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loreto college or xavarian?

hi! :smile: can anyone who goes to either college help and answer questions? im interested in bio chem and geography. im leaning towards loreto but im concerned about eduqas biology (ive heard horror stories). im quite a high achiever but im not interested in oxbridge (neither do the course im hoping for) but i still need AAA in a levels and i want to do an EPQ. can anyone just tell me their experience on either or with the subjects im choosing?
Reply 1
Original post by niamhh_x
hi! :smile: can anyone who goes to either college help and answer questions? im interested in bio chem and geography. im leaning towards loreto but im concerned about eduqas biology (ive heard horror stories). im quite a high achiever but im not interested in oxbridge (neither do the course im hoping for) but i still need AAA in a levels and i want to do an EPQ. can anyone just tell me their experience on either or with the subjects im choosing?

bio has a hell amount of content (across all exam boards) however its a very interesting subject and defo worth while- id argue its a very broad subject so helpful in lots of fields plus compliments really any subject nicely especially chem and geog. Geog i didnt personally take however ive heard the content is mostly the same so while there is more of it a lot its repeated if u have done it at gcse + idk what exam board but can have coursework as well making up like 20% of ur grade which is really nice and the trips are epic!!. Chem not gonna lie, its hard. like really hard. but if u consolidate after each lesson its defo managable less content than bio for sure. The maths can scare some people but u gotta think of it in steps once u learn the steps its really easy! ive heard lots about EPQ it can lower grades in some unis however some dont care for it so I'd check on unis u may plan to go to and all that. Its long. Defo teaches u about time management and some people have said its only that useful for people planning to go down the apprentiship route if ur taking 3 a levels go for it but 4 dont bother it will be 2 much work. its defo do-able but its long.


BIO and Chem are fantastic subjects and keep ur options nicely open but id suggest if ur school offers a core-maths course or something maths related to go along with it take it for support in the maths content involved! idk about those colleges tho
Reply 2
Original post by phob17
bio has a hell amount of content (across all exam boards) however its a very interesting subject and defo worth while- id argue its a very broad subject so helpful in lots of fields plus compliments really any subject nicely especially chem and geog. Geog i didnt personally take however ive heard the content is mostly the same so while there is more of it a lot its repeated if u have done it at gcse + idk what exam board but can have coursework as well making up like 20% of ur grade which is really nice and the trips are epic!!. Chem not gonna lie, its hard. like really hard. but if u consolidate after each lesson its defo managable less content than bio for sure. The maths can scare some people but u gotta think of it in steps once u learn the steps its really easy! ive heard lots about EPQ it can lower grades in some unis however some dont care for it so I'd check on unis u may plan to go to and all that. Its long. Defo teaches u about time management and some people have said its only that useful for people planning to go down the apprentiship route if ur taking 3 a levels go for it but 4 dont bother it will be 2 much work. its defo do-able but its long.
BIO and Chem are fantastic subjects and keep ur options nicely open but id suggest if ur school offers a core-maths course or something maths related to go along with it take it for support in the maths content involved! idk about those colleges tho


thank you! im very willing to work hard and i have full confidence ill do okay the maths is daunting, ive become okay at maths but its always never been my favourite. i need to do bio and chem for uni but the bio at one of the colleges is the eduqas exam board and im worried itll be too difficult to do with the lack of resources and it being harder than others should i be worried or not or should i go to the other college which does aqa
Reply 3
Original post by niamhh_x
thank you! im very willing to work hard and i have full confidence ill do okay the maths is daunting, ive become okay at maths but its always never been my favourite. i need to do bio and chem for uni but the bio at one of the colleges is the eduqas exam board and im worried itll be too difficult to do with the lack of resources and it being harder than others should i be worried or not or should i go to the other college which does aqa

well the aqa one defo has more resources but id say it wouldnt be a bad thing to do the eduquas one either as most content applies to all. Id say aqa is a better choice tho tbh! yh and the maths can be learnt so dont worry at all about that its not like u need to be some crazy further maths genius!
Reply 4
Original post by niamhh_x
hi! :smile: can anyone who goes to either college help and answer questions? im interested in bio chem and geography. im leaning towards loreto but im concerned about eduqas biology (ive heard horror stories). im quite a high achiever but im not interested in oxbridge (neither do the course im hoping for) but i still need AAA in a levels and i want to do an EPQ. can anyone just tell me their experience on either or with the subjects im choosing?


I currently go loreto! i do biology and honestly it’s not too bad. It’s pretty content heavy but just keep up with making resources and do plenty of exam questions (loreto give you exam question booklets for each topic). I have a few friends who do AQA biology in other colleges and if anything i feel like they have it worse as they do 25 mark essays. i’m not sure on xaverian but loreto is a very good college and have so many resources for biology but i guess it’s just personal preference on which college :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by jessnnn
I currently go loreto! i do biology and honestly it’s not too bad. It’s pretty content heavy but just keep up with making resources and do plenty of exam questions (loreto give you exam question booklets for each topic). I have a few friends who do AQA biology in other colleges and if anything i feel like they have it worse as they do 25 mark essays. i’m not sure on xaverian but loreto is a very good college and have so many resources for biology but i guess it’s just personal preference on which college :smile:


Acutally you're defo right about the essay and markscheme for aqa is pretty horrendous tbh
Reply 6
Original post by jessnnn
I currently go loreto! i do biology and honestly it’s not too bad. It’s pretty content heavy but just keep up with making resources and do plenty of exam questions (loreto give you exam question booklets for each topic). I have a few friends who do AQA biology in other colleges and if anything i feel like they have it worse as they do 25 mark essays. i’m not sure on xaverian but loreto is a very good college and have so many resources for biology but i guess it’s just personal preference on which college :smile:


thank you, you really reassured me :smile: the bio essays in aqa sound like hell. ive also heard loreto is not as good as it seems is that true idk what to believe
Reply 7
Original post by niamhh_x
thank you, you really reassured me :smile: the bio essays in aqa sound like hell. ive also heard loreto is not as good as it seems is that true idk what to believe


Honestly i’ve had a really good 2 years here. A lot of the teachers are amazing and i think the support is really good. They have so many resources online and teachers are always available to talk to about anything. I think the main downside to loreto is probably getting the bus after college as it gets really packed but if you end up getting one of the loreto buses instead of the 86/85 then those are usually okay. Another thing is the study centres fill up quick but they are adding a new building with a new study centre so i think that will help. Overall a really good college in my opinion :smile:
Reply 8
Original post by jessnnn
Honestly i’ve had a really good 2 years here. A lot of the teachers are amazing and i think the support is really good. They have so many resources online and teachers are always available to talk to about anything. I think the main downside to loreto is probably getting the bus after college as it gets really packed but if you end up getting one of the loreto buses instead of the 86/85 then those are usually okay. Another thing is the study centres fill up quick but they are adding a new building with a new study centre so i think that will help. Overall a really good college in my opinion :smile:


thank you!! :smile: ive heard about the bus the 85A goes right next to my house but if i walked it would be a 2 hour walk i guess ill have to figure that out
Reply 9
Original post by niamhh_x
hi! :smile: can anyone who goes to either college help and answer questions? im interested in bio chem and geography. im leaning towards loreto but im concerned about eduqas biology (ive heard horror stories). im quite a high achiever but im not interested in oxbridge (neither do the course im hoping for) but i still need AAA in a levels and i want to do an EPQ. can anyone just tell me their experience on either or with the subjects im choosing?

Hey I currently am a year 12 student at xaverian and i do biology, eng lit, politics and an EPQ. Personally in my experience, xaverians biology teachers are not that good and i never had the best time in my classes for bio either but it is AQA biology so thats up to you. I had a brilliant time in the rest of my classes xaverian is honestly an arts college and hence the sciences aren't taught as well here as humanities. My brother went loreto and hes in medical school now so i do think loreto is more of an science college. But likewise if you want to do sciences you will be pressured by either colleges to do well. I would say aqa biology is much easier in terms of resources but the teaching at xav for bio is not the best at least from my experience its more of a powerpoint karaoke. If you do go xaverian and end up with a bad biology teacher, ill not name drop but....youll be pleased to know teachers for bio change in y13
the way bio is taught is you get a green booklet for notes and qs for each topic, there are 8 booklets in y12
epq is taught really well and its much more relaxing, i cant speak for geography but id probably advise you to do a much more easier 3rd a level since if ur interested in med/dentistry they dont care what your third subject is
if you do end up going to xaverian then let me know, id be happy to share my y12 notes for bio:smile:
in terms of making friends everyone is super friendly and youll be fine
hope you enjoy your summer break and if you have any more qs let me know, i also think it would be much better if you heard from someone who does all 3 sciences
Reply 10
Original post by IMABUFF
Hey I currently am a year 12 student at xaverian and i do biology, eng lit, politics and an EPQ. Personally in my experience, xaverians biology teachers are not that good and i never had the best time in my classes for bio either but it is AQA biology so thats up to you. I had a brilliant time in the rest of my classes xaverian is honestly an arts college and hence the sciences aren't taught as well here as humanities. My brother went loreto and hes in medical school now so i do think loreto is more of an science college. But likewise if you want to do sciences you will be pressured by either colleges to do well. I would say aqa biology is much easier in terms of resources but the teaching at xav for bio is not the best at least from my experience its more of a powerpoint karaoke. If you do go xaverian and end up with a bad biology teacher, ill not name drop but....youll be pleased to know teachers for bio change in y13
the way bio is taught is you get a green booklet for notes and qs for each topic, there are 8 booklets in y12
epq is taught really well and its much more relaxing, i cant speak for geography but id probably advise you to do a much more easier 3rd a level since if ur interested in med/dentistry they dont care what your third subject is
if you do end up going to xaverian then let me know, id be happy to share my y12 notes for bio:smile:
in terms of making friends everyone is super friendly and youll be fine
hope you enjoy your summer break and if you have any more qs let me know, i also think it would be much better if you heard from someone who does all 3 sciences


thank you thats really helpful :smile: gcses are going to be done in a week so ill have some time to research more, thank you for the bio notes offer, its really kind, i agree loreto is more science oriented whilst xavarian is more artsy, so i lean towards loreto on that one especially considering my subjects, i would consider another a level but i cant stand essay based subjects and i hate art, genuinely geography is the easiest option from economics, psychology or maths, i want to be a vet, plus i really like the gcse content for geography, im really willing to work hard im mainly concerned for chem. thank you so much for your comment i really appreciate it, i wish you the best of luck for year 13 :smile:
Original post by niamhh_x
hi! :smile: can anyone who goes to either college help and answer questions? im interested in bio chem and geography. im leaning towards loreto but im concerned about eduqas biology (ive heard horror stories). im quite a high achiever but im not interested in oxbridge (neither do the course im hoping for) but i still need AAA in a levels and i want to do an EPQ. can anyone just tell me their experience on either or with the subjects im choosing?

heyyyy i dont go to neither but i do alevel geography and looking at loreto's subject courses, they do AQA (which i do). And they do the exact options for alevel geography that i do as well (physical: water & carbon cycle, coasts and hazards. and for human: gs&gg, changing places and resource security.) Honestly because AQA do fewer topics than edexcel alevel geography (which xavarian provides) the content is a lot more heavier. Resource security is alright but the annoying thing is, is that a) my human geo teacher is really sh*t at teaching and b) barely any sixth form pick resource security as their options for one of their topics - meaning there is limited revision sources available which sucks. However, for AQA you only get to sit 2 exams papers (one physical and one human) and do an NEA whereas edexcel you have to sit 3 exam papers + NEA. Honestly im not sure if this is useful to u or not but i just wanted provide some type of information yk.
Original post by niamhh_x
hi! :smile: can anyone who goes to either college help and answer questions? im interested in bio chem and geography. im leaning towards loreto but im concerned about eduqas biology (ive heard horror stories). im quite a high achiever but im not interested in oxbridge (neither do the course im hoping for) but i still need AAA in a levels and i want to do an EPQ. can anyone just tell me their experience on either or with the subjects im choosing?

what did you decide on? im also worried about eduqas
Reply 13
Original post by ojirbvhje3dckbu
what did you decide on? im also worried about eduqas


hi! i decided loreto and its really good so far, eduqas isnt too bad they give us very comprehensive booklets with all the notes you need, questions are a little difficult to find but WJEC works just fine! i was definitely more worried than i needed to be, if you revise it shouldn't be a problem and definitely dont decide another college based on that alone! :smile:
Original post by niamhh_x
hi! i decided loreto and its really good so far, eduqas isnt too bad they give us very comprehensive booklets with all the notes you need, questions are a little difficult to find but WJEC works just fine! i was definitely more worried than i needed to be, if you revise it shouldn't be a problem and definitely dont decide another college based on that alone! :smile:

thank you!! that's a relief - im just like you were, really worried about it. how's loreto in general? i don't know whether to go there or a grammar school or something. i need really high grades for the course i want to go into ☹️ thanks! 🙂
Reply 15
Original post by ojirbvhje3dckbu
thank you!! that's a relief - im just like you were, really worried about it. how's loreto in general? i don't know whether to go there or a grammar school or something. i need really high grades for the course i want to go into ☹️ thanks! 🙂


loreto is really good! i got much higher grades than i expected and theyre really good for high achievers, there are targeted formation, RE and programmes dedicated for it. all my subjects are great and very organised with clear notes and all my teachers nice and approachable if youre unsure on stuff. the campus and people are nice, i dont know how it compares to a grammar school as i didnt go to one bht id have a look ag both and then make the decision, you can apply for both so you dont really need to decide until results day!
Original post by niamhh_x
loreto is really good! i got much higher grades than i expected and theyre really good for high achievers, there are targeted formation, RE and programmes dedicated for it. all my subjects are great and very organised with clear notes and all my teachers nice and approachable if youre unsure on stuff. the campus and people are nice, i dont know how it compares to a grammar school as i didnt go to one bht id have a look ag both and then make the decision, you can apply for both so you dont really need to decide until results day!

thank you so much!! and well done for ur results 🙂

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