Academic excellence comes not only from rigorous preparation but also strategic prep. You need to thoroughly understand the syllabus and stay on top of your curriculum throughout to establish a strong foundation. Use flashcards and revision techniques to keep practising. Set your own goals to assess your progress. You can identify your weaker areas by taking mock tests and solving previous years’ question papers. In addition to these AS and A Level exam tips, it’s important to take regular breaks, rejuvenate yourself and avoid burnout. And lastly, seek out the support of your teachers and parents to excel.
Introduction
When talking about exams, our first thought is always rigorous preparation. But with AS and A-Level exams, just that is not enough. Of course, there’s no substitute for hard work, but you must also do it wisely and strategically. Planning your exam prep is essential to create a rigid structure to maintain consistency in the long run. It’s not a one-day goal but a long process where you need to consider multiple factors and prepare for the exams accordingly. To get more in-depth AS and A Level exam tips, continue reading our guide to academic excellence!
What Are AS and A-Level Exams?
Before diving into the AS and A Level exam tips, let’s quickly understand what these entail, to leave no room for confusion. Both are globally recognised and acknowledged qualification examinations offered by the Cambridge Assessment International Education. They are subject-based, flexible and advanced-level courses that are typically undertaken in the last two years of high school.
AS-Levels are typically taken in class 11th and A-Levels in class 12th. The former provides an in-depth foundation of the subject, whereas the latter provides more advanced knowledge.
12 Best AS and A Level Exam Tips
Here are our best tips for AS and A-Level examinations:
#1 Understand the Courseware
Starting with the syllabus, structure of the programme, exams, and the level of subjects, you need to research the course in-depth. When you’re clear about what you’re going to study and how it will be assessed, completing the course becomes much easier and free from confusion.
#2 Stay on Top of Your Curriculum
Whether it’s the start of the year or revision time before exams, you must stay on top of your coursework at all times. If you don’t understand something, read more, ask your teachers, refer to guides, or learn through online videos. But, no matter what, don’t let it go. If you skip a basic, foundational concept, you’ll have trouble understanding the advanced ones.
#3 Design Your Own Learning Objectives
By learning objectives, we don’t mean just what you’re going to learn from the curriculum, but also your personal deadlines, goals and milestones. Of course, you’ll have a set of guidelines, assessments, and learning objectives from the syllabus in the curriculum, but you must also set your own if you truly want to excel. Continue assessing your growth and figure out where you’re lacking to give direction to your preparation.
#4 Textbooks Are The Key!
Textbooks aren’t mere reference guides. These are your ultimate truths as long as you’re preparing to excel in your AS and A-Level exams. Read the topics before they are covered in class so you can better understand the teacher. Also read them once after, but this time, make condensed notes that you can transform into flashcards for quick revisions. Ultimately, everything you need for the exams is right there, in the textbooks.
#5 Mock Exams Are Your Guides
Revision tests and mock exams are crucial, not just to practise your preparation but also as a reference guide. Firstly, you understand how the paper pattern works. Then, you’ll get an opportunity to test your knowledge. Once the results are out, you can assess how well you’ve prepared so far, what areas need more prep and where you’re lacking to better prepare for the real thing.
#6 Past-Year Question Papers
If you look at the question papers designed in the last 5 years, you’ll get a very good idea of the paper pattern, weight of each topic, and syllabus coverage in the exam. Unless the exam-conducting body has explicitly announced that the pattern or way of conducting exams has changed, these past papers typically prove to be an excellent resource.
#7 Understand How Paper Correction Works
Unfortunately, just understanding and learning the topics isn’t enough. You must also understand how they need to be written and presented in the exam. Meaning that you need to know how questions should be answered in the right way. To do that, explore how the marking scheme works. What kind of answers will get the most marks? What kind of key info will fetch full marks? What exactly is the examiner looking for?
#8 Individual Tips For Each Subject
A slightly unusual suggestion in the list of AS and A Level exam tips – design tips and tricks for each individual subject. Since all subjects and topics are not the same, their prep can’t be the same either. You must create a list of tips individually for each subject. For instance, for social studies, you’ll need tips to learn more and write better answers. Whereas, for math and physics, you need tips on how to solve better questions and focus on technicalities.
#9 Consistency
Once your plans and study schedules are in place, ensure that you’re consistent. Your goal should be to put in a certain amount of study every day, not just a pile of work on holidays or the weekends. The best results always come from consistency.
#10 Don’t Limit Yourself
Students usually chart out thresholds for themselves at the time of the exams. “Only 75% of this syllabus will be enough for passing marks.” Or “I just need half the marks to get a specific grade.” This kind of thinking will make you lose more marks than get you closer to your goal! Don’t limit yourself, and aim towards 100%, always.
#11 Don’t Burn Out!
You need to be at the top of your game during exams. But you also need to be at your optimum when preparing for the exams. Don’t keep studying while avoiding your mental or physical health. Make sure you take regular breaks, indulge in hobbies or extracurricular activities and rejuvenate to avoid burnout.
#12 Take Time To Strategies
Although this hardly seems like a tip to cover, it’s worth mentioning at the close. Make sure you take time to plan your preparation, exam revision and syllabus well. Strategies before you begin so you have a solid direction to move into, goals to achieve, and a structure to stick to. Random prep will hardly ever take you to the destination you want.
Aim For The Sky With VIS Chennai
At Vellore International School Chennai, we not only have the best teaching approach and structure, but we also have excellent teachers. Our guides will help you at every stage of learning, preparation and assessment. Our facilitators will assist you in developing critical thinking skills, understanding the curriculum, and preparing for excellence.
In fact, at VIS Chennai, we focus on the child’s holistic development. Not just academics, but also performing arts, design, life skills, leadership, financial literacy, active communication, field trips, co-curricular activities, sports, and interactive experiences are all given equal importance. And special emphasis is put on the process, not just the results, as evident in this guide to the best AS and A Level exam tips!
Learn about overcoming exam fear here: How to overcome exam fear?
Final Tips For Excellence
To conclude, your exam preparation needs to be planned and wise, not just rigorous. Draw up a study schedule at the start of the term so you have a structure to stick to. Learn every topic in-depth, without skipping over any foundational ones. Focus on figuring out your weaker areas and working on how to fix them. The most useful suggestions in our list of AS and A Level exam tips are to track your progress and seek guidance from teachers and facilitators. Both will help you stay on the right path and achieve top grades in your exams.
FAQs
Q1. What is the 3 2 1 rule in studying?
Ans: The 3 2 1 rule in studying is a learning method to verify that you’ve understood the topic well. It starts with reading the topic 3 times, speaking it from memory 2 times, and writing it from memory 1 time.
Q2. How to pass A-Levels easily?
Ans: The only answer to this question is rigorous preparation and smart studying. Follow the AS and A Level exam tips to structure your preparation and pass A-Levels easily.
Q3. What’s the best study method for AS and A-Level exams?
Ans: The best approach to AS and A-Level exams is to break down your curriculum. Focus on manageable chunks of the syllabus rather than looking at the big picture all at once. When you have mastered all topics well individually, you can take mock tests and solve previous years’ question papers to assess yourself and prepare for the final exams.
Q4. How to revise topics across different subjects?
Ans: For both AS and A-Level exams, you’ll have different subjects and need to prepare for their exams simultaneously. Begin by looking at tips to excel in each subject separately. You can create notes for revision, design flashcards, employ different study methods, explore what learning techniques work for each subject and find your way. Exam prep is just as different for each student as it is for each subject. It’s important to explore and find what works best for you.
Q5. How do I handle exam anxiety and nerves?
Ans: The importance of taking breaks and avoiding burnout is never highlighted more than when you’re dealing with the nerves and anxiety of exams. You can practise relaxation techniques to help calm yourself. Also, sleep well before the exam so you’re in the right state of mind while writing it.
