Woow, I can really say that time goes quickly, it was just this year that I had finished my A Levels and I had collected my results and now I’m in Uni! Time does go really quickly. Being completely honest, A Levels are not a joke… point blank period. They are really stressful, hard and tough, but you can make them easier as long as you follow some steps that helped me along the way to combat pressure and stress that exams can give you. So below I have 7 steps that helped me survive A-levels. Of course there are plenty more of these steps, however I feel like these ones in particular really helped me and saved me from breakdowns along the way (not that I didn’t have any lool) . Also these may not work for everyone, however I encourage you to look at these and see which ones best apply to you!

Start Now!

If there is any lesson that you can learn from doing your A Levels, is that there is no time at all. If you think about it practically you don’t really go to school as much. If you minus the weekends, holidays (Christmas and Easter), Half-terms and study leaves, you are really not in school for even half of the year. With so much content to cover in such a small amount of time , it is easy to eave things till the last minute. That’s why as soon as you hear your teachers mentioning exams to you, get started on a revision plan, revision notes and resources. For me, I really can’t work under pressure that’s why I start things way in advance. However some people are good under pressure and can work really well under those circumstances, however I feel even with a-levels you need to have some kind of early background plan at first. Trust me when I say this. before you know it exams will be round the corner !

Make a revision routine/study plan

Linking back to my first point, making a study routine and sticking to it helps. Sometimes you get overwhelmed with how much work you have to do, and it looks like you don’t know where to begin. Having a study plan will allow you to cover as much work for each of your courses. For example in A2 I done 3 subjects, so I dedicated 2 days out of the week to the subject that I struggled with the most or had most work with, then the other 3 days I would separate them out with my three subjects hope that made sense ? Weekends was dedicated to homework or any bits that I needed to catch up on. I guess the only thing is to make it realistic and being disciplined with it. If you don’t like doing Biology on Mondays, put it on Thursdays or Fridays. Practical things like these would make you organise your subjects around your time and your way of studying. Apps such as Microsoft Word or Excel are really good for planning these out

Get Resources

Seriously, they make revision guides and books for a reason ! they are for your benefit only. Use as much resources as you possibly can this includes; Past papers, Revision Guides, Textbooks, Online resources to help you study. Practise does make purpose and the more you practise with these the more you progress. They can get a bit repetitive but they really do aid you in your work, so try and get as much as you can

Get Your Syllabus

Essentially, to do well on the exam you need to know what topics could come up and what to expect. If you know your Syllabus inside out then you know what could come up in your exam. One thing I love about doing this is getting all the topics that you need to learn and writing them out on a paper, then once you have covered a topic by maybe doing an exam question on it then you can tick it off so you know you have learnt and revised it well. See it as a checklist so you know that you have covered it, and also use past papers on each topic to ensure that if it does come up in the exam you know exactly what to expect

Use Your Teachers

Right, I know we aren’t all fans of particular teachers, the ones that have mood swings, the ones that seem like they don’t know what they are doing and the ones that take things too seriously. But at the end of the day teachers are one of your best resources. They are he ones teaching you the content. You can rely on your textbooks sometimes, but you need teachers to explain certain things to you and guide you on how to write essays. Remember they have thee expertise and the training in this field, so you do have to listen to them. Also some of them may be kind to hold after school sessions or revision classes on the weekend so take advantage of them if they do

Stay Motivated

There can be times when we all loose motivation when the going gets tough… hey I even loose motivation to write blogposts sometimes. But we have to find the motivation to carry on either way somehow. Maybe this could be through your parents, a friend or even a teacher. Or if you look up to someone for inspiration, try and remind yourself that they are the reason why you are writing that extra paper, or staying up longer to read over something. One method you could try is giving yourself a reward. After every time you do an essay or a practise paper, reward yourself with your favourite food or with a break. That way it would motivate you to do more work and reward yourself even more.

Self-care

This is the most important step. Honestly A-levels can take a huge toll out of your year at school, but don’t neglect your self care also. Make sure you mind is right, make sure that you are speaking to somebody regularly, and definitely make sure you are getting enough rest, food and sleep which is essential for your body. Take care of yourself from the inside and it will show on the outside. Don’t let exam stress control you life. If you work hard whilst your at it, it will definitely pay off in the end !