#shannonsstudy

A-Level Survival Guide, by @Shannonsstudy

If you are unfamiliar with A-levels, they are a 2 year course typically for 16-18 year olds carried out after high school. In most cases you will study 4 subjects at AS level in year 1, and drop to 3 subjects at A2 level, unless you are me, in which case you would have carried on all 4 subjects and become way too stressed by exam season, because you didn’t have THIS survival guide.

·         Be prepared. You will need a binder/folder for each subject; none of this multi-subject notebook nonsense, there won’t be enough room for your notes and you’ll become unorganised. Make sure you have the basics- pens, pencils, ruler blah blah blah you know the drill.

 ·         Make an effort with your tutor. Your tutor will be writing your reference for university/job applications at the beginning of year 2, so make a good impression and stick to it. A simple “Hi, how are you?” as you walk in to registration and a “Have a good day” as you leave is all it takes, it will make the world of difference when it comes to them writing a reference. Similarly, make friends with your teachers, I’m not saying you need to be BFFs, just make it clear that you’re interested in their subject and them as a person.

 ·         DO THE HOMEWORK WHEN YOU GET IT. In a free period or when you get home, sit down and do the homework set that day. If you can get it done and out of the way asap it won’t build up and become stressful, it also gives you time to go to your teachers for help if you need it (also showing them that you take their class seriously and want to do well).

 ·         Use your free periods. I’m not saying you need to spend every single free doing hardcore study, because that’s not going to happen. But utilise the free time and get work done, you can relax at home and not have to worry about homework then.

 ·         Read. The. Textbook. You can have the best teacher in the world, and they may still miss out some details. Every day go through the relevant sections of the book for the day’s lessons, add anything missed out to your notes. I did NOT do this at AS, which was a huge mistake as I then had to do it all in the months/weeks leading up to my A2 exams, when I could have been revising content rather than learning it for the first time.

 ·         Similarly, make your revision resources ASAP. Again, do this after every lesson to avoid panic and stress in exam season. It’ll be much easier to write out 5 flashcards every day than it will be to write out hundreds 3 weeks before the exam, plus you’ll actually have time to study them.

 ·         Choose your subjects carefully. But also don’t stress if you start and discover you hate the class, you’ll have around a month to swap. Choose subjects that you enjoy and find interesting, there’s nothing worse than writing an essay on a subject you despise.

 ·         THE NEW A-LEVEL SYSTEM SUCKS. Yes, you now have to memorise everything you’ve learned in the entire 2 years and will be examined on it all at the end. Revising the month before may have worked in the past, but not this time. Revise year-round.

 ·         When it comes to revision (which again, you should be doing all year) use past papers. Although the system has changed, for the most part the questions have not. Once you’ve done one question on ‘differences in achievement and subject choice between genders’ you’ve done them all. You can still use old papers and mark schemes, just ignore the questions that are no longer relevant