I can't get good grades.

flibbage0

flibbage0

flibbage0

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6 Jun 2010
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Doing my A levels at the moment and I just can't get good grades.

The worst thing is that I don't know where I'm going wrong, I know the stuff but I just muck up the exam.

Its annoying because people at school are really patronising and laugh at my stupidity, its as if there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

I did change schools at the beginning on 6th form and I was considered the quite intelligent person at my previous school but now I'm considered special by my peers at school I moved to.

Any advice on how to get better grades and how to deal with these people?

Thanks.
 
Talk to the teachers marking you badly, find out where you're going wrong and work on it?

Moving school may or may not have had anything to do with it, there are a million reasons your performance could suddenly drop.
 
Best bet is to arrange times with the teachers to discuss exam/test results.

It could just be a nerve problem, or it could be you know each module individually but when it comes to combining the componants, as what can happens in exams, your brain just shut down.

Either way get practising past papers.
 
Knowing the stuff but sucking at exams?


Sounds like you need some exam paper practise and you should look at some mark schemes, too.

I'm pretty sure that the above will give you some fine improvements. I've given that advice to plenty and seen them do better. Could work for you?
 
flibbage0 said:
The worst thing is that I don't know where I'm going wrong, I know the stuff but I just muck up the exam.
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Do you prepare by answering sample questions (eg. past papers)? This is usually the best way to learn HOW the questions need answering as well as knowing the subject to know WHAT the answers are.

If you're talking about internal exams (ie. examined within the school), a difference in marking styles may be responsible, but you will need to get that clarified by the teachers involved.

Is this specific to one or two subjects, or across the board?

Edit: you've given the subjects - sounds like it's everything you're doing, sciences and maths. Hard to imagine it's down to any one marking style then, but it's still something you should investigate.

Is it possible that you are simply finding A-Levels much harder than GCSEs? Because they are harder, and generally involve more complex questions which you may not have been adequately prepared for at GCSE level...
 
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A lot of useful advice here thanks :)

I think I need more confidence as well, from what I can see the people who are cocky do well (don't know why), they think they are better than everyone else, I think I need to be a bit like that.

I shall not give up now because I have a few months left and I am going to prove every single one of them wrong on results day.
 
Maybe lots of past papers and exam style questions would help? I find they are good at getting me used to exams and I sometimes notice holes in my understanding.

However, that isn't possible in all subjects (with recent syllabus changes) unless teachers put together big booklets. Also, there is a danger you'll get used to answering the same type of question over and over again, so if something new comes up, or you haven't revised properly as well as doing past papers then it can be a problem.

I still found in my maths exams (this Jan) that although I knew in hindsight exactly what I should have done to get an answer, and could have done it fine, I just didn't see the way forward during the exam. I try to relax and take mini-breaks during the exam (sit back and take a long drink of water or something), which I think helps a bit, but it's still a problem for me sometimes.
 
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Past papers is a v good one. I didn't, hardly any, but it's true though they really do work. Get as many past papers as you can, get a group of you, all attempt them and then go through each others answers and learn where you all went wrong. Group work can often help if you have the people willing to take part.

Aside from that, revision revision revision. Stop messing around on the computer. You have all Summer to dick around.
 
I managed alright on my GCSEs getting all As and Bs but really struggled with A levels, i passed them, but only just with a mixture of Ds and Es.

I'm just not an academic person. It meant any desires i might have held as a teenager of going into law or whatever werent going to happen. But that doesnt mean your consigned to a lifetime of unskilled labour. You just have to work harder from the bottom to get where you want to be.

What do you want to do with your life incidentally ?

flibbage0 said:
Not true I had a teacher 1/2 years ago that said that the science a levels are not getting easier and he had been teaching chemistry for 30+ years.
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Thats rubbish. My parents still had their A level textbooks from when they did A level chemistry and physics 30 years, the stuff they had to learn was mind numbing. Hell yes the current A levels are easier.
 
When I did A levels last year it was all about how you answer the question rather than what the answer is. This is especially true of the sciences. You should spend as long with the mark scheme as you do with answering a practice paper, half the time simple changes in wording can get you marks that you wouldn't have got previously.
 
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