How to be a Level 9/A* Student!
So many of you loved my post on ‘How to Get an A*/Level 9 in an English Lit Essay’ (click HERE if you want to read it), that I thought I would do another about becoming a Level 9 student more generally. This is more targeted towards English/Essay subjects, however, some elements are applicable to other subjects, too!
Exams boards tell us that the Level 9 student must demonstrate ‘flare’. They must be ‘perceptive’ and ‘discriminating’ (Edexcel). They must produce a ‘conceptualised response’ (AQA); expected to be ‘mature’ and ‘speculative’ (WJEC). But how do we learn how to do this? As I said in my last post, PEE paragraphs (and their equivalents) are great for basic structure, but they aren’t going to get you to a Level 9. I’m going to be telling you about 4 key areas that you need to practice now in order to build up your skills by the time summer exam season comes around.
1. The Importance of Wider Reading
How often do you read for pleasure? With limited time and busy schedules, the focus is often on reading things quickly or focusing only on important points on themes and characters. The Level 9 Student reads for pleasure and, because of this, has a far greater pool of experience to refer to when sitting their exam. This might mean reading a novel set in Stalin’s Russia, or reading Fahrenheit 451 for dystopian fiction, for example. If you do this, when it comes to looking at exam texts, you will already be able to make interesting links between what you’re studying in class and the other books/articles that you have read.
Arrange a study date with your friends and share ideas about the books you have been reading. Sharing ideas helps to improve your ‘convincing’ (AQA) response to set texts, and perhaps also improves your own writing and story development too.
2. Practice Writing for Pleasure
Many students see writing as a necessary evil. Often, we look for formulas and checklists of how to write a creative piece or how to emulate other successful writers. Whilst acronyms like AFORREST can produce interesting work, few will have ‘flare’. As you become a better reader, you will become a better writer. Writing your own short story is not an easy task, nor will it be something that you will enjoy doing at first. However, writing a minimum of a page a week will improve your writing ability vastly. You could write about anything to do with your subject, you don’t even have to make it factual, as long as you are engaging with the writing.
The result: when you stop writing in response to exam material and start writing for your own pleasure, you begin to write with connectivity, creativity, and ‘flare’.
It is not possible to predict exam questions, so you should not teach yourself to answer one specific question on a topic. The chances are a question/topic will come up in an exam that you will find difficult. The Level 9 Student will see this challenge as a positive thing, a chance to attack a problem and work out the solution. This is called the ‘growth mind-set’ - developed by Dweck if you want to read into it more. You need to make struggle and failure part of your daily routine, teaching yourself to embrace a challenge, and take risks that produce imaginative outcomes. Whether it’s doing daily puzzles on an app on your phone or playing a game like Cluedo, you need to develop tools to problem-solve and think creatively. You could also create a Tarsia puzzle based on your subject, which will give you a plethora of contextual knowledge to work through.
The important aspect of a challenge is that it cannot be solved easily. It should rely on you making mistakes and having to use your own independent study skills to complete it. This self-reliance, resilience and determination will make you a Level 9 Student.
4. Extra-Curricular Activities Are Vital
Last, but certainly not least, is the importance of extra-curricular activities. I would highly recommend going to museums, art galleries, exhibitions, university public seminars, etc. You could also visit a high-ranking university to help raise your aspirations.
However, I completely understand that many students don’t have the access to these things. Watching films and documentaries around your subject are just as insightful, and you can find some really challenging TED talks online in all areas. Through your own drive and determination, you will begin the wider reading to get to a Level 9 after undertaking inspiring extra-curricular activities.
As a Level 9 Student, you will offer ‘perceptive’ (Edexcel) comments because you are well-read. Your writing will be ‘convincing’ (AQA) because you are a writer. Your responses will demonstrate ‘discriminating engagement’ (Edexcel) because you will be engaged by the texts and your own ideas. Your exam scripts will demonstrate a student who is ‘mature’ (WJEC) because you have a mind-set which appreciates challenge and blossoms in a struggle.
inspired by NATE magazine
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