The Student Room Group

Save my bio exam

So I do A level Math, chem,bio. I got a D in bio, B in chem, A in math in my mock.How should I balance my study between these 3 subjects(I spend little over a day to study math and chem, but some how get those grades, and a week to study for bio but get a D).As I must need an A in bio to get to my dream uni.

Also, any tips for biology, although I feel like I know the content, I just can’t get my head around the randomness and vagueness of mark scheme. I don’t even know if it’s possible with only little over 2 and a half month

Any tips and help is appreciated, thanks in advance

Reply 1

Original post
by Thxxdr
So I do A level Math, chem,bio. I got a D in bio, B in chem, A in math in my mock.How should I balance my study between these 3 subjects(I spend little over a day to study math and chem, but some how get those grades, and a week to study for bio but get a D).As I must need an A in bio to get to my dream uni.
Also, any tips for biology, although I feel like I know the content, I just can’t get my head around the randomness and vagueness of mark scheme. I don’t even know if it’s possible with only little over 2 and a half month
Any tips and help is appreciated, thanks in advance

Hey hey @Thxxdr , I hope you are great. Two and a half months is actually plenty of time to move a D to an A in Biology. I remember I struggled with it too, but I managed to move up.

The issue is not effort, it's method.

I would suggest balancing your time well. So, instead of spending more time on Bio, you need to spend smarter time. So giving Bio enough time is essential. Because remember, you can know the content and still lose loads of marks. You need to focus on:

key wording

specific phrases

exam technique


What actually boosts bio grades fast:

1.

Do past paper questions every day then compare to the mark scheme, write out the exact phrasing they use, create a mark scheme phrase bank. Biology actually rewards repetition of specific wording.

2.

Learn common trigger phrases like explain meaning cause, effect, link word

3.

Practise data questions because bio papers love graphs, trends, suggest why

4.

Active recall by using flashcards, teaching it out loud, blurting


If you do this by doing past paper questions almost daily, analyse every mistake and learning mark scheme language it is possible to improve your grade. Biology is actually one of the most improvable subjects once exam technique clicks.

I totally believe you've got this and I wish you all the best 🙂

Ru
BCU Student Rep.

Reply 2

Original post
by BCU Student Rep
Hey hey @Thxxdr , I hope you are great. Two and a half months is actually plenty of time to move a D to an A in Biology. I remember I struggled with it too, but I managed to move up.
The issue is not effort, it's method.
I would suggest balancing your time well. So, instead of spending more time on Bio, you need to spend smarter time. So giving Bio enough time is essential. Because remember, you can know the content and still lose loads of marks. You need to focus on:

key wording

specific phrases

exam technique


What actually boosts bio grades fast:

1.

Do past paper questions every day then compare to the mark scheme, write out the exact phrasing they use, create a mark scheme phrase bank. Biology actually rewards repetition of specific wording.

2.

Learn common trigger phrases like explain meaning cause, effect, link word

3.

Practise data questions because bio papers love graphs, trends, suggest why

4.

Active recall by using flashcards, teaching it out loud, blurting


If you do this by doing past paper questions almost daily, analyse every mistake and learning mark scheme language it is possible to improve your grade. Biology is actually one of the most improvable subjects once exam technique clicks.
I totally believe you've got this and I wish you all the best 🙂
Ru
BCU Student Rep.


Thanks for your advice

Quick Reply

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.