Where do I start?

Hello!

I'm a resit student retaking Biology, Chemistry Psychology on a gap year.
As you can tell I didn't score highly in my A-levels, walking out with Cs and Ds and I really want to flip that around.
I've been working tirelessly and have been retaking some gcse exams to meet some of the requirements for my desired course.
Throughout my academic career, I have never really been the most highly achieving student who can easily just get an A just from studying for a night, but I really want to flip that around and walk out with very good grades.
I've been dealing with some confidence issues because of my grades which has sometimes made it practically impossible to me to achieve.

Does anyone have any good advice on how to tackle A-levels during my gap year, for me to even see the light and day of a Grade A? Personal statements? Predicted grades?
Coming from a not-so-confident student :/

Reply 1

UoNstudents

Official Rep

Original post

by cracked-barrier

Hello!
I'm a resit student retaking Biology, Chemistry Psychology on a gap year.
As you can tell I didn't score highly in my A-levels, walking out with Cs and Ds and I really want to flip that around.
I've been working tirelessly and have been retaking some gcse exams to meet some of the requirements for my desired course.
Throughout my academic career, I have never really been the most highly achieving student who can easily just get an A just from studying for a night, but I really want to flip that around and walk out with very good grades.
I've been dealing with some confidence issues because of my grades which has sometimes made it practically impossible to me to achieve.
Does anyone have any good advice on how to tackle A-levels during my gap year, for me to even see the light and day of a Grade A? Personal statements? Predicted grades?
Coming from a not-so-confident student :/

Hello @cracked-barrier !

Im sorry to hear abt your grades last year, huge respect for opening up abt it! 😎

Here are a few things that might help you really turn things around this year:
1. Learn from what went wrong last time
Think about why your grades weren’t where you wanted ; was it time management, revision techniques, exam technique, confidence, or just burnout? Once you pinpoint that, you can fix it. For example, if it was timing in exams, do past papers under strict timed conditions every week.

2. Active revision > passive revision
Avoid rereading notes endlessly. Instead:

•

Teach the content out loud (as if you’re tutoring someone).

•

Use blurting, spaced repetition, and exam questions as your main tools. Exam questions every day helped me go from a D in biology 1 month before my exam to a high B!!! (it is possible)

•

Make summary sheets after testing yourself - not before.

3. Build consistency, not intensity
It’s tempting to overwork in bursts, but consistent small daily goals are much better. Even 3–4 focused hours a day with proper technique can do more than all-nighters.
4. Confidence and mindset matter
You don’t need to be a “naturally gifted” student to get As- you just need strategy and belief. Every time you understand a concept you used to find hard, note it down; it reminds you you’re improving.
5. For A grades
You don’t need perfection, just mastery of question style and key content. Use examiner reports - they literally tell you what top answers include.

I hope this somewhat helps, let me know if you've any more questions.
I also did psychology, and loved it at A-Level, which motivated me to want to do well. Do you find the content interesting? Read up on things, if you like it, it will make you want to learn more about it etc etc! If you don't like it thats also fine, respiration and photosynthesis applied questions in biology made me want to never look at biology again, but get a mind-map going and do exam questions continuously and it should stick.

Hope it goes well, you've got this

Aimee - UoN Rep #UoN

Reply 2

EpicGenetic

It very much depends on what your strengths and weaknesses are, and the approach you taken before, and the support you will have access too. Everyone is different. Biology is my main area so if you'd like to tell me how you have been going about that feel free to message me and I can give you some more advice specific to you :smile:

Reply 3

Kingston Grace

Official Rep

Original post

by cracked-barrier

Hello!
I'm a resit student retaking Biology, Chemistry Psychology on a gap year.
As you can tell I didn't score highly in my A-levels, walking out with Cs and Ds and I really want to flip that around.
I've been working tirelessly and have been retaking some gcse exams to meet some of the requirements for my desired course.
Throughout my academic career, I have never really been the most highly achieving student who can easily just get an A just from studying for a night, but I really want to flip that around and walk out with very good grades.
I've been dealing with some confidence issues because of my grades which has sometimes made it practically impossible to me to achieve.
Does anyone have any good advice on how to tackle A-levels during my gap year, for me to even see the light and day of a Grade A? Personal statements? Predicted grades?
Coming from a not-so-confident student :/

Hi @cracked-barrier

Sorry to hear you are feeling not so confident about your grades. Amazing though to hear that you are carrying on with a gap year to get the grades you want!

Although I don't have any subject specific advice I thought I would just share some general tips from previous posts I have made to hopefully give you some ideas
Revision Techniques That Helped Me - The Student Room
Tips on deadlines, motivation and time management - The Student Room
How to Prepare for Exam/Deadline Season - The Student Room

I hope this helps and wishing you the best of luck :smile:

-Grace (Kingston Rep)