After achieving an A* in 2017, I am sharing my quality revision notes, essays, templates and tactics to help ambitious students reach their goals. These resources have proven a hit across the globe with students and teachers alike - download yourself to see why!
Chat with me on twitter @astarlevels or just drop me an email... happy revising!
After achieving an A* in 2017, I am sharing my quality revision notes, essays, templates and tactics to help ambitious students reach their goals. These resources have proven a hit across the globe with students and teachers alike - download yourself to see why!
Chat with me on twitter @astarlevels or just drop me an email... happy revising!
What is on each A Level English Language exam and when are they?
Answer these FAQs with this handy poster. Used as an informative (or taunting!) countdown to the exam.
Follow my twitter to stay updated with more essential free resources and news - @astarlevels
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level Psychology. They completely cover the specification, condensing all the key theories, studies, applications and evaluations into one booklet. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
> Organised according to, and covering entirely, the AQA specification.
> All AO1 and AO3 ready to answer exam questions
> Presented in a concise and memorable way
It covers every topic in this area of the spec:
• Gender and culture in psychology – universality and bias. Gender bias including androcentrism and alpha and beta bias; cultural bias, including ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.
• Free will and determinism: hard determinism and soft determinism; biological, environmental and psychic determinism. The scientific emphasis on causal explanations.
• The nature-nurture debate: the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour; the interactionist approach.
• Holism and reductionism: levels of explanation in psychology. Biological reductionism and environmental (stimulus-response) reductionism.
• Idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation.
• Ethical implications of research studies and theory, including reference to social sensitivity.
Please do check out my shop as I have over 100 other revision resources. DM me on Twitter @astarlevels if you have any questions. Good luck in your exams!
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level Psychology. They completely cover the specification, condensing all the key theories, studies, applications and evaluations into one booklet. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
> Organised according to, and covering entirely, the AQA specification.
> All AO1 and AO3 ready to answer exam questions
> Presented in a concise and memorable way - easy to learn
It covers every topic in this area of the spec:
* The evolutionary explanations for partner preferences, including the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour.
• Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships: self-disclosure; physical attractiveness, including the matching hypothesis; filter theory, including social demography, similarity in attitudes and complementarity.
• Theories of romantic relationships: social exchange theory, equity theory and Rusbult’s investment model of commitment, satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment. Duck’s phase model of relationship breakdown: intra-psychic, dyadic, social and grave dressing phases.
• Virtual relationships in social media: self-disclosure in virtual relationships; effects of absence of gating on the nature of virtual relationships.
• Parasocial relationships: levels of parasocial relationships, the absorption addiction model and the attachment theory explanation.
Check out my shop for more AQA A Level Psychology: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level Psychology. They completely cover the specification, condensing all the key theories, studies, applications and evaluations into one booklet. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
> Organised according to, and covering entirely, the AQA specification.
> All AO1 and AO3 ready to answer exam questions
> Presented in a concise and memorable way - easy to learn!
Includes:
• Problems in defining crime. Ways of measuring crime, including official statistics, victim surveys and offender surveys.
• Offender profiling: the top-down approach, including organised and disorganised types of offender; the bottom-up approach, including investigative Psychology; geographical profiling.
• Biological explanations of offending behaviour: an historical approach (atavistic form); genetics and neural explanations.
• Psychological explanations of offending behaviour: Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality;
cognitive explanations; level of moral reasoning and cognitive distortions, including hostile attribution
bias and minimalisation; differential association theory; psychodynamic explanations.
• Dealing with offending behaviour: the aims of custodial sentencing and the psychological effects
of custodial sentencing. Recidivism. Behaviour modification in custody. Anger management and restorative justice programmes.
Check out my shop for more AQA A Level Psychology resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level Psychology. They completely cover the specification, condensing all the key theories, studies, applications and evaluations into one booklet. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
> Organised according to, and covering entirely, the AQA specification.
> All AO1 and AO3 ready to answer exam questions
> Presented in a concise and memorable way
It covers every topic in this area of the spec:
• Classification of schizophrenia. Positive symptoms of schizophrenia, including hallucinations and
delusions. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia, including speech poverty and avolition. Reliability
and validity in diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia, including reference to co-morbidity,
culture and gender bias and symptom overlap.
• Biological explanations for schizophrenia: genetics, the dopamine hypothesis and neural correlates.
• Psychological explanations for schizophrenia: family dysfunction and cognitive explanations
including dysfunctional thought processing.
• Drug therapy: typical and atypical antipsychotics.
• Cognitive behaviour therapy and family therapy as used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Token
economies as used in the management of schizophrenia.
• The importance of an interactionist approach in explaining and treating schizophrenia; the diathesisstress model.
Please see my shop for resources to fully prepare you for the exam: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
4 top band model answers for A Level English Language.
* Shows how to select, arrange & argue the most important ideas in essays
* Produced by a student who achieved an A* in 2017
* Can be reworked as a template for *your* future (brilliant!) essays
You may also be interested in 17 model answers for £22.99 https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/english-language-exemplar-responses-aqa-a-level-new-spec-11874400
Two transcripts of conversations between mother and 3 y/o daughter with an accompanying activity sheet.
Activity sheet will guide students through the initially daunting task of analysing large chunks of data.
Beginning with labeling and searching for features, then, later, getting students to combine what is in front of them with the theory they have been taught.
Throughout the tasks, students are encouraged to think about theories, how to explain these, and the importance of labeling features to score AO1.
By the end of the sheet, students will have written one paragraph to an essay question. Since you have access to the essay question and transcript, you could set it as a mock question after.
Model essay based on the data used in this activity sold separately
17/09/18: thanks to the teacher who suggested I add an answer sheet… now included for free!
Hope it helps and check out my shop for more! Follow me @astarlevels on twitter :-)
Top band, student written model answer for A Level English Language Paper 2 Question 3 on Language Discourses. Includes full essay & marker annotations with overall feedback.
This essay demonstrates how to analyse the way two texts use language to present ideas, attitudes and opinions in similar and different ways. Students of all abilities will benefit from an example of effective essay writing which they can emulate in their own work.
Why it works:
Shows how to structure an answer to this question that addresses all 3 AOs
Examiner commentary highlights successful elements
Produced by a student who achieved an A* in 2017
This particular response was awarded 34/40
Can be reworked as a template for your future (brilliant!) essays
To find the texts used to write this essay download my free mock exam
12 pages of practice essay questions for the new psychology paper 3 AQA A level.
Despite many students being able to recite key studies and theories by Milgram, Singh or Kohlberg, without plenty of practice putting these theories into essays and linking up ideas, they often fail to reach the top marks.
However this resource provides students with multiple essays for each topic in the specification and that could appear on their paper. It has a checklist encouraging them to plan the essay to pick the most relevant ideas, then write it and most importantly get it marked for feedback.
When preparing for A Level Psychology some of the most crucial preparation is practice and this resource gives realistic, challenging and invaluable suggested questions.
There are loads of 16 marker essay questions for every topic in the new specification meaning students can plan and practice a response to almost every possible question they could be asked since I spent a lot of time creating questions that cover all of the specification.
Check out my shop for more: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
A Level English Language activities to help students become more confident with using theories and studies for the first year exam especially.
Task 1: card sort activity with 11 theorists and their theories. Great revision activity, and, once complete, little glossary of AO2 for students to refer back to.
Task 2: Jargon activities, main task being to read an article from the guardian (useful overview) and use it as data to write an essay/ or to write an opinion article on the use of jargon.
Task 3: a transcript of a doctor/ patient conversation where students should apply the theories to what is being said. Great way to consolidate theories and to think about how occupational language is used and how it affects people outside the group. There is also an essay opportunity.
The poster included complements the activities pack. It is a straightforward resource giving a bedrock of theories, can be used for reference, revision or to support class/ home work.
Check out my shop for more!
Complete Revision Bundle
A* notes for every topic in Paper 2 for A Level English Language!
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level English Language. They are full of theorists, linguists, facts, stats, examples, real world application and more. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
Easy to learn, concise, bullet point revision notes
Omitted endless details on methodology and results
Replaced these with meaningful comments on each study to form the basis of your argument in the exam (crucial to enter top bands!)
Essentially, they includes lots of key studies/ ideas/ theories – a total set of notes for each topic. Read them, learn them, practice writing essays with them and use them in the exam - you’ll be on your way to success!
I also have model essays for every topic in this paper!
Model essays for all topics in A Level English Language
Top band, student written model answer for A Level English Language Paper 2 Question 3 on Language Discourses.
This essay demonstrates how to analyse the way that two texts use language to present ideas, attitudes and opinions in similar and different ways. Students of all abilities will benefit from an example of effective essay writing which they can emulate in their own work.
Why it works:
Shows how to structure an answer to this question that addresses all 3 AOs
Produced by a student who achieved an A* in 2017
This particular response was awarded 33/40
Can be reworked as a template for your future (brilliant!) essays
To find the texts used to write this essay download my free mock exam
I have another example marked with examiner commentary essay for this question on my shop, check it out!
This original writing and commentary was submitted to AQA in summer 2017 and awarded an A*. This makes it the perfect example to show students what is required of them in the NEA. Includes full original writing & corresponding commentary.
The original writing was based on Power of Persuasion.
Why it works:
* Shows how to use current A Level study to produce & analyse their own writing
* Demonstrates how to organise & structure the commentary by drawing on own work & the style model
* Can be reworked as a template for *your* future (brilliant!) NEA
I also have an example of the language investigation: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-level-english-language-nea-a-example-language-investigation-11721765
Follow my twitter to stay updated with more essential free resources and news - @astarlevels
Check out my shop for more essays and revision resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
3 student written model answer for A Level English Language. Includes both sources/ texts so can be set as a mock too.
This essay demonstrates how to apply linguistic methods & terminology to texts in order to explore how language is used to create meaning. Students of all abilities will benefit from an example of effective essay writing which they can emulate in their own work.
Why it works:
Shows how to select and analyse a range of language features, as well as how to demonstrate awareness of context and how meaning was created
Includes text A & B so can be set as a practice paper
Produced by a student who achieved an A* in 2017
Can be reworked as a template for your future (brilliant!) essays
Poster giving an explanation and examples of jargon. Could be used as a starter or as part of a display alongside students own posters.
Follow my twitter to stay updated with more essential free resources and news - @astarlevels
This bundle includes three revision checklists that allow students to keep track of everything and exactly what they need to know:
All year 1 content
All year 2 content
All of research methods
The checklists cover every topic on the spec so you can just use the topics that apply to you. Includes all optional topics, research methods, approaches and biopsychology.
Based directly off the specification so it is everything you need to know - check there aren’t any gaps in your knowledge!
Check out my shop for more: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
This bundle includes four packs of exam questions for AQA psychology. Each pack covers one of the compulsory AS topics that appear in year one and year 2 exams: MEMORY, ATTACHMENT, SOCIAL and PSYCHOPATHOLOGY.
The questions are usefully grouped so that once you have revised the topic you can test yourself on a range of questions that have appeared in the past, giving you ample opportunities to get familiar with the types of questions the exam board have asked in the past and no doubt will again.
Even students who can recite their notes off by heart may struggle to achieve the top grades because they have poor exam technique, but this workbook is the ideal resource to improve exam technique simply by practicing!
I spent a lot of time going through old specification AQA papers to find the questions that relate to the new specification & highly recommend this exam focused approach to revision in order to access the highest grades.
Check out my shop for complete notes for all year two topics & yr 1 and 2 research methods: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
Looking for a complete revision bundle for Paper 1 and 2? Look no further!
I give you the notes so you can learn the theory and the example student written essay so you can see how to tackle the exam question. All produced by a student who achieved an A* in 2017.
No need for super expensive (and over-the-top extensive) revision guides. These notes and essays fully cover the AQA English Language A Level to get you feeling totally prepared for your exam.
**Paper 1 Section A:
**
example essay answer for q1,2,3 graded A*
**Paper 1 Section B:
**
child language spoken revision notes
child language written and multi modal revision notes
child language example A* essay answer
**Paper 2 Section A:
**
gender complete revision notes
accent and dialect complete revision notes
sociolect complete revision notes
occupation complete revision notes
world english complete revision notes
language change complete revision notes
gender A* essay answer
accent and dialect A* essay answer
sociolect A* essay answer
occupation A* essay answer
world english A* essay answer
language change A* essay answer
**Paper 2 Section B:
**
language discourses example essay answer
opinion article examples
**Plus:
**
bank of practice questions
DM me on Twitter @astarlevels if you have any questions ;)
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level English Language. There are five pages full of theorists, linguists, facts, stats, examples, real world application and more. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
Easy to learn, concise, bullet point revision notes
Omitted endless details on methodology and results
Replaced these with meaningful comments on each study to form the basis of your argument in the exam (crucial to enter top bands!)
Summary sheet includes:
Dominance: Zimmerman & West, Beattie, Spender, Fishman
Deficit: Lakoff, Jepersen
Difference: Tannen, Trudgill, Coates
Diversity: Cameron
Notes for all six topics in A Level English Language
Model essays for all topics in A Level English Language
Check out my shop for more: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
Explains why there are natural hazards based on global location, plate boundaries and human causes.
Explains why the Philippines are particularly vulnerable, including having a low capacity to cope.