Tips and advice for a-levels

So I'm currently in yr 11 but hoping to do:

A-Level History (OCR)
A-Level Sociology (AQA)
A-Level Religious Studies (EDUQAS)

Does anyone have any tips or advice or recommendations or anything to do with these subjects if u take them. I want to get into law and do a degree in law hopefully so aiming for As???

Reply 1

GemGoth

I’m in my last year of studying law at university at the moment and also studied a level history (edexcel) and religious studies (eduqas) (AA*) so here are my tips:

• Don’t overload yourself with work, as much as you will see people giving you a certain number of hours to revise, it’s all about how you learn and retain information best. You don’t want to burn yourself out.

• Focus on revising little and often, review class work during any free periods and create mindmaps or flashcards to retain knowledge.

• Start working on your personal statement for University around June / July of Year 12, if you’re applying to Oxford or Cambridge, try and get your drafts completed by the end of the summer holidays so you can show your teachers to send it by October or, send it by November* for other unis so you have less to do and won’t be rushing at the end of January.

* Make sure to do proper research into the Universities you want to apply to and their courses, as well as modules you’ll be able to pick. If they require the LNAT, book a date that gives you a month or two of revision time and use the LNAT to complete or plan practice papers - have these reviewed by your teachers.

• The best form of revision for me (going from writing lengthy notes at the start of high school for 3 years) was to create mindmaps on A3 sheets, with the topic in the middle and key words (not long phrases), branching off from it.

• What worked best for me was practicing to plan / speed-plan exam questions in 5-10 minutes and always making sure I knew the timings + structure of each exam question. You can have as much knowledge on a subject as you want, but ultimately it depends on how you structure your answer that will get you the marks.

• Always ask your teachers for feedback and do extra reading outside your subject with memorable (not long and tedious examples) short quotes that you can use in your exams (easily applicable to a range of questions for example).

• Create a revision schedule that accommodates your current schedule - this will change from half-term to half-term.

• Experiment with a range of revision methods, use videos, mini lectures, flash cards.

• For your personal statement, to include examples of your wider interest in law, you can watch cases on the supreme court website, attend court hearings, shadow a barrister in the summer holidays, use websites like coursera and open university too.

• Use Jstor for wider reading whether it be for your a levels or law.

If I come up with anything else, I’ll let you know. Otherwise, good luck with your GCSEs and don’t stress too much! It is always manageable and will go smoother than expected as long as you are calm and organised! My sister is studying sociology at A Level and gets A*s so I will ask her for tips too.

Reply 2

dheuisbshssu

I do a level aqa sociology!
It is honestly such an interesting subject so you should definitely do it! The questions are relatively easy to answer and I would say the only difficult thing is the amount of content! However once you are good at the structure of answering the questions it becomes quite easy as long as you know theories/concepts/examples! So just make sure you stay on top of your notes/revision resources! I’m in year 13 doing law at Durham in September so if you need anything I can help!

Reply 3

Sckle829

I did a level law and tbh there’s a lotttt of content so in first year make sure to stay ahead of things, make revision notes and stay focused!! So that it’s easier when ur in year 2 and learning the new topics

Reply 4

LancashireRep6

Official Rep

Hello! Hope you are well!

I did A Level History, and there's a lot of information to get through that you need to recall in order to answer questions. I would advise using revision or flash cards to outline key individuals and dates to focus on recall. I used to spend one journey to/from college just revising. As mentioned above, little and often is the best way!

When doing practice questions, it can be good to write essay plans for each question. This allows you to get practice planning quickly and benefits you in the exam. These can also be a good way to practice your information recall if you leave your notes to the side.

Just before my exams I would always sit with a blank piece of paper and write down everything I could remember. This helped me get into an exam mindset and stopped the panic of trying to learn everything last minute.

Best of luck with your exams!

Stella - UCLan Student Ambassador

Reply 5

phoenixx06

Original post

by dheuisbshssu

as someone else who does sociology (eduqas though), literally this!! ^^^

the content might seem overwhelming, but essay structure is key. once you know how to structure an essay and have a solid bank of sociologists/statistics, getting an A (or at least a B) is pretty easy

forming your own opinions helps too, i’m naturally opinionated so revising is fun for me bcs it’s easier to remember things i care about 😭 and if you disagree with a theory, then evaluating it becomes even easier 🤞

i’d also recommend practicing writing quickly, not sure how much time aqa gives, but in gcse sociology, we had 1 minute per mark and that really helped me prepare for a-level! so doing practice papers/questions under timed conditions is super important :smile:

Reply 6

na1007

Original post

by Ammm11

So I'm currently in yr 11 but hoping to do:
A-Level History (OCR)
A-Level Sociology (AQA)
A-Level Religious Studies (EDUQAS)
Does anyone have any tips or advice or recommendations or anything to do with these subjects if u take them. I want to get into law and do a degree in law hopefully so aiming for As???

I do eduqas RE there's NO online resources whatsoever so you really have to stay on top of content and make your own resources.

Reply 7

Ammm11

Original post

by na1007

I do eduqas RE there's NO online resources whatsoever so you really have to stay on top of content and make your own resources.

oops lol what did u end up getting??

Reply 8

na1007

Original post

by Ammm11

oops lol what did u end up getting??

I'm in Yr 12 but I got an A in my latest mock so it's definitely not impossible to do good. There are the eduqas knowledge organisers but they're not super helpful imo. But tbe course content does overlap with other exam boards for some topics (but definitely so you can use not all) so you may be able to use resources from other exam boards.

Reply 9

ineedhelpstudy

Original post

by Ammm11

So I'm currently in yr 11 but hoping to do:
A-Level History (OCR)
A-Level Sociology (AQA)
A-Level Religious Studies (EDUQAS)
Does anyone have any tips or advice or recommendations or anything to do with these subjects if u take them. I want to get into law and do a degree in law hopefully so aiming for As???

Hi Ammm11. First thing is ask your school about what topics they offer as topics taught at schools vary from school to school. Check the Alevel specifications and ask yourself are you willing to study this subject (read around the topic, do homework and revise this subject for 3 hours a week per subject - 15 hours in total). Do a subject you have a passion for as motivation comes and go. OCR a level history is a flexible exam board unlike Edexcel which has a recommended essay that feels quite unnatural to write the essays in the Edexcel style. Talk to subject teachers about what the subject entails and the average student grades. Eduqas Religious Studies tends to made up of three different strands - philosophy, ethics and the study of religion like Christianity/Islam/Buddhism/Judaism/Hinduism. The exam boundaries for Eduqas Religious Studies is very high- you need 75% per strand for a B. Sociology has a lot of content to revise for - crime and deviance, families. You need to make sure you buy the course textbook at the beginning of Y12 and take all your mocks very seriously like it is the real alevel exam to ensure your predicted grades for university would be good. So you can apply to very good russel group universities like UCL. If you can get a tutor for the subjects you struggle with, use quizlet to summarise key information into bullet points and use it for key dates in history and quotes for RS, rely heavily on the textbook, the mark schemes, the specification, the examiners report and the guidance for teachers (so you can see what the exam board actually what you to mention in your essays). Good luck with three essay based subjects; as long as you love your subjects and do the work you will be fine!!!!!!

Reply 10

ineedhelpstudy

Original post

by Ammm11

So I'm currently in yr 11 but hoping to do:
A-Level History (OCR)
A-Level Sociology (AQA)
A-Level Religious Studies (EDUQAS)
Does anyone have any tips or advice or recommendations or anything to do with these subjects if u take them. I want to get into law and do a degree in law hopefully so aiming for As???

Hi Ammm11. I hope you are doing well. In regards to your question, what specific topics does your school teach for sociology, Religious Studies and History. Eduquas Religious studies - the grade boundaries are quite harsh 75% for each paper is needed for a B. Eduuquas Religious Studies is comprised of three different components - philosophy (topics like deductive and inductive argument for God's existence, religious experience, miracles, New Atheism, Arguments for and against Religious Language), Ethics (situational ethics - Fletcher, Aristotle's Virtue Theory, Divine Command Theory, Aquinas and Finnis Natural Moral Law) and then the study of a religion (like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism). History OCR is quite flexible for structure as long as you have a coherent logical argument they will accept your essay argument within reason of course. There are three papers (British period study and unit 1 - 30 mark sources and churchill and a 20 mark essay question, non british period study like American Revolution - 10 marker and 20 mark essay and thematic study and historical interpretation like Civil Rights (30 marker interpretation, three 25 marker essays). Each aspect of the history paper tests a different skill like cause and consequence and these skills vary per paper. Make sure your coursework is good; start working on it in the summer of Y12. Ask your teacher if you can give them a first draft of the coursework by October half term so you can make changes to it and improve it. Get your coursework to an A and getting to an A overall in History will be made a lot easier. Coursework can make or break your grade. I gave examples of the Alevel modules I do, but it may differ in your school so check with your subject teachers. For history use quizlet to revise dates and key events, use past papers. Go to lectures that are relevant for your topics - Institute of Historical Research has really good lectures by PHD students!!! A level sociology has different topics - like crime and deviance and family. Make sure you start revising at the beginning of Y12 as slow and steady wins the race; do not burn yourself out by cramming - cramming doesn't work at Alevel as the knowledge you need is extensive and essay based subjects require extensive analysis. BTW do two essay based subjects like History and Sociology. But make sure your third Alevel subject is slightly easier like Media. As you need to do well in the Alevels you take. Most important of all make sure you do subjects you have a passion to do - ask yourself this is this a subject i am willing to do wider reading for, homework for and revise for - for the next two years. 15 hours of work per week - 3 hours per subject. For revision it is important to do timed essay practice, use quizlet to memorise key information, use blurting and do spaced repetition. If you get tutors for the subject/s you struggle with as Alevel requires a lot of independent study and teachers do not always have time to do 1:1 as there is many students in classes thanks to lack of spending in public education. Take class exams and mocks in Y12 seriously as based on that teachers will make your predicted grade for university. BTW the LNAT is very difficult.