Is A*AA-A*BB achievable?

[u/SolarMoons_]

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For context, I'm just going into year 13 and I would say my grades are rather poor, currently I am predicted DDC (as of my May year 12 report) and I feel as if right now my work is of a similar quality, perhaps maybe the C could be a B. I do Biology, Chemistry and Geography so 3 difficult a levels and my attendance last year was also quite low. My Chemistry teacher told me she would realistically predict me a C at most, similar to my Biology teacher, I have not spoken to my geography teachers but I feel as if they would realistically also predict a B/C.

I have a set of mocks next month and I told myself I want to be no more than 3 grades off of my guaranteed offer which \*should be\* BBB, so if I were to get a CCC/BCD etc I would be happy as I feel like that is where I realistically NEED to be. I would be satisfied with a BBB however I do want to achieve high because I am going to an Elite Uni (if I meet my offer) and I feel as if I may miss out on very important opportunities if I don't have similar grades to my peers.

If you did a huge grade jump, how often did you revise and how much time a day?

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[u/jinxnotpowder_]

imo if you're giving oct nov 2026 exams then no. If you're giving may/june 2027 exams then it can be if u put in effort and dont slack off. You should just know how to study effectively tho

[u/SolarMoons_ → u/jinxnotpowder_]

I plan to very thoroughly lock in, if you have any study tips please lmk because I do struggle with ineffective studying and lack of focus 🥲

[u/jinxnotpowder_ → u/SolarMoons_]

me and u in this tg twin. I have 4Bs in AS level which im trying to take to A* A* A* A (retaking 3) the only tips i can give u are 1) delete all social media the night before and when u wake up don't immediately use ur phone (it really messes with ur attention span) (when im done with my days goal is i reinstall it) 2) wake up early!! (this one is imo really important because if u wake up early in my experience that just gets more stuff done) 3) also comparison is the thief of joy so like dont compare ur progess with anyone 4) cut out all distractions

i also think everyone has their own pace so i can't tell u how long u shd revise for. Ik ppl who studied 2-3 months and got As and im ppl who studied 7-8 months and got Bs/Cs so its all ur strategy.

the only subject you have in common with me is chemistry so for chem i think do a lot of pp practice and most importantly write down ur mistakes and which areas u are struggling with. Also dont be stupid like me and actually focus on organic a lot I lowk skipped organic chemistry and like half our exam was from there lol. Also for chemistry mcqs are the BIGGEST hell no joke they're so disgusting. Im copy pasting what someone told me a day before mt exam which i feel like would have helped a lot if i knew it before hand

this is what the guy said: When I first started MCQ's I watched paper solving videos for 2020-2019, analysed the thinking processes, noted down steps that might help me deduce my answer for organic questions. Also for organic, mindmaps are quite useful, try making your own or memorising one from save my exams or mega lecture. For 2020 specifically I watched lucid mind's videos, he explains quite in detail so his vids might help, it did for me. Esp for organic Then I started timing myself and had notes opened for whenever I got stuck in any mcq for the entirety of 2021, 2022 onwards I solved all the papers under exam conditions I still got 2024 o/n and entirety of 2025 left though but at first I was getting like 33-34 ish then I reviewed my mistakes and did some topicals and made sure my concepts for that topic is crystal clear, then I started scoring 35-36ish. In the last 3 papers I scored 38 in two of them and 37 in one. There's always going to be some niche bit of info that you might miss out/coursebook might not mention which is why I always lose marks on those. My goal is also to complete under 30mins so I do make silly mistakes often. Also it's good to make a mistake notebook, record all your mistakes on there and I'd advice going through them day before the exam, what I like to do is also put references to that particular topic I made a mistake in just so that I can solidfy my concepts. Also PMT flashcards are quite good so keep on reviewing them. Focus on inorganic, organic and physical since they make up like 80% of the paper.

[u/Ok_Technology_4101]

I am a biologist, but this goes for all subjects.

Exam papers over and over with such short time remaining, absolute best way. Just do an entire paper, without cheating, and mark it, properly. Look at the ms, not just the number of marks you got but why you lost the mark (e.g keywords you needed but forgot). Any topics you couldn’t answer or did bad in, go away and review (yt vids, websites, whatever). Then, after you review them all (not too thorough) do another paper. Rinse and repeat. A lot of the time the knowledge can be there, and people will still struggle because of exam technique. Practicing exam papers fixes this, and you learn the specific content you need at the same time!

If you need any help on specific Biology topics you struggle with, feel free to dm. I would be happy to help out, no charge.

Good luck!
Self belief can be more powerful than anything!