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A level revision tips for biology chemistry and maths

I take a level biology chemistry and maths a levels, just wanted to know if anyone had any useful revision tips for progressing through the year or any good websites they've used :smile:.

So far I'm a few weeks into year 12 so I'm still getting the hang of things. I've been using mostly physicsandmathstutor for past papers and save my exams for notes. Should I be making my own notes? I didn't make them in GCSEs because I genuinely didn't find them too useful since I could find everything online. I was just wondering if anyone had anymore resources since I've found past papers and questions for A levels to be a lot more scarce compared to GCSEs.

Thanks!

Reply 1

Hi, you are doing the exact same subjects as me!
I think pmt is a good resource for past paper questions.

Biology: I find the method I use for GCSE no longer works for me so I made my own flashcards instead with the notes I made during lessons, save my exams and the specification. I use a website called studysmarter.
Chemistry: I also made flashcards after I find it useful in biology. On top of that, I mainly do loads of past paper questions. And also use the textbook if I can't understand some certain topics.
Maths: I mainly do past paper questions on a website called alevelmathsrevision.com

Hope you find this useful☺️

Reply 2

Original post by Rc.24
Hi, you are doing the exact same subjects as me!
I think pmt is a good resource for past paper questions.
Biology: I find the method I use for GCSE no longer works for me so I made my own flashcards instead with the notes I made during lessons, save my exams and the specification. I use a website called studysmarter.
Chemistry: I also made flashcards after I find it useful in biology. On top of that, I mainly do loads of past paper questions. And also use the textbook if I can't understand some certain topics.
Maths: I mainly do past paper questions on a website called alevelmathsrevision.com
Hope you find this useful☺️


Thanks this is super helpful! I'll check out study smarter :biggrin:
How useful would you say making notes is? Did you do it during GCSEs? I never really got into the habit since I would spend hours making notes I would never read again but I'm not sure if it's more useful during A levels since there aren't as many resources to rely on online

Reply 3

Original post by Screamingcacti
Thanks this is super helpful! I'll check out study smarter :biggrin:
How useful would you say making notes is? Did you do it during GCSEs? I never really got into the habit since I would spend hours making notes I would never read again but I'm not sure if it's more useful during A levels since there aren't as many resources to rely on online
You should see if your sixth form or college provides a digital version of the subjects' textbooks. I make extra notes at home with those if I don't understand it during lessons. It really depends on how well you absorb the contents and make notes during the lesson. If you already have a good understanding, I don't think you should make more notes. Rather than making notes, doing past paper questions help more. For resources, it depends which exam board you use. I think aqa and ocr have a fair amount of resources online.

Reply 4

Original post by Screamingcacti
I take a level biology chemistry and maths a levels, just wanted to know if anyone had any useful revision tips for progressing through the year or any good websites they've used :smile:.
So far I'm a few weeks into year 12 so I'm still getting the hang of things. I've been using mostly physicsandmathstutor for past papers and save my exams for notes. Should I be making my own notes? I didn't make them in GCSEs because I genuinely didn't find them too useful since I could find everything online. I was just wondering if anyone had anymore resources since I've found past papers and questions for A levels to be a lot more scarce compared to GCSEs.
Thanks!

Hey, I did those subjects and got 3As

For biology I would say if u can get the textbook read it after class and make notes from the textbook and miss estruch. Print out images and stick them with ur notes. Do this after lesson and on the weekend open up topic questions and do those for whatever topic you’ve done that week. Let’s say you’ve done cells, do exam questions on the weekend. I’m not saying do all 100 questions even 5 are enough.

For chemistry I would say is make flash cards because most of it is memorising small facts. GET THE REVISION GUIDE!!!! And then just do exam questions from physics and maths tutor. For lessons allery chem is good. Chem is very straightforward and most past paper questions are repeated so do as many as u can on the weekends or in ur frees.

Maths (edexcel): was my fav subject. If u do not have good teachers then my favorite YouTube teachers are zeeshan and mr bicen. After every lesson if you’ve understood it well then do the whole excerise in ur Frees or at home- I had done all the excerises including the mixed in the edexcel book by the end of the 2 years. If you need to consolidate ur knowledge watch mr bicen or ask ur teachers. Ask ur teachers questions and start to delve into AS past papers as ur in year 1. Start to fully and throughly understand mech and stats because these only get trickier (but they’re not hard).

I think for all three, just pay attention in class and ask ur teachers every single thing u don’t understand. Make sure to get ur work done during class and in the frees so when u go home u can relax. First few weeks u can’t properly do exam questions because topics are still being taught and it’s all new but after Christmas holidays clock in and try to do 10 questions for each subject during the week (incl weekends).
(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 5

Original post by Rc.24
You should see if your sixth form or college provides a digital version of the subjects' textbooks. I make extra notes at home with those if I don't understand it during lessons. It really depends on how well you absorb the contents and make notes during the lesson. If you already have a good understanding, I don't think you should make more notes. Rather than making notes, doing past paper questions help more. For resources, it depends which exam board you use. I think aqa and ocr have a fair amount of resources online.


Ah ok! I'll definitely check out the textbooks my school has handed out.
I usually understand the content at an ok speed after pin pointing what I don't understand. My main issue is memorisation and I rely heavily on savemyexams for notes and stuff. My concern is that it doesn't have all the content on it for a level ;'-'

Also so sorry I just realised I didn't say which exam boards I'm doing XD

Biology- Cambridge international (the one I'm concerned about since not a lot of schools do this board)
Chemistry- Edexcel (not international)
Math-edexcel (not international)

Reply 6

Original post by lolatung
Hey, I did those subjects and got 3As
For biology I would say if u can get the textbook read it after class and make notes from the textbook and miss estruch. Print out images and stick them with ur notes. Do this after lesson and on the weekend open up topic questions and do those for whatever topic you’ve done that week. Let’s say you’ve done cells, do exam questions on the weekend. I’m not saying do all 100 questions even 5 are enough.
For chemistry I would say is make flash cards because most of it is memorising small facts. GET THE REVISION GUIDE!!!! And then just do exam questions from physics and maths tutor. For lessons allery chem is good. Chem is very straightforward and most past paper questions are repeated so do as many as u can on the weekends or in ur frees.
Maths (edexcel): was my fav subject. If u do not have good teachers then my favorite YouTube teachers are zeeshan and mr bicen. After every lesson if you’ve understood it well then do the whole excerise in ur Frees or at home- I had done all the excerises including the mixed in the edexcel book by the end of the 2 years. If you need to consolidate ur knowledge watch mr bicen or ask ur teachers. Ask ur teachers questions and start to delve into AS past papers as ur in year 1. Start to fully and throughly understand mech and stats because these only get trickier (but they’re not hard).
I think for all three, just pay attention in class and ask ur teachers every single thing u don’t understand. Make sure to get ur work done during class and in the frees so when u go home u can relax. First few weeks u can’t properly do exam questions because topics are still being taught and it’s all new but after Christmas holidays clock in and try to do 10 questions for each subject during the week (incl weekends).


Thanks for the reply! Congrats on the good grades!!

I have tried making notes before but I found it extremely time consuming and not very useful since by exam week I was just looking online for all the things I needed to know and memorise. That's mainly why i rely so heavily on savemyexams, but I might start making some notes if savemyexams proves to be less useful for a level content.

Also thanks for the maths channel recommendations! I found watching videos super helpful for GCSEs so I'll check them out :smile:

I will also do more practice questions once I've completed more content I think, currently I've only really finished the first few topics in all of my subjects :b

Reply 7

Original post by Screamingcacti
Thanks for the reply! Congrats on the good grades!!
I have tried making notes before but I found it extremely time consuming and not very useful since by exam week I was just looking online for all the things I needed to know and memorise. That's mainly why i rely so heavily on savemyexams, but I might start making some notes if savemyexams proves to be less useful for a level content.
Also thanks for the maths channel recommendations! I found watching videos super helpful for GCSEs so I'll check them out :smile:
I will also do more practice questions once I've completed more content I think, currently I've only really finished the first few topics in all of my subjects :b

I love save my exams but it’s SOOO excessive, there is just ALOT of info. It’s great for essay knowledge so keep reading the notes. I feel like even if u don’t want to make notes just READ a lot. Read from textbooks, revision guide and save my exams. Just reading the content will be enough without ever writing anything down.

Reply 8

Original post by lolatung
I love save my exams but it’s SOOO excessive, there is just ALOT of info. It’s great for essay knowledge so keep reading the notes. I feel like even if u don’t want to make notes just READ a lot. Read from textbooks, revision guide and save my exams. Just reading the content will be enough without ever writing anything down.


Thanks! I will do that, I've been trying to stay ahead of the curriculum and pre-learn things XD
I definitely agree that savemyexams has a LOT of information condensed into one page.

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