With the end of your A-Levels finally in sight, take a look at these top tips from current students who moved on to degrees.
All nighters, exams and deadlines galore often punctuate the end of a school chapter. It’s a time for many mixes of emotions: excitement for the future, anxiety, a sense of dread when the clock shows a time later than you thought it would (a 4,000 word essay to complete in an hour is going to take a miracle).
Here are some words of study advice straight from the source you may be admiring right now: students who continued education and passed their A-Levels.
Olga Kyriakoudi: 20, BA Law: LLB, Banking, Corporate, Finance and Security Law
“I have one study tip that I always use but it may be a little basic: have a notebook for each subject that you study. Note everything down in it, as much as you want. I use my notebooks for teacher’s feedback, small points I cannot memorise and other notes.”
Alex Venthem: 22, BA Accounting and Finance
“One tip from myself is that getting out to revise is better than revising at home. As much as it may seem easier to revise at home, with distractions such as TVs or games consoles you're less likely to keep up the revision. If you're in a library, for example, you can get more “in the zone”. It doesn't work for everyone but if you struggle to revise at home I’d say it's definitely worth a try.”
Gabs Bennington: 23, BA Media Studies
“I like to put lofi, relaxing music or gaming soundtracks on in the background when I’m studying. It really helps me to focus and they’re often for a certain amount of time so I can plan my breaks and make sure I don’t push myself too much.”
Andrew Counihan: 21, BA Economics with Accounting
“My advice would be to start early and immerse yourself in the topic. Having background knowledge of real life events or statistics helps me with understanding and remembering difficult concepts and applying them in exams.”
Soyeenka Mishra: 21, MA English
“Know what works for you and stick to it. The speed at which others progress is not a reflection of your capabilities or lack of ability, so believe in yourself!”
Josh Archer: 22, BA Computer Science
“I find that when I break the work down into small tasks and plan it out in a Kanban format (columns) I am able to do small sprints of work, making it easier to manage. Also, this allows me to work on a range of different topics in case one becomes boring.”
Safwaan Mohmed: 21, BA Accounting and Finance
“I study accounting and finance which means in the exam, there is a right answer, it’s rarely subjective. Practise to develop a deep understanding of the method and steps required to generate this answer. The number will change but the method used will always remain the same!”
Deepsikha Mohapatra: 21, MA Political Science
“Tip 1- Don't wait for the right time to start a studying slot. Do it now or else you will fall prey to procrastination.
Tip 2- Group study is often a myth. You start discussing stuff that isn’t relevant and end up ruining your entire time.”
Anushka Dey: 21, BA Zoology graduate, prepping for Medical school entry exams
“Make notes while studying a topic, that way you save time as you can revisit your notes instead of having to read through the entire course/chapter content while revising.
We spend a lot of time planning and searching for motivation rather than doing the actual work. Instead of putting things off, take small steps, focus on smaller and reachable goals, and little by little you’ll get there. Good luck!”
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