Official Year 12 Chat 2023-24

Recently, I have gotten really into reading I like playing piano, ukulele etc but I haven't been in the right place to do that for some reason recently!

Hey guys! I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be here, since I'm a Canadian International student, but I got tagged so yeah :\

1. Name is Omar

2. No idea what that means (pls explain )

3. don't know what that means too!

4. I love reading, playing football (soccer for me), really good at swimming, and I love drawing. I also love to reaserch about interesting topics in my free time! I recently joined drama classes and I LOVE IT

5. Soccer team, book clubs, swimming lessons. (No art classes yet )

6. Since I'm in Canada, I have to do 6 but apply with 5 different year 12 courses. I finished Year 12 Math, Chemistry, and French since I took in advance.
Chemistry (Completed): 99%
Math (Completed): 96%
French (Completed): 100%

Biology Aim: 99%
Social Studies Aim: 95%
Physics Aim: 97%
English Aim: 92% (I hate English so much, my teachers suck)

7. Medicine at KCL (highly optimistic here!) || In Canada, I'll probably either do their medicine program (4 years undergraduate, 4 years medical, 2 years training) OR take Biomedical Engineering (making vaccines and medicine basically lol)

8. Draw diagrams, watch summary videos, do some summary notes. SPAM PRACTICE QUESTIONS IRL. And then pray to god I pass

PLS EXPLAIN HOW HIGHSCHOOL IN UK WORKS!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE

Ahh I have the same hobbies as you! Love ukulele, piano and reading! What book are you reading at the moment?

Hi, my name is Felicity.

. Sixth form
. A Levels: Bio, chem, maths, further maths (998 at gcse)
. Reading, sports
. Am going to do an EPQ and Dofe Gold Award. I also write for a Medic Mentor magazine in my spare time and join their medical societies.
. A*AA minimum I’m aiming for
. Medicine, biomed, biochem or compsci
. Past papers

Oh wow, that's so cool! I just finished The Song of Achilles, and now am reading The Reader / Der Vorleser in preparation for studying it at A Level in German. I have so many books on the go, and I am okay with 2 or 3 but I think I have about 5 and it feels a bit cluttered so I am trying to get through a lot quickly What are you reading right now?

Hi everyone, today we have become the adults of students in school.
Be proud of what we have achieved!!! 🥳🥳🥳

What a year we've had!

It's official, we have finally made it out of the vomit-inducing GCSEs and will now have to dip our toes in unfamiliar waters.
So obviously it would be a whole debacle without a friend to turn to and who else is better than other poor humans who have no idea who you are but are in the same situation... well this is where TSR comes in.

Hiya TSRers THIS IS THE OFFICIAL 2023-2024 YEAR 12 CHAT THREAD

So introductions first.

reply thread with

1. name / about yourself
2. Sixth Form / College or SFC
3. A - Levels or Btecs or other and exam boards if you know them (along with your subject grade at GCSE if you did it)
4. hobbies
5. Extracurriculars for UCAS or otherwise
6. What grades you're aiming for
7. What Uni or Course (if you know)
8. Useful Revision Techniques for yourself

but most importantly don't stress because the worst is yet to come.

About highschool in uk, ill explain roughly.

So after primary school (5-11 yrs old, Year 1 to Year 6), you go to secondary school (or in Canada and USA, high school), which is Year 7 to Year 11.
Year 1-2 (sometimes including Yr R which is for 4 year olds) is called Key Stage 1 (or KS1)
Year 3-6 is called Key Stage 2 (or KS2)
Year 7-9 is KS3
Year 10-11 is KS4.

In KS3, you learn a range of subjects which are Maths, English, Sciences (Physics, Biology, and Chemistry), History, Geography, Religious Studies, PSHCE (Personal Social Health something something idk), Physical Education (PE), and Computing.
During the end of Year 9 students pick the subjects which they wish to carry on with in Year 10-11 for their GCSE's. This includes all the above subjects, and also Information Technology (also known as iMedia), Business Studies, Economics, two separate PE qualifications, Psychology, Sociology, and sometimes Further Maths. Note that ALL students still must take Maths, English, and all 3 Sciences (too my knowledge). They can pick up to 4 subjects, alongside the previously mentioned compulsory subjects. They must pick either History or Geography for one of their subjects however.

Some schools however give this option at the end of Year 8, giving one extra year in specialising subjects, from Year 8-11 instead of 9-11.

Once the students have completed their studies and sat their GCSE exams at the end of Year 11, they can then go on to Sixth Forms, College or Apprenticeships (and maybe something else I'm not sure).
Sixth Form: Basically a continuation of secondary school from Year 12-13 in which students pick 3 A-Level subjects to follow, of which there is a wide range, specialising more than GCSE subjects. Sometimes students are allowed to pick 4 A-Levels or in addition to their 3 A-Levels, study an AS-Level, which is basically half the qualification of an A-Level (one year out of two). In addition they can study an EPQ which is basically a research project on a subject of their choice which is worth half an A-Level I think.

College: Generally offer a wider range of more specialised subjects than A-Level, such as Animal Care and stuff like that, in addition to A-Level qualifications. Basically offer more types of qualifications. Also the method of learning is different, I've heard it's more independant but I am not sure.

Apprenticeship: Basically a learn while on the job sort of thing, with spending most of the time learning, and the rest with hands on experience. Popular because you get paid for it. So you get a qualifcation in whatever you were doing (e.g. Product Design), and you get hands on experience. These are offered by businesses and often come with the opportunity to work for them afterwards.

I think thats everything I know. Probably talked too much about college and so on but I wasnt sure if you were asking about that. Hope this was helpful.

Oh and anyone who notices any mistakes or outright BS in what I've written please do tell, because I am not sure if I am right.

About highschool in uk, ill explain roughly.

So after primary school (5-11 yrs old, Year 1 to Year 6), you go to secondary school (or in Canada and USA, high school), which is Year 7 to Year 11.
Year 1-2 (sometimes including Yr R which is for 4 year olds) is called Key Stage 1 (or KS1)
Year 3-6 is called Key Stage 2 (or KS2)
Year 7-9 is KS3
Year 10-11 is KS4.

In KS3, you learn a range of subjects which are Maths, English, Sciences (Physics, Biology, and Chemistry), History, Geography, Religious Studies, PSHCE (Personal Social Health something something idk), Physical Education (PE), and Computing.
During the end of Year 9 students pick the subjects which they wish to carry on with in Year 10-11 for their GCSE's. This includes all the above subjects, and also Information Technology (also known as iMedia), Business Studies, Economics, two separate PE qualifications, Psychology, Sociology, and sometimes Further Maths. Note that ALL students still must take Maths, English, and all 3 Sciences (too my knowledge). They can pick up to 4 subjects, alongside the previously mentioned compulsory subjects. They must pick either History or Geography for one of their subjects however.

Some schools however give this option at the end of Year 8, giving one extra year in specialising subjects, from Year 8-11 instead of 9-11.

Once the students have completed their studies and sat their GCSE exams at the end of Year 11, they can then go on to Sixth Forms, College or Apprenticeships (and maybe something else I'm not sure).
Sixth Form: Basically a continuation of secondary school from Year 12-13 in which students pick 3 A-Level subjects to follow, of which there is a wide range, specialising more than GCSE subjects. Sometimes students are allowed to pick 4 A-Levels or in addition to their 3 A-Levels, study an AS-Level, which is basically half the qualification of an A-Level (one year out of two). In addition they can study an EPQ which is basically a research project on a subject of their choice which is worth half an A-Level I think.

College: Generally offer a wider range of more specialised subjects than A-Level, such as Animal Care and stuff like that, in addition to A-Level qualifications. Basically offer more types of qualifications. Also the method of learning is different, I've heard it's more independant but I am not sure.

Apprenticeship: Basically a learn while on the job sort of thing, with spending most of the time learning, and the rest with hands on experience. Popular because you get paid for it. So you get a qualifcation in whatever you were doing (e.g. Product Design), and you get hands on experience. These are offered by businesses and often come with the opportunity to work for them afterwards.

I think thats everything I know. Probably talked too much about college and so on but I wasnt sure if you were asking about that. Hope this was helpful.

Oh and anyone who notices any mistakes or outright BS in what I've written please do tell, because I am not sure if I am right.

Yes, and some people are able to skip years in school or repeat years, and some people can go to 6th form without any GCSEs at all especially from international school systems. I've managed to get offered for several schools for this.

Besides this is not "UK" but rather English system. Scotland is different, Wales is a bit different and so is Northern Ireland.

ohhh that makes sense! Thank yoouuuu. Can't believe you guys get to choose YOUR OWN COURSES!

Yes, and some people are able to skip years in school or repeat years, and some people can go to 6th form without any GCSEs at all especially from international school systems. I've managed to get offered for several schools for this.

Besides this is not "UK" but rather English system. Scotland is different, Wales is a bit different and so is Northern Ireland.

oh I see, thank you all!!!

Thanks for correcting me, this is true. In my brothers year theres a kid who did Further Maths A-Level. That was when he was in year 8-9 and I was still doing maths gcse.

No problem. welsh system similar but the a level modular. scotlaand is N5 follow by higher and AH and stuff and they are more flexible.


Damn, that's pretty nice! That is yr 13 stuff in yr 8 to 9, while the best I could've managed well even with support is 1 year probably (2 was... well, not great).

After FM A level what will he do? To me I'd say go to uni straight away would be a better idea. Or take 1 gap year.

Ivwe still seen him around my school (my sixth form is part of my school) so i think hes still doing the rest of his gcses. Hes only a genius at maths apparently >-<