Tips for someone going into year 12!!

Hi, I have just finished year 11 and hope to study Biology, Chemistry, French (maybe maths, havent decided yet) for A Levels next year. I am a very last minute person as I did most of my GCSE revision the night before the exam and I do not wish to be overloaded with stress for A Levels as I was with GCSEs so thats why Im asking for any tips that I can do starting from now. I hope to

Reply 1

meemy123

OP

13

I hope to do medicine at uni and I also go to quite a competitive school. Also, if i want to do medicine at uni, do u think theres point in doing Gold DofE, will it help?? Ive already done bronze and silver but im not sure if its worth doing gold or not.

Reply 2

Charlotte LG

11

For A-Level, there is a step up from GCSE and the way you are expected to apply your knowledge in exams and work is different to GCSE but don’t worry as schools help with the transition. I’ve seen people recommend extra reading, books relating to your subject or news articles or blog articles are good and can be interesting. I think your idea of doing gold DofE is good, I personally never did DofE but it apparently looks good on your CV, I think other activities like EPQ and volunteering are good too. I have realised how good it is to keep on top of revision/work. I do Geography and our teacher gives us a mini test every week and our physics teacher has started doing the same and it is a good way of refreshing your knowledge. Good luck with GCSE results day and I hope you enjoy A-Levels! 😊

Original post by meemy123

Hi, I have just finished year 11 and hope to study Biology, Chemistry, French (maybe maths, havent decided yet) for A Levels next year. I am a very last minute person as I did most of my GCSE revision the night before the exam and I do not wish to be overloaded with stress for A Levels as I was with GCSEs so thats why Im asking for any tips that I can do starting from now. I hope to

Reply 3

meemy123

OP

13

Original post by Charlotte LG

For A-Level, there is a step up from GCSE and the way you are expected to apply your knowledge in exams and work is different to GCSE but don’t worry as schools help with the transition. I’ve seen people recommend extra reading, books relating to your subject or news articles or blog articles are good and can be interesting. I think your idea of doing gold DofE is good, I personally never did DofE but it apparently looks good on your CV, I think other activities like EPQ and volunteering are good too. I have realised how good it is to keep on top of revision/work. I do Geography and our teacher gives us a mini test every week and our physics teacher has started doing the same and it is a good way of refreshing your knowledge. Good luck with GCSE results day and I hope you enjoy A-Levels! 😊

aww ok , thanks so much for the tips!!! :smile:

))

Reply 4

inspiringcolours

9

Delete social media/only use it during the holidays. Same with any other distracting apps e.g. Netflix (if you're the kind of person to sit on it for hours.) You won't really have the time to spend on social media during term time. Turning your phone off in school/leaving your phone at home if you can is also a good idea. (You will get used to not checking it constantly!)

Reply 5

meemy123

OP

13

Original post by inspiringcolours

Delete social media/only use it during the holidays. Same with any other distracting apps e.g. Netflix (if you're the kind of person to sit on it for hours.) You won't really have the time to spend on social media during term time. Turning your phone off in school/leaving your phone at home if you can is also a good idea. (You will get used to not checking it constantly!)

Is it true that you wont really get a social life in sixth form??

Reply 6

inspiringcolours

9

You definitely CAN have a social life of some sort, but at least at my school the highest achievers rarely do anything more than once every week or two. You can normally afford to have Friday evening completely off so maybe reserve that for social stuff if you don't have anything planned for the weekend. It will vary depending on the amount of work you get though; you will have the benefit of not coming home on a Friday with three 1500 word essays to write in a weekend alongside other homework like us humanities students.

I would also recommend doing the work WELL, instead of quickly. You will get so much more out of it than if you rush to get it done!

Original post by meemy123

Is it true that you wont really get a social life in sixth form??

Reply 7

asliceofpi

13

Hi there, I've just finished year 12 doing maths, further maths, physics and chemistry. I personally take all Pre-Us which was definitely a big step up from GCSE. I would use the holiday as best you can to look over the syllabus for your courses next year and maybe start some reading ahead - you'll thank yourself in a few months!

Chemistry in particular is a big topic with a lot of content - I would suggest going over some A-level atomic structure (orbitals, subshells), mechanisms, skeletal formulae etc. as these are the things that are most different from GCSE and for me at least, it took a long time to get my head around.

Plenty of people at my school have a very active social life, probably even more so after GCSEs than before! I'd recommend not getting too swept up in all of it though - just keep on top of your work and enjoy some time with your friends and you should be fine :smile:

Good luck with your ambitions for medicine and let me know if you have any further questions!

Tips for someone going into year 12!!

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