Community Correspondent Sonia Giga.

For many years now the media and the public have said that public exams have gotten easier over the years. Last year new A Level syllabuses were introduced. They have been said to be tougher and more challenging and the students across the borough have to agree.

During the second week of January 2010 the current year 12 got their first taste of A-Levels as many sat their first real exams. Many students taking subjects such as Maths, Economics and Media sat their first modules. Some took one or two exams others as many as four or five.

Students not only in Hounslow but across the country had different reactions to their first real A-Level Exams. Some were prepared and took the exam with ease. Others got a wake up call about how hard exams are really going to be from now on. There is a giant gap between GCSEs and A-Levels which all of our teachers warned us about. But the reality has finally hit home for many students.

When I asked an A/A* Lampton Student how she found the exams, Abbi Vasanth said “I found the A-Level exams okay, although I think I could have spent more time preparing.” She like many others believes there is a huge difference between GCSEs and A-Levels. “The difference is very big, you can no longer revise a week before the exam, and you have to stay on top of everything when it comes to A-levels.”

Dhiren Sondagar a student from Heston Community School who received 2 A* and 8 A’s at GCSEs said that he “wasn’t as prepared as I wanted to be but prepared to a state where I think I did well”. He is going to do things differently in June, something many of us are going to do which is “prepare earlier, work more efficiently and learn from my mistakes”. Those of us who did take exams in January and don’t believe we did them to the best of our abilities are going to make drastic changes as to how we prepare our selves for the June exams. No more last minute revision, putting off homework and not concentrating in class. For those of us who’ve realised how hard A-Levels are going to be and the commitment that’s needed to succeed its time to change our attitude towards our education.

A lot of students are worried about how badly they’ve done in these exams and the impact they’re going to have on the AS levels they receive at the end of the year. When I asked Lampton School’s, Mr Mike Bates Head of Year 12 what advice he’d give to these students he said, “The best thing for students who may not have done as well as they could have done is to reflect on what it was that stopped them from reaching their potential. This may be lack of revision, poor revision techniques such as just reading notes or lack of motivation.

For those who haven’t experienced the pressure of real A-Level exams “should treat mock exams as seriously as the real thing. Often students don’t realise how hard it is to replicate A-Level work in exam conditions. And it should be a preparation”

It’s not too late too late to start working hard and getting the grades that we are predicted or expected whether by our teachers or by ourselves.