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Year 12 Advice- Independent Study

Hi! So, I am in year 12. I take biology, psychology and history. I feel really behind. I'm independently studying in my frees and at home, but I just feel like something is supposed to click about independently studying and figuring stuff out and it hasn't yet. Any advice?

Reply 1

TSR Jessica

Sorry you've not had any responses about this. :frown:

Are you sure you've posted in the right place? :smile:

Here's a link to our subject forum which should help get you more responses if you post there. :redface:

Reply 2

BCU Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post by Topaz13

Hi @Topaz13,

It's completely fine to feel like you're behind during the beginning stages of year 12. It's a big jump from your GCSEs, and the content you're taught has a lot more depth. May I ask how you're studying during your frees? Is there a specific technique that you're doing?

Revision styles are different for everyone, and not all techniques will suit every student- so it's important you spend some time trying new techniques and stick with what's best for you. I used to do biology during a-levels as well, I noticed that biology is one of those 'memorisation' subjects. Flashcards worked for me best. I would go through past papers, and search for those big 5-9 mark questions and have those written down. The question on one side, and the mark scheme on the other side. This was really helpful as it structured the answer in a sensible manner, and already has the key points and keywords that would get you the mark. If you find certain biological processes or sequences difficult to remember, you can try create a mnemonic that would help you. Often times I would try to paraphrase it without straying too far from the answer to help me remember it in my own way and strengthen my understanding.

Another general tip I have is to go over the notes you made in class when you reach home. I would exclusively re-read the notes, add to them, and try apply it to questions for the topic I learnt that day in class. I've found that doing this helped me retain the information longer, and strengthened my understanding of it. Turning this into a regular routine will help you in the long run, and by the time mocks come.

If you need help looking for different revision techniques, you can have a read here: https://bit.ly/3uCzvZl - we cover a lot of techniques students find useful in more depth.

Hope this helps,
Danish
BCU Student Rep