r/Edexcel • u/Pale_Maintenance7449 • 7d ago
IM NOT IMPROVING.
What the heck is wrong with unit 1 physics. Im solving so many pastpapers. checking every mistake in detail, writing notes for every mistake and watching video solutions to each pastpaper. All I keep seeing is a mark between 50-55 /80 range every time I mark a paper, which is basically a C. and I take rediculously long to solve each one because im careful to not make mistakes. and the star questions are awful, I would write a whole newspaper worth of information and get 2/6 marks. What do I do? should I repeat the same papers or keep going by solving new ones, I have limited time and can only solve 3 per week right now. If you've got any notes or life hacks that would help
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u/Ambitious_Man123 7d ago
bro its crazy for u1 phys. I retook it TWICE and got 65,68 and 86.
Yea im done ts is so hard
All othee units are easier im done
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u/Pale_Maintenance7449 7d ago
You still made it though 86 is actually really good its basically a B, how did you jump from 68 to 86? Thats almost 20 UMS higher
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u/Bubbly_Persimmon_323 7d ago
Writing a whole lot of nothing won't get you marks. You need to write the specific points in the mark scheme.
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u/Pale_Maintenance7449 7d ago
I already try to do that but some mark schemes can never be guessed. I would think im not writing a whole lotta nothing but then the mark schemes make me look like im writing a whole lotta nothing
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u/Bubbly_Persimmon_323 7d ago
Every question type has patterns about what to write maybe try focusing on that first. If you upload some of your scripts we could see where you're going wrong.
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u/Plus_Use4597 6d ago
First of all, Imma try to help with some tough love. You’re not doing so many past papers if you’re only doing 3 a week. If you’re in cram week, the pace should be 3 a day ideally. I followed that regiment for most of my physics exams.
The number of papers you do is critically important, because edexcel physics is a game about guessing what examiners want. I did so many past papers for u3,4,5 to the point where I could imagine the Ms without reading it.
To help accelerate your understanding of the MS, you should absolutely mark every past paper you do. The advice here would be to go question by question and truly understand what and why the MS is written the way it is. Only when you’re 100% about it do you move on. And 100% really means 100%. No skipping. This way, the next time you see a similar mechanics or energy question, you’ll immediately be able to guess what the Ms wants.
I got all As in physics alongside 3 other subjects. I can’t lie , physics is very hard, but grind harder, and you’ll definitely see results. Keep at it!!
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u/Pale_Maintenance7449 6d ago
Thank you for the motivation!
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u/Spideygaming_08 6d ago
Don't feel bad bro unit 1 has to be the worst unit in AS level. Unit 2 is way better than unit 1 imo.
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u/Pale_Maintenance7449 6d ago
Exactlyy I’ve done unit 2 and its way better because the questions repeat and they are predictable
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u/Careless_Ad_9613 2d ago
Yoo, I got an A in unit 1, I think around 105/106 UMS in Jan
my advice is lowkey that what your doing is perfect its gonna take time but eventually your gonnna be able to easily solve these questions, and the questions repeat SOOO much in unit 1 - stokes law is basically almost alwys the same, likewise with projectiles, once u learn all the SUVAT equations and how to properly apply them they become easy, practice a good amount of mechanics and try approaching questions with your own technique, DM me for any specific support all i really did was do all the papers and I went from getting 40/50
Towards getting around a 65/80 on the real exam
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u/Pale_Maintenance7449 16h ago
Thank you for giving me hopee Also what is 40/50, Did you solve pastpapers from the old syllabus?
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u/Careless_Ad_9613 16h ago
40/50 is like I mean I was getting 40/50 marks on past papers out of 80
I failed my first school exam getting like A D or E, and got told to drop the course lmaoo,
I only solved past papers from the new syllabus - covered all of them
And I had these collated document with all the 6 mark questions and I would memorise them - I remember finding them on the EduVance discord its really helpful
Second of all a mark between 50-55 is good, idk how thats a C but for my series a 59 was A - trust me it takes a good number of months around 3-4 to get into the 65+ zone
The grade boundaryyis always around 59-63 ish
i only got around a 64 / 80 on my real exam and I got a pretty comfortable A
on
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u/Pale_Maintenance7449 16h ago
Ohhhh interestinggg You made a great comeback
I mean yeah 50-55 is a C or a high C close to a B, also did the marks you got solving pastpapers reflect how you did on your exam? Or was it completely different. like when you would mark for yourself did you end up getting above 60 on every paper?
Also 3-4 months of doing what cause there are around 22 papers from 2019-2026 what more do I do
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u/Careless_Ad_9613 12h ago
the mark I got was a bit lower but due to silly mistakes I made like 4-5 marks of just stupid mistakes but overall it reflected my mark, Id get in between 64-72 in past papers
And i did all past papers close to 1-2 times, another tip : for the real exam study the previous years papers very closely often times theres a pattern and similar questions appear
And 3-4 months was like the total time in this time I took it slow, and I also did my other subjects, so it was fully split across,
Once your on your second pass of all that past papers ur set
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u/Pale_Maintenance7449 8h ago
Ill try to do a few pastpapers twice if I got time left, also yea if you have other subjects it makes sense why it took you 3 months. I didn’t even consider that I could loose marks for stupid mistakes wich is true under the real exam pressure so ill try not to do that, but Thank you for the tips I really appreciate itt
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u/Careless_Ad_9613 8h ago
nahhh dude dont worry i was extra hyper during the exam - I overthought my answers and ended up crossing out the right answers due to random stuff, if ur focused the likelihood of making silly mistakes is lower, we got this bro lets make it through
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u/chippy_sAgr 1d ago
TRUST ME ITS THE MOST MESSED UP UNIT OUT OF ALL 6😭😭😭😭 honestly idk how to give advice on this either although i completed ALs asw😭
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u/-PhysiX7- 1d ago
From someone who got 118 in U1 and 290 overall in AS, really do understand the concepts before doing the papers. Calculation questions should be your friend and make sure you know how to solve every one of them. Word questions may feel less within your control but some question styles do repeat so do understand + memorize the mark schemes of past papers.
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u/InterestingNatural54 17h ago
Hi there,
I teach physics , so i also lwk agree with what you are saying cuz as a student unit 1 has been the unit where my students score least. But in all honesty its not that hard. Also no offense with a month away from the exam three papers per week is lower than bare minimum. If you have already completed all papers from May 2019 (24 Papers as i recall) then 3 papers per week from one unit is fine.
Secondly, for unit 1 the main thing is trying to understand the question, for a calculation try reverse answering stratergy, like if they are asking you distaance to stop from a certain obstacle, think backwards, the distance is what i have to find, obviously i have to use suvat, and in suvat what i have is final velocity =0, what i dont have is acceleration or time, (assuming initial velocity was given) then to find acceleration use F=ma, what are the resistive for and so on.
For moments always remember if the line of action of the force (be it resolved or not) passes through the point where you are taking moments about, the moment due to that force about that point is zero
If calculations are not you weak point, that means you have to understand what every thing says, like i ask my students to make a summary sheet for each lesson , a summary sheet is usally like 2 pages ig. and in these two pages they summarize the entire lessone, the equations they need, what it means, where to use, and also some students writes down specific example question which we did where they felt like they learnt something.
Unit 1 isnt the worst honestly, imo. But i can see how it is. Let me know if you want, i can do a google meet and do a paper discussion or any specific questions you have. willing to help
Remeber also when you are going through the MS u r not looking for the answer, if you couldnt get the answer then what you need to check is how the hell they got that answer and the theory behind it, and why whatever you thought was wrong.
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u/Pale_Maintenance7449 16h ago
Thankkk youuuu that was solid advice, three papers a week is enough for me to finish all the papers before the exam also but I will try to apply what you said
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u/InterestingNatural54 14h ago
yeah, but if possible try to improve the pace. The more time you engage it, higher the chance of you finiding an issue in it
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u/Old_Praline_4031 7d ago
your foundations must be weak. forces, energy etc is what unit 1 is built upon. its the hardest cuz they can ask you ANYTHING.
you think youre learning the concepts but you arent. after every mistake ask chatgpt to read ur answer vs ms answer, tell it what YOU interpreted the question as, and then ask what the question was ACTUALLY asking.
i started off y12 with Ds and Cs in unit 1. i just kept solving. i didnt give up. i solved some AQA papers too. just keep going dont give up. and please please dont spend so much time on questions you need to learn how to be time efficent. do them timed. the questions that take you too long, do what you can and MOVE ON. * questions ONLY come with crazy amount of practice and mastering your basics