studying for a levels

i started sixth form in september at the local grammar sixth form after leaving my secondary (which was not overall very good academically) and i still haven’t been able to find my feet. im finding it really hard to study because everything i used for gcse seems to no longer work or be in depth enough for a level, and i haven’t found anything else that works yet so far. all my peers (mostly previous grammar students) are excelling and i just don’t know how to get better. my teachers are telling me that it’s all still new and it will click, and more people are struggling too than it seems, but i can’t help but feel im falling behind.

what study methods do people recommend? i do biology, physics and maths (ocr, ocr, edexcel) and i really do want to get better. i have textbooks and cgp revision guides, and i am attending the help sessions for my subjects to go through content i dont understand with my teachers, and its helping for maths and physics but biology seems to still be my biggest downfall. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated 🙏🙏

Reply 1

BCU Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post

by elise.15

i started sixth form in september at the local grammar sixth form after leaving my secondary (which was not overall very good academically) and i still haven’t been able to find my feet. im finding it really hard to study because everything i used for gcse seems to no longer work or be in depth enough for a level, and i haven’t found anything else that works yet so far. all my peers (mostly previous grammar students) are excelling and i just don’t know how to get better. my teachers are telling me that it’s all still new and it will click, and more people are struggling too than it seems, but i can’t help but feel im falling behind.
what study methods do people recommend? i do biology, physics and maths (ocr, ocr, edexcel) and i really do want to get better. i have textbooks and cgp revision guides, and i am attending the help sessions for my subjects to go through content i dont understand with my teachers, and its helping for maths and physics but biology seems to still be my biggest downfall. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated 🙏🙏

Hey @elise.15

A-Levels are a huge jump from GCSEs and most people struggle with revising for them. It definitely took me a while to find my own revision techniques that worked for me when revising for A-Levels. Here’s some tips for revising 🙂.

Biology 🧬

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Firstly i would make sure i understand the topic, whether this be in lesson or through youtube videos or textbooks.

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Flashcards - Q&A style, practice active recall by testing yourself on these.

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Past papers & simulate mock exams - To find areas you need to develop + reading through the mark schemes can give you an idea of what markers need to see.

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Blurting - Pick a topic and write everything you know about that topic from memory. After, fill in the gaps with a different colored pen using your notes.

Maths & Physics 🧮
-I didn’t personally do these subjects so can’t speak from experience but here’s some revision tips that may be useful.

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Practice questions

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Exam questions - Keep note of what went wrong to prevent repeating mistakes.

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Active learning > Passive (Doing practice questions is better than reading notes)

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Practice formulas + equations !! - The blurting/Q&A flashcard method i mentioned before may work for this.

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Teach it out loud - Talk out loud and try and explain it to someone who doesn’t know anything about the topic. If you can do this then you know it pretty well !

Hope this helps 🙂

Molly
BCU Student rep x

Reply 2

Muttley79

Original post

by elise.15

i started sixth form in september at the local grammar sixth form after leaving my secondary (which was not overall very good academically) and i still haven’t been able to find my feet. im finding it really hard to study because everything i used for gcse seems to no longer work or be in depth enough for a level, and i haven’t found anything else that works yet so far. all my peers (mostly previous grammar students) are excelling and i just don’t know how to get better. my teachers are telling me that it’s all still new and it will click, and more people are struggling too than it seems, but i can’t help but feel im falling behind.
what study methods do people recommend? i do biology, physics and maths (ocr, ocr, edexcel) and i really do want to get better. i have textbooks and cgp revision guides, and i am attending the help sessions for my subjects to go through content i dont understand with my teachers, and its helping for maths and physics but biology seems to still be my biggest downfall. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated 🙏🙏