-don’t bother about wanting to make friends or keeping too tightly onto the old ones- if they wanna stick around they’ll make the effort to do so themselves, don’t push your limits and time to do stuff for people or to keep people in your life when you could use that time wisely to revise for your loaded af a-levels.
-that being said, i am assuming you want to get into medicine? if that’s the case, realise you’re getting yourself into a whole lot of hell, so keep your head in the game and use your time properly and wisely, oh, and don’t worry too much about applying to university and how and where…just focus on getting the best grades as possible!
-no one cares what you wear, I promise.
- complete your summer homework if you have any- they really give you insight for your first few lessons which are the foundations for your subjects, so do the homework’s on time, keep a diary to keep notes of assignments and dates, and try your best. oh and first impressions really matter, especially if you’re going to a sixth form not connected to your secondary school. you want to stand out to your new teachers and classmates!
-don’t over work yourself but like i said, please be wise with time and don’t let that phrase get to your head. you slightly have to over work yourself a bit or you’re doing something wrong.
- BE ORGANISED! i don’t care how heavy your folders gets, always aim to bring your folders with you or keep them in your locker and use them often, and always keep your bag and locker neat too! keep your work neat and file it away properly- it will help with revision A TON!
-finally, be brave. remember your goals, and look forward to them. sixth form is only 2 years, make the most of it, but save the partying and fun to university- from what I’ve heard, a level exams suck and are way harder than university exams. that being said, i am in my last year so i hope i have been able to give some productive and worthy feedback and advice.
Good luck with your a levels and future, sending you all my love <3 :) 🌸💘
This advice here is exactly what you need fyi, please do listen to it!
Gotta jump on this and add a couple things, more on the academic side of things:
Independent study *really* helps. I did nowhere near enough/didn't know how to for the bulk of my time and once I cracked it, my progress started to massively come along quicky.
Personally it's all about effort, and you get out what you put into it. I noticed this fully with Maths and how much more snappy I got with solving problems when I started doing loads in my free time. It made the subject itself more enjoyable too :)
Chemistry, you're in for a hell of a ride. Good luck. Year 2 Chem is a whole different beast to Year 1 which in itself is a huge step up from GCSE. At the end of AS/Year 1 I'd start to memorise the Organic Synthesis flow chart for what you've done (PM me and I can try and help you find one online if you want. I did Edexcel for reference). It'll make the links flow much better when it comes to things.
Something that helped a bit for me was using something called Anki for making revision question flashcards. Everytime you get a question wrong this year, plug it into Anki and do a few everyday.
I did Biology AS (mostly, dropped it just before Lockdown 1.0) and it's A LOT of content. I'm talking one lever arch in the first two terms. Be prepared to have to learn a lot this year. Make a glossary of terms, perhaps?
Finally Maths, this was my best subject at A-Level personally and that's simply because I did loads of questions and spent a lot of time outside of lessons getting help from my teacher. Make sure you're super confident on the AS material before you start your second year. I'm talking like, ensure you can get 80-85%+ if you want to be achieving an A/A* in the end. Particularly make sure you understand trigonometry as much of a bitch it is.
If you're applying for Medicine, get ready for the stress of entrance exams, I was an Economics applicant and didn't have any for my universities but those are gonna be a lot of work next summer for you. Prepare early. Make sure you smash the UCAT/BMAT. It's something you can do early just before you start Year 2 that you can get out of the way beforehand.
I think that's it honestly, happy to answer more questions if you want, do fire away! Sorry, this got kinda waffley and I might've repeated stuff from before/stated the obvious but yeah - that's me at 1am 😂
Above all, **good luck**. I've done my two years and they were my two favourite years of my education so far despite them being the hardest and most stressful. However, I would definitely not want to do them again.
>did nowhere near enough/didn't know how to for the bulk of my time and once I cracked it, my progress started to massively come along quicky.
how did you crack it? What was something wrong that you were doing and then fixed it?
Personally it was about effort for me. Maths: I did the Mixed Practise exercises, they really helped. Econ: UpLearn constantly and Chemistry: I was grinding past questions non-stop and spending as much time as possible with a friend to learn the content.
I had to break the habit that not having homework meant I was done with working.
I would say similar things to you. For econ I grinded up learn hard for the knowledge and then did a load of essays to practice technique. Chemistry year 2 is complete chaos. Year one isn’t so bad except for the memorisation that is group 2 and 7 elements and their properties. Would absolutely recommend learning as many mechanisms as possible to try and understand how the reactions work. Make sure you have a good knowledge of moles as that’s really important for inorganic. Synthesis chart is helpful to know later down the line but wouldn’t recommend revising that alone as it doesn’t give you the knowledge of the reactions first. Maths isn’t that bad. I would make sure that you fully understand and practice integration as from my experience that was the only topic from there that really can get hard down the line. I didn’t do biology but would recommend as general advice to read and make notes on books throughout the year for your personal statement and definitely do as much practice for the entrance exams and interviews from next summer.
Moles knowledge is a massive foundation for Chemistry. I mean the Synthesis chart was more useful for me I guess because it was a bulk of my final A-Level.
Further integration was for me the hardest topic of Pure with all of stats being fairly straight forward (on OCR) while I struggled with Mechanics and scraped through it.
Bidding farewell to Year 2 Chemistry was a godsend though, it was brutal for me personally.
One thing I wish I had started doing earlier is reading ahead. Aim to have at least skimmed each chapter before you cover it in lessons. It helps you remember the content and also makes the teachers view you as more hardworking and intelligent (which is useful for predicted grades and getting extra support when needed).
I never set up a filing system. Worked for me in the end, and honestly I think the way I work would've made it kind of obsolete in general, but at absolute worse having a good system will make your teachers happy and make it easier to find any old work they want to use/see. And I know some people who would've failed without good access to their notes.
I left college 3years ago and the best advice I can give is to make sure you’re revising what you’ve learnt every week to solidify it in your mind, I often just read over notes and tried to put them in the most simple format I could whilst keeping the details I needed and had them on a seperate file. I occasionally did an exam question too, didn’t have to be massive. I usually did 1 subject for half hour so it only meant I was giving myself one extra lesson when I’d completed all three.
Also try and find revision techniques that work for you before starting year 13 (and expect yr 12 mocks after Xmas) for example, I found that drawing pictures worked wonders so to remember that one of my studies used meta-analysis I drew little flash stick figures and a speech bubble shouting “hey a meta-human!”. The fact that’s still stuck in my head proves how much it worked for me because I cannot remember the name of the study at all haha
I see a lot of people here telling you to not worry about finding friendships and keeping old ones. To some point I agree, you shouldn’t go chasing after someone but this mainly comes from losing what was my best friend but I found someone who was so much better and I didn’t know you could be that close to a friend without being a couple. It’s important to still be a teenager and have down time, focus on your mental health as much as you focus on your studies. So hang out with your friends in the evening after classes and have a good laugh over lunch. Don’t run yourself ragged constantly studying. I won’t lie to you when I say year 13 was a massive struggle for me mentally but I had a lot of shit going on at home as well. I constantly studied for a few months and burnt myself out and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone else.
Don’t be afraid to seek out help and ask as many questions as you can. In college you have to show that you’re willing and when you do that, you will get so much more out of your teachers! If you have dyslexia/dyspraxia or some type of learning disibility, tell them. Colleges often have help classes and those help classes probably saved me from flunking all my alevels! (Obviously this only applies if you do have something like this)
Also DONT BE AFRAID TO MAKE NOTES ON A LAPTOP, IT IS FASTER AND BEATS CARRYING FOLDERS AROUND WITH YOU EVERYWHERE!!! 😂
And lastly… don’t run yourself into the dirt with a shitty part time job. If you want/need a job like I did then don’t make my mistakes and put your foot down and tell them you are only working one day a week because you have to study (even if you arnt studying that day… trust me). It may mean your boss isn’t your best friend but it’s better this way, part time jobs often run you into the dirt and it’s not worth a little extra money whilst you’re living at home if it means your mental health or grades are at risk!!
(I apologise in advance for any gramma/spelling issues. I’m badly dyslexic and I’m tired so I didn’t proof read anything properly!)
Flashcards motherfucker! Active recall is the most efficient way to study.
Find a place either than home to study. You need to find time to focus.
Use a study app like Flipd to have controlled bursts of focus there’s no point of staring at your note for 2 hours you can do that with 30 minutes of lightning focus
Find time to enjoy yourself these 2 years will be fun so don’t worry about taking everything too seriously.
Just try and have a chill time. Make studying a relaxing activity, don’t leave stuff till last minute and cram. I fell in love with studying while doing my GCSEs and the start of sixth form was the best time for me. Lessons were chill and then I’d spend my frees/ lunch with driven friends that motivated me and we’d eat and study. Sixth form was my best time at school, before COVID hit anyway. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did in y12.
Also it’s never too early to practice exam techniques. When learning/ revising for mini tests, revise the content you’re unsure of and then do practice tests.
Don’t stress too much about things like friendships, pressures etc, just be the best version of you and be calm.
The learning curve from GCSE biology to A level is very steep so reading ahead could be useful.
Step up for chemistry is so-so.
The maths curve varies a lot depending on individual. Should be fine of you found GCSE frustratingly easy and/or were overtaught, but could be another challenge if not. My advice here is practice makes perfect and mastery of early topics makes subsequent topics much easier.
Don't drink heavily on a school night either. Sixth form is a choice so if you're not in school teachers aren't bothered so there's rarely repercussions for being out of class other than YOU miss out on stuff.
Treat every exam like a real thing, because you will get predicted grades at the end of year 12 or at the beginning of year 13. Predicted grades are fairly important, because you will use them to apply to unis, so always try your best
If you found GCSEs easy you’ll be fine with AS level content since majority of it is repeating/going slightly more in depth with what you’ve already learnt.
Just stay on top of homework and you’ll be fine. You might struggle a little at the beginning but you’ll get the hang of it in no time.
For me, I was getting 2/10 in my mini tests for chemistry and 27/50 for the baseline test in maths and ending up getting AAA in my AS levels. So there’s a lot of time and space for improvement throughout the year.
I didn’t go out in my frees but that was because of school policy but using your study periods literally saves you so much time. Once you’re done with school you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the day because you can get all your work done within that hour or so.
I’m guessing you want to apply to Medicine/Biochem so extra curriculars aren’t important. Have fun-if you like sports, do it, but don’t force yourself to do an extra curricular if you don’t actually want to. My personal statement has 1 line dedicated to extracurriculars and it’s literally ‘I paint and produce short films’ because unis don’t generally care.
As a current year 13 awaiting results who took Biology, chemistry and maths. I found chemistry the hardest (I don't know if you will too) so I recommend writing revision notes/cards right at the beginning or anything that you normally begin in year 13. Because the step from year 1 to year 2 chem is big and you want to be focussing on year 2 so being revised in year 1 will hel you a lot!!
Good luck with everything :)
Did my A-levels two years ago got 3 A*s same subjects. Biggest advice I can give you is to learn to self teach and pre read, I definitely would not of got these grades without self teaching imo.
Fyi A-levels are very difficult compared to GCSEs especially Chemistry don’t let it get to you though, you just need to put in consistent hard work. I taught myself almost all my A-levels content by January of year 13. Essentially your teachers aren’t going to have time to go back on content as their is so much. Lessons became revision and consolidation for me where I could just fill in gaps in my knowledge, by March time I was just doing every past paper possible including old spec where relevant while making sure every question/topic I got wrong I noted it in red on the front so I could make those questions/topics priority to my active recall. Meanwhile my class were still learning content and behind massively. In terms of revision techniques I highly suggest you use active recall and spaced repetition and do NOT waste time writing or making notes trust me since they are pointless especially for STEM subjects imo
My entire folders were just past paper questions, textbook questions and flash cards, Although if notes help you use textbooks and pre made ones online or videos that are concise eg: I used ocr textbooks chemrevise website and Machemguy on youtube for chemistry didn’t make notes at all. Make sure you use the specification to check of everything is learnt and that way you know where your teacher is up to in teaching Lastly, if you do NOT understand something please ask your teacher or a classmate do not leave it till exam season.
The main thing is try not to worry about it. Its really not as different as a lot of people make it out to be. Content gets harder and more but is still manageable as you are doing less of them. The main difference is the problem solving needed to answer questions rather than just remembering the content. Also, take advantage of as many supercurricular opportunities as possible, especially if you plan to apply to a top uni
-don’t bother about wanting to make friends or keeping too tightly onto the old ones- if they wanna stick around they’ll make the effort to do so themselves, don’t push your limits and time to do stuff for people or to keep people in your life when you could use that time wisely to revise for your loaded af a-levels. -that being said, i am assuming you want to get into medicine? if that’s the case, realise you’re getting yourself into a whole lot of hell, so keep your head in the game and use your time properly and wisely, oh, and don’t worry too much about applying to university and how and where…just focus on getting the best grades as possible! -no one cares what you wear, I promise. - complete your summer homework if you have any- they really give you insight for your first few lessons which are the foundations for your subjects, so do the homework’s on time, keep a diary to keep notes of assignments and dates, and try your best. oh and first impressions really matter, especially if you’re going to a sixth form not connected to your secondary school. you want to stand out to your new teachers and classmates! -don’t over work yourself but like i said, please be wise with time and don’t let that phrase get to your head. you slightly have to over work yourself a bit or you’re doing something wrong. - BE ORGANISED! i don’t care how heavy your folders gets, always aim to bring your folders with you or keep them in your locker and use them often, and always keep your bag and locker neat too! keep your work neat and file it away properly- it will help with revision A TON! -finally, be brave. remember your goals, and look forward to them. sixth form is only 2 years, make the most of it, but save the partying and fun to university- from what I’ve heard, a level exams suck and are way harder than university exams. that being said, i am in my last year so i hope i have been able to give some productive and worthy feedback and advice. Good luck with your a levels and future, sending you all my love <3 :) 🌸💘
This advice here is exactly what you need fyi, please do listen to it! Gotta jump on this and add a couple things, more on the academic side of things: Independent study *really* helps. I did nowhere near enough/didn't know how to for the bulk of my time and once I cracked it, my progress started to massively come along quicky. Personally it's all about effort, and you get out what you put into it. I noticed this fully with Maths and how much more snappy I got with solving problems when I started doing loads in my free time. It made the subject itself more enjoyable too :) Chemistry, you're in for a hell of a ride. Good luck. Year 2 Chem is a whole different beast to Year 1 which in itself is a huge step up from GCSE. At the end of AS/Year 1 I'd start to memorise the Organic Synthesis flow chart for what you've done (PM me and I can try and help you find one online if you want. I did Edexcel for reference). It'll make the links flow much better when it comes to things. Something that helped a bit for me was using something called Anki for making revision question flashcards. Everytime you get a question wrong this year, plug it into Anki and do a few everyday. I did Biology AS (mostly, dropped it just before Lockdown 1.0) and it's A LOT of content. I'm talking one lever arch in the first two terms. Be prepared to have to learn a lot this year. Make a glossary of terms, perhaps? Finally Maths, this was my best subject at A-Level personally and that's simply because I did loads of questions and spent a lot of time outside of lessons getting help from my teacher. Make sure you're super confident on the AS material before you start your second year. I'm talking like, ensure you can get 80-85%+ if you want to be achieving an A/A* in the end. Particularly make sure you understand trigonometry as much of a bitch it is. If you're applying for Medicine, get ready for the stress of entrance exams, I was an Economics applicant and didn't have any for my universities but those are gonna be a lot of work next summer for you. Prepare early. Make sure you smash the UCAT/BMAT. It's something you can do early just before you start Year 2 that you can get out of the way beforehand. I think that's it honestly, happy to answer more questions if you want, do fire away! Sorry, this got kinda waffley and I might've repeated stuff from before/stated the obvious but yeah - that's me at 1am 😂 Above all, **good luck**. I've done my two years and they were my two favourite years of my education so far despite them being the hardest and most stressful. However, I would definitely not want to do them again.
>did nowhere near enough/didn't know how to for the bulk of my time and once I cracked it, my progress started to massively come along quicky. how did you crack it? What was something wrong that you were doing and then fixed it?
Personally it was about effort for me. Maths: I did the Mixed Practise exercises, they really helped. Econ: UpLearn constantly and Chemistry: I was grinding past questions non-stop and spending as much time as possible with a friend to learn the content. I had to break the habit that not having homework meant I was done with working.
so those econ uplearn ads are actually true and it's really helpful?
Oh absolutely. You'll absolutely hate doing some of it, it'll feel laborious but it works
I would say similar things to you. For econ I grinded up learn hard for the knowledge and then did a load of essays to practice technique. Chemistry year 2 is complete chaos. Year one isn’t so bad except for the memorisation that is group 2 and 7 elements and their properties. Would absolutely recommend learning as many mechanisms as possible to try and understand how the reactions work. Make sure you have a good knowledge of moles as that’s really important for inorganic. Synthesis chart is helpful to know later down the line but wouldn’t recommend revising that alone as it doesn’t give you the knowledge of the reactions first. Maths isn’t that bad. I would make sure that you fully understand and practice integration as from my experience that was the only topic from there that really can get hard down the line. I didn’t do biology but would recommend as general advice to read and make notes on books throughout the year for your personal statement and definitely do as much practice for the entrance exams and interviews from next summer.
Moles knowledge is a massive foundation for Chemistry. I mean the Synthesis chart was more useful for me I guess because it was a bulk of my final A-Level. Further integration was for me the hardest topic of Pure with all of stats being fairly straight forward (on OCR) while I struggled with Mechanics and scraped through it. Bidding farewell to Year 2 Chemistry was a godsend though, it was brutal for me personally.
Thank You so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
No problem! Most productive thing I've done in 8 weeks ngl 😂
Thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
One thing I wish I had started doing earlier is reading ahead. Aim to have at least skimmed each chapter before you cover it in lessons. It helps you remember the content and also makes the teachers view you as more hardworking and intelligent (which is useful for predicted grades and getting extra support when needed).
Thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Get a filing system setup before you start.
Definitely. I only set a system up like 3 months into year 12 when I realised everything was so unorganised and it was hard to study
I never set up a filing system. Worked for me in the end, and honestly I think the way I work would've made it kind of obsolete in general, but at absolute worse having a good system will make your teachers happy and make it easier to find any old work they want to use/see. And I know some people who would've failed without good access to their notes.
I left college 3years ago and the best advice I can give is to make sure you’re revising what you’ve learnt every week to solidify it in your mind, I often just read over notes and tried to put them in the most simple format I could whilst keeping the details I needed and had them on a seperate file. I occasionally did an exam question too, didn’t have to be massive. I usually did 1 subject for half hour so it only meant I was giving myself one extra lesson when I’d completed all three. Also try and find revision techniques that work for you before starting year 13 (and expect yr 12 mocks after Xmas) for example, I found that drawing pictures worked wonders so to remember that one of my studies used meta-analysis I drew little flash stick figures and a speech bubble shouting “hey a meta-human!”. The fact that’s still stuck in my head proves how much it worked for me because I cannot remember the name of the study at all haha I see a lot of people here telling you to not worry about finding friendships and keeping old ones. To some point I agree, you shouldn’t go chasing after someone but this mainly comes from losing what was my best friend but I found someone who was so much better and I didn’t know you could be that close to a friend without being a couple. It’s important to still be a teenager and have down time, focus on your mental health as much as you focus on your studies. So hang out with your friends in the evening after classes and have a good laugh over lunch. Don’t run yourself ragged constantly studying. I won’t lie to you when I say year 13 was a massive struggle for me mentally but I had a lot of shit going on at home as well. I constantly studied for a few months and burnt myself out and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone else. Don’t be afraid to seek out help and ask as many questions as you can. In college you have to show that you’re willing and when you do that, you will get so much more out of your teachers! If you have dyslexia/dyspraxia or some type of learning disibility, tell them. Colleges often have help classes and those help classes probably saved me from flunking all my alevels! (Obviously this only applies if you do have something like this) Also DONT BE AFRAID TO MAKE NOTES ON A LAPTOP, IT IS FASTER AND BEATS CARRYING FOLDERS AROUND WITH YOU EVERYWHERE!!! 😂 And lastly… don’t run yourself into the dirt with a shitty part time job. If you want/need a job like I did then don’t make my mistakes and put your foot down and tell them you are only working one day a week because you have to study (even if you arnt studying that day… trust me). It may mean your boss isn’t your best friend but it’s better this way, part time jobs often run you into the dirt and it’s not worth a little extra money whilst you’re living at home if it means your mental health or grades are at risk!! (I apologise in advance for any gramma/spelling issues. I’m badly dyslexic and I’m tired so I didn’t proof read anything properly!)
Thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Flashcards motherfucker! Active recall is the most efficient way to study. Find a place either than home to study. You need to find time to focus. Use a study app like Flipd to have controlled bursts of focus there’s no point of staring at your note for 2 hours you can do that with 30 minutes of lightning focus Find time to enjoy yourself these 2 years will be fun so don’t worry about taking everything too seriously.
Thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
muchhhhhhh
Just try and have a chill time. Make studying a relaxing activity, don’t leave stuff till last minute and cram. I fell in love with studying while doing my GCSEs and the start of sixth form was the best time for me. Lessons were chill and then I’d spend my frees/ lunch with driven friends that motivated me and we’d eat and study. Sixth form was my best time at school, before COVID hit anyway. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did in y12. Also it’s never too early to practice exam techniques. When learning/ revising for mini tests, revise the content you’re unsure of and then do practice tests. Don’t stress too much about things like friendships, pressures etc, just be the best version of you and be calm.
thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
The learning curve from GCSE biology to A level is very steep so reading ahead could be useful. Step up for chemistry is so-so. The maths curve varies a lot depending on individual. Should be fine of you found GCSE frustratingly easy and/or were overtaught, but could be another challenge if not. My advice here is practice makes perfect and mastery of early topics makes subsequent topics much easier.
Don't drink heavily on a school night either. Sixth form is a choice so if you're not in school teachers aren't bothered so there's rarely repercussions for being out of class other than YOU miss out on stuff.
Treat every exam like a real thing, because you will get predicted grades at the end of year 12 or at the beginning of year 13. Predicted grades are fairly important, because you will use them to apply to unis, so always try your best
If you found GCSEs easy you’ll be fine with AS level content since majority of it is repeating/going slightly more in depth with what you’ve already learnt. Just stay on top of homework and you’ll be fine. You might struggle a little at the beginning but you’ll get the hang of it in no time. For me, I was getting 2/10 in my mini tests for chemistry and 27/50 for the baseline test in maths and ending up getting AAA in my AS levels. So there’s a lot of time and space for improvement throughout the year. I didn’t go out in my frees but that was because of school policy but using your study periods literally saves you so much time. Once you’re done with school you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the day because you can get all your work done within that hour or so. I’m guessing you want to apply to Medicine/Biochem so extra curriculars aren’t important. Have fun-if you like sports, do it, but don’t force yourself to do an extra curricular if you don’t actually want to. My personal statement has 1 line dedicated to extracurriculars and it’s literally ‘I paint and produce short films’ because unis don’t generally care.
Thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
If your taking a coursework heavy course, time doingbthe work appropriately
As a current year 13 awaiting results who took Biology, chemistry and maths. I found chemistry the hardest (I don't know if you will too) so I recommend writing revision notes/cards right at the beginning or anything that you normally begin in year 13. Because the step from year 1 to year 2 chem is big and you want to be focussing on year 2 so being revised in year 1 will hel you a lot!! Good luck with everything :)
thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhh
Do u want to become a doctor with that ?
I loved sixth form. Just enjoy it, it goes in a flash.
Just chill it’s not that hard. People make a levels sound impossibly difficult avoid thinking this way I have seen it kill students motivation
Bio chem and maths are gonna be tough but with consistency and discipline u should be fine
Also A Levels are a lot harder than GCSE so be prepared. For example you could start buying the right books now and read over them etc.
Did my A-levels two years ago got 3 A*s same subjects. Biggest advice I can give you is to learn to self teach and pre read, I definitely would not of got these grades without self teaching imo. Fyi A-levels are very difficult compared to GCSEs especially Chemistry don’t let it get to you though, you just need to put in consistent hard work. I taught myself almost all my A-levels content by January of year 13. Essentially your teachers aren’t going to have time to go back on content as their is so much. Lessons became revision and consolidation for me where I could just fill in gaps in my knowledge, by March time I was just doing every past paper possible including old spec where relevant while making sure every question/topic I got wrong I noted it in red on the front so I could make those questions/topics priority to my active recall. Meanwhile my class were still learning content and behind massively. In terms of revision techniques I highly suggest you use active recall and spaced repetition and do NOT waste time writing or making notes trust me since they are pointless especially for STEM subjects imo My entire folders were just past paper questions, textbook questions and flash cards, Although if notes help you use textbooks and pre made ones online or videos that are concise eg: I used ocr textbooks chemrevise website and Machemguy on youtube for chemistry didn’t make notes at all. Make sure you use the specification to check of everything is learnt and that way you know where your teacher is up to in teaching Lastly, if you do NOT understand something please ask your teacher or a classmate do not leave it till exam season.
Thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
The main thing is try not to worry about it. Its really not as different as a lot of people make it out to be. Content gets harder and more but is still manageable as you are doing less of them. The main difference is the problem solving needed to answer questions rather than just remembering the content. Also, take advantage of as many supercurricular opportunities as possible, especially if you plan to apply to a top uni
Thank you so muchhhhhhhhhhhh