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Alevel notes and revision process

I'm fresh into year 12 taking Physics, maths and psychology. I'm wondering what everyone's note taking methods are?

What notes do you take in class?

Do you rewrite your notes? Paper or laptop?

How often do you look over your notes?

How often do you do practice questions??

Hope somebody can help x
You're note taking should be something unique to yourself. However, you should try to take as many notes as possible, in as small a space as possible. Don't overcomplicate things and don't write things that you know already; it's a waste of time.
Original post by Racheld2408
I'm fresh into year 12 taking Physics, maths and psychology. I'm wondering what everyone's note taking methods are?

What notes do you take in class?

Do you rewrite your notes? Paper or laptop?

How often do you look over your notes?

How often do you do practice questions??

Hope somebody can help x


In maths making notes is useless. Just listen. Only write down formulas. The best way to study maths is to understand what you are doing then practice lots of questions. Notes is useless. (If only someone told me that before i started)

once you understand the process do all your homework and more. you will get A/A* EASY
(edited 6 years ago)
I'm a mature student right now going through my GCSEs and A Levels again at home - I find it helps to recognize the type of subject you're studying. For me it's either skills based or knowledge based, although it can sometimes include both.

If it's skills based, taking notes will be USELESS. Subjects like Maths, English, English Literature are all skills based subjects. You just need to understand the concept of everything you do and then just practice, practice, practice. It's like riding a bike, honestly. Once you get to grips with it, it's hard to forget what you're doing :biggrin:

If it's knowledge based (religious studies, history, foreign languages), you need to take concise notes including the most important content for which you are studying. You can do this any way you like. Use color, use pictures, anything you want to make it easier to understand what you are trying to learn. After you do this, you need to find a way of getting what you put on paper into your head. Things like flash cards I find are VERY good. Take part in discussion where possible but this isn't always useful and depends on the ability of your teachers and classmates - it's not really possible for me to do this so i'm going to start getting private tutors at the end of every month to discuss the key concepts with me so I learn them. Try to be as practical as possible - This leads me to the final type of subject.

Sometimes, subjects can include both knowledge and skills based areas. Subjects i'd put in this bracket include Geography and Science for instance. The most important thing here is to take a look at the specifications of these subjects and separate the knowledge aspects and skills aspects. For example, biology is mostly knowledge based, whereas chemistry tests your practical abilities a LOT. Still use the methods you find useful for knowledge based areas but you need to get your hands dirty so to speak. Take part in practicals and pay close attention to them as you won't get many opportunities throughout the year to do them individually again.

As for practicing questions, I like to practice them after I study a chapter/unit. Then go over chapters/units in chunks at the end of every month to get them implanted in your brain. If you practice something without going back to it, you will most likely forget it and your grade could suffer, so just keep it consistent throughout the year. Keep going through it until the exams. This way, revision is done on the go and you won't have to cram it all in when exams come around.

Something else I do is this - if I struggle with something; say for example I get some questions wrong at the end of the month, I plant a sticky note in the textbook so that I can brush up on that concept on the side, I then try a few questions based on that concept then include it in my end of month questioning next time.

I hope all of that makes sense.

Good luck and best wishes,
Ben :biggrin:
Original post by BenTheBlue
I'm a mature student right now going through my GCSEs and A Levels again at home - I find it helps to recognize the type of subject you're studying. For me it's either skills based or knowledge based, although it can sometimes include both.

If it's skills based, taking notes will be USELESS. Subjects like Maths, English, English Literature are all skills based subjects. You just need to understand the concept of everything you do and then just practice, practice, practice. It's like riding a bike, honestly. Once you get to grips with it, it's hard to forget what you're doing :biggrin:

If it's knowledge based (religious studies, history, foreign languages), you need to take concise notes including the most important content for which you are studying. You can do this any way you like. Use color, use pictures, anything you want to make it easier to understand what you are trying to learn. After you do this, you need to find a way of getting what you put on paper into your head. Things like flash cards I find are VERY good. Take part in discussion where possible but this isn't always useful and depends on the ability of your teachers and classmates - it's not really possible for me to do this so i'm going to start getting private tutors at the end of every month to discuss the key concepts with me so I learn them. Try to be as practical as possible - This leads me to the final type of subject.

Sometimes, subjects can include both knowledge and skills based areas. Subjects i'd put in this bracket include Geography and Science for instance. The most important thing here is to take a look at the specifications of these subjects and separate the knowledge aspects and skills aspects. For example, biology is mostly knowledge based, whereas chemistry tests your practical abilities a LOT. Still use the methods you find useful for knowledge based areas but you need to get your hands dirty so to speak. Take part in practicals and pay close attention to them as you won't get many opportunities throughout the year to do them individually again.

As for practicing questions, I like to practice them after I study a chapter/unit. Then go over chapters/units in chunks at the end of every month to get them implanted in your brain. If you practice something without going back to it, you will most likely forget it and your grade could suffer, so just keep it consistent throughout the year. Keep going through it until the exams. This way, revision is done on the go and you won't have to cram it all in when exams come around.

Something else I do is this - if I struggle with something; say for example I get some questions wrong at the end of the month, I plant a sticky note in the textbook so that I can brush up on that concept on the side, I then try a few questions based on that concept then include it in my end of month questioning next time.

I hope all of that makes sense.

Good luck and best wishes,
Ben :biggrin:


I hate calling myself a mature student lol. I'm still relatively young myself :wink: i'm 25 :biggrin:

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