A level bio and chem

I’ve just started yr 12 a month ago and am doing OCR A, bio and chem a levels. What resources or YouTube channels or exam techniques should I be doin to receive an A*. What little things should i be doin everyday to really help me get that grade.

Reply 1

LJMUStudentReps

Official Rep

i would keep building your understanding of the topics, make sure your understanding of the whole spec is crystal clear and start building up those flashcards as soon as possible!! Also start doing past paper questions! Ask your teachers for this i'm sure they'd be more than happy to help.

Also explain to your teachers your goals, and how you would like them to help in any way shape or form so you can get that A*.

When doing practice exam questions or papers, focus on hitting the marks instead of writing lots of information that might not hit the spec. Key terms are another thing examiners absolutely love to see in papers!

Again in terms of revision just make sure you fully understand the whole topic, get your teachers to give you extra work so you can put in more work for that A* and make sure you have got everything fully down even if you have to teach it to someone else which could be quite useful!

Hope this helps!
Katy,
LJMUStudentRep

Reply 2

Kingston Vee

Official Rep

Hi @Lollypo, to make the most of your revision I would recommend to focus on the subjects you have that day in your revision, stay after or before in the library making notes / flashcards, then closer to the exams swap this out for memorising the flashcards, doing past papers and getting friends to hold the flashcards and quiz you. Try sticking to just the work hours of the day e.g. 9-6 and always have a rest day once a week where you do no studying or work at all. It's important to rest your brain and prevent burnout otherwise the studying can become useless. Also, speak to your teachers after class and ask if you could have a chat about your grades and how to improve them. You can go over your past papers and see what it is you mainly struggle with as this will give you advice that's tailored to you. It's better to work on the specific stuff you struggle with from this tailored advice as that is how you will see the biggest improvements the fastest. If you commute, use this time to catch up on homework or revising as this will make the most out of your day and should stick to the only studying 9-5 or whichever times you set. For improving memorisation, try out the pomodoro technique as this allows you to use your brain better and maximise memorisation. Also, it may sound silly but visual mind maps also really help as it makes you use the right hand side of your brain not just your left, and visual information is much easier to memorise than long textbooks.

Best of luck!

Vee (Kingston rep)