Well I’m in the midst of exam season and by the looks of it I’ll end up wounded enough to earn a nice military pension if I come out alive. Consequently if you’ve tried to contact me about site stuff I’ve likely only replied now.

Anything on the A-level stuff section is all I have for now and all I will have until some time after exam season (unless people send me stuff to fill the gaps), and as I can’t host ZIP folders as they are too inconvenient for me to bother with at this stage into the exam season.

But I come here with something for people who aren’t finishing this year: maths guides. After exams I’m going to write PDFs with LaTeX (the program that makes maths text look neat and pretty) on A-level maths and further maths topics to break it down for any of you that might need alternative explaining (bearing in mind I don’t assert any credibility as a maths tutor). Each volume will be on a subject (like Functions, Complex Numbers, Differentiation I…) instead of following strict module and board specifications. There might be exercises but there will definitely be worked examples. Expect stuff popping up some time in July.

I finish on 15th June, just a heads up.

It’s that time of the biannual cycle again, so here’s my AS results:
Maths: A
284 UMS ≈ 95%
Physics: A
288 UMS ≈ 96%
Chemistry: A
289 UMS ≈ 96%
Economics B
155 UMS ≈ 78%
Philosophy & ethics: B
156 UMS ≈ 78%
(Individual module marks for the June season will be at the bottom, after the ‘read more’ break)

So what do I think of it? When I opened them I wasn’t really happy, because I was hoping for five As (because I’m a cocky bastard). That was like an hour ago, and now I’m not too bothered, pretty happy that the As are in the proper subjects (there, I said it). I might retake economics 2 and/or ethics, but it will be a tedious process, rendering me having to do ethics for a third time and never being free from economics in my school life.

These results were all a matter of pride for me, as these results are good nonetheless, however, I am a bit worried about any Oxbridge application or applying to other high profile unis, but I’m not counting on getting in to Oxbridge anyway. In summary: to save myself from being a whiny prick, I’m alright with these, it’s just the shock of diminished bragging rights. I hope those reading this that are on the same boat did well, and are not hating me for complaining if I beat them.

My exams have finished, I am a free man. Of course, it is only a temporary blip in the work demands of sixth form and it’s a mere 7 months to my next batch.

First of all, I’ve realised what I had predicted had come true, i.e. the fact that my site visitors have peaked this month (and the last) with several hundred a day being the norm. As there are not as many in my year utilising my A-level stuff to explaining the magnitude of the increase, I actually thought that maybe, just maybe, people are actually reading this shit I type. Alas, I was informed that neighbouring schools have heard of my stash of past papers and mark schemes and pupils downloaded until the rum was gone without giving this poor, malnourished blog a glimpse. How do I know this? Because as the exams are done my views are contracting back to their humble state. Though to be fair, I have had a bit of feedback, so I’ll leave it at that.

In regards to my blog, as I have no pressure on revision or any of that nonsense, I can actually post about stuff not academically related in any way or form. For a little preview of future events, I intend to make comics.

…

Laughter over? Yes, that’s right. Beethoven became deaf, so maybe I can make comics from September. I’m talking about generic Monday-Wednesday-Friday comics with a few bits of gold clattered around rubbish. I say September as I am in the process of drawing drafts, and I would like to make a sufficient amount of them before I start uploading.

Oh, the exams. Erm… I’m not sure how I did, especially with my predictions generally being wrong, all could have been worse (I hesitate to say that for mechanics and economics) and all could have been better, but August will tell.

Sequel to Plato’s wedding cake…

’Tis five or so days to the commencing of my five exams. This chart defeats my working myth once and for all:

Mechanics was yesterday. I did it and during the exam my opinion on my performance fluctuated quite a bit, at the end I was quite scared as the last question I managed to check appeared to be wrong. Leaving the exam, that question was right. All the others were wrong.

OK, not all the others, but enough to lose 90%, and possibly 80%. Aiming for 100% in this case wouldn’t be so damaging if I wasn’t arrogant at every waking moment and invested all my pride (and a bit of cash) on my performance. I’m not really angry at Edexcel, I just had a bad day. I’ve learned that arrogance is no virtue.

Why am I so sure I made a mess of things? Post exam discussions can be quite reliable, even though not exactly consented. What eliminates hope is a leaked copy of what appears to be a mark scheme:

If you believe in the saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ then stay away from that shit.

Ah well, there’s still C2. I’m just lamenting the loss of myself on the highest step on the maths podium, then moaning that I hurt my knee on the fall.

On an unrelated matter, I think I should mention the link to a ZIP folder concerning the Knockhardy presentations and stuff for chemistry I put up today, the link isn’t that noticeable in my chemistry section.

Update: this guy does solutions (including M1 solutions) on YouTube. He might be your last hope.

For those of you that don’t do mechanics, walk away, nothing to see here. As explained in the A-level stuff section to your top right I don’t have a maths section, so I’ll put this material here.

Basically, in mechanics, almost every paper asks a question or two about mathematical modelling, and requires a bit of common sense and awards a mark or two. I don’t have common sense, so if you’re on mutual grounds with me then you might want to know the general answers, and they are as follows:
• If it asks about how you’ve used the fact that the string is light, tensions will be the same for the two particles.
• If it asks about how you’ve used the fact that the the string is inextensible, acceleration will be the same for the two particles.
• Asking about what it means for the string to be light, mention that it has no weight.
• When asking about how a model is unrealistic or what refinements can be made for kinematics, mention air resistance or possibly the ‘spin’ of the particle (use your head).
• If it asks what it means that a beam is uniform, the weight acts at the midpoint of the beam.
• If it asks what it means for something to be a particle on a beam, mention that its weight acts precisely at that point.
• When asking about what it means for the plank or beam or whatever to be a rod, it means it’ll remain a straight line/rigid.

I think that’s correct, don’t kill me if I’m wrong. I got them from the mark schemes, and compiled them on this document:

The arrogance I am expressing from my results has slightly died down, but is still potent. However, I intend for this post to be a guide, not an ‘I’m better than you so na na na-na na’ declaration (though if I didn’t know about a few extra readers here – mainly looking for answers that weren’t there – I probably wouldn’t have posted this). Anyway:

1. Set yourself targets. Good targets
I believe the main reason why I was displeased with my GCSEs was that I didn’t set myself high targets, I started off with Bs, mainly, and I realised at the end I could have got As and perhaps A*s for subjects I didn’t think I was much good at (though English, classics, and the whole writing family will always bring me down…). When A-levels came, I aimed for As, after some hesitation about the plausibility, then I aimed for >90% for three (mainly because over time I am unlikely to improve due to the difficulty curve). Even if you think you won’t get it in a million years, work for them.

2. Know what you’re doing
For me, economics was probably of relevance here. It was a brand new subject for me and I didn’t know what connected and what was relevant, and where to draw the line between relevant queries and queries irrelevant for my exam. Get your specification, and make sure you can do what it asks you to. It sometimes diverges from the contents of your book, and sometimes your book talks about topics disproportionately (economics, again).

3. Actually do some work
I didn’t do as much work as my stereotype suggests, a lot of the days I just did my homework, and some days I left it to the morning, but I won’t deny I didn’t do work. I can’t advise you much here, you find your own method. Personally, I found fear a greater motivation than satisfaction (unfortunately the fear motivation was a late bloomer – like a week before the exam). Writing notes will help I suppose, and perhaps do brainstorms (or the politically correct version), just do whatever floats your boat.

4. Past papers and mark schemes
If you do physics, chemistry and/or economics and you haven’t seen the A-level stuff section, you’re a bit of a fool. Any relevant past papers, mark schemes, and other crap I find online I put there. Some exams repeat questions, so memorising the mark scheme could be your ticket, especially for definitions (but I guess you’re fucked in this area if you do English or something). I think they were the main helping hand for the sciences.

5. Pray for a snow day (or snow week)
Leaving most of my work to the end wasn’t wise, but without that snow day I’d have had to rely on what I hesitate to call study leave. As I’m sceptical that snow will fall during May, don’t leave your work to the end.

6. ‘Do the questions. Get them right.’
A friend told me that like a day or something before the C1 maths exam. There’s not really another way about it, don’t panic, don’t let a bad question have collateral damage on others, and work efficiently to preserve your scarce time. Finally, don’t give up. I’ve realised you can be at the height of pessimism and still get a good grade.

Don’t take this as an absolute, obviously. It might help, but some maxims are quite obvious and you probably do them. This has just worked in my experience, in the same way that my Mac has as opposed to my Windows predecessors.

Yes, it’s that time of year again, and Jesus fucking Christ:

Maths: 100% (A)
Physics: 98%* (A)
Economics: 89% (A)
Chemistry: 97% (A)

Again, Jesus fucking Christ. I was not expecting that, and quite obviously I’m over the moon. It’s hard to continue this post without boasting, but I don’t care.

I said I was going to delete my Facebook account if I got 90:90:90:80 at least, and I’m not because I assumed I wasn’t going to get them (screw being true to your word). In the midst of death threats from my peers as (apparently) no one beat me, people asked for my secret, and to be honest I don’t know. Sure, I did some work here and there and I’m not an academic idiot, but not to the extent of these results (that said, memorising the mark schemes from past papers really helps).

*The results paper said ‘118’ and I was told that it was out of 120, the rest were out of 100.

Finally, my first wave of A-levels are complete, I can go back to doing nothing and synonymously go back to Facebook for the first time since last decade.

So how did it all go?
Maths:
Not bad. I got stuck somewhere in the last question and the heaploads of time eventually got me out of it, after five checks. I am prone to silly mistakes though. By the way, they used English names for once!
Physics:
Again not that bad, there was a bit of struggling but I was good for time, but if I miscalculated somewhere then I could have fucked up the question *shrugs*.
Economics:
Jesus fucking Christ, a subject focused on scarcity and time is the scarcest resource of all, contrary to the misleading examiner’s report which stated ‘there was little evidence of candidates of running out of time’. I didn’t do too well in the questions I answered anyway, so retakes are probable.
Chemistry:
Similar to physics, though afterwards I know I definitely missed out two marks due to misreading ‘As’ to be ‘Astatine’, which will probably cost me my aim of 90%. By the way, if you find an error in your checking, check it twice. You do not want to redo questions then redo them again, thankfully I had a lot of time.

I’m pleased that a lot made use of the A-level stuff I uploaded. Now I can relax for a while (and await my ordered The Beatles: Rock Band to arrive).