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Does anyone have any advice for the people going into Year 12??

I would really appreciate any advice from the older years about going into year 12 and how the atmosphere changes. :smile:

Reply 1

username4888666

You have study periods and you are treated more like an adult. You are more independent.

Reply 2

Rxnaaa

It’s gonna be a long one but here it goes lol. All letters are addressed to you. That’s the first change for a start.

I would really say, don’t rely on your teachers too much. If you can, try to get on their good side (not telling you to be a goodie two shoe) but if they like you enough, they will offer you better help and support. If you can, try to ask your teachers for the syllabus/what they will teach next so that you can read ahead. This will be helpful for you in uni too. The responsibility of your studies will fall on yourself so as much I believe that good teachers play a huge role in your studies, you will be blamed.

Get good friends. Stay out of trouble and befriend people who are unproblematic, stay on track with their studies and who are responsible enough to know what their limits are. It’s ok to have fun, that’s a part of your student life but friends can make you tag along to stupid things and sidetrack you in the process. You become what you are surrounded by. Keep in mind that you can meet people who you might potentially go to uni with or become roommates with in the future as well.

If you’re planning on working part time, find a job that won’t be asking you for too much of your time. Some people in my college got so caught up with their jobs and making money that they started to forget about college. In the end, although they made a lot of money for a full time college on the short term, in the long term they did very badly in their assignments and stuff. 12-16 hours is the max you can work without hurting your grades too much or stressing you out. My parents didn’t want me to work at all but I had things I wanted and wanted to pay for some of my stuff so I got a part time job contracted for 12 hours. This experience will be helpful when you look for a job in uni (cause let’s be honest, we’re all gonna be broke in uni and student finance doesn’t pay most of us enough to live without working lmao).

Do not disregard BTEC qualifications. Please! That’s the attitude all of my friends and I had going in to college that BTEC was only for less able people. I know they’ve changed it slightly now so there are some exams but I can tell you from doing both A-Level biology and Chemistry as well BTEC science (for a year to fill up my hours while finishing my A2 psychology, I changed subjects and stayed an extra year) that BTEC’s offer you the same knowledge plus extra with regards to practical aspects of the subject. Gram stain? Didn’t cover that in A-Level biology but did learn about it in BTEC. People who did a combination of BTEC qualifications and A-Levels got better grades than people who did all A-Levels!

Start thinking about UCAS early. It will take the stress off. You should have started your personal statement by the summer before your second year starts because you’ll be too caught up in the revision sessions and studying to think about it properly in second year. Doing this early means you will have more time to fulfil any extra requirements your uni might want. If you apply late to student finance, they will put your money in slightly late. Even if you’re unsure about uni, apply through UCAS. You can always defer your entry or cancel your application altogether.

Try to get some volunteering work in. If you’re planning on going into medicine/radiography, they like applicants who have done some amount of work with regards to that field. It should not be the main focus but treat it as a bonus. Obviously people who get all A’s will get in over people who have an AAB and some work experience.

Here are some brief things that I noted in college:

- Don’t be afraid to ask for help to your peers. They will help you. You’re all in the same boat.
- If your entire class does badly, the problem is your teacher. Colleges need to understand that not everybody can pay to get extra resources and it shouldn’t even be a thing. Why is that teacher getting paid if I’m doing my own thing to get my grades?
- if a teacher starts to read off a PowerPoint, relies too much on videos (and doesn’t explain those videos afterwards), condenses everything too much, skips units or makes asking for help absolutely dreadful and patronising (just sighs and smiles smugly + defeatedly which is them telling you that you’re dumb), forget about them. You’re gonna have to do everything yourself.
- strict teachers who know what they’re doing are good. They know we like to procrastinate and do the bare minimum so think of it as motivation lol. Strict teachers who can’t teach are just idiots trying to act strict and authoritative and trying their best to be a tEaCHeR.
- DON’T JUST SIMPLY GO WITH WHATEVER YOUR COLLEGE/TUTOR/ADMINISTRATOR/TEACHER/HEAD OF LEARNING tells you. Please! I did A-Level Maths for my first year and I hated every single minute of it. My teacher was really bad (he got fired in the end) but I was planning on medicine and knew nothing apart from the fact that I needed to do A-Level bio, chem and maths. When I tried dropping maths to do psychology instead, the head of maths absolutely falsely insisted that I could not go into medicine without maths. Don’t be afraid to stand your ground, you’re told you’re an adult now so insist to be treated as one. The more students a department has, the more funding they get so keep in mind that some colleges/teachers don’t care about what’s in your best interest.
- know what extra clubs and things you are getting yourself into. I was put in a maths championships club when I absolutely loathed maths instead of being recommended the medics club.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 3

mads_jennings

You're treated more like an adult for sure, and you have to manage your work yourself more, which can sometimes be difficult. Overall though, it's way more fun than lower school and it's alright once you've settled into the flow of things!