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Asked by anon-195857 on 15 Jan 2019. This question was also asked by anon-195863.
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Judith Sleeman answered on 15 Jan 2019: last edited 15 Jan 2019 3:51 pm
I always used to say (very modestly) I was quite good at most things. However, my Mum found an old school report recently from when I was about 13 and it said I was pretty much mediocre across the board! Definitely ‘could do better’….
I did manage to get very good exam results in the end, though.
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Emma Meaburn answered on 16 Jan 2019:
Thanks for your question. I did well enough to get into a good university, but I do think I could have worked harder. I was the first in my family to do quite well at school (and enjoy it), but I didn’t have much of a clue about how to go about studying and preparing for exams, which is really half the battle.
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Paul McKeegan answered on 16 Jan 2019:
I did do quite well at school and was able to get into a the university I wanted to (York). I put my success down to having great teachers and reading a lot. I definitely do not consider myself to be particularly smart (just ask my colleagues!) but putting the work in got me through. I was not great at the more performance-oriented and artistic subjects though, despite coming from a family of artists!
The traditional GCSE/A level system worked for me, but it does not work for everyone and is not the only route into lab science. Practical skills and common sense are often more important than remembering obscure facts. Some companies will take lab technicians on following GCSEs and they can work their way up on the practical side of things. You can also return to academic study later on to do A levels, BScs or PhDs. A good friends and colleagues of mine have taken slightly longer routes, but eventually did PhDs and clinical work. So for anyone who wants to work in science, or medicine, but finds getting the top grades out of reach, keep putting the work in and you can get to be where you want to be in the end.
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Reka Nagy answered on 16 Jan 2019:
I was consistently at the top of my class during school because I was really interested in most subjects so I didn’t mind studying. I also knew that to get into a good university, I had to have really good grades, which motivated me even more (thought it also added some extra pressure to be sure!).
At university, I started out doing pretty mediocre-ly. I remember my first essay came back at a 68% and I was devastated – but I managed to improve a bit over time (and realised that grading in university is VERY different to grading in school), just barely managing to get a high enough grade to receive First Class Honours (seriously, a 0.5% difference would have changed my grade!). But by that point, it was no longer a .. competition, so to speak, and I realised that I was studying for my own benefit only, and when I stopped comparing myself to others, that journey became a lot more fun!
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Laura Nolan answered on 16 Jan 2019:
I did reasonably well in high school and the final exams to get into the Science course I wanted to study at University in Australia. I was never very good at remembering loads of facts for exams though. I found that studying the same things over and over again worked in high school but this didn’t work so well in University as there was not the time for this. So I didn’t get superb marks at University in the exams which required you to remember loads of facts (rote learning, which was most of the science subjects it took to be honest) but once it came to practical lab work or exams based upon concepts rather than fact recall I did a lot better. Thankfully real life work in a lab means that you still do well if you understand the concepts and ideas but need to look up the specifics every now and then!
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Gill Harrison answered on 16 Jan 2019:
Not particularly to be honest. I worked hard, but didn’t really learn how to study well at school. I learnt that later on when doing post-graduate courses. The best advice I can give you is to learn how you learn best and find an effective way to learn. Sometimes it’s as much technique as it is effort to do well.
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James Cole answered on 17 Jan 2019:
To be honest I always found School difficult, especially the exams. I tended to do well in written essays, but always terribly at exams. I only really started enjoying education once I got to University and discovered that the style of learning and assessment was very different to my previous experience at School which was very exam focused. If you are looking for advice, then I think perseverance and hard work are the key. Also, realise that your GCSE and A-level grades do not define who you are, try to see them more as a stepping stone to the next chapter of your life. I had to redo two of my A-levels so that I could be accepted into University, I really struggled with the exam format of assessment. However, I left University with a First-class degree, a Distinction in my Masters and ultimately a PhD – these are the qualifications that have helped to define my career and who I am.
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