Advice for starting a levels please

Hey!

I'm going to be starting my A levels tomorrow and I need some advice. I'm super nervous but also excited to start this journey, but would also LOVE advice from people who have done them!

(I chose biology, psychology, and economics)

Reply 1

McGinger

Do the work from Day 1 and don't waste all your free periods chatting in the common room.

Sounds obvious but its very tempting to just cruise a bit to begin with, or think quiet/private study doesn't actually matter. It does. And there is a direct parallel between those did do the work and who got good grades.

Reply 2

Yanmi07

Try not too fall behind, this will help when you get to mocks and help with predicted grades.

Reply 3

Sukhmani22

Original post by Yanmi07

Try not too fall behind, this will help when you get to mocks and help with predicted grades.

Do you think it would be helpful if I watched a video recapping all of GCSE biology before my a level lesson? I feel like I've forgotten a lot of things over the summer

Reply 4

Kingston Reps

Official Rep

Original post by Sukhmani22

Hey!
I'm going to be starting my A levels tomorrow and I need some advice. I'm super nervous but also excited to start this journey, but would also LOVE advice from people who have done them!
(I chose biology, psychology, and economics)

Hey @Sukhmani22!

I took Economics at A-Level, and I definitely found those first few weeks to be the most important. Wrapping your head around the basics (e.g. supply and demand graphs) and learning any key words/definitions that come up during this time will give you a good foundation for the rest of the course. As said above, try and work during your free periods - whether that's completing homework, making notes or watching topic summaries online - as if you fall into the habit of doing nothing during them now, it'll be much harder to break later on. 🙂

Best of luck with your studies!
Eve (Kingston Rep).

Reply 5

Yanmi07

Original post by Sukhmani22

Do you think it would be helpful if I watched a video recapping all of GCSE biology before my a level lesson? I feel like I've forgotten a lot of things over the summer

That would be beneficial, and also try to read up on the topic you will be taught before you get to class.

Reply 6

beefreya

make notes you will understand when you look back on it when revising. annotate your notes, or scan textbooks and annotate them. make sure you are able to fully understand something by looking at your notes

i would also research relevant youtube channels to help with your subjects, for when you can’t be bothered to write or read, but still need to work.

QUIZLET SAVED MY A LEVELS

Reply 7

KK_

Original post by Sukhmani22

Hey!
I'm going to be starting my A levels tomorrow and I need some advice. I'm super nervous but also excited to start this journey, but would also LOVE advice from people who have done them!
(I chose biology, psychology, and economics)

For psychology the most important thing it to learn the essay structures and ensure you follow this in all of your answers. It will really help you reach to band marks!

Seneca has some great online courses for psychology (I can only really speak for the OCR one, but I do believe they’re also available for other exam boards and I’d assume they’d be the same quality). Try and do as many past papers as you can (you don’t have to do them all, but the more you do the better you will be). It may seem like there’s an awful lot of content, but once you know the key facts the subject does become much easier - you don’t have to remember everything, but you need to make sure you always have your key words and key findings! Revision wise I’d also recommend using flashcards (there’s some great sets on Quizlet and Kahoot) as well as watching summary videos.

It may be challenging at time but it’s also really interesting!

Most importantly of all DON’T LEAVE REVISION UNTIL LAST MINUTE - start as early as possible. In year 12 I only ever revised when I had a test coming up, and a similar thing happened up until December of year 13. I only started my proper revision after the Christmas half term. I did get an A* but it was soooooo stressful, so definitely start early (I wish I would’ve!).

Finally, enjoy yourself! Don’t work all day everyday, make sure you take regular breaks. Make sure you also actually enjoy yourself as college goes by so quickly - you’ll blink and it’ll be over.

I wish you the best of luck, if you have any specific questions don’t hesitate to reach out :smile:

Reply 8

Sukhmani22

Original post by KK_

For psychology the most important thing it to learn the essay structures and ensure you follow this in all of your answers. It will really help you reach to band marks!
Seneca has some great online courses for psychology (I can only really speak for the OCR one, but I do believe they’re also available for other exam boards and I’d assume they’d be the same quality). Try and do as many past papers as you can (you don’t have to do them all, but the more you do the better you will be). It may seem like there’s an awful lot of content, but once you know the key facts the subject does become much easier - you don’t have to remember everything, but you need to make sure you always have your key words and key findings! Revision wise I’d also recommend using flashcards (there’s some great sets on Quizlet and Kahoot) as well as watching summary videos.
It may be challenging at time but it’s also really interesting!
Most importantly of all DON’T LEAVE REVISION UNTIL LAST MINUTE - start as early as possible. In year 12 I only ever revised when I had a test coming up, and a similar thing happened up until December of year 13. I only started my proper revision after the Christmas half term. I did get an A* but it was soooooo stressful, so definitely start early (I wish I would’ve!).
Finally, enjoy yourself! Don’t work all day everyday, make sure you take regular breaks. Make sure you also actually enjoy yourself as college goes by so quickly - you’ll blink and it’ll be over.
I wish you the best of luck, if you have any specific questions don’t hesitate to reach out :smile:

Thank you soooooo much!!! I've had a few lessons of psychology now and it's so interesting, I love it! I've started doing mind maps and recently just did some essay practice. Thanks for your advice I will definitely be following them!

Reply 9

BCU Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post by Sukhmani22

Hey!
I'm going to be starting my A levels tomorrow and I need some advice. I'm super nervous but also excited to start this journey, but would also LOVE advice from people who have done them!
(I chose biology, psychology, and economics)

Hi @Sukhmani22,

Biology and Psychology are both memory-based subjects that require you to be familiar with lots of case studies, diagrams and definitions to help support your answers in the exam. My top tip I would give to anybody doing A-Levels is to be consistent. Consistent with your revision and time management.

A-Levels require you to be self-sufficient and lots of the work you put in is expected from your own efforts. A revision schedule helped me get through my A-Levels, it helped me stay accountable to my studies whilst not losing my mind. Keep in mind that it's really important you stay on track with your subjects as much as you can, and try to avoid falling behind as there is so much content in all A-Level subjects.

Best of luck,
Danish
BCU Student Rep

Reply 10

UCLan Student

Official Rep

Original post by Sukhmani22

Hey!
I'm going to be starting my A levels tomorrow and I need some advice. I'm super nervous but also excited to start this journey, but would also LOVE advice from people who have done them!
(I chose biology, psychology, and economics)

Hi @Sukhmani22,

I would recommend just staying on top of it and being organised. The way I wrote my notes and revision cards was slightly different as I needed them to be more visual. That might be worth a try to see what's the best way you will absorb information.

As many others have said, watching videos is very useful as it it more visual and easier to digest. I believe as long as you are keeping on track then you will be fine! Good luck 🙂

Hope this helps,
Jakub- Fashion promotion graduate

Reply 11

riyai0001

Original post by Sukhmani22

Hey!
I'm going to be starting my A levels tomorrow and I need some advice. I'm super nervous but also excited to start this journey, but would also LOVE advice from people who have done them!
(I chose biology, psychology, and economics)

Hi Im a year 13 student who does biology and I recommend making cue cards from the start after every lesson. I personally use anki flashcards but quizlet is good also. Biorach is a good bio youtuber for explaining complex concepts and after you finish every topic i recommend going on physics and maths tutor and doing exam questions specific to your exam board. Also downloading or printing out the spec to cross reference things your doing in class incase the teacher misses something is always helpful.