You might have seen some of my earlier posts where I asked university students how they prepared for their GCSE and A-Level exams. I gave them a questionnaire and asked them to briefly explain the different strategies they used to get ready for their final exams. I also spoke with Sarah (not her real name), a first-year chemistry student, about how she specifically revised for Biology. Her answers were really interesting! She used some unique techniques that I hadn't come across before, and I think they could be really helpful for others preparing for their final summer exams, whether for GCSEs or A-Levels.

Sarah's responses are as follows,

Student Revision Questionnaire Focusing upon Biology gcse / A level

Revision Start

When did you start your revision in general for your GCSEs and A levels?

Throughout the GSCE and A Level years, every weekend I would keep on top of my content notes for each subject, so when I had a topic test I could just get straight to actively revising.

For the GSCE examinations, I was the Covid year so we had small assessments, but since we had mocks in January I had already started revising some content then.

For A levels, like GSCEs, we had mocks in January, so I started learning the content for those exams in December holidays. For actual A Levels, I started revising in Easter holidays/end of March and April time.

Timetable

Did you draw up a timetable for revision?
If you did have a timetable, please describe its design, such as time slots, frequency for subjects, and rest periods.

Yes I found having a timetable very useful. I would start revision at 9.15am and end at 4.00pm, like a normal school day with breaks included at 10.45am for 20 minutes and 12.35pm for 1 hour 10 minutes.

Each slot was 45 minutes long. I would alternate subjects for each slot so I didn't get bored/unmotivated from revising the same subject. 

Furthermore, if I felt motivated I would carry on revising until 5.30pm (this is optional and an individual decision for each student).

Then I would have the evenings to relax/have fun.

Revision Activities

Please list the different activities you used for revision.

I started with using my whiteboard to remember as much content as I could for each topic of the subject, without looking at my notes. Then, I would go over my notes and see what specific points I missed out on my whiteboard. I would then review (learn, understand, and remember) these points.

Once content was covered and revised, I started doing past papers and exams style questions which I searched for online and in textbooks.

Whilst doing exam style questions and past papers, I would see if there were common mistakes I was making. I wrote down my mistakes in a mistakes book, and before doing another set of revision questions I would read over the mistakes book, and I would learn how to avoid making those same mistakes on another past paper or in practice exam style questions.

Focus Shift

Did your revision change in focus as the exams got closer? For example, did you use short recall techniques like flash cards close to the exam?

My revision process didn't change as the exams got closer. But again, revision strategies will be different for everyone; for example, flashcards worked for some people, but not specifically me! Though, make sure to do proactive revision, not just reading your notes passively.

Past Paper Questions

Did you use past paper questions?
Were there enough past paper questions available for each subject and individual topic in Biology?
Do you think past paper style questions are useful for revision in Biology?

Yes, I used past paper questions and exam style questions. The main problem was that I often only had the mark scheme from past papers, so it was difficult to know how the answer was calculated or worked through. I did use revision sites but again they only gave the answer and not the process, in how to solve most of the questions, but they were good.

For A level subjects, like biology, past papers are key; the style of questions in old papers are very similar to new papers every year. Therefore, to get familiar with the topic questions and how a particular topic could be included as part of a question in a paper, past papers are very essential.

Biology Focus

Did you focus on any particular areas of Biology for your revision?
Can you think of any particular areas of Biology that were more difficult to revise? If so, which ones and why?

Biology is a very heavy content subject. I struggled with revising the biodiversity, evolution, and disease and genetics, evolution, and ecosystem topics as there was a lot of content to cover. Therefore, I spent longer revising and going over these topics at gcse. Exam style questions were really helpful with revising these topics but leave plenty of time to revise these subjects.

In Biology A level, there are a couple case studies that you need to revise for the biodiversity topic (this is specific to the OCR board). Case studies were less of understanding the topic and more just memorising the facts of the case studies; therefore, I found it harder to revise it, as if you understand the topic, it is easier to remember how a process, for example, works.

School Revision Sessions

Did you attend revision classes or sessions provided by your school? If so, can you remember how they were conducted? (For example, focusing on past questions or just being taught a topic again?)

Our school didn't have revision classes or sessions during the study leave.

However, once we had finished the content for each subject, before the study leave, our teachers would use their lessons for us to ask individual questions and to do past papers and ask them to mark it.

Furthermore, if a class collectively was confused on a topic, the teacher would reteach that topic using another approach/method for us to understand it, and then use specific exam style questions and go through step by step how to solve them. This was really helpful and helped many of my class to understand the principles and exam techniques needed.

Revision Methods

Do you think writing out notes repeatedly is helpful, or is it better to focus on practice questions and old exam papers? Please explain.

Writing notes is often helpful for some and not for others – different revision strategies work for different people.

I found writing notes and condensing the content of topics into terms I understood very helpful. However, writing notes is time consuming, hence why I would start writing notes at the start of the academic year every weekend.

If you leave writing notes until last minute, I think it would be better to focus on completing past paper questions to see which topics you commonly get wrong and don't understand. This allows you not to waste time writing notes for topics you already understand, and you can just focus your time and revision on those topics which you don't.

Advice for Future Students

Is there any advice you can give to any student who is preparing and revising for their GCSE/A level exams?

Having a work-life balance is so key. There is no point in revising from 9-6pm with no breaks as you will lose focus. Ensure to have regular exercise, eat well, and sleep well. Having a healthy and balanced lifestyle will boost your wellbeing, memory, and revision in the long-run.

If you struggle staying focused during the day, don't stress about not sticking to the timetable … go outside, go for a walk, and take time to remotivate yourself.

Believe in yourself and if you don't do well in past papers, don't let that stop you from continuing to do it - be proactive and ask yourself where you went wrong and fix it (email a teacher to explain/ask a friend/research and watch a video of someone explaining the topic).

Good luck!!

Saira

 

My thoughts on Sarah's responses to my questionnaire on how to revise for GCSE and A-Level biology.

Firstly, a big thank you to Sarah for taking time off her summer holiday to complete my questionnaire and allowing me to post it on the Prichard Post.

First off, the main takeaway from Sarah's approach is that planning, preparation, and giving yourself plenty of time to revise are key. Here are some highlights from her study routine:

Weekly Note Rewriting: Sarah rewrote her notes every weekend, likely to make them easier to understand and use. This is super dedicated—something not many of us might stick to—but it's an excellent way to really learn and retain the content, which is especially important in a subject like biology that's packed with information and has a very large curriculum content.


Structured Timetable: Sarah based her revision timetable on her school day, a schedule she was already comfortable with. This is a great way to organize your study time. Personally, I might have made the sessions a bit shorter to help focus more intensely on each topic.


Creative Revision Techniques: Sarah used some really interesting methods to revise. Knowing that biology has a huge amount of content, she used a whiteboard to jot down everything she could remember about each topic. This is a great recall activity, similar to using mind maps. Additionally, she kept a "Mistakes" book, where she wrote down all the mistakes and misconceptions she developed while studying each topic. Before revising a topic, she would review her subject-specific mistakes. This is a fantastic way to "unlearn" misconceptions and make the content clearer, and completely new to me.


Focus on Exam Practice: Once she was confident with the curriculum content, Sarah moved on to practice questions, especially those in exam styles from books, websites, and past papers. She realized that simply knowing the content wasn't enough—especially if she wanted top grades. She focused on mastering exam techniques for different types of questions and realised there were common elements and themes in some topics. She did mention that she wished there were more detailed explanations for some questions, as mark schemes can sometimes be a bit vague. This is where Prichard guides comes in handy, offering detailed breakdowns of answers and solutions in a step by step logical way for all the sciences and maths. This is exactly why I wrote the guides and is the whole focus of Prichard Guides.

 

My final conclusion

As with any exam, preparation, planning, and giving yourself plenty of time to revise is key. Sarah started planning months in advance and took her mock exams very seriously. This was a smart move because it gave both her and her teachers a clear idea of how well she was grasping the material. Since biology is so content-heavy, Sarah wisely focused on learning the material first as she went along. She also used a "mistakes" book to track any errors or misconceptions, which she reviewed daily—a clever idea that's not very common but highly effective. In addition, she emphasized practicing with past papers and exam-style questions, paying close attention to how questions were worded and what exam boards were looking for. This focus on exam technique clearly paid off, as Sarah is now studying Chemistry and Drug Discovery at a top university. Overall, her strategies were really effective and definitely worth considering!

Thanks for reading this post, and please recommend to anyone you think may be interested in looking at ways to revise for exams in the sciences and Maths.