what does it take to get over the later exams?

[phantom]

i have noticed that practice made me pass the CT papers - though i have flunked but no surprises as i mostly knew that the practice wasn't up to the mark. the essay (later) exams have been different; practice doesn't seem to be a good predictor of exam success - thats a bold statement - and please feel free to contradict me on that. but anyone else feeling the same? what does it take to get over these essay exams? the exam paper seems to be a little different than what u just thought it would be like, isn't it?

 

[bystander]

Cts are broadly numeric or you can get by with a good memory and/or facts.

With the later ones, you need to APPLY your knowledge ie know how to tailor it to unusual situations. ie memorising past solutions won't answer qns that come up in future

Get away from the idea of essays. You don't need perfectly constructed flowery sentences. Be succinct and clear - don't waffle or simp;ly say the same things again a different way. Make points clearly different.

Probably more than ever it helps to get feedback ie at least get a mock marked.

There isn't necessarily a right/wrong answer. So justify your thoughts. Read the qn for clues as what are unique features to address (or equally avoid mentioning!).

Hope this is of some use.

Good luck!

 

[TheArtfulDodger]

Stating the obvious in your answer also seems to get a lot of marks.

 

[DevonMatthews]

Stating the obvious in your answer also seems to get a lot of marks.

i've noticed this, a genuinely good point usually attracts less marks than 3 completley obvious points that can be easily deduced form your good point, which is stupid.

 

[Blitmund]

i have noticed that practice made me pass the CT papers - though i have flunked but no surprises as i mostly knew that the practice wasn't up to the mark. the essay (later) exams have been different; practice doesn't seem to be a good predictor of exam success - thats a bold statement - and please feel free to contradict me on that. but anyone else feeling the same? what does it take to get over these essay exams? the exam paper seems to be a little different than what u just thought it would be like, isn't it?

I wouldn't say that CA1 or the ST's are essay type exams. As the ActEd tutors advise, what you want to aim for in writing the answers to the wordy questions in these exams is a bit more than 2 distinct bullet points per mark. Might well be counter productive to structure answers as essays, as this makes it harder for markers to match the points you've made to their marking schedule.

[Also, there are still some calculation questions in some of the ST's.]

Can't speak for SA's as I haven't got on to them yet.

 

[jeaneu]

For me, STs also need an element of practice. You need to know your book work really really well - list, mnemonics whatever,then after that, it's a case of doing as many exam questions as possible until you are familiar with the different ways they can ask you about certain topics. I found the revision booklets very useful as they grouped all past exam questions by topic and the answers were bullet pointed into key points so it was easy to check how many of the points you can get.

With the SA it is more about spending time thinking about the question and exploring the different routes you can go down. There is no need to write flowery statements - bullet pointed statements work as well, the aim is to make sure you are going down the right track.

I found that with the STs I would spend each study session trying to do as many questions as quickly as possible so that by exam time I could list all the main bullet points for each question on each topic without much thinking. For the SA, the most effective strategy for me was to spend each study session focussing on one question, and where there were points on the marking schedule I didn't even consider, I spent time thinking about how I could have got to those points from the answers I had.

Oh, also, for these later exams past papers are much better than the Q&A bank or mock exams - often the ActEd stuff goes off on a different tangent and in a different style from the examiners' reports, and the examiners' reports are what the examiners want!

Worked for me

 

[SpringbokSupporter]

I have yet to find a way of passing CA1 and the ST subjects. I feel I have a good understanding of the material, however, I don't think this is enough to passing these exams. I've been told that apart from "understanding", you actually need to know the core-reading off by heart. Apparently you should know your core-reading well enough such that you will be able to reproduce it in any situation.

Apart from mnemonics does anyone have any memorising tips as this is where I feel my weakness is?

 

[Meldemon]

You can also try lists (I don't use mnemonics as I remember the mnemonic and forget the contents!), mindmaps, number association... there are loads of techniques on the internet (trusty old google should work). Acted also has a few very handy revision tools - I found the revision booklets invaluable, and there are also flashcards and sound revise.

Noting from some of your other posts you have had a few cracks at the later subjects without success, so now is perhaps the best time to try something different? In the end, the best thing to do is to just get your head down and go for it - I had 3 subjects that needed 4 attempts for a pass and I still managed to qualify before I turned 30 (eek) - 201, 301 and ST5.

Good luck and hope you find a technique that works!

 

[Day Dreamer]

What it takes

I have found out that you need to think like a mad man. No thought is taboo. You need to generate a shed load of ideas. If I was a crazy man I imagine that's what I would do.

 

[margaret.emery]

I find that the CA1 Bitesize tutorials are great, because they are based around actual past questions, and they show you step by step how to attack them. They are also very cost effective, and can be used over and over again.