Tips On Jumping From Gcse To A Level

Moving on from GCSE to A level can be daunting. Especially when you are not only advancing to a higher level but moving school, or going to college.

You might be hardworking, and an A* student at GCSE; but in my experience A levels are the hardest exam you will ever do. I know of many people who have struggled with this transition. You are going from topics that are easy to grasp, to topics that are in the first year of university. At GCSE you can get away with even just one day of revision before your exam! A level is a different - you should be thinking 12 to 16 weeks at least.

Getting a good Biology grade at A level means that you have to be good in 3 areas: - subject knowledge - revision - exam technique

Without these you are likely to be at least 2 grades below your predicted ability.

The hardest thing about Biology is the depth and breadth of learning you will have to do. Science subjects also require you to develop your problem solving skills. These will be tested if you are going to do any entrance exams to get to into medical school, for example.

The key to doing well in Biology is to remember it is all about structure and function. How does what something look like relate to what it does?

To do best in exams help yourself by figuring out how you learn and remember. The best I can give is to use mind mapping for Biology.

For help with this and other sciences, please contact me.

Best of luck!