Tips for starting 6th form

In the wait for GCSE results I've been thinking more and more about sixth form.

Obviously, it's much harder than GCSE, so, what are your tips? What do you wish you had known when starting Year 12?

Reply 1

Vorsah

Start revision early, easier said than done.

Reply 2

lxdyln

Only advice I can give is take Year 12 seriously and try and pass everything first time. Whilst it didn't happen to me, I know quite a few people who had 8/9 exams in the January of Year 13 as they had so many AS retakes to do.

Reply 3

Katie_96

Don't panic about year 12, yes it's harder to comphrend some of the things you are being taught because it is a high level of learning, but you are being taught less subjects so you get more time to focus on the ones you like. You do get more homework and assignments, but because you're doing a fewer amount of subjects it really doens't feel as bad as you expect it to. Just work hard, and realise before your first lot of exams how much harder you will have to revise. While the actual specifications for subjects may not be THAT much harder, the exams are, just be prepared for that. Other than that just enjoy yourself, you get a lot more freedom than with GCSE! :smile:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

tgwktm

· make detailed notes from your lessons, asthis will be the base of what you can revise from.
· Make sure you meet homework/courseworkdeadlines, if possible do homework the day you get it; don’t let it build up
· Makea revision timetable dedicating one topic/subject to one day leave weekends forpast papers and try and leave one day for relaxing, and not doing any revision(too much revision will drive you mad)
· Startrevising early, I started revising for my January exam in November and my Juneexams in February.
· Ifyou don’t understand something ask
· Ifyou have a particular subject that you may want to study at uni do extrareading around it, especially after exams are over when you have more time(during exam seasons prioritise exams before uni)

Reply 5

Katie_96

Also done let yourself get into the state with work experience that I did, if you want to do a STEM subject or something medicine-related, you will need work experience, or something to show that you are passionate about your subject. I didn't realise I would need that until this summer, so instead of having 8/9 weeks off I've got 3 in total...

Reply 6

The.Joker

Go over your notes regularly and make sure you always test yourself on previous knowledge!
If you do that then revision for summer exams will be SO much easier.
I really wish I did this in the first few months of AS, whatever you do make sure you don't forget what you learnt in the first few months of college. Because if you do forget things, then when its revision time for the summer exams you will have a lot of stuff to relearn which will just stress you out unnecessarily.

Reply 7

ladynova

I really wish I had not procrastinated so much and no so much revise earlier but keep on top of the work earlier.

Like it is absolutely essential to go over your notes when you get home, do the homework, Get organised with folders and do extra work like reading ahead.

Just do not let it get on top of you and you will be fine. Because as I know it is the biggest mountain to climb if you fall behind. Even when I missed a whole week of work because of family issues I fell behind so badly I had to catch up by getting 3 hours sleep. But that was how I was in the second year. In the first year I was far too laid back and approaching it like I did at GCSE which just does not cut it.

Also do not get disheartened if your first practice exams or essays are really bad. Like in English the first essay I wrote was a U and gradually climbed up and up and I finally broke an A in the essays very near exams.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 8

Homeboy Hotel

I agree with everything said above.

A-Levels ARE obviously do-able. People year after year get A/A*'s but only with lots of hard work.

By October/November you will realise how big the gap was from GCSE to A-Level, so make sure you hit the ground running by...

- Staying organised with your notes/homework - keep things filed and organised, don't lose stuff

- Learning a concept/idea is far more important then trying to blag it/hope it doesn't come up in an exam/wait till revision next year. Don't be afraid to ask for help

- Be prepared to put the hours in at home by going over stuff you've learnt the same day + at weekends

- Start revision early

Reply 9

Amylina

Don't give up when you it hits you how hard A Levels actually are. I nearly did and it took me forever to catch back up, it was awful. Just keep plowing through, even if your social life has to suffer for a bit, you'll get the balance eventually.

Start revising for exams as early as possible. If you can make your class notes into revision notes through the year, that would be fantastic. I thought starting at the end of March/beginning of April would be fine for my AS exams, but making revision cards took up such a huge chunk of my revision time, and it caused more stress than necessary.

Organisation is key. Not just as in 'make a revision timetable', do it all through the year, set aside time every week to do your homework and to go over your class notes, do any extra reading that will help, and complete past papers. Try and stick to it as well.

Only miss class when absolutely necessary, it's so hard to catch up with even a day's worth of notes. That day off you had for a snotty nose just isn't worth it, just suffer through.

If you don't understand something in class, say something IMMEDIATELY! Your teachers are there to help you, they want you to do well, and most are happy to put in extra time to help you understand something.

Obviously, school work comes first, but it's important to go out with your friends or do something that you want to do as well. Especially during exam period, when you're most stressed. It sounds daft, but for every topic I revised or for every hour of revision I did, I'd go and do something I wanted to do, like read a book or watch TV for 15 minutes.