GP Tips/Resources 💯 ZAscension

Clarification: I have since revised the stats to only look at 11 years, so that it's more relevant

And for students who are new, this is the free resource that's really significant, please look at it and access the following short recording where I explain the trends and how we should then approach content

I would like to act. Studying for a Theme absolutely does not mean you just try and find examples. Examples are part of the equation. What we need are arguments. Especially arguments for actual Prelim and A Level questions. Pay attention to arguments and it will make a world of difference in how you discuss your ideas :)

Of course, doing this on your own can be tough. And that's where I'm here to help. The Content Crash Course, in just 8 Lessons, can deliver everything you need to know to easily master these Themes. You don't even have to join all of them, you can pick what works best for you :) Last few slots remaining for Round 1, we are starting tomorrow 7.30pm. Even if you can join the actual timing, you can still enjoy a recorded lesson 😁

Major Essay FAQ: Do I really have time now to look at new Themes? My school doesn't focus on the same things :( Answer: The A Level trends are unfortunately really clear, and focusing on the right themes greatly amplifies the value of our content knowledge by manifold, because we are more likely to be able to use it in the actual A Levels! Many don't understand A Level trends and end up looking at the wrong themes, which is regrettable because the effort put into studying GP will not yield much result. From now till the A Levels (for J2s), there is more than enough time to start pivoting. Avoid the sunk cost fallacy of thinking that you are wasting what you learned previously. See it as adopting the most approach for content. If we work on just 1 Theme every 3 weeks, we still have about 3 months to work on 4 Themes. Trust me, this will be incredibly impactful - you will start to find A Level questions actually easy to answer!

Bumping this too if you want a sample lesson for the weekly lesson which focuses more on skills + practice and feedback :) The CCC has skills too but much more emphasis on content

This is the actual 2025 A Level question, so it's super helpful to see how we approach an actual A Level qn! (Regardless of whether you're joining)

Sharing a really important sample lesson for the Content Crash Course. Again, regardless of whether you are joining us, this lesson will be super helpful to understand how to approach content + skills that are essential for GP (the way we craft and express arguments, analyse the question to fully understand its nuances, choose relevant examples and evaluate them etc.) It's a long lesson but please make time for it asap so that you can start thinking about GP in the right way :) Again, consider joining us for the CCC starting this Tues, and supporting the work that I do 🥰

Identify which is your issue and address it accordingly. Skills? Read model essays to see how strong arguments are crafted in a way that fully addresses the question + how examples are evaluated to really show the significance not just facts. Content? Check whether you focus on the right themes + ask what topics you actually look at within those themes and check against question trends to see gaps in knowledge

2. It could also be a content issue where we are not familiar with the question and the topic. Or perhaps we know a little, but not the specialised language needed or the nuanced concepts to fully tackle this question. This can happen when we do not focus on the right themes. Or we know a theme roughly, but did not study the trends and specific issues (what I refer to as topics within a theme). Or we fail to draw a connection between the question we are answering, with content that we have (mistakenly assuming they are vastly different). Familiarity with content is very important too, and I stress that we should all pay attention to the top 3 themes - Arts, Indv Values, Politics. The next 2 themes that are okay would be - Sci Tech, Media. Anything else not here is not frequent enough in the A Levels

Major Essay FAQ: How do I elaborate more? I always feel like I have nothing to write, or that I'm just repeating myself!! 1. This could be a skills issue where we are not actively trying to go deeper with our arguments. We may often state a simple point and then leave it as that, without further justification, leaving it up for examiners to infer. Learning to craft arguments is an entire approach and state of mind. It starts with asking How and Why - trigger questions that force us to clarify what we mean and to really uncover the process of how something happens. What helps is being exposed to very strong arguments, because it will make you realise what an argument needs to sound like, and how detailed or layered it must actually sound.

And of course - my big offer is this. You can too learn about all the Themes and Topics just in 8 Lessons. Come join us for the Content Crash Course, reach out to find out more details https://wa.me/6597223187 Slots for round 1 are finishing soon, so be sure to join soon. Discounts are available for those joining with friends 😁

If you want more of my thoughts for last year's question, check out this article if you haven't read it before: https://www.gptuition-zascension.com/conquer-2025-general-paper-gp-a-levels-essay/

I want to also share something interesting about the 2025 A Levels, it is by far the easiest year in the past 10 years. Why? Most of the questions come from the exact Themes I outlined above. Importantly, even within the themes, there are more standard topics (issues) that come out. In my crash course and weekly lessons, I share with students what these topics are (7 for each Theme and they represent 90% of possible questions that come out). I derived these Themes + Topics from analysing 3000+ prelim and a level questions over the years. Last year was really easy because the questions came from these very standard topics - Value of art, Purpose of Sci, Impact of Democracy and Political Activism, Justification for intervention etc. My students were really thrilled to answer these because they align exactly with the arguments and examples we are so familiar with. Of course, we can expect much more difficult questions in the years to come. Despite that, knowledge for the Themes and Topics will still be crucial to help navigate GP content in a super systematic and efficient way 😃

Some of us may be wondering: why are the crash course, Insta essay plans and Substack examples all focusing on only these Themes? This is based on an informed approach of understanding A Levels trends! Most students only know Sci & Tech, Media, Env. Some students even focus on non-existent topics like Crime, Education etc. This will greatly shortchange their ability to write an in-depth essay for 1 question that they are truly familiar with. Sci & Tech and Media questions are also usually more challenging because Cambridge knows these are popular, and would set questions that can distinguish students. On the other hand, the top 3 Themes of Arts, Indv & Values, Politics are actually very easy and powerful Themes to work on. Most schools also don't teach this, which means you quite easily differentiate yourself by specialising in this. Even if you don't know much about them, don't worry, simply come for a crash course and it will all make sense 😃

90% A/B (last year was actually 91%, as high as 96% for weekly lessons students) is not a dream, it's a reality for my students and it can be your reality too. Join now when there's still sufficient time to properly work on content before the exams :) https://wa.me/6597223187

More sharing on the crash course, forgot to attach an info graphic the other day! First, thank your being an active reader of this channel. Content creation takes a lot of time and effort, so if you value my work, please do consider supporting me and joining the crash course 🥰 Second, this is a special class that happens only at the end of the year. I will be the one personally delivering all the content and examples needed for Essay writing. Over 60 students joined us for these sessions last year!! J1s, J2s, and even private candidates are all welcome, we will be preparing for the A Levels 💯 Finally, this year I have also redesigned the course to add updated examples and streamline everything for the lessons to be easier to understand and more effective 😁

Would like to also share that the content lessons from other teachers would typically focus on just giving facts and information. But our class does it differently. I focus heavily on how we can craft arguments and support them with specific examples, to answer actual GP questions. And these questions are organised into the major themes that come out the most frequently. Also, the questions I have chosen would cover 90% of possible questions for a Theme. So this would be a very helpful and systematic approach to prepare us to confidently attempt various questions, in a very short period of time :) You can see it in the resource I have shared where I have analysed all the A Level questions into these Topics, to help students gain a solid structure over how we can study for GP content: