Tips for A Level Bio Edexcel B Paper 3?

My most recent mock at school was a Paper 3 and I got just over 50% - it was horrible. I really struggled to maintain my stamina and making sure I was reading the questions properly so I'm working on that by doing more exam questions and timed practice. But I'm also really struggling one figuring out what the hell the examiners actually want from me because I feel like some of the marking points are not intuitive at all and sometimes I don't even know how they're fully related to the question.

If anyone has any tips for this awful paper I could really do with some help please!

Reply 1

Insouciant.

Original post by DedBread

My most recent mock at school was a Paper 3 and I got just over 50% - it was horrible. I really struggled to maintain my stamina and making sure I was reading the questions properly so I'm working on that by doing more exam questions and timed practice. But I'm also really struggling one figuring out what the hell the examiners actually want from me because I feel like some of the marking points are not intuitive at all and sometimes I don't even know how they're fully related to the question.
If anyone has any tips for this awful paper I could really do with some help please!

Hey this is sis not directed for the paper specifically as I do a different exam board, however for longer exams in general these may help:

Dont cram in the morning- it usually causes extra stress

Make sure you've slept early- I know everyone says this but its true

Eat breakfast with a ton of protein- (your body can only digest around 20g an hour meaning if you had 30g of protein alongside other carbs etc it would take 2/3 hours for your body to digest opposed to just 1/2 if your meal was fully carbs- this helps so much to not get hungry during the exam.

A lot of what you're describing for the most part can be explained by stress or not enough fuel

For me I do Edexcel A (honestly work exam board for biology) and my most common mistake is also how I answer and word things- what helps for me is actually using Ai, ill get it to ask me fictitious exam questions alongside examples of mark schemes and after answering ask it to rewrite in the most efficient way so I can repeatedly see real examples of how to word things and how my usual approach differs.

Ive also found with Edexcel they just love trigger words- so include the most complex irrelevant words for things everywhere- for some reason it gets you marks- Goodluck and if you ever want to share resources or revise PM me!

Reply 2

DedBread

Original post by Insouciant.

Hey this is sis not directed for the paper specifically as I do a different exam board, however for longer exams in general these may help:

Dont cram in the morning- it usually causes extra stress

Make sure you've slept early- I know everyone says this but its true

Eat breakfast with a ton of protein- (your body can only digest around 20g an hour meaning if you had 30g of protein alongside other carbs etc it would take 2/3 hours for your body to digest opposed to just 1/2 if your meal was fully carbs- this helps so much to not get hungry during the exam.
A lot of what you're describing for the most part can be explained by stress or not enough fuel

For me I do Edexcel A (honestly work exam board for biology) and my most common mistake is also how I answer and word things- what helps for me is actually using Ai, ill get it to ask me fictitious exam questions alongside examples of mark schemes and after answering ask it to rewrite in the most efficient way so I can repeatedly see real examples of how to word things and how my usual approach differs.
Ive also found with Edexcel they just love trigger words- so include the most complex irrelevant words for things everywhere- for some reason it gets you marks- Goodluck and if you ever want to share resources or revise PM me!

Thank you so much this is so helpful! I never thought of eating more protein for breakfast, I'll try that thank you. I definitely will PM you if I need more help xx