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Question for Year 12/13s

I've picked Math/FM/Physics and Philosophy and Ethics (But only as a 4th A-level until October), and I want to ask anyone in Year 12/13 what they do to revise Math/Phys/FM, just so I can get a rough idea of what I should start doing in Year 12!

Reply 1

justlearning1469

Original post by serterweryerper

For Physics - i did isaac physics, a level physics online, even using textbooks (although the textbooks didn't do much to help), PMT, past paper questions, other physics problems from BPhO etc. and the isaac physics books and somehow only got B in 2022 and ****ed up the resits. I spent hours and hours revising, even sacrificing a lot of time and hobbies to do so. I also use MIT OpenCourseWare, zphysics etc. and somehow, only got a B.

Math - Exam Solutions, ast paper question, drilling many past papers, tutor (the only stuff i actually received), drfrostmath (in 2022 and 2021), the school websites for the a level math etc. that i tried, still ****ed up got C in 2022 and ****ed up so badly only got A in 2023 rather than A*. MIT OpenCourseWare, other videos like 3blue1brown

FM - i suppose you'd need even more effort. exam solutions and stuff for math and keep working, even right before the exam you should work. It's what you need to do, for me. just keep practicing, that's the only thing you can do. apply knowledge and links, etc., explain understand and thought process. also for math and physics.

It'll be tough, but I think you can do it.

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 2

BankaiGintoki

Original post by serterweryerper

As I did maths, biology and chemistry
For maths: it is about understanding the why. This allows you to apply your knowledge to questions and link between different topics. For example, using the discriminant to see whether a line intersects a circle. Our teacher did this by making us explain our understanding to other students, caring more about our thought process than the actual answer,

Reply 3

DarylO

Past papers. Past papers. Past papers. They can't be over-emphasized. When it comes to A Levels, learning the structure of questions and the marking techniques makes a massive difference. Practice as many question papers as you can. As you get closer to your exams, practice those questions under timed conditions. Do make sure to start with topic-specific past questions before moving onto general past papers because you won't know everything in Year 12.

Notes. If note-taking helps you learn and makes revising easier, please, stay on top of it. Try your best to not fall behind and ensure your notes are organised and up-to-date at the end of every week. That feeling of being only a few weeks from the exams and not having compiled notes to revise is awful.

YT videos. With all the information available online and free lesson videos, it'll be a crime to not take advantage of such resources. If there's any topic your teacher isn't explaining well or any one you're stuck on, just search for it there and a ton of free lessons will show up. Videos like that saved me numerous times.

Topic list. A few weeks into Year 12, you'll be able to notice which topics you struggle with and which ones you're good at. Place them in different categories, write them down and paste them on your wall. Allocate more revision time to the ones you struggle with. Putting more energy into the problem areas makes studying more effective.