How to revise for A-Level maths and physics to get high grades?
I opened my results on Thursday morning last week and was quite disappointed to say the least. I studied physics, maths and computer science at sixthform and got DDD. I thought I had tried quite hard, though upon reflection I don’t think I did nearly enough work and mostly did my own thing (hanging out with friends, engaging in hobbies and procrastinating). I started studying properly around March and roughly studied 2 hours a day aside from the majority of weekends and did whatever homework I had when needed (if I had any) at the peak of the exam season. I was 1 mark off the next grade boundary for computer science so am getting my papers remarked and am hoping to go up to a C.
I am planning on taking a gap year and resitting maths and physics (I passed the practical endorsement for physics so won’t need to worry about retaking that or having any coursework) and then applying to degree apprenticeships next year. The main apprenticeship I am hoping to get requires 104 points which means I will need to get at least a B in both maths and physics (if my computer science grade doesn’t go up) but I would like to aim a little higher, though I won’t be too upset if I don’t get higher than a B for both of the subjects, just so long as I meet the requirements for the degree apprenticeship I’d like to do. Alongside resitting these exams I will also be working part time.
my main revision method for physics and computer science was using flashcards, I used the 2-3-5-7 spaced repetition method and by the time exams came around I was confident on the majority of the flashcards I had learnt (though I was more just memorising the information and not fully understanding some of it). I did about 12 past papers for both physics and maths (12 for each subject) and about 4 for computer science, I know this is bad and I should have done more, I didn’t even get to finish all of the available past papers for each of my subjects and I knew people in my classes that had done them all three times over. For maths I also used the official Cambridge OCR A a level textbook and practised the topic questions (these were also set as homework a lot of the time after we had done a lesson and this book was used to teach us all of the content for year 12 and 13).
I’ve heard of people saying that resitting is a waste of time and that most people just get the same grades they got the first time round. Does anyone have any opinions on this? or any stories of resitting that disprove this? I am really hoping that this isn’t true but I’ve heard it so many times now and it makes me wonder whether I should even bother if I’m going to waste a lot of money for nothing to come of it.
If any A*/A/B grade physics A-level students could share their revision methods and resources they used to get their grades it would be much appreciated. Also any advice on how much I should be studying/when to up the study hours and maintain motivation without getting burnt out.
I was also wondering if textbooks were a helpful thing to use especially for topic questions and learning the content? One of the main things I’m concerned about is actually learning the content again but really understanding all of it this time.
The only resources I used during my exams were quizlet and pmt (for past papers) and then as I have mentioned above, the Cambridge a level textbook for maths, this textbook has a lot of mistakes in though and I did not enjoy using the online version of it at all during my time at sixthform.
Also I am not considering just going to university, I am only considering degree apprenticeships so I cannot go through clearing at all which means I have to resit in order to get the apprenticeship I want (I’m saying this as I’ve had people ask me why I don’t just go through clearing).