A level sciences
I'm going to be starting college this September and two out of the four A-levels that I will be taking are Biology and Chemistry. For GCSE Core and Additonal science I sat my exam board with AQA and I was wondering if It would be better for me to sit my A level sciences with the same exam board rather than with different exam boards? Does it make a difference which exam board you sit your exam with? For example many people say OCR salters for Chemistry is dreadful. How was your experience with the exam board that you sat A level Biology and Chemistry with and what would your advice be?
Original post by ps1265A
I highly recommend doing subjects from the same exam board, especially when you're doing past papers, you will be used to format and the skills required from that particular exam board!
I've finished AQA A level Biology and Chemistry and I did Core and Additional Science at GCSE too
I've finished AQA A level Biology and Chemistry and I did Core and Additional Science at GCSE too
How did you find A level Biology and Chemistry with AQA? Did you find it too hard? I'm dreading Chemistry as It's the science that I'm more weaker in
Original post by xnads
How did you find A level Biology and Chemistry with AQA? Did you find it too hard? I'm dreading Chemistry as It's the science that I'm more weaker in
Exams are getting tougher, that's for sure! It was REALLY bad, but you have to put work in
But I think the syllabus will be changing for your year? I might be wrong?Original post by ps1265A
Exams are getting tougher, that's for sure! It was REALLY bad, but you have to put work in But I think the syllabus will be changing for your year? I might be wrong?
But I think the syllabus will be changing for your year? I might be wrong?It will be changing and sadly I prefer the old syllabus better
And instead of having AS and AS 2 all of the exams will be taken at the end of two years..even worse.Original post by xnads
It will be changing and sadly I prefer the old syllabus better And instead of having AS and AS 2 all of the exams will be taken at the end of two years..even worse.
And instead of having AS and AS 2 all of the exams will be taken at the end of two years..even worse.In a way, it could be a good thing! It means you don't have to worry about AS exams in the first year and also, a lot of A2 depends on AS so there's no way you'd forget!
Original post by xnads
It will be changing and sadly I prefer the old syllabus better And instead of having AS and AS 2 all of the exams will be taken at the end of two years..even worse.
And instead of having AS and AS 2 all of the exams will be taken at the end of two years..even worse.I did both of these subjects. And during my A2 year, I resat the AS units and it's definitely a lot easier once you've gone through it a year ago. Don't panic about that
The main advice I can give with Chemistry is just practice, practice, practice! Get your head around the moles calculations as they form part of larger questions. Go through past papers on the old spec, but make sure you know what your new spec covers so you don't come across a question which isn't relevant.
For Biology, make sure you really understand a particular concept, for example heart function. A lot of questions require you to take your knowledge, and use it in a different scenario. Other than that, it's a lot of memorising; which if you enjoy biology then it's quite fun to learn!
Oh and for both, what I did was go through ALL the mark schemes, and look at how you have to answer a certain question (easier for biology than chemistry to do this) and make notes on it. Exam technique is so key to getting a top grade - it's the reason I did so badly in my AS year.
Good luck
Original post by prophetkid
I did both of these subjects. And during my A2 year, I resat the AS units and it's definitely a lot easier once you've gone through it a year ago. Don't panic about that
The main advice I can give with Chemistry is just practice, practice, practice! Get your head around the moles calculations as they form part of larger questions. Go through past papers on the old spec, but make sure you know what your new spec covers so you don't come across a question which isn't relevant.
For Biology, make sure you really understand a particular concept, for example heart function. A lot of questions require you to take your knowledge, and use it in a different scenario. Other than that, it's a lot of memorising; which if you enjoy biology then it's quite fun to learn!
Oh and for both, what I did was go through ALL the mark schemes, and look at how you have to answer a certain question (easier for biology than chemistry to do this) and make notes on it. Exam technique is so key to getting a top grade - it's the reason I did so badly in my AS year.
Good luck
The main advice I can give with Chemistry is just practice, practice, practice! Get your head around the moles calculations as they form part of larger questions. Go through past papers on the old spec, but make sure you know what your new spec covers so you don't come across a question which isn't relevant.
For Biology, make sure you really understand a particular concept, for example heart function. A lot of questions require you to take your knowledge, and use it in a different scenario. Other than that, it's a lot of memorising; which if you enjoy biology then it's quite fun to learn!
Oh and for both, what I did was go through ALL the mark schemes, and look at how you have to answer a certain question (easier for biology than chemistry to do this) and make notes on it. Exam technique is so key to getting a top grade - it's the reason I did so badly in my AS year.
Good luck
Would you say that A level Chemistry has a lot of maths? And if so how simple or complex is the maths?
Original post by xnads
Would you say that A level Chemistry has a lot of maths? And if so how simple or complex is the maths?
There's a fair bit of maths. I started AS maths but dropped it after a few weeks as I couldn't grasp it; but I was fine with the chemistry maths.
It can be quite complex, especially at A2. You have to be careful with the units, rearranging equations and looking at what you're actually dealing with. It's really important to practice lots of questions and develop a way which is best for you to learn from them.
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