Indeed, much nicer here and don't know why I'm posting on the other, maybe because I have felt an amazing sense of support here on this thread and I get defensive when someone attacks that support by accusing us of being over-invested emotionally unnecessarily because getting in medicine is not that hard at all!
MedSchoolRat, DD also signed up to the Medic Portal about 6 weeks before her exam. I think it costs about £30 and I do feel it was worth the investment mainly because it gives the option to do mock tests within the same timing as the exam. Being able to answer the questions is obviously key, but just as much is being able to do so within the timescales which are very tight. It is not just a test of mental intelligence but also strategy.
Reading the threads on tsr is very useful as a number of posters will give advice on these strategies. It was then a case of practice and practice. DD didn't like preparing for it, she got bored of doing the same questions over and over, so it really tested her discipline.
ProfessorLayton, DD also found Chemistry difficult last year until about February and then it's as if everything clicked in. She was getting only Bs to start with, but then suddenly got top marks and got an A* at the end of year exam. Past papers is indeed key to success and therefore having a teacher who demands that they do so! It was a big learning curve for DD to accept that A levels, even much more so than GCSEs is about learning exam techniques in additional to learning the subject, a bit like learning to drive (which she was doing at the same time, maybe it helped?). She found this to be even more the case for Biology. DD found doing past papers very tedious and boring at first, but had to accept that there was no getting away from it. It is a bit like preparing for the UKCAT, very repetitive but allowing to get the brain geared up to think the way it needs to for purpose of the task.