Im failing Alevel bio chem physics need help revision

2

Hi it has been 4 months since i started my bio chem physics course and so far
I have been getting
D-Phys
D-Chem
E-Bio
I wanna do a foundation year course in physics at either uni of york uni of sheff or QMUL.
However regarding practical endorsment and just my general grades so far in year 12 i dont know whether i can manage. My peers seem to be getting As and Bs and im getting Ds. Can anyone give me revision tips and is it too late?
And also QMUL asks for practical endorsments in a scenario where i get for example AAB (entry requirements) and i fail practical endorsments would my application still be considered

Reply 1

diamondangeleded

4

hi
i think usually if youre doing a foundation year, you should be fine as entry requirements as normally lower. At this point in the course , its normal and almost expected to have those grades- no ones expecting you to magically get a's, even if thats what your peers are getting, you will progress, its very common, what i would say is just put the eoffrt in early on now -organise and notes, with this youll be just fine

Reply 2

ProfessorIntel

OP

2

Original post

by diamondangeleded

hi
i think usually if youre doing a foundation year, you should be fine as entry requirements as normally lower. At this point in the course , its normal and almost expected to have those grades- no ones expecting you to magically get a's, even if thats what your peers are getting, you will progress, its very common, what i would say is just put the eoffrt in early on now -organise and notes, with this youll be just fine

Also another wuestion we jist had our January mocks do they go towards our predicteds for UCAS?
Because i feel like i got like a CDD or a DDE

Reply 3

st4rgirlz

3

Hii i’m doing physics a level and imo i think it’s common to still not be able to get used to the a level content/mark scheme. I had the same problem when I was in year 12, even for the unit tests for gcse related content i got C/B whilst everyone was getting As and eventually i understood HOW to answer the questions. For me, I always do a lot of past papers/exam questions instead of doing notes or flash cards, this helps me a lot to understand the markscheme. I hope you can find your effective ways of revising, don’t forget to try applying the knowledge to different situations (esp for physics) bc that means you actually understand it !

Reply 4

abdose2341

3

I have AQA biology flashcards I can give you for free if you want. They are completed up to 1/2 of topic 6 in paper 2, as that is where my college have gotten up to. Its giving me consistent Bs with limited past paper questions as revision, when I use past papers to revise and watch videos like miss estruch's to understand topics better it gets me A to A*s as I can answer the application questions better, what I will say is that flashcards are definitely the best way to get AO1 (knowledge) marks, which is most of paper 1, you'll have less luck in paper 2 as there is more application in that, as well as paper 3. I'd have to send it via email so js dm me if you want them. I wish I had advice for Physics and Chem, Good luck thooo !

Reply 5

University of Sheffield Students

Official Rep

16

Original post

by ProfessorIntel

Hi it has been 4 months since i started my bio chem physics course and so far
I have been getting
D-Phys
D-Chem
E-Bio
I wanna do a foundation year course in physics at either uni of york uni of sheff or QMUL.
However regarding practical endorsment and just my general grades so far in year 12 i dont know whether i can manage. My peers seem to be getting As and Bs and im getting Ds. Can anyone give me revision tips and is it too late?
And also QMUL asks for practical endorsments in a scenario where i get for example AAB (entry requirements) and i fail practical endorsments would my application still be considered

Hi @ProfessorIntel!

It's great to hear that you're considering studying with us at Uni of Sheffield in the near future!

You can find out more information about the Physics with a foundation course at Uni of Sheff, and course requirements here.

It definitely isn't too late to improve your grades- don't lose hope! The transition from GCSE to A-level is huge, and in my experience, a very different way of learning, thinking and revising is required for A level compared to GCSE. I just wanted to reassure you that it's common to do really well at GCSE, and suddenly see a grade drop at A-level for the first few months before then improving again - it just takes time and effort to wrap your head around the jump in content difficulty. 🙂

I did A level Chemistry, Biology and Psychology at A-level so I can try to give some useful advice for Chemistry and Biology A-level 🙂 Past papers are your best friend, and I found this to be the best way of learning for me. Learning the content straight from the textbook and only doing this can be more time-consuming, and doesn't force you to apply the knowledge to questions, which is ultimately what is needed to get the marks. You can know the content but still not hit the points on the mark scheme due to such as wording. I personally used to mindmap topics- so I would write down everything I knew about a topic, then refer to the textbook and physically fill in the gaps. This revision technique is 'active recall' I believe. Then, I would ask my teacher for some past paper questions if they had any. I would also do the questions at the bottom/ back of the content textbook. Spaced repetition is key in your revision too.

Chemistry and Physics can be quite maths heavy, and this is something I struggled with and it was weighing on my grades for a short while. If you're the same, it could be worth asking your Chem/Physics/ even a Maths A-level teacher if they wouldn't mind spending an hour with you to go over some calculations. If you're not sure what your weaknesses are or how to improve, ask your teachers, as they may have noticed gaps in your learning from your work that you haven't- after all, they have seen students do the same A-levels every year!

I hope this helps!
-Alicia, Final Year Medical Student +Intercalated BSc Medical Sciences Research

Reply 6

University of York

Official Rep

13

Original post

by ProfessorIntel

Hi it has been 4 months since i started my bio chem physics course and so far
I have been getting
D-Phys
D-Chem
E-Bio
I wanna do a foundation year course in physics at either uni of york uni of sheff or QMUL.
However regarding practical endorsment and just my general grades so far in year 12 i dont know whether i can manage. My peers seem to be getting As and Bs and im getting Ds. Can anyone give me revision tips and is it too late?
And also QMUL asks for practical endorsments in a scenario where i get for example AAB (entry requirements) and i fail practical endorsments would my application still be considered

Hi @ProfessorIntel

It's great to hear that you're considering studying at York 😊

I'd recommend that you get in touch with the Undergraduate Admissions Team for our Physics (with a foundation year) course, as they should be able to advise you on your application and how likely you are to be successful. Their email address is: [email protected]

Best of luck!
Hannah 😀

Reply 7

mysnowwhitequeen

12

Original post

by ProfessorIntel

Hi it has been 4 months since i started my bio chem physics course and so far
I have been getting
D-Phys
D-Chem
E-Bio
I wanna do a foundation year course in physics at either uni of york uni of sheff or QMUL.
However regarding practical endorsment and just my general grades so far in year 12 i dont know whether i can manage. My peers seem to be getting As and Bs and im getting Ds. Can anyone give me revision tips and is it too late?
And also QMUL asks for practical endorsments in a scenario where i get for example AAB (entry requirements) and i fail practical endorsments would my application still be considered

physics you say?

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7618322

Reply 8

poornima_saiju

8

if you are a more of a visual learner/ want to actively recall info without using flashcards, try blurting..... but wht I do is, I take a white board and watch a vid of certain topic if I have alot of time, or else the 1 hr summary vids of chapters and write down the key stuffs on he board as I listen to it and recite it in my mind...... for bio, miss estruch is amazinf and chem allery chemistry is good for aqa ( idk abt others tbh ).... andin biology, I try doing hand actions while learning. like for example for phagocytosis under cell immunity, do then action of 1 hand engulfing my other hand.... while saying the steps of wht actually happens while learning.... and hopefully when I see the word phagocytosis again, i remember the hand actions and remeber the key phares like chemial trail, antigen, engulfing, endocytosis, phagasomes and alll... and try to link things to random analoges to trigger my memory like a phagocytes is a dog that smells the smell ( chemical trail ) and so on...... how my reply isn't tooo confusing and ikkk there is likely to be tons of spelling mistakes lol

Im failing Alevel bio chem physics need help revision

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