The Student Room Group

How do I effectively revise for biology and chemistry A levels? (psychology tips too)

My previous post I mentioned about being nervous about doing Bio and Chem at a school where the reputation isn't the greatest but after many messages and replies i've gained the confidence to do well.

However, my problem now is how?
For GCSEs my most helpful aspect was my memorisation skills (having memorise hundreds of pages the night before an exam) which most definitely served me well.
However, I was told A levels is not that easy and just memorisation will not help me especially for the subjects I chose.

I want to gets 3As for my A levels (best case scenario, worst case being ABB/BBB) so if any students who are predicted 3As or have gotten 3As in bio and chem, please could you give me some tips as to how to effectively revise?

Many said I need to find my own revision method however during year 11 I spent the whole year doing that, wasting my time and still not finding a reliable method.

Please give tips (websites, youtube channels, textbooks (i do AQA) , etc)
even for psychology!!

thanks
The mistake that many people make is that they don’t put enough importance to exam practice. Around 75% of your revision should be centred around exam practice (Chemistry). This should be done throughout the years and not just during exam season
Reply 3
Original post by PixiePresents
The mistake that many people make is that they don’t put enough importance to exam practice. Around 75% of your revision should be centred around exam practice (Chemistry). This should be done throughout the years and not just during exam season


Thank you for that tip!
I do plan to do PMT's practice questions after I finish every topic and if yk or anyone else knows any webs where there are topic related questions from past papers that would be really useful.
Reply 4


OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH! This really helped me a lot especially for flashcards since I never understand what to put there (or which information to write)
Original post by limbobimbo
OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH! This really helped me a lot especially for flashcards since I never understand what to put there (or which information to write)

No problem. I thought I'd also mention these threads:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7393054
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7394785
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7394797

Even though they are currently quite empty, please do post in there. There's a chance that someone else facing a similar situation as you might also contribute.

I've also just seen that you are taking psychology. Unfortunately (or fortunately), it is a memorisation game. Start making your flashcards now and learning them because you will soon find that the content builds up quickly.
(edited 7 months ago)
Original post by limbobimbo
My previous post I mentioned about being nervous about doing Bio and Chem at a school where the reputation isn't the greatest but after many messages and replies i've gained the confidence to do well.

However, my problem now is how?
For GCSEs my most helpful aspect was my memorisation skills (having memorise hundreds of pages the night before an exam) which most definitely served me well.
However, I was told A levels is not that easy and just memorisation will not help me especially for the subjects I chose.

I want to gets 3As for my A levels (best case scenario, worst case being ABB/BBB) so if any students who are predicted 3As or have gotten 3As in bio and chem, please could you give me some tips as to how to effectively revise?

Many said I need to find my own revision method however during year 11 I spent the whole year doing that, wasting my time and still not finding a reliable method.

Please give tips (websites, youtube channels, textbooks (i do AQA) , etc)
even for psychology!!

thanks

Hi there @limbobimbo

What I found helpful for Biology and Chemistry is memorising the knowledge since the start, and closer to the exams revising past paper questions. I think how you memorise really depends on yourself, I found handwritten notes and flash cards helped me out, but if you have a method that you are used to then stick with that. :biggrin:

I would also recommend doing past paper questions throughout the year. :smile: They help you identify the gaps in your knowledge, and it allows you to learnt to "apply your knowledge" for the larger mark questions. One error that you may want to avoid is doing the past-paper questions and never going back over them.

After doing past paper questions, I would mark out my errors and find explanations on how to reach the correct answer. It is important to keep these on file, and when you come to final revisions you should already have all the knowledge memorised, and it will just be a case of reading and revising these past paper questions. (especially the ones you did wrong).

Hope this helps.
Chloe
-University of Kent Student Rep
Reply 7
Original post by 5hyl33n
No problem. I thought I'd also mention these threads:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7393054
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7394785
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7394797

Even though they are currently quite empty, please do post in there. There's a chance that someone else facing a similar situation as you might also contribute.

I've also just seen that you are taking psychology. Unfortunately (or fortunately), it is a memorisation game. Start making your flashcards now and learning them because you will soon find that the content builds up quickly.


My memorisation skills are pretty good (having memorised 3 history textbooks the night before the exam) so I'm happy its more memory than anything
Original post by limbobimbo
My memorisation skills are pretty good (having memorised 3 history textbooks the night before the exam) so I'm happy its more memory than anything


That is certainly impressive! :eek:
Reply 9
Original post by University of Kent
Hi there @limbobimbo

What I found helpful for Biology and Chemistry is memorising the knowledge since the start, and closer to the exams revising past paper questions. I think how you memorise really depends on yourself, I found handwritten notes and flash cards helped me out, but if you have a method that you are used to then stick with that. :biggrin:

I would also recommend doing past paper questions throughout the year. :smile: They help you identify the gaps in your knowledge, and it allows you to learnt to "apply your knowledge" for the larger mark questions. One error that you may want to avoid is doing the past-paper questions and never going back over them.

After doing past paper questions, I would mark out my errors and find explanations on how to reach the correct answer. It is important to keep these on file, and when you come to final revisions you should already have all the knowledge memorised, and it will just be a case of reading and revising these past paper questions. (especially the ones you did wrong).

Hope this helps.
Chloe
-University of Kent Student Rep


OMG thank yo so much for replying i rly wanted to go kent too but I'm not sure whether it did radiography since it never showed up for meeee
Reply 10
Original post by 5hyl33n
That is certainly impressive! :eek:


I think i'd give all the credits to my mum who forced me to memorise scripts after scripts during primary :redface:

Spoiler

Quick Reply

Latest