and you are able to answer nearly every question as long as you apply your understanding correctly. Although understanding may take slightly longer than memorising, you wont have to revise it as much. Additionally i would say look for repeating trends in past papers because i've realised that for chemistry (especially paper 2) basically the same topics come up each year, so i would say focus on those.
hope this helps, good luck :smile:

hii thank you so much for your advice x i do focus mostly on memorisation more than actually understanding biology by blurting and doing flashcards, which is probably a problem lol but i don't know what else to do 😭 i have been doing more chem past papers and I've noticed the questions are fairly similar in each paper which is quite good. if you do have any tips on revising organic, i would be so thankful.
thank you so much for your advice xx
Reply 9
Original post by qhoulia
Hello. I'm a year 13 student, and recently, I got my predicted grades, which are BBC (edexcel maths, aqa chem, and aqa bio respectively. I'm going to try and convince my teacher to predict me a B at least because my school is strict with increasing predicted grades :frown: I just want advice on how to do better. I revised a ton for my end of year 12 exams but got a C and Ds, which totally sucked. I'm not really looking for pity or to be made fun of, though. I just want advice on how I can improve. Currently, I do biology flashcards whenever I remember, mostly on the bus, and I do exam questions on pmt for chemistry and also bio. And for maths, I don't even know how to revise properly except for doing the textbook questions, which my teacher recommended when I asked for advice. I mostly just feel like I work so hard before my exams, but I never seem to get the best grades. Like I feel like I go into the exam feeling like I know the content and then I don't get anything like the questions confuse me, even though I do past paper questions at home.
I want to achieve As in my real exams and I have mocks in a couple weeks so hopefully at least improve my grades to all Bs by that time, which I know will be difficult but I'm willing to try. If anybody has advice on how I can achieve this, I will be forever grateful.

I’ve always found that textbook questions are never realistic (I take CS physics and maths; OCR,OCR,AQA respectively)

Personally I use Save my exams to revise concepts then do a butt ton of practice papers. It works fairly well but I never seem to do enough.(that’s a separate issue tho)

I also use PMT sometimes. Not much else tbh

For helping me invest the correct amount of time I’ve started using an app called Forest, it’s helped me do a lot more work as I’ve been able to compare with friends and gamify it if that makes sense.

I hope any of this helps

Edit* TLMATHS IS REALLY GOOD ASW

I’m ye 13 asw btw
(edited 3 months ago)
Original post by vanillaxox_v
hey, I do ocr biology chem but edexcel maths! I'm in sort of a similar position to you in regards to my grades and i feel as if i start working hard closer to exams but by then its too little too late. I was just wondering if you wanted to be sort of study buddies and make sure we both are working, even though we do different exam boards for sciences i think we both would benefit from it! lmk if your down!


i do ocr biology too do u have any tips on how to revise it
Original post by nadirahm
i do ocr biology too do u have any tips on how to revise it

i do aqa bio, have u heard of anki?

Quick Reply