A level biology revision

Hey so currently i am year 13 biology somehow...but i am really stuck on revision and please don't just say exam style questions.
Here is my plan so far:
For understanding: Writing up my notes on a word doc ensuring i research and understand everything i write. It is quite time consuming though.
For recall: uplearn, not the best but it will do.
For application: exam style questions and if there is something i am unsure of, i refer back to my notes.
Can anyone tell me if this is good or if i could do anything better? thanks so much <3
BTW this is OCR bio which sucks

Hey! Your plan looks good and I really like how you’ve split it into understanding, recall and application, but I would make a few adjustments.
For understanding: you are completely right in saying that writing in depth notes on a word document is time consuming, and honestly, it’s a little useless. What you want to do is have a broad understanding by making mind maps and/or watching videos and/or the three column format (key information, own notes, summary) and/or draw things out. When I was trying to understand a process I just watched a bunch of YouTube videos until it finally clicked and it doesn’t take nearly as much time as writing everything out (which I also attempted). When you get closer to exams you’re going to want to switch to exam questions and looking at the mark scheme because that’s where you’ll see where you can get more specific marks, but for now just make sure you understand how everything works broadly.
For recall: uplearn is great for broad knowledge - keep using it. But if you want to do really well, you’re going to need to do more. Make/find flashcards (I found that online is faster but you can make physical ones too) and go through them often (there’s a technique called The Leitner System that I suggest you check out), write out definitions so many times that it basically becomes muscle memory, and (I know you said don’t say it but) exam questions. For exam questions take a look at which questions come up over and over again in papers and memorise them - that way they’ll become easy marks.
For application: yeah exam questions are basically the only thing. If your exam gives you marks for extra reading then do that. Other than that, it’s just practice.
Annoyingly, a lot of revision techniques work for some people and don’t work for others. I’d recommend testing all sorts of techniques out now so that when your exams get closer you will know exactly how to get the most out of your revision. A-Level Bio tends to include a lot of diagrams and step by step processes so when I was doing my revision I found that sketching things was the best way to memorise, but this could be different for you.
Also quick disclaimer - I did AQA, but I’m sure these techniques will work the same way for OCR!
Good luck with your revision!

Hey @Havenoidea123
I will refrain from suggesting exam questions 😆. However, these are one of the things that helped me most!
For the understanding/recall, I found the best method was writing out flashcards (Either online, like on Quizlet, or buy a cheap pack from most shops). Write a question on one side, try and recall the answer to it (I found saying it out loud helped!), then turn it over and read out the actual answer.
e.g.
Front: What is meant by the term Glycogenolysis?
Back: This is the breakdown of glycogen back into glucose in the liver. This occurs when blood glucose levels are lower than normal.
This works best as it is an active recall method, rather than passive recall. I used to still write some notes, but most of my info would go onto my flashcards.
If you have a printer, try printing out the whole past paper once you have learnt all the content and test yourself under exam conditions, without using the notes to help.
Exam and revision help: https://bit.ly/4coFOBp
Hope this helps, let me know if you need anything else
-Molly
BCU Student rep

The problem with UpLearn is that it's A* guarantee is tied into you needing to complete a huge amount of work that takes up a lot of time, and if you feel it isn't working then it's best to move onto something else.
Writing up your own notes is good, but the problem with that (As you have said) is time, and time spent writing up notes is good for comprehension, but not usually for memorisation (unless you are wired that way). It is better to use free notes (savemyexams for example)
STEMpathy.co.uk has a course especially for OCR A Level Biology - there is a free revision guide for the Year 12/Year 1 Biology content, and if you subscribe to it they've got banks of multiple choice questions, and flashcards, for every topic - there is also a digital 'textbook' that is very detailed and explains everything well with lots of diagrams and tables to break things down. That would cover all of your recall and comprehension for Year 12 (I think Year 13 is being released sometime after Christmas?). It's more accurate than the other stuff out there.
For application, do that after you are happy you understand and can recall the relevant content, otherwise it's just wasted time. Physics and Maths tutor has banks of exam questions you can practice with. If you wanted to practice/improve your application skills then I can probably send you a free resource that analyses your exam technique if you DM me.