a-levels next week? watch this

Summary

In this transcript, Yen Ran shares valuable advice for students preparing for their A-level exams. The tips include maintaining a balanced study approach across all topics, using a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) system to track confidence levels, studying in short, intense bursts, utilizing AI for note-taking and flashcard creation, and leveraging YouTube for visual learning. Yen also emphasizes the importance of practicing under exam conditions to acclimate to the stress and fatigue. Exam tips include preparing key points for quick recall, maintaining a calm mindset even when finding the exam challenging, and ensuring personal comfort during the exam with appropriate clothing, hydration, and nutrition. Yen's personal experiences and strategies aim to alleviate exam anxiety and optimize performance.

Takeaways

• 📚 Stay General: Aim to be confident in every topic within your subjects, as exam topics are not tested equally.
• 📈 Use RAG System: Label topics as Green (confident), Amber (in the middle), or Red (weak), and adjust your study focus accordingly.
• 🕒 Study in Bursts: Opt for intense, timed study sessions (1-2 hours) followed by breaks to maximize retention and focus.
• 📝 Avoid Passive Methods: Instead of rewriting notes or making flashcards, use AI tools to generate study materials for active recall.
• 🎓 Utilize YouTube: Watch educational videos for a more engaging and memorable study experience, and take notes as if in class.
• 📝 Practice Exam Conditions: Simulate the exam environment to get used to the stress and fatigue that comes with extended focus.
• 💡 Start with Key Points: Before the exam, jot down key formulas or concepts you're struggling with and write them down quickly at the start.
• 😌 Difficulty Does Not Dictate Grade: If you find the exam hard, others likely do too; grade boundaries may adjust, so stay calm and focused.
• 👕 Dress Comfortably: Wear comfortable clothes and layers to adapt to varying temperatures and reduce physical discomfort during exams.
• 💧 Stay Hydrated: Drink water regularly during the exam to maintain focus and energy levels.
• ✍️ Good Posture: Maintain a good posture and do what makes you feel comfortable to minimize distractions and maintain a flow state.

Q & A

What was the speaker's achievement in their A-Level exams?

The speaker achieved five A* grades in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Computer Science, and a distinction in Prime Conjectures.

What is the speaker's first study tip for A-Level exam preparation?

The first study tip is to stay general, meaning to be confident in every topic within a subject, regardless of the amount of content.

What does the acronym RAG stand for and how is it used in the context of A-Level revision?

RAG stands for Red, Amber, Green, and it's a labeling system to categorize topics based on confidence levels: Green for confident, Amber for somewhere in the middle, and Red for topics that might be problematic.

What is the speaker's advice on the duration of study sessions leading up to the exams?

The speaker advises working in short, intense bursts of one or two hours, taking breaks in between to maintain focus and efficiency.

How does the speaker suggest using AI for studying?

The speaker suggests using AI, like chat GPT, to write notes or create flashcards, which can save time and facilitate active recall studying.

Why does the speaker recommend using YouTube for studying?

The speaker recommends YouTube because watching videos can increase engagement and memory retention, and it's a platform that everyone has access to.

What is the speaker's suggestion for simulating the exam environment during study?

The speaker suggests doing full exam papers in a setting that mimics the actual exam conditions, including sitting at a blank table and avoiding breaks or distractions.

What is the speaker's first tip for the exam day?

The first tip is to write down 5 to 10 bullet points of key information that you're struggling with, and 'blurt' them onto the back of the exam paper as soon as you can before the exam starts.

How should one react if they find the exam difficult?

The speaker advises staying calm, reminding oneself that if the exam is tough for them, it's likely tough for everyone, and that grade boundaries may be lowered.

What are some ways to minimize discomfort during the exam?

The speaker suggests wearing comfortable clothes, having light layers, drinking water regularly, eating before the exam, and maintaining good posture.

What is the speaker's approach to feeling comfortable during the exam?

The speaker's approach includes doing things that make them personally comfortable, such as wearing makeup, to help maintain their flow state and reduce the chance of being thrown off by minor discomforts.

How does the speaker encourage viewers to reach out if they have questions?

The speaker encourages viewers to comment, email, or send an Instagram DM with any questions and to reach out again if they haven't received a reply.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Maximizing A-Level Exam Performance with Study Tips

Yen Ran, who achieved five A* grades in her A-Level exams, shares her top study tips for students who are about to embark on their exams. She emphasizes the importance of being well-rounded in all subjects, using a traffic light system (Red, Amber, Green) to categorize topics based on confidence levels. Yen Ran also recommends studying in short, intense bursts, utilizing AI for note-making and flashcards, leveraging YouTube for visual and audio learning, and practicing full exam papers under exam conditions to prepare for the stress and fatigue of the actual exam day.

05:00

📝 Effective Exam Strategies and Tips for A-Level Success

In the second paragraph, Yen Ran provides practical advice for the exam hall. She suggests creating flashcards with key points or formulas that might be forgotten, to be reviewed right before the exam starts. She also discusses the common misconception that a difficult exam implies a bad grade, reminding students that grade boundaries may adjust if the exam is challenging for everyone. Lastly, Yen Ran talks about the importance of comfort during exams, including wearing comfortable clothes, staying hydrated, eating well, and maintaining good posture to ensure the best possible performance under exam conditions.

Keywords

💡A-Level Exams

A-Level Exams are a series of standardized tests that students in the UK take to complete their secondary education. In the video, the speaker mentions having achieved high grades in these exams, which is a central theme as they offer advice based on their personal experience.

💡Revision

Revision refers to the process of reviewing and consolidating information that one has learned, typically in preparation for an examination. The video emphasizes the importance of effective revision strategies, such as covering all topics and using a traffic light system to categorize one's level of confidence in different areas.

💡RED-AMBER-GREEN (RAG) System

The RAG system is a method for categorizing topics or tasks based on confidence levels: green for confident, amber for areas that need improvement, and red for topics that are problematic. The speaker uses this system to organize their revision plan, highlighting its utility in focusing study efforts where they are most needed.

💡Study Bursts

Study bursts are short, intense periods of focused studying followed by breaks. The video suggests that studying in one or two-hour blocks with breaks is more effective than long, unbroken study sessions, especially when time is limited before exams.

💡Active Recall

Active recall is a learning technique where students actively attempt to retrieve information from memory rather than passively rereading notes. The video recommends using AI to create flashcards for active recall practice, which can be more effective than passive study methods.

💡Past Paper Questions

Past paper questions refer to questions from previous years' exams. The speaker advises doing past papers under exam conditions to simulate the actual test environment, which helps in familiarizing oneself with the exam format and managing time effectively.

💡Exam Environment

The term 'exam environment' refers to the conditions and circumstances in which an exam is taken. The video stresses the importance of practicing in an environment that mimics the actual exam setting to reduce surprises and discomfort on the exam day.

💡Blurting

Blurting, in the context of the video, refers to the strategy of quickly writing down key information or formulas at the start of an exam before the actual test begins. This helps to ensure that critical information is not forgotten during the exam.

💡Grade Boundaries

Grade boundaries are the minimum scores needed to achieve a particular grade in an exam. The video mentions that if an exam is found to be difficult, it's likely that grade boundaries will be adjusted, so students should not be overly concerned if they find the exam challenging.

💡Comfort

Comfort, in the context of the video, refers to both physical and mental ease. The speaker advises wearing comfortable clothes, staying hydrated, eating well, and maintaining good posture during the exam to help manage stress and perform optimally.

💡YouTube

YouTube is mentioned as a valuable resource for educational content. The video suggests using YouTube to find explanations for difficult concepts, with the added benefit of visual and auditory learning, which can aid in retention and understanding.

Highlights

Achieved five A* grades in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Computer Science, and Prime Conjectures.

Shared top tips for maximizing A-level exam performance.

Advises maintaining a general revision approach to ensure confidence across all topics.

Introduces the RAG (Red, Amber, Green) labeling system for tracking revision progress.

Recommends studying in short, intense bursts for better focus and retention.

Suggests using AI for note-taking and creating flashcards to save time.

Advocates using YouTube for engaging and memorable learning experiences.

Encourages practicing full exam papers in exam conditions to prepare for the stress and fatigue.

Provides a strategy for remembering key points by writing them down before the exam starts.

Reminds that finding an exam difficult does not necessarily mean a bad grade due to grade boundaries.

Stresses the importance of comfort, including clothing, hydration, and posture, during the exam.

Mentions the psychological impact of makeup and personal comfort items in a high-pressure environment.

Offers additional resources including a general A-level advice video and subject-specific ones.

Provides a method to manage panic by focusing on key areas of weakness before the exam.

Discusses the importance of active recall and past paper practice for effective studying.

Suggests lying to oneself as a coping mechanism to stay calm during difficult exams.

Emphasizes the need to control as much of the exam environment as possible to maintain focus.

Encourages reaching out with questions and offers support via comments, email, or Instagram DM.

Transcripts

hey guys welcome or welcome back for

those of you who don't know me my name

is Yen ran I sat my a level exams last

year and I achieved five a stars in

maths further math physics computer

science and I did need PQ on Prime

conjectures if you're watching this

video on the day it's released and you

have a minimum of one week until your A-

level exams start this time last year I

was in a very severe state of constant

Panic so in an effort to minimize the

suffering for you guys I red up some of

my top tips for what you can do to

maximize your performance at this point

got five tips for how you can study

leading up to and during your exam

period and then three tips when you're

actually sat in the exam Hall once

you're done with this video I do also

have both a general a level advice video

and a series of subject specific ones so

make sure you go and check those ones

out

too my first study tip is to stay

General whether you've been on top of

the revision you've been grinding hard

you're feeling good or if you've avoided

studying like the plague the best

strategy when revising for your A- level

exams is to be a jack of all traits the

issue is that in the exam the topics are

never tested equally and you obviously

don't know which topics are going to

come up the most in your exam there are

some topics that have more content and

so of course they appear more frequent

ly for example in Mass calculus is

absolutely huge but you should be aiming

to feel equally as confident in every

topic in any given subject and how can

we make sure we're there rag through the

specification most of you probably know

this but rag stands for red Amber green

why it's not Rog I don't know and as you

might expect it's a labeling system

where you label things green if you're

confident in them Amber if you feel

somewhere in the middle and then red for

things that you think you're going to

perform badly in you'll need to adjust

your labels as appropriate obviously if

you've been working really hard there's

no point in making everything green and

equally vice versa if you color

everything red you're just going to have

a crisis so you should sensibly spend an

hour or two reading through your subject

specification which you can find on the

exam Board website go through with a

highlighter of each color and highlight

each bullet point in there as

appropriate then during this final week

work your way through all of the red

topics and some of the Amber ones if you

have the

time my second study tip is to work in

short bursts even though it can be

tempting when the Panic sets in to sit

down at your desk for 12 hours a day in

the leadup to exams unless you're

someone who's been working consistently

at that throughout the year that is not

going to be the most effective studying

strategy for you depending on how long

you've been studying for prior you

should be aiming for intense one or two

hour blocks for a reasonable amount

longer than what you're at right now so

if you're at no hours right now working

for single hour blocks or if you're

currently working at 4 hours maybe try

three 2 hour blocks if you try and go

from nothing to everything just like

that there's no way you're going to be

able to focus and you'll just be wasting

your time ultimately you'll be tired

you'll be bored and you'll have not that

much more information in your brain than

when you started you'll be working much

more efficiently by doing one or two

hours then taking a break then going

back to it because your brain will

actually be able to be present

throughout your whole study session and

not only will you absorb more

information at the time but the

information is more likely to stay with

you long term and so you're not going to

need to review that content again not

that you have the time to do that

anyway my third study tip is to use AI I

think most people with common sense will

grasp that if you're this close to exams

the last thing you want to be doing is

rewriting your notes or still making

flashcards and rightfully these passive

study methods have become quite out of

date if you are someone who likes to

study through these methods though every

uni student's best friend chat GPT can

write them for you and it does it well

if you have access to the online

versions of your textbook such as

Kaboodle you can just paste your desired

section right in but you can also just

ask it to write flash cards for you

based off AQA a level physics chapters 1

and two then you can either study it

straight from that screen or you can

copy and paste into anky quizl whatever

platform you prefer this is a great way

to get in some active recall studying

without having to a waste your time

making flashcards and B just do past

paper questions over and over

again my fourth study tip is to use

YouTube I said this in my general advice

video but there's one great platform

that everyone has access to and it's

YouTube whether it be a specific lesson

you're struggling with a past paper

question a tricky proof search that up

on here granted it does take a lot

longer to watch a full video than to

just read the information online but I

think when you watch a video you're much

much more likely to remember it in

general you'll be much more engaged when

you can see a person teaching you

they're addressing you and you're

getting the information fed to you

through your audio as well as your

visuals I would also recommend sitting

there with a pen and paper and taking

notes while the video plays as if you're

in a classroom just to make sure that

you actually are paying attention

throughout my fifth study tip is to stay

in the exam environment now that you're

right in the middle of exam season and

you don't have college or sck form you

should have the time to be sitting down

and doing full exam papers so make sure

that you do something that really

shocked me last year when I did my exams

was just how tired I was despite the

fact that I done numerous past papers

and full exam conditions and I studied

for every waking hour of a day sing an a

level exam is tough you're stressed

you're tired and you're having to work

your brain at maximum capacity for 2 or

3 hours which is actually a really long

time now you won't be able to recreate

those conditions perfectly but if you

are doing a past paper you should be

sitting down at a blank table and doing

it as if you were in the exam no breaks

no music no cup of tea and a biscuit

Midway through it's not going to be

pleasant particularly if you're doing

multiple exam papers in a day but you do

need to be training yourself so that you

are able to work in that way silly

mistakes are a huge culprit when it

comes to losing marks in every grade

boundary and of course the more tired

you are the more likely you are to make

them going into that final exam having

only ever done past papers in one hour

chunks and not in full exam conditions

is going to leave you with a big

shock okay my first exam tip is to start

by blurting I think it's typical whether

you're aiming for top grades or just to

pass the night before any exam you're

cramming cramming cramming and some of

the stuff just isn't sticking in which

case come up with 5 to 10 bullet points

of things you can't quite get right but

you think might come up with the exam

for example I did some very

science-based subjects and so formulas

were a really big one for me you're

going to write it down on a flash card

take that flash card with you on the day

hold it for as long as you possibly can

before the exam and then when you're in

the exam Hall and they say start writing

flip your paper over and blurt it all on

the back that way you're giving yourself

barely any time to forget it and you're

also removing the worry of oh I hope I

don't forget that formula that I've been

trying really hard to remember but I

keep getting wrong I think it's also a

great way of calming yourself down

before you start I remember last year I

was sat there and I could feel my

heartbeat in my head when the

invigilators were reading out the

pre-exam instructions and I was sat in

this tiny chair and by the time I

actually came to starting the exam I

could barely breathe and so just getting

something down on the paper is a good

way to get started right off the

bat my second exam tip is that finding

an exam difficult does not at all imply

that you're going to get a bad grade

okay when I sat down for my second a

level exam last year for the massal pure

one I felt confident I loved further

matths and so I was in the exam I did

the first four or five questions and I

thought wow I'm incredible I'm going to

get 100% And then for being cocky I was

struck down and I spent the second half

of the paper blinking back tears pulling

every single answer out of my ass if you

sat there in the exam looking at the

paper thinking what the hell this is not

possible then chances are that everyone

around you is thinking the exact same

thing the gr boundaries are meant to

stay about the same year toe but at the

end of the day you're not competing

against 70% in an exam you're competing

against 80% of the population and so if

the exam is tough everybody's marks are

going to get lowered and you'll probably

end up relatively in about the same spot

in the exam you want to stay as calm as

possible and for me personally saying

stay calm doesn't work that effectively

but lying to myself does so even if

you're the only one that found the exam

tough just tell yourself everyone found

this exam tough the grade boundaries are

going to be lower I am

fine and my third and final exam tip is

to be comfortable exams are

uncomfortable a levels also are normally

in these dimly lit Sports halls with far

too much Echo but there are a few things

you can and should do to minimize your

discomfort firstly you want to be

wearing comfy clothes joggers is a

classic and you also want to opt for

lots of light layers rich is summertime

is of course Very temperamental and it

might be freezing when you go into the

exam then the Sun comes out and the room

is full of people and you're getting

stressed and all of a sudden you're

boiling when you're in the exam try and

remember to drink your water a little

bit every 15 minutes was what worked for

me and of course you want to eat

something before you go in so that your

stomach isn't rumbling and so that you

have enough energy to sustain you

throughout also try and sit with good

posture I think in will look good feel

good does work I went into every exam

with a full face of makeup on because

that's how I feel comfortable and an

exam is a high press environment and so

it just takes one thing to bug you and

completely throw you out of your Flow

State so you want to control as much of

that as you possibly

can okay that's all I have for you guys

today if you do have your exams coming

up very very best of luck to you as

always feel free to comment or write me

an email or send me an Instagram DM if

you do have any questions I do try and

reply to everyone but I am a bit of a

mess so if you have contacted me

previously and I haven't replied please

do harass me again other than that thank

you very much for watching don't forget

about my other videos and I will see you

guys soon