A level stationery - excercise books or file paper?

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You can buy 'hole reinforcers', which are basically little white donut shaped stickers that you put around the hole punch holes in the paper, which stop the pages from ripping out. You can put all your notes in plastic wallets instead as well, which will stop the pages tearing and also keeps them safe if your drink leaks in your bag (I know from experience) :tongue:

I think it did keep me organised, however I typed up all of my class notes (along with supplementary notes from the Internet and textbooks), so I didn't actually use the class notes in my folder at all when I revised. My class notes were a bit all over the place (I didn't have the best teachers!) and not really worth revising from by themselves.

Geography was honestly the subject which stressed me out the most! I found it really tough (due to less than brilliant teaching, ambiguous exam questions and mark schemes, and not many revision resources being available for my exam board, WJEC). I got a B in the end at A2 though, so I'm glad I did it :smile:

Thank you so much! :smile:

This has honestly been really useful! I think I'll try to do my notes this way and put them in plastic wallets to keep them safe. I'll also try to make my notes more detailed by looking online for extra information!I hope this method keeps everything organised but I suppose it's up to me to get into the right routine lol.
Wow, you did really good in geography :smile:

but what you're saying about the lack of resources is making me worried because I'm doing the new spec WJEC AS/A level so I suppose there will be even less resources :frown:

Thanks again :smile:

Reply 21

cboydxo

Original post by OGFakiie

okay so you're in luck because I did these exact subjects(except geography)What I did was, I just had a folder for each subject and of course used dividers in the folders, and just took a notepad every day to the lessons and rip out the paper I used and put into the folder :biggrin:

- exercise books are terrible stay away from them!!
For maths I don't remember doing too many notes, maybe once in lessons and hardly come back to them, past papers were just the key :wink:

Thanks for replying! I think I'm going to try this method because most people who have replied to this thread have suggested it so it must be very beneficial! Haha, thanks for the stay away from exercise books warning! I was considering buying some but after this thread and some research writing on file paper seems more suitable for me. Also, this method is much better because it means that I won't be carrying lots of heavy exercise books in my bag! Thanks for the past papers tip aswell :smile:

I just have one more question, how did you find the biology, chemistry and maths courses? Were they extremely hard like basically everyone says? I'm excited but nervous to start the courses :P

Reply 22

Kevin De Bruyne

For Maths (at A-level) notes didn't really matter. All I had were scraps and books of paper that I would answer questions in and then never revisit and recycle them at the end of the year, so you really don't need proper stuff for them although you may get handouts or want flashcards for definitions.

Reply 23

cboydxo

Original post by unknowntsr

i do English History Latin and Maths and I found having an exercise book per teacher (9 in total) at school and taking them home and writing everything up on A4 paper at home, so I have two copies of everything and putting these written up notes in separate ring binders for each subject, (as well a completed homework folders). I find this to be great because by writing everything up, you’re looking over everything again, and revising even if it is a bit tiring having to copy everything up - but it helps for exams because you don’t have to do it during exam season and you can work on condensing them even further ! - this isn’t really necessary for maths tho, my teacher just made me write formulas on the front of the exercise book and stopped us from writing notes because she said you either know it or you don’t!

Thanks for replying to my post :smile:

- Also, thanks for the great tip of rewriting my notes and filing them away! I think that's good because like you said it enables you to retain information and it's a good revision method. Furthermore, you're right about starting early because around exam season it will be beneficial for me to shorten all of my notes. Haha, that's true about maths I suppose, I intend on making formula flashcards for it then! :smile:

Reply 24

cboydxo

Original post by LillyB14

Those pads of file paper that you can tear out because you are likely going to have a folder for each subject and sheets provided by the teachers and you will want to keep that and your written work in an organised order
-took history and psychology

Posted from TSR Mobile

Thanks for replying to my post :smile:

I think that this is what I'm going to do so that I can put everything in order and keep all my notes together in the same place rather than split up into numerous exercise books!

Reply 25

cboydxo

Original post by charlie2466

I've done biology and for me 100% file paper! You can then place them in a leaver arch file and add in notes if more come and change the order and stuff. I started using exercise books but ended up changing to file paper

Thanks for replying to my post :smile:

- I think this is what I'm going to try because like you said I can easily change the order of my notes etc! It'll also help me stay organised. I have one more question for you, how did you find biology at AS and A2? :smile:

Reply 26

cboydxo

Original post by SeanFM

Thanks for replying to my post :smile:

- haha! I think I'll make some flashcards on the important equations and definitions then and maybe look over past class questions i have done then. But I think I'll do it all on paper and file it all together so that I can feel well organised lol.

Reply 27

username2088165

Original post by cboydxo

Thank you so much! :smile:

but what you're saying about the lack of resources is making me worried because I'm doing the new spec WJEC AS/A level so I suppose there will be even less resources :frown:

Thanks again :smile:

No problem! :h:

Whoops, sorry for worrying you! WJEC seems to be the least popular exam board for geography, which may partially explain why resources for it are so scarce! Do you know what the new spec will be like/what you'll be studying? :smile:

Reply 28

1010marina

I used both throughout my a levels and I have to say FILE PAPER ALL THE WAY.

We were really pushed into exercise books for maths and I loved it at the start, hated it at the end... File paper is so much easier to organise and you WILL find yourself having to look back at notes quickly

Reply 29

OGFakiie

Original post by cboydxo

well I personally found biology to be the most difficult, just because I found applying my knowledge to exam questions difficult. But to memorise I would definitely recommend using flashcards and colourful notes! As for all three subjects in general they are a huge step up from gcse, so as long as you're prepared for this and start revision from DAY1, you'll fly through AS. I'm starting year 13 in september for A2, dreading it :frown:

Reply 30

starburst12

I would say from my experience, folders are much easier. I found it best to separate each exam into a small folder/file each,so its easier when it comes to revision for exam time, lever arch files were too big and a hassle for myself. Exercise books can get annoying once you start getting handouts or worksheets which just float about in your book, it gets messy and unorganised fast. With a file you can put in file paper and handouts in order of date, then separate with dividers.
Also if you don't want to carry the file to school, take a file paper notebook (with holes on the side) for each subject, then just place them into the file when you get home!
Good luck! :smile:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 31

Abstract_Prism

Original post by cboydxo

Hi, thanks for replying :smile:

In your opinion, was file paper easy to keep organised and was it easier to transport it to and from school every day?

Well what I did was keep a big A4 pad with me as well as all the folders that have the subjects I'm doing for that day. When the lesson starts I take out a piece of paper and do my work, then when the lesson ends I put it straight into the appropriate place in my folder. Keeps everything neat and tidy.

Except towards the end where I got really lazy and just stuffed the paper in my bag. That made it get quite cluttered quite quickly. Yeah... Don't get lazy.

Reply 32

ColdConversation

Hey!!
For AS I thought buying exercise books would be the most effective for me because it would still feel like school but I was wrong (I had to go to college). Instead for A2's I bought a load of notebooks (ones with the spiral things like pukka pads) and had one for each subject. That worked brilliantly for me! I was able to revise a lot easier and it was great having a book for one thing. To make things even easier I book different colour notebooks for each subjects (Red - Maths, Purple - Business and Blue - Psychology
(Just finished A2's)

Reply 33

Shauna x

Out of your subjects I've chosen Geography and a notebook is mandatory with my current teacher and I couldn't sing the praises for the use of notebooks in geography. At GCSE level, one of the other classes were allowed to use file paper and folders and even the most organised girl had a pig sty of a folder at the end of the year - the notebook is more solid and I know that the case studies for the NI spec can span up to six back and front sides of an a4 sheet so if you get them mixed up or don't correctly title and date loose file sheets then you will come into difficulty come exams.
From experience of my friends for the stem subjects, they mainly used file paper so they could slot the pages in beside booklets of work and notes but there was the odd girl who would have a small a5 notebook to copy down notes in math and they would just slip it into one of the poly-pocket/folder hybrids and they swore by that method instead of flicking through their folder to find out how to use a particular equation.

Reply 34

cboydxo

Original post by Leviathan1741

No problem! :h:

It's okay! I suppose one of the worst things about living in Wales is that I have to do a WJEC specification! I've looked at the new spec and I think it may be similar to the old spec but it probably just uses different case studies etc. I'm sure I'll be able to annoy my teacher for some extra resources lol :tongue:

Reply 35

username2088165

Original post by cboydxo

Sounds like a good plan :tongue:

Reply 36

cboydxo

Original post by 1010marina

Thanks for replying :smile:

! I think I will use file paper because like you said it's easier to organise and very convenient as well as lighter than carrying round 4 books every day :h:

Reply 37

cboydxo

Original post by OGFakiie

I will definitely invest in hundreds of flashcards and coloured pens then because I'm a visual learner and I bet there's so much to learn! Thanks for the advice, I will make sure to start revising from day one no matter how tiring it is! Good luck for A2 :biggrin:

Reply 38

AfcFob

Most people from my college use files and file paper. I found the best way is to have a file for each subject and use file dividers to divide your noted into units

Reply 39

cboydxo

Original post by starburst12

Thanks for replying to my post :smile:

- I like your idea about having a folder per exam and splitting each exam into a few sections! I suppose you're right about a book getting disorganised with sheets after a while so I guess it's much more beneficial to hole punch them and put them in the right place in the folder!

Your idea about not taking a file to school and instead just taking the refill pads is such a good one because I was struggling to find a bag big enough to put my ringbinder in. I just have one question, if your teacher told you to look back on the work you did yesterday, what would you do if you don't have your notes in your file paper notebook? Thanks again for these really useful ideas :h: