Any here achieved an A* in Biology or Chemistry A level

Hey I achieved an A* in both what's up?

I started my work pretty early on in the year, I really tried to keep on top of all of my work - I would even do some reading ahead so that I could come to class with questions. For biology I remember trying loads of different techniques to memorise the content which including rewriting notes a billion times and filming myself explaining concepts. For chemistry, I went to extremes with practice questions lol. If you find yourself running out of resources, have a go at exam questions from different exam boards - the content is pretty much the same across all A-Level exam boards PM me if you need other tips

There wasn't really a month when I started 'revising' as I had been regularly revising since the start of the academic year. I did however start revising a lot harder/longer around March/April time

Wow. You don't know how much i envy you right now... I've got absolutely rubbish teachers who only teach the bare minimum- whats on the spec. How did you do further reading (if you done it) and how did you know whats the limit?

Anyone?

I got an A* in chemistry. Was half a mark off an A* in bio (arghh... Never mindd, lol)-it's being remarked
With revision; I crammed everything in during exam period (using the time between two exams). Prob the worst advice ever, but there you go.
Make sure you listen in class and UNDERSTAND during the year! Don't leave that place until you do understand-esp with chem. Trust me, if you grasp and understand concepts during the year, you'll be ontop of things and won't really need to
revise much at the end (becuase you won't need to spend time getting your head round things-you can just focus on exam technique?) Ask your teachers questions in class/after lessons. That's what they're there fir- and trust me, they'll be happy that you care.
Past papers are your best friend in May/June- never forget that!
I had crappy bio teachers (they skipped over content and didn't even finish the spec), one not so great chemistry teacher, the other one was good(becuase he was very encouraging) . So if you have don't have the best teachers, don't worryy.
Don't stress over alevels-they really aren't as bad as some people say.
I can give you subject specific tips if you want, lemme know
Good luck

I understand what you're talking about
I had some bad teachers at GCSE- I came out with a C in bio at GCSE and a B in chemistry which was quite disappointing but luckily our school had quite nice entry requirements despite its reputation of a very good school in the area so I was still able to do them at a level. For bio I have to go to an extra session for some time (I could be able to stop going if I prove I'm able to cope without it and my grades show that) but that is really quite helpful and this year I luckily have good teachers (with the exception of one who is slightly better)
At GCSE we had no help with exam technique for both subjects and this was so unfortunate. In chemists we didn't even actually finish the content as we still had plant oils to do and both teachers completely ruined our CAs (I'll also admit I didn't put so much effort - I didn't bother finifning a tutor) a lot ppl in our class suffered as a result but I want to change things for a level
I feel like I'm looked down at because of those GCSE grades but hopefully the storm will pass like it did for subjects I struggled with at GCSE because my final GCSE grades for those subjects were surprising
I guess if you want to do well, you're already half the way there!
Any more revision tips? Thanks
Good luck with whatever you're doing now! And well done for those grades- inspirational!

Hey I achieved an A* in both what's up?

I got an A* in chemistry. Was half a mark off an A* in bio (arghh... Never mindd, lol)-it's being remarked
With revision; I crammed everything in during exam period (using the time between two exams). Prob the worst advice ever, but there you go.
Make sure you listen in class and UNDERSTAND during the year! Don't leave that place until you do understand-esp with chem. Trust me, if you grasp and understand concepts during the year, you'll be ontop of things and won't really need to
revise much at the end (becuase you won't need to spend time getting your head round things-you can just focus on exam technique?) Ask your teachers questions in class/after lessons. That's what they're there fir- and trust me, they'll be happy that you care.
Past papers are your best friend in May/June- never forget that!
I had crappy bio teachers (they skipped over content and didn't even finish the spec), one not so great chemistry teacher, the other one was good(becuase he was very encouraging) . So if you have don't have the best teachers, don't worryy.
Don't stress over alevels-they really aren't as bad as some people say.
I can give you subject specific tips if you want, lemme know
Good luck

I will post some tips for you tomorrow, bit tied down atm 😁
Goodluck with your alevels, stay positive and never give up

Hope you're alright and Thanks!

Hiyaa.
I'm so sorry this is so late

So I didn't go to a grammar school or anything- just a regular sixth form
Trust me, I'm no alevel expert, but I hope this helps in some way

So for Biology I know a lot of people read the book and made notes (using the endorsed textbook) during the year. If your teachers haven't given you guys specification sheets, print them out !! Use this as a checklist before exams. They are not likely to test you on things that are not on the specification.
Make sure you UNDERSTAND every single point on that spec sheet before your exams (tick off during revision period). You can even ask teachers to specify what points on your spec sheet they're testing you on before any assessments and use that to revise specific areas (read your notes/solve pp questions based on that module).
Closer to exam period you need to do past papers and look at mark schemes so you get an idea of what examiners are looking for/how simple or detailed your answers need to be.
I remember solving past papers and then-if I marked them- I would do it with a different coloured pen, listing (down the sides) any additional points from the mark scheme (even if the answers were right) and the night before the exam maybe sit down and go over all the papers you've done, reading through those additional ms points.
And LISTEN in class!! (I knoww, it can be hard with Biology, I found Bio so boring! But helps a lott and will really reduce your work load). I made notes in class (because I was too lazy to come home and make them). Don't leave that place till you're sure you do understand! (there is a lot more understanding and application in y13) ASK your teachers questions, that's what they're there for, they want you do do well and they'll be happy that you care!

Chemistry is really enjoyable at Alevel, as long as you understand it. It makes sense and actually gets you to think a bit for yourself. A lot of people didn't like it for that reason I think, sometimes I guess not understanding a concept can be frustrating so people turn against the subject 😁😂, but nothing is impossible to understand (esp at this level) so never give up! Once you finish a topic in class, do any homework set on that specific topic (our teachers gave us past paper question booklets, but if you don't get em, these topic based questions must be available somewhere online). And put EFFORT into the hw, pleasee don't write something down if you don't understand it. So say you finished Alcohols today in class, go home and do those homework exam questions on Alcohols (try and do that before you get a test on it). Helps consolidate what you've learnt. Trust me, even if you feel like you 'can't' answer the questions, USE the markschemes (its not cheating!!)-same for Bio. Eventually you'll find you don't need the markschemes for that specific topic because you learn what examiners are looking for and start thinking in the mind set they want you to have Again, LISTEN in class and make sure you UNDERSTAND.

With planning, you need to find what works for you. I never could follow a timetable, but I found setting myself (short term) targets, much closer to exams worked a lot better. I used the notes section in my phone; Sort of like a checklist? it usually looked something like this:

17th June:
Read bio notes on f214 (half an hour)
Bio past paper f214 (1.5 hrs)
Chem past paper f325(2hrs)

In year 13 I also had different post it notes for each exam with checklists of all the recent years past papers for each unit and I'd tick them off so I knew how many I had done.

i.e
Chemistry-unit 4 (F324):
Jan 2012
Jun 2012
Jan 2013
Jun 2013
Jun 2014
Jun 2015

So I sort of had a record of what I had done and felt more on top of things, less worried. Maybe keep a record of your mark in each paper and redo the ones that you didn't do as well as you would have liked in? I know some people did solve the same past papers multiple times, but that didn't work for me because I'd remember every single thing from the first time (and the ms)-so it was a bit boring and pointless- andd I would never have gotten enough time to do that many papers because I was usually really late starting the whole 'revision' thing.

I guess these tips would be more useful closer to your exams/mocks but I hope they help in some way 😁😊. I think the key with Alevels is to understand in class and then try to perfect your exam technique.

If you have any other questions, do ask. Good luck

Hiyaa.
I'm so sorry this is so late

So I didn't go to a grammar school or anything- just a regular sixth form
Trust me, I'm no alevel expert, but I hope this helps in some way

So for Biology I know a lot of people read the book and made notes (using the endorsed textbook) during the year. If your teachers haven't given you guys specification sheets, print them out !! Use this as a checklist before exams. They are not likely to test you on things that are not on the specification.
Make sure you UNDERSTAND every single point on that spec sheet before your exams (tick off during revision period). You can even ask teachers to specify what points on your spec sheet they're testing you on before any assessments and use that to revise specific areas (read your notes/solve pp questions based on that module).
Closer to exam period you need to do past papers and look at mark schemes so you get an idea of what examiners are looking for/how simple or detailed your answers need to be.
I remember solving past papers and then-if I marked them- I would do it with a different coloured pen, listing (down the sides) any additional points from the mark scheme (even if the answers were right) and the night before the exam maybe sit down and go over all the papers you've done, reading through those additional ms points.
And LISTEN in class!! (I knoww, it can be hard with Biology, I found Bio so boring! But helps a lott and will really reduce your work load). I made notes in class (because I was too lazy to come home and make them). Don't leave that place till you're sure you do understand! (there is a lot more understanding and application in y13) ASK your teachers questions, that's what they're there for, they want you do do well and they'll be happy that you care!

Chemistry is really enjoyable at Alevel, as long as you understand it. It makes sense and actually gets you to think a bit for yourself. A lot of people didn't like it for that reason I think, sometimes I guess not understanding a concept can be frustrating so people turn against the subject 😁😂, but nothing is impossible to understand (esp at this level) so never give up! Once you finish a topic in class, do any homework set on that specific topic (our teachers gave us past paper question booklets, but if you don't get em, these topic based questions must be available somewhere online). And put EFFORT into the hw, pleasee don't write something down if you don't understand it. So say you finished Alcohols today in class, go home and do those homework exam questions on Alcohols (try and do that before you get a test on it). Helps consolidate what you've learnt. Trust me, even if you feel like you 'can't' answer the questions, USE the markschemes (its not cheating!!)-same for Bio. Eventually you'll find you don't need the markschemes for that specific topic because you learn what examiners are looking for and start thinking in the mind set they want you to have Again, LISTEN in class and make sure you UNDERSTAND.

With planning, you need to find what works for you. I never could follow a timetable, but I found setting myself (short term) targets, much closer to exams worked a lot better. I used the notes section in my phone; Sort of like a checklist? it usually looked something like this:

17th June:
Read bio notes on f214 (half an hour)
Bio past paper f214 (1.5 hrs)
Chem past paper f325(2hrs)

In year 13 I also had different post it notes for each exam with checklists of all the recent years past papers for each unit and I'd tick them off so I knew how many I had done.

i.e
Chemistry-unit 4 (F324):
Jan 2012
Jun 2012
Jan 2013
Jun 2013
Jun 2014
Jun 2015

So I sort of had a record of what I had done and felt more on top of things, less worried. Maybe keep a record of your mark in each paper and redo the ones that you didn't do as well as you would have liked in? I know some people did solve the same past papers multiple times, but that didn't work for me because I'd remember every single thing from the first time (and the ms)-so it was a bit boring and pointless- andd I would never have gotten enough time to do that many papers because I was usually really late starting the whole 'revision' thing.

I guess these tips would be more useful closer to your exams/mocks but I hope they help in some way 😁😊. I think the key with Alevels is to understand in class and then try to perfect your exam technique.

If you have any other questions, do ask. Good luck

Thanks!
Yh I'm finding chemistry quite fun (so far) and biology is quite boring. I go to a normal sixth form too and your tips are very helpful but lol really if I was not to leave the classroom without fully understanding what we've gone through in that lesson, I wouldn't be leaving at all!
I've found a tutor who is very helpful so that should help too along with the tips (I struggle with exam technique the most) doing part papers again and again does help for me but at GCSE I actually didn't do any past papers because I hated the feeling of not understanding the q and going in the wrong direction and kinda regret it now cos I got a c at GCSE and for the second exam so units 4,5,6 felt like I was gonna have a heart attack looking at the very first q
Thanks again for finding time to help!

Thanks!
Yh I'm finding chemistry quite fun (so far) and biology is quite boring. I go to a normal sixth form too and your tips are very helpful but lol really if I was not to leave the classroom without fully understanding what we've gone through in that lesson, I wouldn't be leaving at all!
I've found a tutor who is very helpful so that should help too along with the tips (I struggle with exam technique the most) doing part papers again and again does help for me but at GCSE I actually didn't do any past papers because I hated the feeling of not understanding the q and going in the wrong direction and kinda regret it now cos I got a c at GCSE and for the second exam so units 4,5,6 felt like I was gonna have a heart attack looking at the very first q
Thanks again for finding time to help!

Hey!! I'm in year 13 doing bio and chem and was wondering how you planned out your evenings?? Like how many hours of each subject did you do and how did you balance it all out? Because our exams arethe ones with new specs and are linear so we have all of our exams at the end so I need to be revising AS content but am finding it hard to fit it all in so I was wondering if you have any tips on planning out evenings so I don't waste tons of time thinking about what I'm gonna do and not actually doing any of it! Congrats on your amazing results btw X