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Starting A-levels this September: Any tips?

Hello,
I will be starting my AS subjects this september so Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Geography.
I am really worried about these subjects so if you have any tips for managing the workload, tips to get the top grades at AS/A-level that would be great!!!

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Listen to your teachers, ask if you're stuck, do your homework. Then it's easy. It isn't as bad as everyone says, I mean it is a lot harder than GCSE but GCSE is a joke so anything is :smile:..
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by crayolaguy
Listen to your teachers, ask if you're stuck, do your homework. Then it's easy.


Thats it??? :redface:
Original post by FREYA2898
Thats it??? :redface:

well, yeah. You can probably do some extra work at home work each subject too if you really want to secure a top grade.
Original post by FREYA2898
Thats it??? :redface:


Be prepared to work a lot harder than you did during your GCSE's. It is also worth learning ahead of the class, just for a few minutes so you are more confident during lessons.
For your science subjects, practice questions and papers are the key. I only did Biology but from what my friends told me, Chemistry and Physics were largely the same. With the sciences, they look for very specific keywords in answers- if you don't have the right one, you won't get the mark. So I would suggest highlighting key terms in each topic and learning the definitions for each because you'd be surprised how many questions you'll get that will ask for simple definitions.

I'm not entirely sure about Geography but for humanities in general, I found it much easier to order my notes in themes rather than chronologically so that way I could refer to specific areas more efficiently during revision. Just generally stay on top of your work, don't just sit around during free periods and do your homework. You should be fine.

Hope that helped! :biggrin:
Reply 6
Original post by ahappydyl
For your science subjects, practice questions and papers are the key. I only did Biology but from what my friends told me, Chemistry and Physics were largely the same. With the sciences, they look for very specific keywords in answers- if you don't have the right one, you won't get the mark. So I would suggest highlighting key terms in each topic and learning the definitions for each because you'd be surprised how many questions you'll get that will ask for simple definitions.

I'm not entirely sure about Geography but for humanities in general, I found it much easier to order my notes in themes rather than chronologically so that way I could refer to specific areas more efficiently during revision. Just generally stay on top of your work, don't just sit around during free periods and do your homework. You should be fine.

Hope that helped! :biggrin:


Thank you, That really helped
The key thing is to assume responsibility for your own learning and your own grade. Your teacher is a bonus (possibly of variable quality). You need to work hard yourself without direction on understanding the specification then learning the stuff by notes and then by continual practise. Use past papers right from the very start as soon as you can answer the first question.
If you think about it, you can guess at the answer to this : work hard, do the required reading/classwork/revision and write well thought out assignments. There isn't a magic trick here - the people who put in the work 100% from week 1 of the course and do that consistently for every week of the 2 years are the ones who succeed. Yes, intelligence and aptitude for the subject helps but even if you have all that and do no serious work you won't get a decent grade, ie. If you do your homework on the bus and mess about during lessons don't expect to get an A grade.
I wouldn't say the approaches needed for biology and chemistry are too similar at all. You can nail a biology paper simply by practicing model answers (which this site is great for). Chemistry not so. IMO at least.
Listen, don't skip classes, write everything down and keep revising.

I swear to god if I had revised hard the first year I would have done so much better. Even if your lecturers say you're doing good, don't listen to them - keep asking for help and keep revising. Don't get over confident.

If you do all the things above, you're bound to do good. :smile:
Reply 11
Original post by FREYA2898
Hello,
I will be starting my AS subjects this september so Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Geography.
I am really worried about these subjects so if you have any tips for managing the workload, tips to get the top grades at AS/A-level that would be great!!!



I dont know about geography but for the sciences print of all the spec notes and when you write your own notes (if that is how you revise), make sure you answer all the point on the spec. Go through your notes repeatedly; it will eventually get in. Condense your notes if they're long and try making a timetable-doesn't work for everyone but if it does it will help loads. Make sure you do past papers over and over again. I didn't have great teachers so I relied more on independent work at home, but if you teachers are good make sure you ask as much as you can whilst learning the content.
Sadly a level science is more about having a good memory. I would advise to understand everything and not only memorise it though, because it is easier to memorise something you understand. Start relatively early, but don't do too much. I guess how much work you think you need to do is individual, but after doing GCSEs you should know how much (more) you can push it.
This is most of what I did but make sure your revision method suits you; I thankfully found the revision style that worked for me best whilst preparing for GCSEs. Personally I would rank Biology as the hardest in terms of workload, but Physics is very hard if you don't fully understand the concepts and the physics exams can be really difficult.
Good luck!
as you come home from school, go over the topics you just learned, even if they are easy.

Also try to get some work done during the summer. notes etc especially for bio and chem
Listen in every class and if you miss one catch up. Chemistry will require you to look over your notes after each week (or day, only takes 10 mins to read through) this is something I didn't do and it reflected in my AS grade but at A2 I didn't make the same mistake. Also realise AS bio is not like A2 bio and if you are doing AQA I wouldn't even bother spending your effort on doing it at A2. It's surprising you aren't doing maths as it would complement your other subjects (maybe drop bio?) maths is one of the easiest A levels to get an A/A* in, aslong as you are good at doing lots of work in your class..
Also physics is the harder A level than maths from my perspective.. Also if you don't get something ask straight away. A good way of revising is making a Whatsapp group of people doing the same subjects whom you can ask on certain questions, this has really helped me.
Anyway good luck, the next 2 years will be stressful but interesting and worth while!
Pick the right A-Levels that will help you with your future career, study hard but also relax in between.


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Don't leave it until exam time to revise. Revise and make revision notes on each topic as you finish learning it. will make everything so much easier. I'll definitely be doing that for my A2's.

Good luck!!
Original post by FREYA2898
Hello,
I will be starting my AS subjects this september so Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Geography.
I am really worried about these subjects so if you have any tips for managing the workload, tips to get the top grades at AS/A-level that would be great!!!


Don't.
















But you probably will anyway :P I never knew how to study as opposed to revise - GCSE was stupidly easy compared to A-Level. Learn how to! Even if it's just as simple as writing up notes again and shortening them. Don't use up your past papers too fast :P Start 'studying' from the start! Then hopefully you won't have much work to do when it's time for exams.

I wish someone had told me this. It led to me trying to learn everything for AS biology the night before and I wonder how that went :rolleyes:
First, Make revision materials a long time before the exam, if you have mock exams after Christmas make them then. Tip 2 try your best on everything so you know what grade you're working towards :smile:

Also if you've put effort in at GCSE they won't be as hard, if you didn't well you're in for a shock!! :smile: Good Luck you'll be fine

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