CGP for AS

I'm starting AS next year: biology (aqa b),chemistry and physics (OCR A) and thinking of getting the biology (aqa b) revision guide and the physics and chemistry ones,but I was wondering do the CGP AS books cover everything like the GCSE ones do for science and thus are they like the GCSE ones where you're pretty much guaranteeded an A IF YOU JUST LEARN THE BOOK? Or because the AS sylabuses are more complex are the CGP AS science books pretty lacking in detail for AS?

Reply 1

~x~FairyDust~x~

hellom

you're pretty much guaranteeded an A IF YOU JUST LEARN THE BOOK? Or because the AS sylabuses are more complex are the CGP AS science books pretty lacking in detail for AS?

No, you're not guaranteed an A if you read any book, but in my opinion you will have a much better chance with almost any other book. I find them lacking in detail, and also really annoying with the weird jokes :rolleyes:

Reply 2

iceman_jondoe

its best to just makes notes off the syllabus yourself using a variety of sources throughout the year

Reply 3

Nichrome

I have the revision guide for chemistry, and to be honest, it's not bad, it's pretty good, and I find their stupid jokes hilarious. They cover a large majority, if not all of the content, but might be slightly lacking in some detail specific only to your board. But they do try to cover material for all boards, and helpfullly note this at the top of the page (e.g Don't look at this page/read this page if you do AQA/OCR etc.). Also as I do the abysmal Salters course which lacks information in some areas of chemistry (Sigma and Pi bonding, and shapes of sublevels for example) it was good to be able to use this book to read up on those. All in all, if you want to just be able to cram in a book and regurgitate it to get an A, then I would recommend a revision guide matched exactly to your specification. But if you can't find one, then you can't go far wrong with CGP, they are good!

Reply 4

wackysparkle

i used those revision guides and got 2 Ds. Its not good. you should just do your own notes, as they are more reliable.

Reply 5

minicoopa

Using the text books give you the most detail, so always get notes from them. BUT for last minute things and processes that are difficult to understand, the books are really good. They have good diagrams that the text books just don't have. I'd advise them for AS but not for A2 >> AS has a lot less detail than A2.

Reply 6

Kas

It best to get the syllabus and make your own notes that covers all the topics and covers every minute detail and all the past paper. That the only way to get a B/A at A-Level.

Reply 7

Mustard-man

For chemistry AS, the CGP notes on the industrial processes and organic reactions were very good.

Reply 8

College Guy 1987

I thought CGP were excellent. If you make your own notes, read the syllabus, and use the CGP books as extra revision, then you'll be fine.

Reply 9

Neo1

Yeah the CGP books are quite good, they just try to condense everything down..but obviously less detail and its best to use this but also use your text books too..they also help you to cheer up with those funny comments at the end of the page lol....

From John

Reply 10

tymbnuip

I still remember the ASCII (Ass-key) joke from the CGP GCSE ICT book...

Reply 11

Popa Dom

I used CGP for AS Physics (and didnt use notes or textbooks or any of that - though did do some past papers), and got full marks on the two proper theory papers (got 105/120 on the practical/options paper), so I'd say they're definitely worth getting. Did the same this year for A2, though obv. dont have my results yet so can't say how effective it was.

And anyway, its worth it for the jokes (Browian motion - girl guide in a tumble dryer) or the weird photo of the seductive 80's physics lady on the first page..

Reply 12

wackysparkle

tymbnuip

I still remember the ASCII (Ass-key) joke from the CGP GCSE ICT book...

lol...i still remember that too!...

Reply 13

stratomaster

Nah i'll tell you I doubt you'll be able to get an A just using CGP revision guides. They're good enough for gcse but at alevel you need a syllabus specific guide cos theres so much more content such as in AQA B biology