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What do I do?

So I'm on my summer break at the moment, and going to start my A levels this September and i wanted to get a head start so i tried teaching myself a bit of Bio I found it very hard and challenging compared to GCSE. MY question is is this normal, because everyone says you should be able to teach yourself.
Reply 1
Avatar for rxns_00
rxns_00
15
Original post by Amelia76
So I'm on my summer break at the moment, and going to start my A levels this September and i wanted to get a head start so i tried teaching myself a bit of Bio I found it very hard and challenging compared to GCSE. MY question is is this normal, because everyone says you should be able to teach yourself.


Don't judge a subject just yet, of course it's gonna be much harder content wise than GCSE. Wait till you start sixth form and have the help of teachers to give you a kick start. After a few weeks it gets easier as you get used to it :smile:
Reply 2
Avatar for htaswell
htaswell
1
I'm pretty sure this is normal, I don't do sciences but I do maths and it is a big step up, which is why they spend two years teaching it to you rather than making you teach yourself. On the other hand, you should be able to understand vaguely what you are reading about now even if you don't really 'get it', and should maybe feel like if you really had to you would be able to teach yourself the minimum with a lot of hard work rather than feeling completely clueless. At the end of the day the teacher is there to teach you so the expectation is not that you have learnt the whole syllabus over the summer!
One would imagine its more difficult than GCSE. I think for biology A2 is a lot harder than AS level.
Reply 4
Avatar for Amelia76
Amelia76
OP
2
Original post by htaswell
I'm pretty sure this is normal, I don't do sciences but I do maths and it is a big step up, which is why they spend two years teaching it to you rather than making you teach yourself. On the other hand, you should be able to understand vaguely what you are reading about now even if you don't really 'get it', and should maybe feel like if you really had to you would be able to teach yourself the minimum with a lot of hard work rather than feeling completely clueless. At the end of the day the teacher is there to teach you so the expectation is not that you have learnt the whole syllabus over the summer!


I mean yeah i've read through it, i am not completely clueless i do understand a bit there is just so many words that are very difficult and can't even pronounce lol.
Original post by Amelia76
So I'm on my summer break at the moment, and going to start my A levels this September and i wanted to get a head start so i tried teaching myself a bit of Bio I found it very hard and challenging compared to GCSE. MY question is is this normal, because everyone says you should be able to teach yourself.

A Levels are considerably alot harder than GCSEs. And as you've not started them yet, you don't have the type of skills yet to take them on, as you're coming at them from a GCSE mindset.

Relax and enjoy the rest of the summer before you start thinking about A Levels. Your college or sixth form will help you settle yourself into them anyway.

If you want to research Biology beforehand, read articles online. I find BBC really helpful for this as they post about alot of evolution and new advances in research. Although it won't necessarily be on your syllabus, if it puts your mind at ease, it's all relatively simple to understand
Reply 6
Avatar for fg45344
fg45344
2
Wait until you see PhD level foundation exams!!

However you need to take things in your stride, when you saw GCSE level maths in year 7, you must have had a heart attack. It's a comparable thing.

The content is ofcourse going to be harder, and there is quite a step from GCSE to A Level, but the more you start reading, the more you will get used to it.

The best thing may be to start casually reading an A Level revision guide, so you have some idea of what you will study next year. To be honest the only really tough A Level is the M2,M3,M4 modules in Further Maths/Maths and maybe some parts of A2 Chemistry. Most of the other stuff is OK, at least for me.

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