Achieving a top A Level grade is as much about organisation, focus, and putting in the hours at your desk as it is about any natural flair that you may possess for the subject. This is encouraging, because it puts you in control of your destiny. There’s plenty you can do to give yourself the best chance of success. Here are some tips to help you revise.
1. Make a revision timetable
It takes discipline to do well in an A-level exam, and this will come much more easily if you draw up a revision timetable and stick to it. Devote an equal amount of time for each unit or topic you have studied, unless you have been told in advance that some units are worth a higher percentage of marks than others.
Make sure that you are giving yourself regular short breaks to do activities you enjoy, or simply have some chill time. It can be counterproductive to over-study, as your mind will not have time to process all the information, and you will become stale and resistant to the agile thinking that you need to do well in the exam.
2. Make flashcards
Psychology is a content-heavy subject, which demands plenty of factual information recall. This can feel overwhelming, but avoid the temptation to bury your head in the sand! Instead, break the data down into small manageable chunks, using a system such as flashcards.
To help you engage with the information, phrase it as questions which stimulate you to think, rather than as dry facts which you may not find stay in your mind very well.
3. Do plenty of past papers
Past papers are one of the most valuable ways in which you can revise for A Level psychology, because they allow you work to exam conditions. Once you get used to working on past papers, set a stop clock to the allocated time allowed, and work to this. Being able to time your answers well is fundamental to getting a good grade.
This means that not only are you testing your subject knowledge and recall, but you are learning to set your ideas down within a fixed timeframe, and this is a skill that can be improved with practice. Try and get a good balance between planning what you want to say, and actually getting going with your answer.
4. Familiarise yourself with exam question terminology
Exam questions are usually phrased in predictable ways, which should help dictate the way you frame your answer. Make sure that you have a firm grasp of the differences between exam wording, which can mean the difference between an adequate answer, and a more precise and in-depth response.
For example, some questions will ask you to “explain” something; others may request that you “describe” it. Learn what the difference means. Likewise, “evaluate” has a slightly different meaning to “criticise”, although there are some overlapping concepts.
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