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Share your top tip for success in AS chemistry and biology!

I am in the first two weeks of AS and finding it challenging but enjoyingng it at the same time. Half of my class is made up of retakers and I have heard so many stories of people working so hard constantly throughout the year and getting DS!! Please share your experiences, how much revision you did and your grade. And ofc your top tips!!
Original post by 08barretta
I am in the first two weeks of AS and finding it challenging but enjoyingng it at the same time. Half of my class is made up of retakers and I have heard so many stories of people working so hard constantly throughout the year and getting DS!! Please share your experiences, how much revision you did and your grade. And ofc your top tips!!


Chemistry:
Just keep on top of the work! I found this a very challenging subject at AS (surprisingly it is much easier at A2!) Keep doing all the homework and textbook exercises. If you are at all unsure on a topic do loads of extra practice questions and ask your teacher for help - otherwise you could rapidly fall behind since each topic builds upon the previous ones. Revise really early - write up all your notes and make revision flashcards (particularly for the things like reaction conditions and mechanisms you need to memorise). Do all the past papers :smile:

Biology:
Again, keep on top of the work. There is a lot to memorise, and I found it helpful to read over my notes regularly to try to remember all the weird names and random facts we were expected to know. Also, write up your notes neatly a month or so before the exam with lots of pretty diagrams and colourful highlighters etc. Just keep reading through these coming up to the exam, and do lots of past papers :smile:
Reply 2
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08barretta
OP
Thank you very much
Learn the textbook, get familiar with How Science Works, do past papers and perfect your exam technique :smile:
Reply 4
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7253567
8
Chemistry is boring, barely gcse with some orbitals thrown in.


Posted from TSR Mobile
If you did double award, you might find yourself in a class of people who did triple sci at GCSE. They'll have covered a lot of AS chem topics, so read ahead. Teacher's often a assume that students all have the same knowledge!
Reply 6
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sidmagic
Tons of past papers and making questions of your own up using the textbook seemed to do the trick for me. Good luck!


Posted from TSR Mobile
Chemistry-

Often the difference between an A and a C is knowing all the little things, rather than the big stuff. If it's a key definition (First Ionisation Enthalpy for example), know it EXACTLY, ensure you balance equations and don't miss state symbols.

Honestly, that stuff adds up pretty fast. Sat down with a Yr13 looking through their June paper which was a C and they got no major parts of questions wrong, just haemorrhaged the little marks here and there. State symbols. Significant figures. Lone pairs and charges on mechanisms. Key definitions.

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