Hello ,

Here we are again with the weakly newsletter 😍

Do you do any of A-level Chemistry, Biology or Physics?

Are you wondering how can you ace your exams (next year ones, this year's got cancelled 😶) ?

Then this email will hopefully answer some of your questions.

I always think of revision as consisting in two bits, equally important: understanding and remembering (long-term memory) the concepts and practicing enough to be sure you can apply your knowledge to unfamiliar questions.

In this email I will talk about the first step: how to effectively learn and remember all that content.

MAKING NOTES

The most important thing in your revision journey is that you have well written notes you can study on.

They have to be concise, precise, understandable in 6 months time, well written...

Teachers might use power point presentations to deliver their lessons or they might create notes for you (perhaps leaving some blank spaces for you to fill). Most of the time they are enough, especially for subjects such as Chemistry and Physics where there are lots of calculations; however, for subjects like Biology I have never found them to be ENOUGH, they never really included everything you need to know in the details. This is because different resources explain topics in different ways, some might not mention certain subtopics that are in your specification, others might explain them in a hardly understandable way.

The reason teachers say that A-levels consists in lots of independent work is because you need to go over the topics explained in class yourself and search online or using other textbooks for those "little things" your teacher didn't mention. The difference between A-levels and GCSEs is that you need to know EVERYTHING in the DETAILS; you can't answer a question in general terms and to avoid doing this you need to have solid, in depth knowledge of the topic.

That's why I advise you to use different resources to make notes, and be organised too.

1- Keep separate folders for each subject and divide these folders in small sections representing the topics

• For chemistry for example, divide the folders into Organic, Inorganic and Physical Chemistry. Add a sections for practicals too. Do the same with all the other subjects.
• I also advise you to not mix questions with notes in the folders. Only keep the example questions done in class with your teacher with the written notes. Keep a separate folder or notebook for the practice questions you do by yourself (subdivide this one into topics too).

2- After each lesson, use different resources and start grouping together the notes you took in class with the additional information you have found, in a neat notebook. Keep the subject specification near you to check you don't miss anything. The notes need to be clear because you have to be able to understand them in 3/6/9/12 months time, when you would have probably forgotten certain things.

3- You can then also turn some of your notes into flashcards and mind-maps, especially in the case of keywords, stages of metabolic processes, chemistry equations or mechanisms, formulae...

I do not advise you to ONLY use flashcards and mind-maps because they won't give you the opportunity to go in depth regarding certain concepts. However, they are great study techniques to help you remember easily things and stick them in your long-term memory. Also, flashcards can help you test what you can recall too; they are not enough for you to test your knowledge and how you would apply it though.

Some of the resources I used for Biology are:

• Advanced Biology For You - Garreth Williams (you probably can find it in your sixth form library too)
• CGP Biology (textbook)
• https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/biology-revision/
• Bozeman Science: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEik-U3T6u6JA0XiHLbNbOw

Some of the resources I used for Chemistry:

• https://www.chemguide.co.uk/
• Oxford A-level chemistry books by Janet Renshaw and Ted Lister

3 YouTube videos on each of A-level Chemistry, Biology and Maths in which I list fully all of the resources I have used, the websites I used to practice questions and more will be uploaded soon. To keep being updated on when they'll come up please subscribe to my Youtube channel and turn on the notification bell.

Youtube channel

Also check my video on

HOW TO ACE YOUR A-LEVELS - Maths, Chem, Bio

You can also follow me on Instagram:

Instagram page

In the next email I will hopefully continue on talking about study techniques. It would be great if you tell me your opinion on this email 😊.

Take care,

LadyScience