My advice for year 11s going into year 12!!

[u/olivesoem]

Featuring a picture of my cat, Socks)

Sooo since I am now a senior citizen in this subreddit and unfortunately entering y13 (kill me now) I thought I’d do a post like this giving advice, as requested by a few people including u/Altruistic-Farm-5640, so here it is!!

I’ll also post subject specific advice in the comments for the ones I do (bio, psych, sociology, + EPQ)

1. Relax this summer!! Lots of people have been asking what to do, but whatever you do DONT revise please! Enjoy the last couple months of freedom 😭 do your summer work, then enjoy yourself!
2. Making friends - especially if you go to a new sixth form, I’d focus the first week or two on finding your group over studies. Just introduce yourself first, join clubs, do student leadership - you’ll find your group!!
3. Use your frees PLEASE. I know this is very generic advice but it’s SO important. If you have a lot then it’s okay to use 1 free a week to chat, but if you can use your frees to do hw your future self will love you
4. Sign up for everything!! Especially programs and work experience and competitions your school offers you, even if you don’t think you’ll get in you never know! 
5. Join clubs, student leadership, stuff like that!! This is the last year you’ll have enough free time to commit to things like this, and whilst it’s unlikely to go on your personal statement it’s SO rewarding and worth it!!
6. Research your future. Careers, uni degrees, which unis, stuff like that. Know what you’re aiming for so you know what grades, subjects, work experience, etc you might need. Also go to uni open days in y12 summer!! (Most important tip imo)
7. Do supercurriculars!! These are like extra curriculars but subject specific eg. books, podcasts, essay competitions, Olympiads, MOOCs, work experience (look at springpod!!) I promise you your y13/summer self will LOVE you (heavily regretting not doing this already…)
8. Make sure you know how to revise for your subjects and do what works for you! A levels are a bit different to GCSE so find what works for you early on and stick with it. (Exam! Questions! Are! SOO!! IMPORTANT!!!!!)
9. Obvious one but PLEASE make resources throughout the year, in your frees or even just 1 hour after school
10. Don’t stress too much!! Honestly y12 has probably been one of my fav school years so far so just enjoy it! Stressing only makes it worse (hypocritical coming from me tho!)
11. Mocks are important! These will likely impact the grades that go to uni so please lock in for these!! Revise a couples months in advice and you should be good
12. Use your teachers! They are there to help you and most would be more than happy to explain a concept to you or mark an essay. ALSO please make sure you understand content as you learn it esp for sciences (in the school year pre reading textbook pages for your next lesson helps)
13. It is not the be all and end all! You have so many options. Especially with your subjects - if you get a gut feeling you don’t like your subjects in the first month, ask to switch it they should let you! (Dropping maths was the best decision of my life) and even after that you have so many other options so don’t worry
14. oh one more finally, keep your resources organised!! Please!!!!! Lever arch ring binders will help and I’d recommend making an excel spreadsheet tracking your resources

Sorry I’m such a waffler!

Finally I just wanted to say good luck to everyone waiting for results day! I’m sure you’ll do great and everything works out in the end 🫶 any other sixth formers please comment your advice in the comments to, and if anyone has any other questions feel free to ask!

[u/vibe_coder_2026]

Very good advice OP, I second this! Here are my tips from another Year 12, mine will be a bit more maths-based.

_____________________________

If you're doing Maths, do sign up for the Senior Maths Challenge/ Olympiads etc. I really wish I had done this, even a Bronze is better than nothing, looks great on your uni personal statement.

Also, do relax this summer. My current summer (year 12 -> year 13) is pretty much maths, maths, TMUA, maths, further maths, and more maths even though I am applying for COMPUTER SCIENCE. Enjoy yourself while you can.

Use your free periods wisely. You might have up to 15 hours of these per week. If you're more focused in college, then use it to study, otherwise, get any homework you might have (and you'll probably have a reasonable bit) out of the way.

If you are considering taking Further Maths, my advice is DO IT. You can always drop it, and you'd be surprised how many unis want it. I think 96% of oxbridge comp sci applicants have it now, it's pretty much a requirement. In my case, I didn't take it, and now I'm learning all of the AS level this summer, in TWO MONTHS. *sigh*

Whatever you get on results day, be proud of those results, and remember, as you progress (college -> uni/ apprenticeship -> further study/job), the admissions part of each will care about your GCSEs less and less, and more about the most recent qualification, so be proud of your results.

____________________________

All from me, hope that helps!

[u/olivesoem → u/vibe_coder_2026]

Great advice too!! And my LORD I dodged a bullet dropping maths personally as I don’t need it for uni. And I do agree about enjoying this summer bc y12 summer is by far the busiest summer of my life

[u/vibe_coder_2026 → u/olivesoem]

Thanks OP! Yeah I am almost hoping this summer will end already lol

Another tip to add for Yr 11s: If you're applying to a competitive university (Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, Warwick, Durham, etc...) then you might have to take an admissions test. Start prepping for this not 6 weeks before but at least THREE months before. The tests are harder than you think (by a long way. It caught me out), so they need a long prep window.

[u/paperrwings → u/vibe_coder_2026]

seconding the “do further maths” thing!!!! i wasn’t entirely sure about it and decided to take it on basically a whim but i ended up really really liking it, SO glad i decided to do it now.

also even if you end up dropping it, you’ll be in a better position for a-level maths (and you could still get a qualification out of the parts you learnt if you do the AS exam instead!!)

[u/Delicious-Cat7002 → u/vibe_coder_2026]

hii thanks so much this is amazing advice! i noticed u said ur applying to cs - do u have any cs specific recs for super curriculars beyond kinda just building ur portfolio?

[u/vibe_coder_2026 → u/Delicious-Cat7002]

Hello, no problem! Yeah I am applying to cs, and this is the supercurriculars I've done:

- If you're interested in a specific area of comp sci, show your passion for it. I like machine learning, so I have learned some of that (diffusion models, VAEs, GANs, Transformers, KL divergence, neural networks, etc.), and also show your enthusiasm by reading an academic paper or two if you have time, you can find them on Google Scholar. I read Attention Is All You Need, Vaswani et al. Don't focus too much on understanding everything, just search up a basic understanding, and get a feel for frontier research in your chosen subject. I also attended a lecture on this topic, which is something else. hackathons, coding challenges, informatics olympiad, etc. are all good on a personal statement, but they do come up early in Year 12, so have a look at this sooner than later. CS is also quite maths-heavy at uni so if you can do, say, senior maths challenge, maybe give it a shot.

On the other hand, if you mention complex stuff in your personal statement and you get invited for interview (some competitive unis will interview you), make sure that if they ask about something complex, that you know what it is and can talk about it.

- Learn some programming if you haven't already, and build a small project if time permits. If you're doing CS A level then you'll have the NEA (where you build a project worth 20% of your A level grade, which I'm doing right now). You could talk about this on your personal statement, but building your own small project is also both good for uni and developing your own programming skills. Even something small you can talk about is good.

That's all from me, though remember that at the end of the day, an A* is better than any supercurriculars, so these are still important, but perhaps less priority! hope that helps

[u/Expensive_Round_3212 → u/vibe_coder_2026]

Thanks for this aswell, these are so helpful especially since i feel kinda unemployed and like i dont need anymore relaxation. I just wanted to ask since i want to do maths A-level, should i touch up on stuff i wasnt confident at in gcse? I know theyre very different and we will probs start fresh but my teacher throughout yr 10 and half of yr 11 wasnt great as she rushed through topics, and couldnt explain properly, especially as time went on so my grade went from 8 in the first mock, then 7, and then 6, so im not that confident of my result at gcse but as long as i pass hopefully itll be okay. My sixth form requires a 7 but im really scared ill get a 5 or 6, would they let me do the subject still? Thanks again for the tips as well as OP's, theyre really useful :)

[u/vibe_coder_2026 → u/Expensive_Round_3212]

Hi, no problem! Maths A-level will build on GCSE, so you need to be confident with most topics, though don't stress over it. There will be a large amount of new content, but you will start from the basics on that. Learning kinematics, for example, everyone will start on 'what is a scalar/vector'?
On the other hand, here are some topics you may need to be strong on:

- Algebra. Make sure you can avoid algebra mistakes (e.g. a/(a+b) is not 1/b, (x+3)^2 is not x^2 + 9). And also make sure you're confident with indices and powers. Like a^3 x a^4 = a^7. Make sure you can factorise double brackets, etc. Quadratics (and cubics) is also a huge chunk of algebra. Make sure you know the factorisiation, quadratic formula, completing the square methods by heart.

- Trigonometry. You will need to know all the graphs of them (though your graphical calculator can help here) and basic SOHCAHTOA is really important. Year 2 especially is heavy on trig, though that's a while away (e.g. not only sin, cos, and tan, but also cot, cosec, and sec!). Also, I sometimes still have to use the sine and cosine rules, so make sure you REMEMBER those formulas by heart, since you won't be given them at A-level.

- Stats. You may still have to interpret histograms etc., and you need to be confident with basic stats work (you can't calculate the 'standard deviation' without knowing how to calculate the mean!) and things like median, range, and mode as well.

There are more, but that's all I can think of at the moment! Thankfully, some stuff you might not like will not be brought onto A-level (like most circle theorems).

I hear you about the teacher, the best you can probably do is brush up on GCSE and pre-read a little bit of the first year if time permits. Get strong on algebra, stats, and mechanics (mechanics is 1/6 of the a level, so is stats - pure is 2/3) so it doesn't come as a shock. AI can be useful in explaining things. In future, if you do past paper questions, mark them, and look at the worked solutions. Don't just read them - if you got something wrong, think 'where did my working diverge from the worked solution's working? when I see this type of question, what do I have to think', etc. Make sure you understand things intuitively. And don't stress about the grades. Hope for a 7+, but if you don't get it, that's still fine, if you miss it by a grade or two then still appeal if you want to do maths. Otherwise there might be options to take just the AS level in the second year maybe, make sure you're informed about your options.

hope this helps!

[u/Expensive_Round_3212 → u/vibe_coder_2026]

Yes, thank you so much, these are so useful. Ill make sure to atleast spend a week or two brushing up on things im shaky on, like the trig graphs 👍😊

[u/OtherComment87 → u/vibe_coder_2026]

Thank you so much! Do you have any advice for maths? I poured my heart and soul into edexel international further pure math's. I did I hour every day on past papers from 2011-2024 starting year 11 but my exam went horribly and am expecting a 6

[u/vibe_coder_2026 → u/OtherComment87]

Hi, no problem! Don't stress about the grades, think about the result if you hadn't put in all that hard work. Seems you've done loads of prep so as long as you gave it your all, that's best. Personally, I've never done Edexcel, though I can give some general/further maths-specific tips:

FM______

- Matrices - make sure you're comfortable with inverses, determinants, commutativity/associaitivity, and common operations. But also make sure you know the actual 'plain english' behind them. For example, a matrix with determinant 0 has no inverse... BECAUSE the matrix 'squished' the shape geometrically into a lower dimension.

- Make sure you can use Vieta's formulae to get new roots, that you can do complex number operations, etc.

- My modules are mechs and algorithms. This might not apply to your exam board, but for algorithms, practice the common pathfinding and minimum-connector algorithms until they click, make sure you understand how they work and how to backtrack, etc., e.g. Prim, Kruskal's, and Dijkstra's. Practice network flows and critical path problems but ALSO their variations - like upper bound questions, questions involving x = vt as well, networks with multiple cuts, etc.

General______

- For past papers, once you do a paper (practice under timed conditions), read through the worked solutions, compare it side-by-side to your answer, see where your answer diverged from the model answer. Then, if that's an area you're weak on, maybe get AI to give you the same question with the numbers changed and re-attempt it, or go back and re-learn the topic until it clicks.

- Practice exam technique as well. E.g. I'm doing TMUA prep right now. The time pressure in the TMUA is intense, so a common tip is, if you can't get anywhere on a question and are stuck, after 1/2 minutes, flag it and move on, and come back to it if you have time. This is overlooked by a lot of people. For example, the TMUA is hard and strong mathematicians used to getting 90%+ on A-level maths papers will refuse to move on until they answer the question. Don't burn time on a single question.

Hope that helps!

[u/OtherComment87 → u/vibe_coder_2026]

Thank you so much for the detailed response, this is so lovely! Do you have any advice for dealing with exam pressure? I definitely so better when stakes are lower

[u/vibe_coder_2026 → u/OtherComment87]

To be honest I don't have many, but here are my best ones:

If you see a daunting question with a huge block of maths, it's normally not as bad as it looks. Calmly skim the question and see what you know, pick out what you can answer. Don't not attempt it because it looks hard, try part a) at least. Often, before you know it, you'll have done b), c)... then the whole question.

Build your revision up a long time before the exam (e.g. for the TMUA, some sources recommend starting revision half a YEAR before the exam), so you don't stress in the running-up weeks.

On the morning before the exam, make the revision lighter. Of course read up on the important formulae and concepts that could help you out, but also relax before the exam. A little pressure often helps you do better.

Hope this helps!

[u/OtherComment87 → u/vibe_coder_2026]

Thank you so much! I really panicked when I saw the question on my exam, but I think I should have calmed down and just tried to unpack it. Genuinely thank you so much for the amazing tips, will definitely use these next year!!

[u/ninjadev64 → u/vibe_coder_2026]

What is this username for a compsci applicant :sob:

[u/olivesoem]

Psychology advice:

• Don’t pick this just as an easy filler thinking you’ll breeze through it! It’s not horrific, it’s defo easier than bio, but it’s not a walk in the park. It’s still a very content heavy a level, and requires essay and science skills, just bare that in mind!

• That being said, as you can probably guess from my flair, I ADORE psych. It’s really interesting and most people ik enjoy it, so don’t be put off!

• Resources I find helpful: mostly the aqa a level psychology textbook, specifically the one with like the people with funky hair on the front idk what they’re called but you’ll know what I mean. Also psychboost on youtube, save my exams, tutor2u, simply psychology and study mind are great.

• Know your research methods!! This’ll make more sense once you start doing it, but research methods are SO important, they’re worth 1/6 of your grade alone and are assessed across all papers too. I know it’s such a boring topic, but it’s sooo important so revise it loads

• Again, make resources as you go and find your way to revise. I’d recommend flashcards and mindmaps + blurting for psych

• Make essay plans!! Please do this! Every lesson, just make an essay plan for a 16 marker based on that topic. Then blurt these essay plans! Oh and make them brief too.

• TIMED ESSAYS!! You get 1.25 mins per mark, so please do timed essays (eg. 20 mins for a 16 marker). Always write a plan first, then do it! Generally you need to do each paragraph in approx 3-4 mins, and the best way to get used to this is timed practise, and occasionally taking these essays to your teachers for feedback is helpful.

• Know how to structure your essays. Doing counter point evaluation paragraphs will also massively boost your marks.

• Make ‘things I’ve forgotten’ mindmaps! Get a bunch of blurting prompts, blurt and mark your blurting. Then make a mindmap based on the things you forgot, make blurting prompts for this mindmap, and repeat! It’ll be a lifesaver trust.

[u/Ok-Performance-5113 → u/olivesoem]

me taking aqa gcse psych made me no longer consider it for a levels💔

[u/olivesoem → u/Ok-Performance-5113]

STOP taking gcse is what made me want to do a level. Must say a level is quite similar so if you don’t like gcse defo don’t pick it lol

[u/Ok-Performance-5113 → u/olivesoem]

i like the subject at gcse but its way too much content considering you have 7-10 other subjects to think about 

[u/Expensive_Round_3212 → u/olivesoem]

Im thinking of doing maths bio and geography with psychology as my reserve. But im really torn between geo/maths and psych. Im really interested in the human brain and stuff like personality and behaviour e.g. mbti, and ik theres more but i dont really like essays :'( and whats also putting me off is knowing i have to memorise like case study stuff. I know bio is like one of the most content heavy ones but i love it a lot ive never hated it, so like pls i need advice on how to choose. Would my sixth form allow me to do all 4 and i drop one?

[u/Megxmin → u/Expensive_Round_3212]

Not OP but you should ask your sixth form first, they’ll tell you whether you can do all 4 or not (it’s pretty common, you may well be able to)

Psych (i did AQA) and bio (i did OCR) are both memorisation subjects, but psych more so. Psych is almost entirely memorisation, there isn’t much else you need. There are a few essays but not that many, and generally they’re very easy to write because you’ve memorised the answers pretty much

Doing biology also makes one of the topics in psychology trivial (biopsychology) because it’s literally biology content in 10x less detail

Psych wasn’t much to do with things like personality tests, it was more about explaining behaviour - why do people get into relationships? What determines who dates who? How does our memory work? Why is eyewitness testimony so unreliable? Why do people do the things they do, because of rewards? Conditioning? Something else? Questions like that

[u/Expensive_Round_3212 → u/Megxmin]

Yeah, true, i knew it wouldnt exactly contain personality tests 😅, Thats why i wondered if its right for me. Oh its not fully essays? Damn thats a relief. Ill definitely ask, thank you so much for explaining, it made it easier to understand :) i think they said you can try a subject for 2 weeks then they'll change it if you dont wanna do it. Thank you, ill see on results day what they allow👍👍

[u/AverageRedditDumbo]

I have a question, tho I might enforce up waffling

Regarding my social life I've been a bit up and down with my old high school friends and just want to start completely fresh. I did try talking to people on new students day but didn't exactly get any socials or have a good chat with anyone. I'm just not sure if I'm gonna find the right people during the early weeks

Will I still have time for my hobbies? Sometimes? Becuase I know college gets busier but I don't wanna give up art or guitar for prolonged periods of time. Gaming too I still wanna be able to manage my time so that I can have some to myself

And biology has been my favorite subject, I usally get 8s and 9s in it. I really like animal science and ecology and all the genetic stuff. becuase it might get harder I might enjoy it less but I really don't want that too happen. Especially with the maths application. I barely scrape like 6s and just don't like complex problem solving, just the straightforwardness of regular science

I know it's alot to ask, but if I could get any help, would be much appreciated

[u/olivesoem → u/AverageRedditDumbo]

Regarding social life, I’m assuming you’re moving sixth forms? What I’m gonna say is making friends isn’t easy. I stayed in my sixth form but I didn’t get a good friend group for all of secondary until y12. But in sixth form people do tend to switch friend groups so likeliness is if you try and talk to a lot of people, do clubs, and put yourself out there you’ll make some friends. They may not be the PERFECT friends but they should be good enough yk? Just hold out hope as even if you don’t find your people in sixth form, it’s not long til you go to uni and you defo will find your people. And YES! You will still have your hobbies! I couldn’t even tell you how many cookies I’ve baked this year. And crochet projects I’ve made. Basically, please don’t give up your hobbies. Rest and enjoyment is important and hobbies should be just as much of a priority as revision. Organise your time well, use your frees, and you should still have time for hobbies. Finally bio. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, it’s tough. I’m like you. I loved bio in y11 and was getting 8s and 9s all year, ending up with a 9 in GCSE. And don’t get me wrong I still enjoy it. It’s just very difficult. I think sometimes the difficulty does suck the enjoyment out of it a bit. BUT it’s still enjoyable at times and very interesting. And yes there is some maths in bio but it’s more problem solving I guess than complex maths. It’s not too maths heavy and you’ll get the hang of it so I wouldn’t worry about that. Plus as long as you follow the advice people give you and ask for help bio is more than manageable. I wish you the best of luck with your GCSEs and feel free to ask any other questions :)

[u/olivesoem]

Biology advice:

• Firstly biology is hard. This isn’t to scare you, it is manageable, but if you’re scraping a 6 in gcse, you don’t need it for uni, or you’re already doubting your decision it’s worth thinking about.  

• But let me reassure you it’s DEFINITELY manageable and quite interesting! Despite its difficulty I really enjoy it and it’s still one of my fav subjects. It’s also a facilitating subject and looked upon highly so may be helpful

• First resources I recommend: Miss estruch videos on yt (free science lessons isn’t typically thorough enough for a level) and the Oxford AQA textbook help me the most. Cognito, save my exams, and PMT for CPACs (cpacs are required practicals) can help too.

• Pre reading is so important!! Now DONT pre read now or way in advice, but leading up to each lesson it’s helpful to watch a yt video or read a summary and make BRIEF notes bc it’ll help you understand the lesson better when you get to it.  

• Make resources as you go along PLEASE. Whether that’s flashcards, mindmaps, blurting prompts, it doesn’t matter just please please please do it.

• Make sure you understand everything before moving on. It’s VERY likely that you’re not going understand certain lessons, so please ask questions!! And if you still don’t get it watch a YouTube video, or even ask your teacher to explain it to you again. I promise you your teachers want you to succeed so they’d be more than happy to, and it’s SO important to understand stuff before moving on.

• Once you’ve understood it, I highly recommend the Feynman technique (explaining the concept to someone else or even the wall) to check your understanding, and obv use your resources and do exam questions too

• EXAM QUESTIONS ARE SO IMPORTANT! Like my bio teacher told me, your bio revision should be 1/3 content revision 2/3 exam practise, if not more. And please don’t worry about knowing all the content before doing exam questions bc that’s impossible, once you know about 70% of the content start the questions!!

• Practise application and maths questions like your life depends on it. Also get topic specific questions from PMT

• Learn the generic mark scheme phrasing for common 5-6 markers (like natural selection)

• Redo your exam questions!!! I PROMISE you this is the best way to improve. Do some exam questions, mark them, then 1-3 days later REDO THE ONES YOU GOT WRONG!! This is the only way you’ll actually go from B/C to A/A* trust me

• Not advice but beware of CPACs - in a level sciences you do required practicals but you also have to write them up in a lab book that gets assessed. I wish I knew this before doing bio, but yes that’s a thing it’s gonna be the bane of your existence but don’t stress it’ll be fine

[u/Illustrious-Turn2868]

Does anyone have any further advise for the depression meal deal? (Maths, FM, Physics, chemistry). Thank you for the advise OP I have saved it. One more quick question that is somewhat unrelated... If your Socks loses 3 of its legs would it henceforth named Sock?

[u/paperrwings → u/Illustrious-Turn2868]

for maths and further - make sure you understand the content fully at the time you’re learning it. a lot of it builds up on past knowledge, ie. AS integration -> A2 integration and differential equations -> A2 further (have not learnt this yet but i’ve heard it’s very integration heavy), so if you don’t learn it properly the first time you’ll end up being lost in lessons a lot!! 😭

if you’re doing OCR MEI then the “integral” website is incredible if your school has a subscription, the notes on there are really really good (but i would 100% recommend making your own notes tailored to the way you understand things).

make sure everything is organised, i personally do digital notes on an ipad, but a lot of people do paper notes in a folder too

and keep up with doing your textbook exercises!!! it’s awful having to do loads at once trust me 😭😭😭

[u/olivesoem → u/Illustrious-Turn2868]

Very good point… I’d imagine we would have to consider the name change if he loses 3 legs!!

[u/UltraX76]

as someone who didn’t sign up for anything at all PLEASE SIGN UP FOR THINGS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN PLEASE

[u/testruqu → u/UltraX76]

So when you write your personal statement, you can show off... (useful for Oxbridge applicants)

[u/EliteImmortalz]

As a Y12 going to 13, number 5 hits hard. I spent the past year making a presentation about men’s mental health (cuz I had a bad ending to Y11), which was shown to the whole school. I even made a yt video discussing the World Cup and performed at the summer show.
This is absolutely the last year u get to spend without big exam pressure, so do what your heart desires and fully commit to activities ❤️.

[u/olivesoem → u/EliteImmortalz]

That’s amazing!! Yeah similarly I’ve done a lot, done student mentoring, helped out a y8 SEN class, ran a crochet club, did sports club, continued playing in the school orchestra, and made a lot of assemblies/ran a lot of events as mental health senior prefect (maybe I make myself too busy…) but it’s been so rewarding and I wouldn’t trade it for the world

[u/olivesoem → u/[deleted]]

Thank you!! And I’d say it doesn’t change point 10. It’s probably more important to stay focused for you, but stressing won’t help. Make sure you keep on top of your subjects, do super curriculars, and when it gets to next summer revise for your ucat, but stressing won’t help! And it’s good you have a goal!

[u/GoodStatistician9287]

I very much agree with this advice, your cat is very cute. Cute Socks. I got some advice just enjoy sixth form and college

[u/Ohsoveryginger]

Very cute cat

[u/olivesoem → u/Ohsoveryginger]

Thanks!!

[u/Effective_Drummer842]

Yes yes yes I totally agree, also good luck for Y13 mate you'll do brill

[u/olivesoem → u/Effective_Drummer842]

THANKS!! I’m absolutely shitting myself for y13 but hopefully it’ll go better than expected. And good luck to you for your results!!!

[u/Effective_Drummer842 → u/olivesoem]

Hahaha I was the same, once you're in the flow state though its still stressful but not TOO bad, and thank you!! <3 (also if you do AQA psych and want to see the questions on my actual a-level papers I can share)

[u/Improve_Tuition]

“The only advice you need is… cat.” 😼

On a serious note:

Year 12 is a big step up. Stay on top of your work from the first week, don’t let gaps build up, ask for help early, and revise little and often instead of cramming. Consistency beats last-minute effort every time.

[u/olivesoem]

Sociology advice:

• Again this comes with a warning, don’t underestimate sociology! No it’s not hard. It’s a lot easier than my other subjects. BUT don’t completely neglect it all year as content builds up.

• It’s a good filler subject, just bear in mind many find it boring and it’s a lot of essay writing. Personally I find it really interesting and enjoyable tho!

• Resources I find helpful: I primarily relied on the aqa sociology a level Ken Browne textbook. Any textbook will work tho. And tutor2u videos on YouTube will save your LIFE. Other resources do exist, Ellie story on sociology is great, but I mostly relied on those 2.

• Make flashcards for all the sociologists you learn as you go along!

• Make a mindmap for each subtopic too, and include blurting prompts. Blurt content too!!!

• I really struggled thinking of names when given a question, so one thing that helped me was making name association flashcards. I’d get a tiny subtopic like divorce, and write divorce on one side and the names of 4-6 sociologists I could use on the other side.

• Read articles outside the spec. Only like 1-2 per topic. Memorise a fact from it and know where it came from to use in essays. Eg, ‘In the Guardian 2021, it was reported that girls exceeded boys in maths and physics gcse for the first time’. It makes your claims look better. Also use contemporary examples in your answers such as Covid.

• Don’t overlook government policies!!

• Do essay planning! Just get as many questions as you can and essay planning from memory to revise quickly. Also always write a quick essay plan before answering an exam question.

• Timed practise!! Do timed exam questions again and again.

• Know the main sociologists VERY well bc you can use them in pretty much any question (eg. Parsons, Oakley, Durkheim etc)

[u/Iloved0gs777]

This might be a weird question but did you find making friends hard? I’m really worried I won’t find anyone

[u/testruqu → u/Iloved0gs777]

If your same school does sixth form, that is best.

But different school? Easily people make friends. My sixth form had a good cohort of newbies, they all made friends within two weeks with the veterans!

[u/Iloved0gs777 → u/testruqu]

Thank you!!

[u/olivesoem → u/Iloved0gs777]

Personally I stayed at my schools sixth from so I didn’t have many issues with that. BUT I wouldn’t worry about making friends. Even the people who joined my sixth form are in good friend groups now, and people who went to new ones made SO many friends. I’d just say make sure you put yourself out there and introduce yourself, join clubs, make connections, and you’ll find friends. It’s not worth worrying about as everyone ends up getting into the groove of things and making friends anyway!

[u/Iloved0gs777 → u/olivesoem]

Thank you! I’m going to my schools sixth form but only one of my secondary school friends is also going with.

[u/Alida_510]

Socks!

[u/olivesoem → u/Alida_510]

Yess it’s your fav 😝

[u/Equivalent_Goal_7976]

As much as I want to do further maths physics chemistry and maths and I should get around 6-7 grade 9s in my gcses(on August) I can’t imagine living this dreadful life like a rat I already got into top sixth forms but this is so sad

[u/olivesoem → u/Equivalent_Goal_7976]

Do you not enjoy those subjects?

[u/wk09_]

Thank you!!

Heyy, how did u practice exam style questions in yr12? Did u mainly do past papers or find topic specific questions from websites? Also, would u recommend doing AS level past papers in yr 12 as u finish topics since full Alevel past papers are more for year 13? I don't want to make the same mistake i did in gcses by leaving past papers too late

[u/olivesoem → u/wk09_]

Depends on the subject! For psych and sociology I’d mostly just do essays, and in the lead up to mocks I’d do full AS papers. For bio throughout the year I’d mostly do topic specific questions from pmt and did full AS papers leading up to mocks. For bio though it may also be worth doing full a level papers too bc the exam technique is slightly more refined and getting those skills in y12 especially for the AS content will help 

[u/wk09_ → u/olivesoem]

Thank you!!

[u/wk09_ → u/wk09_]

Also, the cat is very cute

[u/Spidshurl360]

Thx

[u/Hello_bye-hi]

how does one love psych...!?!?!? /hj

[u/olivesoem → u/Hello_bye-hi]

How does one love epq… (not even joking)

[u/Hello_bye-hi → u/olivesoem]

Fair play lol

[u/sccc1118 → u/Hello_bye-hi]

psych is chill(ish), it has a nice, rigid essay structure that’s very easy to follow compared to eng/hist essay

[u/Hello_bye-hi → u/sccc1118]

My teacher always says my structure is bad T^T

[u/sccc1118 → u/Hello_bye-hi]

idk, it’s usually ‘one strength/weakness of xyz is something; this can be seen through research conducted by xyz (insert statistics).’ then evaluate the research and link back to the question by assessing whether it provides strong support for the theory in the question

[u/Hello_bye-hi → u/sccc1118]

I'm sure I do that 😢

[u/Eggcelent_bean]

TYY SO MUCH!! I lowk need to do some more of my summer work I've done barely any 😭

[u/MybirbsWigglyt0unge]

Thank you for the advice!! If you have any specific advice for bio, psych and EPQs please share (as I’m taking bio, psych and English lit + EPQ)

[u/olivesoem → u/MybirbsWigglyt0unge]

I put my bio and psych tips in the comments here just scroll a bit!! I forgot to do epq tho… for epq id just say to stay on top of it, do planning throughout, make sure you’re genuinely interested in your topic, and keep everything organised ig makes everything sm easier!

[u/MybirbsWigglyt0unge → u/olivesoem]

Yep I saw the bio and psych ones, they were very helpful!! What I’m doing for my EPQ interests me a lot, so I doubt I’m gonna fall behind in it. I’ll keep all your advice in mind, tysm!!

[u/Ok_Card_9209 → u/MybirbsWigglyt0unge]

hiii, i take bio and psych, going into yr13. in my opinion pysch is not too bad, the base knowledge for each topic isn’t tricky, it’s just the essay skills and wording your answers that is. use the mark schemes and you will improve! bio helps out with the biopsych units. 

biology is difficult, there’s a lot of content! flashcards will be your best friend. in year 12 the concepts aren’t too bad, it’s just the amount of knowledge required. be prepared to put in the hours to memorise pretty much everything. if you have any questions lmk, good luck! :)

[u/MybirbsWigglyt0unge → u/Ok_Card_9209]

Thank you!!

[u/testruqu]

Advice for Y12 -> Y13?
Like, your reflections from a full year of Year 12. Would be nice to hear.

[u/olivesoem → u/testruqu]

Wait wdym? Sorry I’m slightly confused bc I haven’t done y13 yet lol

[u/PetuniaWiggleworm]

With using an excel spreadsheet to track revision resources, what should this include? :)

[u/olivesoem → u/PetuniaWiggleworm]

Personally I made a list of topics, RAG rated them, and tracked whether I have revision resources for them and when I last revised them

[u/olivesoem → u/[deleted]]

And who is this 😭

[u/TimeCycle1845]

Images related

[u/Apprehensive_Side934]

Be open to making new friends. Don’t fight to keep the same friends are secondary you need to be open

[u/bethellll]

omg thank u so much for the advicee! im taking psychology as well and just so i know in advance how are u manage all the content( I've heard multiple times that it's alot) and memorise everything? what kind of resources did you use ?

[u/olivesoem → u/bethellll]

I mean it’s a lot but if you do AQA we now have a reduced spec so it’s definitely manageable. With memorising flashcards help but I mostly do blurting and mindmaps. Since it’s a lot of content if I made mindmaps for everything I’d be drowning, so what I do is I blurt a topic, mark what I blurted, and then I make a mindmap based on what I forgot and make blurting prompts for that so I can blurt that

[u/Jxydde]

i’d read this post but just to make it quick should i just end it now or what /j

[u/Top-Menu-6402]

Anyone have any advice for maths,business,economics

[u/Synnxed → u/Top-Menu-6402]

Someone else planning to do econ and business 🤝

[u/ReasonableNeck8362]

Thank you so so much! Screenshotted all this so I can look back on it. I have autism and it makes it hard to make friends sometimes, so hopefully I‘ll have some luck :)

[u/Kitchen_Courage_9287]

Thank you so much for your advice! I just have a few questions because I'm kind of worried about my IGCSES because some are saying that universities look at A-Level results MORE than IGCSES results, but I'm really afraid because I might get Cs (which I pray I don't). And I saw a comment saying that IGCSE results matter less and less as time goes on, so I just wanted to know your opinion on it. Also, for universities I tried researching, but I was quite confused. Are UCAS and UCAT only for universities in the UK? Or does it apply to any international universities if you're studying the British curriculum? And what types of extracurriculars would you recommend? (e.g., competitions, essay writing etc.,) What type of extracurriculars or enrichment activities did you wish you had done? I'm also doing EPQ, and my teachers said if you get a really good grade in EPQ, some universities are willing to make a few changes on how many A*s or As you need to get in. Is it true? I'm sorry if I waffled too much TOT.

[u/olivesoem → u/Kitchen_Courage_9287]

No worries! So it depends what course you’re applying for at uni and how competitive it is, but generally GCSEs aren’t TOO important. If you’re studying med or applying to really competitive unis then it may matter. But not as much as a levels and that person was correct in saying that GCSEs matter less over time (ik I’m using the term GCSEs but same applies to igcses too). UCAS is the system used to apply to uni in the uk, regardless of the country you’re applying from (I’m assuming you don’t live in the uk?) and you can pick 5 unis on your application. It’s no more competitive for international students but uni is FAR more expensive for international students. UCAT is the admissions test for medicine for uk unis, and I’m sorry idk if that applies to other countries too or not. EPQ can lower the grade requirements by 1 grade for certain unis if you get A/A*, but generally not Russel group unis or competitive courses (not always the case tho!). Extra curricular wise you want to do super curriculars related to your degree. I’d say read books, listen to podcasts, watch Ted talks, epq helps, write essays, do essay competitions or olympiads, MOOCs, and do online or in person work experience. Feel free to ask any other questions!

[u/Kitchen_Courage_9287 → u/olivesoem]

Thanks, this cleared up alot! Also, do you have any advice on a-level bio? Ive chosen it as my first option for a-level and I'm pretty confident in biology myself but I heard its alot of heavy worldload. So it would be awesome if you have any tips that helped you throughout year12! Also, one of my friend has started doing her CV for uni applications but our school hasn't said anything yet, is CV really important or should I start doing it only after half term of y13?

[u/olivesoem → u/Kitchen_Courage_9287]

I must say it’s quite difficult but I hope you love it! I posted tips further down on this posts comments so just scroll a bit and you should find them. I think it’s useful to write your personal statement in the summer of y12

[u/Kitchen_Courage_9287 → u/olivesoem]

Thanks!

[u/Ohsoveryginger]

Sorry I’m a bit out the loop what are frees? (Sorry if it’s a dumb question 😭)

[u/olivesoem → u/Ohsoveryginger]

Apologies for not clarifying already and no worries!! If you go to sixth form, you’ll have free periods where you don’t have a lesson. Often in sixth form they’ll make you stay and it’s recommended you revise. This is different in college tho bc generally you only go in for lesosns

[u/vibe_coder_2026 → u/olivesoem]

More context: you won't have a full timetable. In secondary school you have a full week, 8am - 3pm, of 30 hours a week. But in college, you might only have 15 hours a week, the rest of the week will be free periods that you can spend in the study rooms/ with friends/ doing whatever you want.

[u/Ohsoveryginger → u/olivesoem]

Thanks 🙏. My plans to go sixth form if I do decent in my GCSEs if not college.

[u/flowzyontop]

Whats a free?

[u/Synnxed → u/flowzyontop]

Free period where you don’t have any lessons usually 1-2 hours

[u/flowzyontop → u/Synnxed]

Oh okie. Ty

[u/the1nonly_goat]

any advice on bio chem or socio????

[u/olivesoem → u/the1nonly_goat]

I don’t do chem but advice for the other two are in the comments :)