1) How was Year 12 for you?
Pretty fun. I remember getting a bit stressed about physics at the beginning of the year, but otherwise I enjoyed having fewer subjects and more free periods. Not having to do art or chemistry any more was really nice too.
2) Is it a lot more stressful than GCSEs?
I sat most of my GCSEs in year 10, and didn't find it stressful at all, so in that respect, yes. However, I sat triple science in year 11 and I found that really stressful towards the end of the year as I hadn't worked hard at all throughout the year and I was getting Es in a lot of my mocks. I think that if you go into year 12 with the right attitude and work hard from day one then there's no reason it should be that stressful (until exam day, at least!).
3) When did you start revising for your AS exams?
Beginning of the year. I stayed after school and just made sure I understood absolutely everything. I started doing past papers from December onwards, because before then we hadn't really covered enough material to do any of the questions.
4) How many exams did you sit in total?
11 (3 in January, and one of them was a retake)
5) What advice do you have for upcoming Year 12's?
If you work hard from the beginning, things should be fine. Don't let yourself fall behind on understanding (my only source of stress in y12 was physics, simply because I didn't understand the first few lessons and was too scared to ask, and so it kept getting worse and worse). Know exam strategy and how marks are awarded. Read examiner's reports. If you can't keep yourself motivated to do work at home, stay in school or at the library until all your work is done for the day. Best of luck to everybody!