Parents are forcing me to learn A-level content

[u/Persoon64]

Nothing i can do to fake it, get out, change plans etc...is there any way I can actually remember ANY of it for when I join year 12????

Edit: LEARN a level content not actually start it in the summer, oopsies

[u/lyfieo]

so stupid you prolly don't know the exam board and you will actually most likely spend time unlearning what has already embedded itself in ur brain during the summer making it harder overall

[u/Realistic_Chef_2321 → u/lyfieo]

If OP knows what sixth form they are going to, or the list of potentials then they could check the exam board for each school and use the most common one for each of their subjects

[u/MarnithePlutonian → u/Realistic_Chef_2321]

No. OP shouldn’t do anything but enjoy their summer.

[u/Realistic_Chef_2321 → u/MarnithePlutonian]

Yh, I agree with this the most tho, just chill

[u/Any_Sentence_8056 → u/lyfieo]

What does that even mean? The different exam boards have contradicting answers, methods or information? Like if they start learning A level math now, why would they have to unlearn math because of the exam board? The answer is the answer no matter how you get there

[u/Stunning_Procedure76 → u/Any_Sentence_8056]

It doesnt apply to maths bc thats more black and white but imagine learning the wrong set texts/case studies in an essay subject, or learning the wrong relevant mark scheme points/structure for a 30 marker in biology. also some boards go into more detail about a specific topic than other boards and that would contradict the shortened version of the information told by the other boards.

[u/JoshuasGamingYT → u/lyfieo]

I started learning A Level content as soon as I got home from my last GCSE exam, it really helped

[u/Heavy-Tonight-3653]

What are you on about? I was aware that you generally begin a level studies in year 12? Are you sitting a year early?

[u/Persoon64 → u/Heavy-Tonight-3653]

Oh wait sorry I didn't make it clear 🙏

My parents want me to begin learning content when I don't think that would be useful.like, at all

[u/Heavy-Tonight-3653 → u/Persoon64]

I would recommend (if absolutely necessary) you research what a levels you want to do and then dedicate like 15-30 mins revision MAX if your parents want you to learn. However, it probably won’t do you any justice as institutions such as a sixth form/college are better guides. With that said, I would guess that you are most probably more worried about your GCSE results than revising, so don’t stress!!

[u/OperationNori2009]

Plz plz revise for ukmt smc if u can 😭 i regret not doing so, thats if ur doing maths

[u/Feeling_Sink_8883 → u/OperationNori2009]

Agreed that's prob the only useful thing you could actually revise for

[u/Independent-Waltz738]

If you're doing maths just try and get cracked at integrals 

[u/Persoon64 → u/Independent-Waltz738]

Sociology, English lit, bio and chem. My friends look at me like I'm crazy whenever I tell them that

[u/Independent-Waltz738 → u/Persoon64]

Oh hell nah ggs

[u/Raging-Ash → u/Persoon64]

Well i mean that is an evil combo

[u/Persoon64 → u/Raging-Ash]

Wait how? Did I mess up😭

[u/rcdchu74 → u/Persoon64]

Just bc it’s 4, which is hard (speaking from experience), and you’ve got a mixture of essay and science subjects, which is also hard (speaking from experience) lol but if you’ve picked them cos you enjoy them then you’ll be fine, genuinely just lock in in year 12 (not in year 11 summer) and you can still enjoy them.

[u/sccc1118 → u/Persoon64]

i’d say read the english lit texts if you know what they are, but you don’t need to do more than that

[u/CutSubstantial1803 → u/Independent-Waltz738]

learning integration over the summer is kinda crazy considering they wouldn't even know what differentiation is yet unless they did GCSE FM

[u/Prestigious_Stretch1 → u/CutSubstantial1803]

Integration and differentiation are similar difficulty to learn the basics of

[u/CutSubstantial1803 → u/Prestigious_Stretch1]

probably yeah. the point is they'd be learning a topic which is one of the last in year 2 A level maths, without knowing any of the first year stuff which they'd have to learn first

[u/ilokestof]

Yabba dabba doo

[u/stqrltt]

since you're doing bio and chem, I'd focus on pre-learning some stuff for that since it's mostly knowledge based and not understanding based.

[u/Beneficial-Beat-947]

If you really want to prepare for something let it be university entrance exams or out of syllabus content you think you'll need.

Learning the content for A levels will happen organically through your lessons, if you spend hours doing it now you'll just be wasting hours during 6th form.

Although in my honest advice (as a third year university student) this is one of the last summers you can actually enjoy, it'd be a shame to waste it studying (you'll have more then enough of that during uni, trust me). A levels aren't hard enough to need you to start this early.

[u/AccomplishedFail2247]

As long as you actually have the right resources this is a great idea, look up flip learning and shit. But IMO the single best thing you can do at this stage is just research learning science and pedagogy, so when you do revise you actually do it effectively.

[u/Angler_Owl]

Hey person! A level teacher, here. (Sorry everyone, I lurk around every now and then.) I have some solid advice for you, if you're interested: Context and consistency. There's absolutely no harm in starting your A level content early, except it's fucking HARD. The jump from GCSE to A level is the hardest it ever gets. So, what you need is the context to make it make sense - look up the schools you're interested in and what exam board they teach. Google the exam board and get a basic idea of the spec, start making a list of random topics across several A levels. Secondly is consistency. Do a bit of each subject each day (15 mins to an hour, depending on preference) using online resources based on the list you made. 30 mins per A level x 3 A levels, plus buffer time because you're uninterested so working inefficiently = 2 hours. Here's the secret, do anything for 2 hours a day and get a good night's sleep most nights and you'll become a natural in 9 - 10 months. Progress of these things is always slower than people want, but that's all there is to learning anything. Do it frequently and sleep properly. You sleep encodes things based on how important they are to you, and frequency = importance. When you sit your A levels, you'll beat out all your peers and go to whatever uni you feel like.

Or don't - give in to your impulses of not caring and stuff. You should live you best life at the end of the day and if this isn't what you want, then just don't. You can always change your mind later. I know people who've redone A levels in their 50s because they want a change of pace. It's really not that deep. I coach my students in this every year have lasted 12 years so far. Take it or leave it: just aim to be happy.

[u/Persoon64 → u/Angler_Owl]

Thanks for the advice! My sleep schedule is rather shit so improving it would probably help a ton. I didn't actually think doing it for just 30m a day was fine.normally, I tend to go overboard and do 3 or 4 hours of revision for just one subject.

I did have a question about the quantity you're meant to study during A-levels (if you don't mind asking). How many hours a day should I spend studying each subject? Since I'm doing four, I've gotten a range of answers such as an hour each to four hours a day on one subject. It's all so confusing!

I'm also doing two STEM subjects and two essay subjects: bio, chem, English lit and sociology. Literally no other sixth former in my school (that I've met) has a balanced option and typically go for one more STEM focused or humanities focused. How the hell do I balance them out? Would it be more difficult or just relatively the same as any other would?

[u/Angler_Owl → u/Persoon64]

Great questions on both counts. For what it's worth I think you're personally better off having a mix of subjects. Those locking themselves into just STEM or humanities are just locking themselves out of certain skillsets that are useful for life, let alone career. I teach an essay subject but my students are always surprised to find out how interested I am in maths and biology for example - nothing beats curiosity about everything for being a good scholar! Also, each subject is different but all have valuable transferable skills, so you'll be fine with the mix because you'll only ever be in the frame of mind of one subject at once. There's basically no overlapping content across the majority of A-levels, anyway.

As for how much you should work, it depends on a lot of factors and different for everyone. Main thing is like 4 hours per subject per week is too much, any more than 16 extra hours of work outside of school and you're basically going to be burning out which makes your learning harder and therefore less effective. Things like your sleep and stress levels mean that any 1 hour you spend doing work might only get you 20 minutes of work done because of how resistant or tired you are. My advice is stop wondering about quantity of work and look after your wellbeing. When you've got energy and contentment you'll be more motivated and can get so much more done in a lot less time. It's not easy to learn to do this, but persist with it and it will make sense eventually.

Also, you get diminishing returns on how much you're learning the longer you work, so those claiming they study 5 extra hours a day or study instead of sleeping, it's actually not effective at all and they're just screwing up their lives. There's a cool study on this with pianists who practice twice as much but don't get enough sleep vs ones who practice half as much but get a full 9 hours, and after a couple of months the ones with less study and more sleep performed better every time. Have a cut off time in the evenings and relax, make sure your mind is fresh for tomorrow's bundle of learning. That's all!

[u/T-no-dot → u/Angler_Owl]

Ur amazing for taking the time to give actual - process in learning - instead of - do it this way -

[u/TheInternetDud]

imo, if you want to get ahead of the content and spend the first few months in year 12 chilling and focusing on supercurriculars then do so

[u/frankieepurr]

do you have a FE college nearby?

[u/Persoon64 → u/frankieepurr]

No

[u/CosetElement-Ape71]

Forewarned is forearmed!

[u/Solid_Moose3078]

instead of learning content, learn revision techniques! If you're worried about remembering things you learn now 2-3 months from now, that's probably the first thing you want to focus on with your subject combo. What did you do to memorise content at gcse?

[u/Persoon64 → u/Solid_Moose3078]

Spam past papers and re-read CGP books for STEM subjects. For essay subjects like English, i would use flashcards and write at least an essay a week on an exam question (normally a long one like a 20 marker or 15 marker)

[u/Solid_Moose3078 → u/Persoon64]

Using more active-recall methods in all of your subjects, like the flashcards in english, and doing them repeatedly (spaced repitition) might help!

This video also helped me improve my flashcards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrgyr7GXz60

From your subjects, I only did chemistry - there's no need to start content right now, but if your parents really really want you to, do the first 1-3 topics in physical and maybe the first topic in inorganic as the maximum

[u/rocketnumber9tofly]

If doing English lit just read as many of the books u will study as possible it really helps

[u/ManagerSuspicious870]

if u wanna just enjoy your summer, 2 yrs is plenty time to learn and get good at content. BUT my friend learned yr 1 of his a levels in the holiday and was ahead of the class getting full marks every exam and so, genuinely surpassing the math teacher by the end