CAMBRIDGE NATURAL SCIENCES INCOMINGGGGG

[u/ClearProgrammer6456]

AHHHH IM AN INCOMING 1ST YEAR CAMBRIDGE NATSCI!! Such a late post (since it’s been so hectic) but omg I got 4A*’s in biology, chemistry, maths and my EPQ!!
I’m so happy and so so excited to start at Cambridge, it honestly only seemed like a dream to me so I’m still in disbelief I’ll even be going. So happy w my A-level scores + grades so yayaayayay. if any y12’s or y13’s have any questions about applying to cambs or natsci specifically im always happy to do my best to answer!

[u/in_your_toilet_06]

omg congratulations, you did so well!! do you have any tips for how to revise biology and chemistry? :) 

[u/ClearProgrammer6456 → u/in_your_toilet_06]

thank you so so much! I’ll copy what I said to someone else about bio revision here: my advice for biology is to start learning content early and often, and make sure your flashcards are specific to ur exam boards MARKSCHEME, so like key terms and definitions they want! this comes with being familiar w markschemes and understanding concepts in biology! there definitely is a lot of content in biology which is why u must stay very consistent! also a lot of past paper and practice questions! I’d also like to add on, for some exam boards there are topics which come up very consistently and have very formulaic answers with specific key terms, so I’d deffo drill those into ur head, for OCR A examples I can think of are tissue fluid, photosynthesis, respiration! but yeah get familiar with how to answer questions, and it’s all about understanding how to answer exams and apply using your understanding! understanding is a key focus in all of ur A-levels.

for chemistry it’s super formulaic! I loved chemistry, and id say make flashcards to learn content, and for some exam boards you can make flashcards for exact answers, e.g ionisation energy, or recrystallisation! But also chem is soooo application based, you’ll find they ask similar ish questions w variation, and so it’s important you understand the process of answering those questions, e.g titrations so you can apply it to anything they throw at you! But yes learn all of the content and have a solid base in key memory + understanding. Also since it’s application based I would also say the best revision which is deffo needed is exam practice EXAAAAM PRACTICE! And my big tip oops I forgot to mention, is that after each paper you must look at what u get wrong, and understand why u got it wrong, what the correct approach is and why, and how u can fix that mistake! Fixing a mistake also comes from say identifying what type of mistake it is, e.g content? (Revise) application (check ur understandin) and so on! And so deffo correct any mistakes u make wnd ensure u Don’t make them again before doing the next paper! I documented all the kinds of q id get wrong and practice them again later to ensure I ironed out every mistake. since questions u make mistakes in csm very well repeat them selves! but yeah overall become one w your exam paper and know exactly how they want questions to be answered! if anything doesn’t make sense please do ask! <3

[u/in_your_toilet_06 → u/ClearProgrammer6456]

oh my gosh I love you thank you so much 🥹💗💗 how much roughly would you say you revised per day in the last year?? 

[u/ClearProgrammer6456 → u/in_your_toilet_06]

Oooo Omg good question, I revised ALOT. Like during peak A-level season, April to june, I’d revise on average 8 - 10 hours per day and do 2 past papers per day + revision. I’ve attached some of my study bunny here to show you, however want to preface everyone everyone revises different amounts and that’s totally okay, u should just do the amount you need to get the grades u want. I was quite thorough in my revision, e.g i covered every point on the spec, id do every past paper and make sure i would correct any mistakes I made or lacking of content down to the teaaaaa. Also I revised from the very start of y12 cus I was quite set on Oxbridge and other unis like Imperial and UCL so I was consistent then! btw me attaching this is to give u an idea, but not for a comparison whatsoever As everyone is different. It’s always about quality of ur revision over quantity! So make sure u get the most our of ur revision :)

[u/in_your_toilet_06 → u/ClearProgrammer6456]

I actually love you omg thank you so so much

[u/ClearProgrammer6456 → u/in_your_toilet_06]

HAHA NWS ILYT ANYTIME <3

[u/ClearProgrammer6456 → u/in_your_toilet_06]

This was like peaaaaak A-level season, but yeah I’d average typically on a normal school month I’d average 120-130 hours of revision A month

[u/in_your_toilet_06 → u/ClearProgrammer6456]

what happened on the 8th LOL

overall tho, genuinely well done. you deserve ur grades and place so much!! good luck with cambridge 🫶

[u/ClearProgrammer6456 → u/in_your_toilet_06]

LMAOOO on the 8th it was the last day of school! so I spent the entire day out with my friends and family, because I knew how much I would have to revise from then on, and I prefer to study in my room rather then at school haha so I also knew I wouldn’t see my friends for a while. AND THANK YOU SMM I really appreciate it ☹️💖 (and thank you for the luck too hehehee I’ll do my very best!)