Advice about continuing an A- level subject in year 13

I got a D at AS for Chemistry. The other two subjects I do are A level Biology and A level Psychology which I both got an A in. I'm unsure whether I should retake the year and do another subject like Sociology instead of Chemistry, or whether I should get a tutor and just continue Chemistry in year 13. I would like to do Psychology at Uni. Any advice would be appreciated ♡

Reply 1

kirtip1

7

Hi kenma,
Chemistry is known to be very hard and sometimes even a tutor wont help you get the requirements you need. If you feel like sociology is the right option then you should go for it. I do sociology and i find it very interesting learning about the society. There is alot of content and sociologists you have to memorise but with phycology it may help.
Honestly it depends on you, do you like chemistry as a subject but just finding it hard or is it not interesting?

Reply 2

ictoaunaa

1

Hi! I took the same subjects as you when I was in sixth form so maybe I can help.

I would say if you enjoy chemistry then you should take it for year 13! it will be worth trying different studying techniques and seeing if they help and if not maybe get a tutor. But, if you dread studying chemistry and you just can't bring yourself to do it, perhaps take another subject (like Sociology) that makes you excited when revising it.

Also, I should point out that biology and psychology get a bit more tricky (mostly bio). They won't be difficult to understand, just challenging to recall all the information because a lot of things will be added to what you already learned in AS. So, just keep that in mind when choosing a different subject or sticking to chemistry.

Best of luck!

Reply 3

username4962864

13

Original post by kenma556

I got a D at AS for Chemistry. The other two subjects I do are A level Biology and A level Psychology which I both got an A in. I'm unsure whether I should retake the year and do another subject like Sociology instead of Chemistry, or whether I should get a tutor and just continue Chemistry in year 13. I would like to do Psychology at Uni. Any advice would be appreciated ♡

I think if you put some work in this summer and relearn concepts in chemistry, I think you’ll be okay for next year. start from the basics again and go up, doing practice questions after every topic.

Reply 4

thrrhr

6

Depending on the exam board, I'd say stick with it. If you aren't already download anki and write condense flash cards/do past papers.
Knowing the exam questions structure and generally what there looking for gets way more marks. Also, with chemistry practice writing out workings in a clear and structure way, that way if you get one thing wrong you still get the majority of marks

Reply 5

kenma556

OP

2

Original post by thrrhr

Depending on the exam board, I'd say stick with it. If you aren't already download anki and write condense flash cards/do past papers.
Knowing the exam questions structure and generally what there looking for gets way more marks. Also, with chemistry practice writing out workings in a clear and structure way, that way if you get one thing wrong you still get the majority of marks

thanks a lot! Do you have any other revision tips you have for chemistry specifically?

Reply 6

thrrhr

6

Original post by kenma556

thanks a lot! Do you have any other revision tips you have for chemistry specifically?

I'll sum it up with the other tips I already gave in a better layout. This is best for OCR A but I'm sure there's overlap with over boards
1. Download Anki or Spaced repetition software. Design a mixture of Cloze and basic cards. Design cards which you can do in 10-20 seconds max.
2.Do all past paper from 2017 to 2022. Mark them and record where you're losing marks on a spreadsheet. e.g Module, Topic and what caused you to lose the mark (knowledge, application or other) Spend some time either going over the topic in your usual way,going over your anki cards on said topic or answering loads of questions on the topic.
3. Once you have done all the past papers do them again! With chemistry there's a limited amount of things that can come up(For the bulk of questions), so the stronger your intuition the easier a lot of questions will be giving you more time to work on the tougher questions.
4.Make sure out of everything to learn your practical's. It's easy marks and silly marks to miss if you haven't memorised them.
5.Read ahead this summer, make notes of everything you don't understand. If you don't understand something either post on a board for someone to answer or do a 10 minute search. If you're still not understanding it move on. Once, you've completed the content(if you do) then go back to where you didn't understand a topic and search again.(Can be helpful to use a different website so you get a different perspective on it). If that doesn't help then wait till you can ask your teachers or ask a tutor.

Main takeaway is, identify why youre struggling and then go from there.

Advice about continuing an A- level subject in year 13

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