Revision Tips For GCSE, AS And A Level Chemistry

GOOD, GENERAL STUDY HABITS TO PICK UP:

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Have a dedicated revision timetable. You ideally want to factor in enough time to ensure all your subjects are covered and you also ideally want to have breaks between bursts of study.

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Identify a good place to study. Ideally, you want somewhere quiet with good access to the internet. You may wish to choose your bedroom as the room in which you decide to study, though if your access to the internet is poor or it is not quiet enough for you to study, consider finding a local library to go to.

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The aforementioned bursts of study ought not to last more than 45 min each, and the breaks between should (a) involve getting yourself a drink and a snack (b) last at least 15 min.

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Avoid having distractions around. Mute group chats on your phone for the duration of your study and agree with your family members when and where you are going to study so they don’t distract you (unless of course there is a genuinely good reason for them to do so).

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Have individual folders for, or an expanding file with pockets dedicated to each subject you are studying. That way, any work you are bringing to and from school can be quickly found when needed.

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When writing notes and making the resources you will revise with later on, use your own words to summarise the material and make sure that you define any key, subject-specific terms in a way you understand.

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Take care of yourself and do all manner of things to ensure you are healthy and happy. You don’t have to spend an eternity glued to a seat studying to go on to do really well in your exams.

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Be kind to yourself. GCSE, AS/A levels and IB are hard, so you should expect many ups and downs in your revision. In times where you are struggling with a particular topic, you can say with a fair degree of certainty that you have stumbled across a weaker topic and therefore you now know what you need

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Reward yourself after completing targets, because in doing so, you will give yourself more motivation to study.

(edited 7 months ago)

Reply 1

TypicalNerd

HOW TO USE PAST PAPERS:

- Past papers (from the ‘new’ specification, at least) should be completed under exam conditions (i.e in silence and without access to any form of help that is not permitted in an actual exam) and in the amount of time stated on the front cover.

- After you complete a past paper, mark it yourself (and ask your teacher for a second opinion if ever in doubt) and make annotations explaining why you lost marks where you did. You should also keep a record of questions you lost marks on so you can try them again in future (these may be useful to put on flashcards along with the mark scheme on the reverse side so as to get routine practice with your weakest topics).

- You should also find the relevant examiner’s report (if there is one) to get an idea of where other candidates went wrong so you don’t make the same mistakes and where other candidates performed well so you can emulate some of their approach.

- Having access to a mark tracker for past papers is a must if you plan to reattempt the same past papers. This helps to ensure that you are improving and memorising the key points in the mark schemes for recurring types of questions and not overlooking them. There is a free, printable mark tracker you can find here on TSR, which has been produced by the joint authors of the materials for the revamp of the chemistry forum, 5hyl33n and TypicalNerd.

- Using exam papers from the old specification (these can be found on Physics and Maths tutor) may be a good move if you want practice questions with less links between topics. These papers are good diagnostics for strong and weak topics, but not as good for reflective exam practice (again, because there are less links between topics and some topics have been moved around or removed entirely with the revamp of the specification). As such, you do not need to complete them under timed exam conditions and when attempting them, it may be handy to have a copy of the specification handy if ever you find a question that you think may be from a topic that is no longer assessed.

- Ideally, you should aim to complete all the ‘new’ spec exam papers from your exam board for your subject at least once and ideally at least a month prior to your exams.

(edited 8 months ago)

GCSE, AS & A LEVEL PERFORMANCE TRACKER.pdf14.9KB

Reply 2

TypicalNerd

HOW TO USE (PHYSICAL) FLASHCARDS:

- Flashcards should be made as simple as possible. The more text on either side, the harder to memorise the content each card covers.

- Colour code your flashcards so that it is obvious which subjects they are for and so that you do not mix up cards from two or more decks.

- A good strategy for using physical flashcards is called the ‘Leitner system’. A three-box approach is outlined as follows:

DO THE FOLLOWING ONCE FOR EACH SUBJECT:

• Start by numbering 3 boxes from 1 - 3.

• Take a deck of flashcards and review them.

• The cards you know well should be put into box 3 right away. The cards you don’t know well should be put into box 1 right away.

KEEP DOING THE FOLLOWING UNTIL THE DAY OF YOUR EXAM:

• Review the cards in box 1 once per day. Any cards you remember well go into box 2. Any you still don’t know well remain in box 1.

• Review the cards in box 2 once every three days. Any cards you remember well go into box 3. Any you don’t know well get demoted back down to box 1.

• Review the cards in box 3 once every five days. Any cards you remember well stay in box 3. Any you don’t know well get demoted to box 1.

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 3

TypicalNerd

HOW TO USE MIND MAPS:

- Creating a mind map is a relatively quick way of recalling how several things link to a central theme. By attempting to create a mind map as a form of active recall, you may improve your memory and you should be able to better understand how the things link. If you are asked a question on said central theme, it may be easier to recall these things in a pressured exam environment and so constructing a detailed and comprehensive answer may be much easier.

- When creating a mind map, make it colourful. This serves two purposes: (a) in colour-coding the branches, you can see how certain topics may link more easily than without colour-coding (b) it is more fun to actually make mind maps than notes or flashcards, so you find an incentive to actively recall what you have learnt and as such, you are more likely to retain said knowledge.

- After you have created a mindmap, it is still a useful resource to have. You can use it in lieu of notes (which may be harder to read given they are often much less organised) or to check against any mindmaps on the same topic that you make in future as a way of seeing how well your knowledge of the topic is retained.

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 4

TypicalNerd

HOW TO BENEFIT MOST FROM GROUP WORK:

- Keep the group relatively small (i.e you should aim to have 2 - 6 members). Too many members may make it very distracting and your study sessions may be less productive.

- Meet somewhere where there are few distractions. Because you will need to discuss things out loud, libraries are not suitable locations to choose and so places like cafés and classmates' houses may be the best options.

- Decide on the topics you want to go over before meeting. This means a clear task is set and the group can remain focused on it. It also means less time is wasted in the session establishing a topic that you all want to work on, so your session is more productive and structured.

- Make sure to collaborate and be involved. Sitting quietly and not making any contributions will not help you get any practice with articulating your thoughts to other attendees.

- Have a WhatsApp group or other form of group chat so you all can communicate and iron out any possible weak points after the end of the session, if needed.