What you need to take with you to sixth form or college

students with stationery concept art

Here's a checklist of items that might come in handy

Starting college means you get to wear your own clothes, choose your own subjects and call your teachers by their first names.

But with all the new freedom, it can be easy to forget the essentials – here are some things you may need at sixth form.

Stationery and academic

So, what equipment do you need to get work done? There's a few things you'll almost definitely use – like pens and notebooks – but the rest can vary based on personal preference and the subjects you're taking.

Pens, pencils, ruler, calculator, rubber, sharpener, highlighters, pencil case.

Bosh.

TigersWoods (2024)

You'll need three notebooks, one for each subject. Don't make the mistake I did and put all your work in one notebook, that gets unorganised fast.

Other than that, just your usual high school stationary should be fine (pens, pencils, highlighers, ruler, etc.)

Cheemgles (2023)
  • Paper (to write down any information you get)
  • Pen (highlighter, coloured pen if you want to make it look pretty but that's personal taste)
  • Folder to put any sheets you get in so they don't end up crumpled in the bottom of the bag
Jess_Lomas (2023)

Other bits you might need

You'll probably be at college all day, so you'll need either a packed lunch or money to buy food – and it's worth bringing a water bottle that you can refill.

Once you've got the basic stationery covered, there's a few other things you could consider to take your revision game up a notch.

I like different coloured flashcards, and ones you can get on keyrings.

Coloured post-it notes are fun, and A3 paper I find much better for posters compared to A4 - more space (especially for chemistry mechanisms which I always found used to run out of space on A4) 

Plastic wallets and those hole reinforcement stickers are always handy to have in too.

Chronoscope (2024)

Highly recommend highlighters, very useful when looking back on work or for helping get a good grasp of exam questions!

r1dofme (2023)

Get equipment for your favourite revision method because u will need to revise quite a lot as in a levels there’s a lot of content and you won't have time in class to go over all of it.

nellyekz (2023)

Of course, you don't have to take everything listed above – it's more of a reminder of different items you might not want to forget.

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