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Hannah – University Finals Prepositions • Exaggerated phrases • Studying • Describing people in school and work • Collocations to talk about employment I can use a wide range of words and phrases to talk about education, exams and working The world at your feet!School is one thing. Education is another... Whether you're in school or not, it's always your job to get yourself an education.AUSTIN KLEON11 EVALUATE IN THE REAL WORLD CHOOSING THE RIGHT PATH? Go to page and do the worksheet.1.1 Vocabulary BuildingLessons for life Revision Season If revision for your encroaching exams has taken over your desk — or your entire bedroom — and your days are spent regurgitating facts, then this article is for you! We asked three students at very different stages of education to tell us how they’re coping with their exams. Alfie – International Baccalaureate Six subjects, three at Higher Level, three at Standard Level, plus a 4,000-word Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and CAS — the IB is no easy ride! Right now I’m buried in Higher Level Biology notes, with tomorrow's History exam looming over me. Some days I feel completely snowed under, especially with two IAs still to finish. I map out a fortnightly plan rather than cramming the week before, because with six subjects the cognitive load builds up fast if you leave everything until the end. My exams run for close to three weeks in May: two or three papers per subject, from multiple-choice and data analysis to extended written responses, with HL papers noticeably longer than SL ones. I need exactly 38 points to meet the entry requirements for my chosen course, including a 6 in HL Biology. Three years of seminars and reading lists don’t create neat folders of notes like school did — most of what I know exists in half-remembered discussions. Back at school, revision sessions were organised for us in the lead-up to exams. Now, it’s up to us to plan our own timetable and stay on track. When I revise, I find myself drowning in journal articles with barely a page of summaries. At uni, handing in a paper late can have serious consequences, and suspected plagiarism may lead to a formal hearing. A friend of mine faced disciplinary action after a referencing mistake was treated as academic misconduct. My aim is to graduate with honours and ace all my exams, so I’m determined to keep working hard.
Noah – Advanced Level qualification Compared to the IB’s breadth, A-Levels feel almost narrow — I’m doing three subjects instead of six, but each final exam is nearly three hours long and covers two full years of content in one sitting. My bedroom wall is genuinely plastered in colour-coded notes, and by February I was swamped with past papers for Maths, Chemistry and Economics. My approach has shifted to studying as I go and knowing my materials inside out, breaking each topic down the week it’s taught. It took months to get the hang of timed past-paper practice, but it’s the only method that mirrors the exam hall. I flit between subjects most evenings, because full days spent on one subject leave me frazzled by the end. To secure a place at my first-choice university, I need to achieve at least an A*. That means scoring 90% or above across my A2 exams, regardless of how I performed at AS level. The pressure is intense because I don’t really have backups if things go wrong — and most students I know don’t either.