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Study Tips & Planning
 

So here comes the real deal ... getting down to work 

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While it may seem intimidating, we promise it doesn't have to be.
Here are some tips to help you craft your own battle plan and conquer the war !

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Step 1 : Reflect

Re-look your A-Level Performance and identify areas where you could have performed better. 

Assess the effectiveness of your past study methods and see where is there room for improvement ! 

Here are some guiding questions to help identify what you may need to work on : 

Was I confident in my content & did I practise enough ?

If you know that content was still an issue for you during A's, your priority should be solidifying your foundation. Take the time to go through each chapter throughly & practise topic-specific questions to build up your content knowledge. Oftentimes, merely reading your notes and trying a few papers is not enough. Practice (especially timed practice) is crucial in ensuring you're familiar with your content and exam questions. If you know that a lack of consistent practice (including marking your work and receiving feedback) was an issue, then make sure you allocate time to try more practice papers and questions.

Were my study methods really effective in enabling me to learn content ? 

If the results does not show despite putting in the effort, consider re-looking your study methods. 

Different people learn content and understand information differently.

So take the time to see which method (eg: Audio,Visual or Kinesthetic) works for you !

You can find more information about effective study methods below.

What was my mindset like the previous time & how can I change ? 

This is the one of the most, if not the most, important question to ask yourself. 

Taking the A Levels is a psychological test as much as it as a test of academic rigour. Your mindset and perspective towards retaking is a key factor in determining your success. While it is easy to get caught up over the need to score certain grades and feel pressured by the expectations placed on you, do take some time to evaluate what do you want for yourself. Find a sense of motivation and drive from within that you can use you to push yourself daily. Additionally, look to adopting a growth mindset.  

Don't see setbacks as a reason to stop and always seek to see how you can improve !

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Step 2 : PLan

Planning is a crucial step that cannot be overlooked.

While planning may take time, once you know what to do and how to do it, it's the battle half won !

Below is a general guide on how you can plan your time ! This is just one of the many ways and you can ultimately change it to better suit your personal needs.

The Month         Week         Day Outlook

This outlook would help you plan your revision schedule in a systematic approach. 

The key idea is to start with a bird's eye view with what you have to do for the month and then zoom in 

down to the week and ultimately the day.

Attached below are some examples on how to set your goals for the month.

Essentially, take stock of what you have done, what is left to do, your strengths and weaknesses and 

what you hope to achieve by the end of the month.

You can also include how you'd like to go about doing so (eg: Do 2 full math papers per week with a specific focus on vectors because it's my weak topic)

The bird's eye view will provide you with a rough guide how to go about planning your weeks and days.

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Now that you have a goal for the end of month, you will have a better idea on how you'd like to plan your weeks. Be specific in what you aim to achieve 

Adding on from the previous example of maths papers, in you weekly plan you can be more specific by citing which papers you are going to do and how many hours you'd need to allocate to complete them.

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With that, you can start looking at planning your to-do lists for each day ! 

In your to-do lists, make sure to indicate specifically

  1. What is the task you need to complete (eg: VJC H2 Math Paper 1) 

  2. How long it will take (eg: 3 Hours) 

  3. What time do you want to schedule the task (eg: 10:00 am to 1:00pm)  

Being specific and intentional with your time can make you more motivated to complete your work !

At the end of the day, even if you cannot complete all the tasks you may have set out to do, making to-do lists and having such a plan will allow to keep stock of what you're doing. As a rule of thumb, try to complete all tasks by the end of the week, even if you could not complete it by the day itself.

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Step 3 : create a system

 

 

 

 

 

Alongside planning, look to create a daily system !

What this means is that focus on the little things and look to making them habits that you form to help yourself be a little more consistent in the long run.

This includes having a routine to you stick to on a daily basis i.e : 

  • Waking up and sleeping at a certain time 

  • Having your meals at a certain time

  • Exercising/ Taking a break at a certain time 

  • And of course ... studying at a certain time ! 

It may not seem like alot, but having a set flow to your day can help boost your productivity.

 

Look to make your system work for your personal body clock and energy cycles.

If you feel you're most productive in the mornings and evenings and have a tendency to be slightly more groggy and unproductive in the afternoons, then ensure you study/attend tuitions during the timings that work the best for you and use your lull periods to exercise/ have family time/have a short nap ! 

Having a balanced lifestyle keeps your from burning out and is essential to your productivity

in the long run.

You can also seek to craft systems on an academic front. What this means is that have a routine for particular subjects/ practises that you want to do.

For example : You could look to do 1 GP AQ and Essay Plan per week and submit it to your tutor for feedback. Following such a system allows you to be consistent with your work ! 

To know more about how to craft systems, check out the video below ! 


 

"A goal is a result you want to achieve, a system is a process that leads you to those results"
- James Clear, Atomic Habits 

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some effective study methods you could check out 
 

*for subject specific study tips, check out the study resources repository - under each subject will be a document for study tips specific to that subject.

active recall and spaced repetition  

This is a popular method that you might have seen making the rounds on study channels and blog posts online. But what does it actually mean ? 

To put it simply, active recall  involves retrieving information from memory through testing yourself at every stage of the revision process through spaced repetition. The very act of retrieving information and data from our brains not only strengthens our ability to retain information but also improves connections in our brains between different concepts ! 

Especially for content heavy subjects like history and biology this technique should be your go-to. 

To learn more - you can check out the videos below !

The pomodoro technique

Less of a study method and more of an effective way to have a system to follow while studying,

The Pomodoro Technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks.

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The Pomodoro Technique can be especially useful during study session here you re looking to pick up new content. Furthermore, if you're looking to get into the flow of studying again (after not touching A level content until results) then the Pomodoro Technique can prove to be very useful to help keep yourself on track and used to sitting down to study.

specific tips for retakers

Given that you'd be retaking without being in a school environment, here are some tips on how to stay efficient and disciplined on you own ! 

1) Find a suitable place to study - If you're studying at home, find a designated spot where you feel comfortable studying. Ensure the space is free of distractions and preferably not the same space as where you rest. Having a 'study zone' helps in alerting your brain that it's time to do work and helps get you in the flow state.

2) Try having an accountability buddy - If you know of someone else who is retaking, consider sharing your to-do lists for the day with each other. At the end of the day, check back in with each other to see what you have completed and hold yourselves accountable to one another.

3) Drawing closer to the exams, mimic an exam-like setting - Given that you'll not be having mid-years or prelims , nearing the actual exams focus on doing timed practises ! Set aside time to do complete papers like you would in the exams and send it over to a tutor to mark and provide you feedback/self-mark. Especially if time management is not your strong suit, do ensure you prioritise having timed practises.

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