A level revision times for Chemistry and Biology

Hi everyone, my name is Mr Mullings and I am a teacher of Chemistry A level.

My students are always telling me that Chemistry is the hardest subject. How much time would you say you need to revise, per week, for Chemistry and Biology?

The following was a table that I designed based on previous results and grades.

GCSE grade A Level desired grade Amount of revision per week
9 A* 2hrs
8 A* or A 3 hrs
7 A* or A 3.5 hrs
6 A* or A 4 hrs

I guess I'm trying to get a feel for how much to tell my students to revise and work.

interesting.

chem just requires alot of hard work...revising..practising...dedication..commitment...perfectionism...patience..

it's not too hard as a subject.

Reply 3

sulaimanali

21

For Chem and Bio altogether..outside of lessons....3 hours minimum each for A Level.

Reply 4

Petulia

19

I never understood why teachers told us "you need to revise for X amount of hours a week outside of class" because they would usually just give us a random number like "6 hours", and that never seemed realistic, attainable or something that we would bother doing.
I think a better way would be to say "you need to revise at least X amount of topics a week" which is a more specific goal, and one that students are more likely to listen to.
Hope that helps :smile:

Reply 5

sulaimanali

21

quality over quantity.

Reply 6

MuhammadAS

7

Original post by Mr M (science)

Hi everyone, my name is Mr Mullings and I am a teacher of Chemistry A level.

My students are always telling me that Chemistry is the hardest subject. How much time would you say you need to revise, per week, for Chemistry and Biology?

The following was a table that I designed based on previous results and grades.

GCSE grade A Level desired grade Amount of revision per week
9 A* 2hrs
8 A* or A 3 hrs
7 A* or A 3.5 hrs
6 A* or A 4 hrs

I guess I'm trying to get a feel for how much to tell my students to revise and work.

...I wrote a lot then accidentally refreshed -.- (my life)

Basically, agree with above "quality over quantity". To be honest, I don't think Chemistry is the hardest subject what I found amongst my class was perhaps a general lack of basic Chemistry knowledge which causes this to occur, but also the lack of finding out where their weaknesses are.

I struggled to move from GCSEs to A levels, started finding Biology, Chemistry essentially every subject boring. I think that was the (only) good thing my school did was enter us for the AS despite the reformation so I obtained a healthy dose of reality realised I can't get away with "minimum effort" = "above average" (in terms of our school I mean, not the TSR's 400 A* above average).

That changed, I would say encourage your students to go ahead, explore the syllabus, I had a negative attitude really which my teachers didn't pick up on, and I think I found Chemistry intimidating, if I found something hard, wouldn't put my hand up to ask for help, then after class realised that many others didn't understand, and then wouldn't follow up on it. Encourage your students to really think about their education, about what results they want. And I think the idea of just ticking off the specification isn't enough, try to encourage passion (within means)!

Oh, and consider those who don't do Maths in Biology (but especially Chemistry), because they do tend to struggle.

Sorry if I didn't answer your question, but if you have any other questions about Biology or Chemistry students at A Level message me - I've just finished mine, both AQA

Forgot to add: Loved these subjects in my second year of A levels, as I just ended up self-teaching because I genuinely enjoyed them!

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 7

username3482002

12

Personally, I find A Level Chemistry to be the easiest science subject. I struggle with physics.
Time wise, I spend most of my free time at school (about 9 hrs of free time per week) revising chemistry (about 2 hrs a week) and physics (about 6hrs a week). During my study time, I watch videos from Khan Academy and other orgs whilst making notes (most of the time). Sometimes if I want to go further, I would make notes from the textbook/websites like Chemguide.
I love revision as I really enjoy my subjects. I have gone over the syllabus at times when I find the topic interesting.
I don't really enjoy A Level biology so I tend to not revise a lot (about 1/2 hrs a month :frown: