5 REVISION TIPS FOR YOUR A-LEVEL RESIT

Thousands of students in the UK resit their A-levels every year. Resitting or retaking your A-levels is nothing to be ashamed of, and in fact, you have an advantage this time round as you now know what to expect! If you’re planning on resitting your A-level biology exams this year and you’re looking for a way to get that top grade, keep reading.

This blog post will give you revision and  planning techniques, and different tips and tricks to set yourself up for success.

TIP #1 – REQUEST A COPY OF YOUR SCRIPTS BACK 

Something I recommend everybody does is request a copy of your A-level exams for you to look at later. This way, in the event that your A-levels did not go the way you planned, you can then go through them and perform a MARCKS analysis.

If you were unable to request your scripts back in time, the alternative I suggest is getting yourself a copy of past papers from previous years. Using those papers, do a MARCKS analysis. This will not be as helpful as with your own scripts, but it still provides you with a working baseline before entering into Tip Two. 

A MARCKS ANALYSIS STANDS FOR:

M – MATHS

A – APPLICATION

R – READING THE QUESTION

C – CLARITY OF ANSWER

K – KNOWLEDGE

S – STATEMENTS PER QUESTION 

With the MARCKS formula in mind, you’re going to review your paper, looking at everywhere you lost a mark and then determine what kinds of questions lost you the most marks on. You can then tally up all the different skills you lost marks on, so you can determine what skill needs the most improvement. This will then affect which revision techniques you focus on when it comes to building that skill, or those couple of skills. This is important as it gives you a main focal point for your revision, which will then help you achieve a top grade on your exam this time around.

I go through exactly how to do this process in depth in this video, but I have also linked a quick picture of the process below:

Once you have narrowed down what skill you need to improve upon, I suggest checking out my exam techniques playlist on YouTube. Here I have videos on every single skill, with tips and tricks on how best to improve upon that skill! 

TIP #2 – COME UP WITH SMART TARGETS 

Once you’ve finished your MARCKS analysis, it’s time to set your SMART targets.

A SMART target means a target that is:

S – SPECIFIC

Choosing a specific topic lets you narrow in on an exact set of activities you are going to do that make sure you improve.

M – MEASURABLE

Whatever goal you’re setting has to be something that you can visibly measure and see that you’ve completed it in a tangible way.

A – ACHIEVABLE

You need to pick something that you can actually achieve.

R – REALISTIC

Set a target that is realistic. It wouldn’t be realistic to say that you’re going to complete every single past paper in the next month because, realistically, you might not have the time to complete such a large goal in such a short time frame.

T – TIME SPECIFIC

Your target needs to be completed in a specific time frame. 

The first SMART target you set should relate back to the MARCKS analysis you just completed in Tip #1 with your scripts. Chances are, the skills you need to improve on the most relate to application or clarity of answer, as those are the most common sections people struggle with. 

Let’s say your SMART target is improving your application. The specific activity you set could be to watch my application skills video on YouTube, so you can see how to go about revising, preparing, and improving at application questions. Then you could complete the application question in my FREE Miss Estruch Biology Application Booklet. If we assign this to be completed within a 1 to 2 months time frame, you now have your own SMART target as it relates to improving your application skills.

For clarity of answer, I would suggest reviewing my A-level notes (which can be purchased here!). Start with topics one, two and three. Take a look at the summary boxes and key terms. Then use your past papers, and search for words that are underlined as an indication that they must be included in your answers. These can then be actively pinpointed and connected to what you need to include in your answers in order to improve your clarity. After that, create flashcards that link back to the key terms (if you want these done for you, comment down below!), and frequently review and test your knowledge with the flashcard. Set yourself an allotted time of two months. When the two months have passed, review what you have achieved, and then set a new SMART target. 

These are just some examples of SMART targets, but you will be implementing multiple in your revision plan throughout the course of the year. Setting these targets helps to keep you motivated. They set an achievable goal to work towards, which is the key to staying motivated when you do not have your school peers or a teacher to hold you accountable for your learning.

TIP #3 – RETAINING YOUR KNOWLEDGE 

When you’re preparing for your exam for the first time, you are at the peak of your knowledge. The content is fresh inside your mind. However, as soon as the examination is complete, you likely forget about 90% of that information within the first week. When preparing for your resit, you need to find a way to get all that information back into your brain and retain it. This can be challenging, as you will be on your own, without being set homework or having someone repetitively checking in on you.

Something that may help you retain some of the knowledge that you lost is watching my Complete Topic Videos on Youtube – I have 8 videos that align with the 8 topics of AQA. If you set yourself 1 of those videos to watch every week (or every month depending on your time schedule) you will be able to refresh your knowledge in a SMART fashion. 

My A-level notes will also help you with retaining knowledge, as I provide key terms on every page, and a summary of topics at the end of every subsection. I suggest creating a set of flashcards for all the key terms for every topic. Once you watch a video, create a set of  flashcards. With each new set of flashcards, review your old flashcards to keep everything fresh in your mind. 

TIP #4 – SET YOURSELF MOCK EXAMS 

Mock exams have a ton of value when it comes to resitting your exams. When participating in a mock exam, try and treat it as much like a real exam as possible. Have someone time you, and make sure you stop your exam when the time runs out. Be in a quiet area alone. Make sure you have no electronics – only your calculator, highlighter, writing utensil, and any other school supply you may need.

I would suggest aiming to do a mock exam in January and around Easter. This will give you targets throughout the year that you work hard towards and prepare for. For January, have a mock exam on all the AS content. Pick a past paper such as 2017 or 2018 and complete both paper 1s. Then have your Easter exam be on Paper 2 and Paper 3. This will not only force you to revise but having completed the mock exam within exam conditions allows you to then do another MARCKS analysis. The results of the new MARCKS analysis will then allow you to set yourself new targets, and continue to improve.

TIP #5 – REACH OUT TO OTHER STUDENTS 

It’s so hard to stay motivated doing something completely on your own. That’s why I really recommend reaching out to other students to form a study group. Like I said at the beginning of this post, you are not the only person resitting, thousands of others will be too. Find someone and hold each other accountable. I always recommend telling someone your goal and having them check in on you in about a month’s time. That way you know someone will be checking in on you and will know if you’ve completed something or not. If you want a teacher checking in on you, I go live every Tuesday and Thursday on Instagram and TikTok (sign up through this link!). I focus on different exam techniques, so it will be like you will be getting a mini biology lesson every week. 

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