Welcome geniuses, i'm Genie your best buddy for A-levels,
in this channel we'll bring you to
explore the secret formula behind success...
Meet Syafiq, it says here he's a... an
amateur photographer, he's also
interested in Japanese culture, and he's quite into gaming, anything to
prevent him from getting bored. So Syafiq, is it okay if i call you Shaffie
Shaffie? The geniuses are really curious, how
exactly did you manage to make zero
mistakes in your accounting paper
and achieve a perfect score of 100 marks?
And... go!
So first of all I did not manage
to get a score of 100 in both my AS and my
A-level exams, but nonetheless, the secret for accounting
papers is practice and consistency. You must be
systematic during your practices and exercises.
Try your best to always use the same
steps in
preparing your financial statements. For
instance, like me, I like to work
backwards. In a sense that I always
prepare the
financial statement first, and then find
out the working later.
First I prepare the Pro Forma of the
financial statements,
as I go through the line items then I will go through
the workings for those items like in a
"fill in the blanks" exercise.
Then I make sure to tick all of the
adjustments that I have accounted for.
However, this might work for me but not
necessarily
anyone else. But if you keep being
consistent with your thinking process,
then you will able to realize if you
were to miss something
while answering the exam questions.
What resources and books did you use to aid
in your revision process?
My advice is to follow whatever your
teacher recommended because accounting syllabus changes from years
to years. During my time, the only book
that I used was the one that is
recommended by my teacher which is
Business Accounting by Frank Wood.
Whichever book that you choose to use,
make sure to do all of the exercises
because the exercises really helps in
understanding the topics. And do lots and lots of past year's questions.
Because A-levels exams tend to repeat itself. Even though
it's not entirely repeated, but the concept is still the
same. However, make sure to save some of the past year's
questions for your own 'time test practice'. Because it
is important that you try to replicate the exam situation or
the exam environment during your practice. And please,
do try to answer them without referring to
anything similar to an exam situation. 
Now, some
people find it hard to stay focused for
a long period of time, so
how did you discipline or schedule your
revision? 
For me,
it is very important to set up a schedule that is
realistic, but still challenging at the
same time.
And you have to try to be very specific
with your goals,
like for me, I usually set topics as my
goals like: I want to
revise these topics, and these topics
today before I
do anything else. And it is also very
helpful
if you set up a reward system for
yourself,
like treating yourself to a fancy dinner, a fancy meal, letting yourself play
games, or one hour or two extra sports
time.
Simple things like that and...yes, I do
actually play
online games during my A-levels, and I
use that as my reward system
I restrict myself during my revision
session, and then if I manage to fulfill
my goal, I reward myself with an hour or two of
online games.
Do you take notes for accounting? And...
what kind of notes do you think are the most effective? 
I think one of
the most effective way to revise
A-levels accounting is to read the
textbooks a lot, because there's a lot of
things
in accounting that can't really be cut
or it will
lost some of the meanings, but then it is
also effective to use flashcards for
accounting. For instance, if you are having problems with the
accounting standards, such as IAS or IFRS, then you can jot it
down just the name, such as IAS2-Inventories,
IAS1-financial statements, IFRS-16 Leases or something like that, because
it will make your answers in the exam seems more
professional, and the examiner will know
you are knowledgeable in accounting
subjects. Or you can jot down something much more
simpler, such as ratio formula, some explanations about
the ratio's analysis. In every accounting paper there will be
ratio questions, so if you were to memorize these ratio's
formula and short explanations, then you will
able to cut down a lot of time loss in the exams.
Flash cards,
got it. What are the last minute tips you
can give to students who will be going
for accounting exams tomorrow? You know, some 'magic solution' to make
all their problems go away...
Some of the last minute tips that I can
give for accounting is make sure you memorize your accounting
standards and short brief of it, because every year
there will be questions that ask about
these accounting standards
and this will make sure that you gets a
lot of marks.
Master your ratio analysis because
accounting, ratios is very technical in
the sense that they kinda really have prepared
answers for it and every year, there will be questions that
ask about this ratio. You just have to
apply the prepared answer in the context
of the question given. At least, you don't lose mark for a very technical
part of the questions because the
theoretical part of accounting is
a bit long and you can keep on write and
write and don't even know whether it is
right or wrong. But at least, the ratio is clear-cut, either right or
wrong. Use that to your advantage. 
Besides doing
exceptionally well for accounting, Syafiq here also achieved 4A*s,
How did you manage your time to ensure
excellence in all your subjects?
I think in order to succeed in A2 or AS exams, you have to set up your mind
that it is not easy, it requires a lot of work.
So it is crucial that you start your revision from the beginning
and do your revision continuously and even if
you don't want to do a rigorous revisions
every day, at least make sure that
whatever being taught that day or that
week you'll fully understand it, because
this will help you greatly in your
revision process. As my sponsor always say, hit the ground
running. Do your best from the very start, please
don't forget to enjoy yourself because
this is a very special period for us,
students, because it is a bridge between
a study style
where you are given everything in school,
and a study style where
you are given a minimal amount of
resources in
Uni.. You still have a lot of time to study and you still have a lot of time
to pursue your interests.
I'm kind of allergic to the whole hard
work thing so... any shortcuts? 
First of all, there's no
shortcuts in studying. You have to work
hard and you have to work smart, and
if you want, you can get into study
groups.
But make sure that you tries to bring
something
into the table. Let's say you are good
with certain topics
that you can teach others. It will be
beneficial for you
to do a study group among your friends,
because I think study group is more
useful for those that have done most of their
revisions and just want to share with others the
things that they don't understand or
questions
that they still don't find the answers
too. If you think that you don't know
enough of the subjects to share with others or teach others, I
think it is better for you to go into private tutorial sessions or
group tutorial sessions instead of normal study groups between your peers.
Then, the one handling the tutorial
sessions will know what to expect of you
and what is expected of them, and once
that done and you feel confident enough,
then you can start to teach others,
and this teaching process greatly helps
your information retaining ability. 
What do
you think was your key strategy in
achieving good results for A-levels?
If you are the kind of person that likes
to write notes,
likes to do colorful notes or even just
a monotone notes,
it is very important that you organize
your notes properly and tries to learn
them by heart, means that you know where to find specific
informations, like you know these notes
contains
this information, and this note contains
that information. It will make your
revision process more fluid and faster. Besides that, I did
not use this during my A-levels, but I am using it
during my degree, there is a website called StudyBlue,
which is a website which compiles notes from students all over
the world, and you can use this website to make your
own flashcards. I think this website is very useful
because you can access it from internet browser, Android devices and
Apple devices. So after you've done your revision,
you can make flashcards from your
computer and then
during your free times, jogging or
exercise
you can bring out your phone and just do
simple flashcards every now and then.
Besides academic tips, what other tips do
you have for people who are aiming for
4A*? You know, slightly more general
stuff...
If you are aiming for straight A*, then
you really have to be disciplined and
you have to take care of your mental
health, because mental health is just as
important as physical health. There's no
use
of you studying so hard that you get depressed or have a mental
breakdown at the end. Therefore it is also very important to
choose your friend wisely, as harsh as it may seem, I have seen a
lot of people that fail or succeed because of the friend
they choose. Find someone that can help
your study
that you are comfortable with asking
questions and, find someone that you can
tell them your personal issues or
emotional issues
because this will help your mental
health greatly and will prevent you from
a mental breakdown.
Any chance you have any last minute tips?
Stay calm, reveal your notes, do some exercise, play
some games, keep your mind calm and most importantly,
get enough sleep. Because that will help
you
to answer your exam questions tomorrow
with a clearer mind.
Before we wrap up today's video, can I
trouble you for some words of
encouragement?
Do your best, don't lose your motivations
because you're almost there. Your
two years of hard work is almost coming
to an end. Don't let it go to waste and
these exams will
determine whether you will get to go to
the universities that you want or not.
That makes a big difference in your life
timeline I would say, and keep telling
yourself that this hard work will all be worth it
because it is sure damn is.
That's all for today's video, if you're
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other
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adventure, bye-bye~
