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Give me advice on my Alevels

Hey guys,

I'm choosing psychology, chemistry and biology for my Alevels. Like what do I have to look out for? Study advice, revision etc. Just any tip.


Thank youu
(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 1

Can you explain what you mean by 'okay'? There's nothing wrong with any of those subjects. You should do the subjects that you are interested in most as so to obtain the grades you need for uni if that is your desired path. Are you planning to study one of these subjects at degree level?

Reply 2

What do you intend to do with these A levels - job, apprenticeship, Uni?
And if Uni, what sort of degree subject, do you have any ideas?

Reply 3

Original post
by HeadCage
Can you explain what you mean by 'okay'? There's nothing wrong with any of those subjects. You should do the subjects that you are interested in most as so to obtain the grades you need for uni if that is your desired path. Are you planning to study one of these subjects at degree level?

Like I mean are they hard. What I meant to say is give me tips on these subjects sorry.

Reply 4

Original post
by McGinger
What do you intend to do with these A levels - job, apprenticeship, Uni?
And if Uni, what sort of degree subject, do you have any ideas?

I have no idea yet.

Reply 5

Original post
by M.Sturniolo.
I have no idea yet.

And that is fine - very few people do at 16, so don't worry.
The A levels you have chosen will leave thousands of doors open to you.

Reply 6

Original post
by M.Sturniolo.
Like I mean are they hard. What I meant to say is give me tips on these subjects sorry.

That's okay! No need to be sorry for anything 🙂 I was a Psychology student but many moons ago! My son has just completed Biology but hated it, unfortunately. We never understood why he chose it!
If they align with your interests then they will be the best subjects that you can study. if you want to get slightly ahead of the game then you can find out which exam board your Sixth Form/College uses for the subject and download their syllabus so you can see what you'll be studying. I think that would be my first port of call in your position. You have plenty of time to determine how you will use them and they are very versatile 🙂

Reply 7

hi, i'm going into year 13, i don't take bio or psych but i do take chem!
chem started out pretty tough - most people in my year got U's and E's for the first few months. this was because we were doing the maths-heavy part, and a lot of people find that to be the hardest part of year 12. i would recommend that you ask your teacher, or anyone in your class who's good at maths, to walk you through any questions you find hard. the maths questions are very repetitive so if you can learn the basic structure, you'll be able to answer most questions without too much difficulty.
definitely don't be put off if it starts out tricky because for most people, it gets easier. around jan we started doing organic chem, and i think almost everyone found year 12 organic a lot easier than the stuff we were doing in oct. by this stage, it's a lot of memorisation, so i think keeping on top of your revision resources is a good thing to do.
from the start of the year, i used anki, which i found really useful, and the specification. you don't need to do crazy amounts of work, just if you don't let yourself get behind on notes, you'll really thank yourself come mocks :biggrin: also, try to use the spec when making flashcards and notes so you don't miss out anything you might be examined on.
other than that, when it gets near exams, try to do lots of past papers. out of all my subjects, chem has a lot of questions that repeat every single year, just worded differently. so, if you do lots of past papers, you'll get used to these repetitive questions and it'll become easy marks for you
overall i loved chem in year 12! i took it as a 'filler' to be honest, but now i'm doing it as part of my degree! it's way more interesting than gcse chem, and it gives you so many options for the future

Reply 8

Original post
by HeadCage
That's okay! No need to be sorry for anything 🙂 I was a Psychology student but many moons ago! My son has just completed Biology but hated it, unfortunately. We never understood why he chose it!
If they align with your interests then they will be the best subjects that you can study. if you want to get slightly ahead of the game then you can find out which exam board your Sixth Form/College uses for the subject and download their syllabus so you can see what you'll be studying. I think that would be my first port of call in your position. You have plenty of time to determine how you will use them and they are very versatile 🙂

Oh yeah I was thinking of that. Thank you for your advice. It was much appreciated.

Reply 9

Original post
by ‎♡₊˚ ୨୧・₊✧
hi, i'm going into year 13, i don't take bio or psych but i do take chem!
chem started out pretty tough - most people in my year got U's and E's for the first few months. this was because we were doing the maths-heavy part, and a lot of people find that to be the hardest part of year 12. i would recommend that you ask your teacher, or anyone in your class who's good at maths, to walk you through any questions you find hard. the maths questions are very repetitive so if you can learn the basic structure, you'll be able to answer most questions without too much difficulty.
definitely don't be put off if it starts out tricky because for most people, it gets easier. around jan we started doing organic chem, and i think almost everyone found year 12 organic a lot easier than the stuff we were doing in oct. by this stage, it's a lot of memorisation, so i think keeping on top of your revision resources is a good thing to do.
from the start of the year, i used anki, which i found really useful, and the specification. you don't need to do crazy amounts of work, just if you don't let yourself get behind on notes, you'll really thank yourself come mocks :biggrin: also, try to use the spec when making flashcards and notes so you don't miss out anything you might be examined on.
other than that, when it gets near exams, try to do lots of past papers. out of all my subjects, chem has a lot of questions that repeat every single year, just worded differently. so, if you do lots of past papers, you'll get used to these repetitive questions and it'll become easy marks for you
overall i loved chem in year 12! i took it as a 'filler' to be honest, but now i'm doing it as part of my degree! it's way more interesting than gcse chem, and it gives you so many options for the future

Omg thank you this really helps. It gives me like a heads up I think that's how you say it but yeah makes me aware of the maths part so I don't get stumbled on it.
What exam board did you do?
Also thanks for the revision tips it helped

Reply 10

Original post
by M.Sturniolo.
Omg thank you this really helps. It gives me like a heads up I think that's how you say it but yeah makes me aware of the maths part so I don't get stumbled on it.
What exam board did you do?
Also thanks for the revision tips it helped

you're so welcome my exam board is ocr A :smile: do ask if you ever need any other help with chem

Reply 11

Original post
by ‎♡₊˚ ୨୧・₊✧
you're so welcome my exam board is ocr A :smile: do ask if you ever need any other help with chem

Yeah I think my one is OCR. But I have no idea about the a or b. So I'll have to find that out.
And yes sure I will do.
Again thank you so much

Reply 12

Those are solid A levels! I would say you can almost apply to any course like med,comp sci, any other STEM course, law , etc 😀

Reply 13

Original post
by harmonious-wrait
Those are solid A levels! I would say you can almost apply to any course like med,comp sci, any other STEM course, law , etc 😀

Omg thank youu!! And I'm glad to know that aswww

Reply 14

Original post
by M.Sturniolo.
Omg thank youu!! And I'm glad to know that aswww

glad i could help :smile:

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