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Can anyone give any advice on sixth form/A-Levels?

Hi all

Having not got any older brothers or sisters I have very little knowledge as to what to expect on my first day of sixth form and... well, every day after that really. I was wondering whether anyone could sort give me a heads up as to what I should bring on my first day, what will happen and the general layout of how sixth form works. Also, any tips on organisation, classes, homework and exams etc would be really useful.

I'm not having to join a new school/college luckily and I will be taking Maths, Physics, Biology and Chemistry if that helps.

Thanks,
Emma

Reply 1

mjrd

Original post by emmajones12770

Hi all

In my coll we spent the whole day looking round the coll and sorting out timetables. We didnt actually do much work til day 3. Our coll works on a 2 wk system and we have hr long classes. We have 4 hrs per subject wk 1 and 5 hrs per subject wk 2. Plenty of free periods too. I would suggest 1 file with dividers for each subject for coll and then xtra files to keep at home for each seperate subject. As you fin a topic in coll move it to your full file at home. This means you only need 1 file for coll. Obvs you need stationary but not much else. You can check on enrollment day. Best advice i can give you is to check asap which exam board you are with and check examiners reports and syllabus also print off all past papers and mark schemes asap so they are all ready to go. Buy tons ink and print paper ready too. Also as you finish each topic take time to read over it and concise it. Put all past papers and concised notes into a revision file so you can read over often, it helps to take pressure off studying and so you dont need to cram as you still have work and lessons before exams and not always much study leave. All my AS levels were in the first 6 days of exams so i had no study leave! Bear in mind too that your choosen A levels will be on new specs so you have 2 yrs work to do exams on in yr 13 so you need to defo keep up with looking over your work at regular intervals.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 2

emmajones12770

Thanks, that's really helpful! If on my first day I wasn't sure as to what my timetable was, should i take all my exercise books/folder just in case or would you just take one note book?

Also, would you take up much extra curricular stuff or leave it for a while to see how things pan out?

Thanks,
Emma

Reply 3

Snarling Wolf

Chemisty is hard, I know that much

Reply 4

username1230881

Original post by emmajones12770

Hi all

Use your free periods for study and start revising early - then you'll be fine. It's worth noting that the jump from GCSE is very big; I was used to getting A*s and As all the time at GCSE, so getting Bs/Cs for the first few weeks was quite a shock. Your grades will quickly jump up if you work hard though.

I don't personally have a job, but I know people who do, and it can either go really well or really badly. Some people have just a few hours each week (less than 12), so they have plenty of time to study, as well as having an income. Others have been pressured into taking lots of hours (even up to around 20), meaning that their school work has taken a massive hit. Basically, if you want a job, fine, but work less than 12 hours.

Start researching unis early and please, please book open days as soon as possible! Some people kept on procrastinating booking open days and missed the summer ones entirely, so they'll have to cram them in in September. Prospectuses come out around March/April, so order lots (from optimistic choices to those with lower grade requirements than you're expecting), and then book at least 5 open days. I thought I loved UCL and Queen Mary, for example, based on the prospectuses, yet after visiting them I realised they probably weren't for me. Same for a friend with Edinburgh. Visiting really is crucial.

On my first day of year 12, we did no work - we just did some admin and some 'team building' exercises. On the second day, we picked up our timetables and started lessons straightaway. It won't be exactly the same at other sixth forms, but for your first day all you'll probably need is a notebook.

Overall - don't panic and don't procrastinate too much, and it'll be a great, if stressful, 2 years. Almost everyone I know likes sixth form more than lower school; put the effort in and you'll soon get the rewards.

Reply 5

S F

On my first day we didnt do any actual work, so I'd recommed just a bag with paper and pens but you wont need any folders unless work was set over the summer. :yes:

If you're sixth form lets you leave in frees, dont! Use most of them in a productive way!

I did Chemistry, Biology, and Maths this year and if you do enough work from the start they wont be half as bad as everyone makes them out to be!

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Reply 6

oswalds

On my first day, we all went in and sat in the school gym for about an hour, had a talk from the heads of year about general things such as expectations, exams, how much work we should be doing and what we should be doing in our free periods. Then, the external students who were new to the school went for a tour around the school and then the rest of us just waited, until we went and joined our form groups. We had two lessons at the end of the day, and also had our school photos taken that day. I took a notepad full of paper, my pencil case and a bottle of water with me. You won't need any exercise books, and I wouldn't bother with folders until a bit later because they'll be a bother to carry and you won't really have anything to put in them to begin with.

When you do need folders though, I suggest getting a lever arch since I've found that just the ring binders fill up really quickly and can break more easily. Some people like to use plastic wallets, but I don't bother because they just break and cost extra money. You'll be wanting a hole puncher though, these are very useful and some people like to carry them around in their bags. Dividers are also really good to have. Hole reinforcer stickers are also quite good, but not necessary. You don't get your exercise books provided anymore, so need to provide your own paper. Most take in a notebook, and I personally like the Oxford Campus ones as the paper is really nice quality. A planner, if you don't have one provided by your school, is also really, really useful to have.

If possible, try to get as much work done in your free periods at school as you can. You'll have more time to relax at home and the first couple of weeks (Or even the first term) of 6th form can really tire you out. Don't let yourself fall behind, and teachers expect you to take more responsibility so if you miss a lesson, you are expected to go and get the work yourself and do it in your own time. Similarly, if a teacher isn't there your lesson might be cancelled but work will be left for you, which you are expected to do on your own for the next lesson. Remember that your teachers are there to help you as well! They are generally more than happy for you to come and talk to them during lunchtimes, after school or when they are not teaching, and try and get their emails encase you need to contact them for any help.

Reply 7

The Warsmith

Do a language if you can. Trust me.

Reply 8

mjrd

Original post by emmajones12770

Just take 1 file and pens ect. You defo wont do work on day 1.

Reply 9

emmajones12770

Thanks guys for all the great replies, very helpful! Our courses are changing this year in terms of structure and content. As far as past papers go I think I'm going to struggle finding many! Has anyone, who has taken physics/chemistry/biology found any good websites for questions etc A-level course specific?

I've found Corbett Maths very good for maths at GCSE and I've also found they have an A-level section so I should be okay in the way of maths questions but the other three subjects I think I'll struggle finding revision stuff for. If anyone has any suggestions as to A-level specific sites that would be really useful.

Thanks
Emma

Reply 10

username1333513

buy at least 2 folders for each subject lmao one is not enough....I learnt that the hard way

Reply 11

Tiwa

Original post by emmajones12770

Hey! I just finished A2 in Maths, Physics and Chemistry. The advice I cn give is to do past papers, make the most of your free times and study in them. Use the course specifications, they tell you exactly what you need to know. For Chemistry, I'm not to sure how useful this website will be due to the new specifications, but this was so useful during this year. Plently of practise questions.http://a-levelchemistry.co.uk

Reply 12

Xotol

Original post by emmajones12770

If the old past papers have similar enough questions, do those. I wouldn't bother too much with random sites. The notes and textbooks you get should be enough for the content and any questions. Although you don't have any same style past papers, you are fortunate in that the exam board will probably be more lenient with your questions and grade boundaries because most people will probably struggle more.

Reply 13

emmajones12770

Original post by Tiwa

Thanks, I'll check it out :smile:

I've also just found Chemnet which looks good too!

Reply 14

emmajones12770

Original post by Xotol

I did all the subjects you did for A-level. I wouldn't worry too much about transitioning at the moment, just make sure to enjoy your summer. You have a while to get used to it. It is a step up from GCSE, but, again, don't pay too much attention to the people who say that it's zomg difficult. It's more or less straight forward if you keep on top of your work. You will need to work harder, but don't go overboard. Enjoy yourself though, particularly in AS. I found the jump from AS to A2 is bigger than GCSE to AS.

The key I would say is to make sure you understand all the content when it comes. Don't go into the next lesson if you don't understand something. Pester the teacher until you do. But, at the same time, don't start revising super early. It's just wasting your time. Work smart, not hard.

If the old past papers have similar enough questions, do those. I wouldn't bother too much with random sites. The notes and textbooks you get should be enough for the content and any questions. Although you don't have any same style past papers, you are fortunate in that the exam board will probably be more lenient with your questions and grade boundaries because most people will probably struggle more.