How To Revise For Your A Level Retakes

If your A level results didn’t turn out quite as you’d expected, don’t give up hope just yet. There are still options available to you, and among those are revising for your A level retakes. You may not have earned the grades you needed for your uni place this time round, but if you’re determined to get there, preparing for your retakes with a good revision plan is crucial.

4 Top Tips To Achieving Better Grades On Your A Level Resits

1) Determination for improvement

Once you’ve received your A-level grades and discovered that they’re not what you need, you’ve got a few decisions to make. You’re probably asking yourself “is it all worth it?” and it could be tempting to take that gap year and forget all about what you just put yourself through.

But if you’re serious about going to university, then now’s the time to start thinking about your A level retakes. The first step is to be honest and ask yourself why you didn’t get the grades first time round. Did you really put as much effort in as you should have or did you try and cram your revision into the last week or two before the exams?

If you’re determined to retake your A-levels, then you have to be bold enough to make improvements where it matters in order to get the higher grade you need. If you don’t plan a new revision technique, then you’re almost certain to make the same mistakes again.

2) Bite size chunks

Try not to panic and think that the whole period of learning you’ve just completed is totally wasted. You’ll be amazed at what information you retain, but you probably didn’t retain quite as much, or in the right areas, as you needed. However, what you’ve already learned is a solid foundation on which to improve.

So how and where can you make improvements to your revision plan? Revision is bound to get in the way of your social life, but that’s the first thing you need to get over if you’re going to succeed. Firstly, you can get serious with a revision planner. There are plenty of online resources for this, or simply take a calendar and divide each day into bite-size chunks of revision.

Depending on how many A-levels you’re planning to re-sit, start by breaking up the day into hours. This will help you organise your time effectively and will give you a clear plan of what subjects or areas you’ll be revising and when. Keep it realistic and don’t overload yourself, but don’t be afraid to adjust your plan, giving yourself additional revision time in a specific area if you need it.

3) Exercise your skills

Once you’re into the routine of your daily revision plan, there are other techniques you can try if you’re having trouble retaining certain information or even coming up with ideas. If you are a visual learner Mind Maps can be a great way to help you generate and visualise ideas around a central theme. They can be useful in helping you organise information to be more productive or creative.

Flashcards can be another useful way to help you retain certain chunks of information. Their primary purpose is to help exercise your skills of active recall. On one side is a question or prompt and on the reverse is the answer. Use them for tricky topics or nuggets of information to make sure they stay firmly lodged in your brain.

4) One-to-one tuition

Of course, these methods will always help you if you’re full of determination to succeed. But even if you are full of determination, sometimes you might still need an extra helping hand. If you recognise this, it could be an idea to look at taking specialist tuition in order to help you achieve the grades you need.

If going back to school isn’t going to work for you, perhaps you weren’t comfortable in the environment or didn’t get the tuition you needed, then taking a revision course at an independent tutorial college such as Westminster Tutors, could give you the help you need for getting those all-important grades in your A level retakes.

Westminster Tutors in central London offers specialist tuition in exactly the areas you need it most. All our A level revision courses are individually planned to go back over the specific areas where help is needed. And they’re taught on a one-to-one basis, in a fresh environment, maximising your exam success. After your revision course, you can even retake your A levels with us as well.

For more information on all our revision courses, visit our contact page and request more information or speak to one of our qualified advisors today on 020 7584 1288.

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