A-level students often start their studies with some very common misconceptions.

Here I am going to exam why these are actually wrong and explain why!

1. ‘I’m Only Doing 3 Subjects - it’s going to be so much easier than GCSE’

You’re right - you will be studying much fewer subjects - but there is a very important reason why very few places have a firm rule where you can’t study more than 4 A-levels.

The content is significantly greater - you will be surprised at how much you need to learn!

I also think that one of the biggest differences between GCSE and A-level is that all the way through from Year 7 the same topics are taught year on year, with a little extra taught each year. The information plods along and it is rare you get any big shocks of new concepts. A-level is completely different…

From day 1 of A-level you are going to be told that actually all that you learnt before… forget it - learn this instead.

It is vital that you don’t start A-level thinking you will coast by because you did at GCSE - start seriously!

2. ‘I’m going to want to study because its just the subjects I enjoy’

It is very easy to think that because you have picked your absolute favourite subjects you are going to eagerly rush home from college everyday, open those books and get studying hard.

Let’s be honest… work is work regardless of the subject.

It is true that you may be a bit more motivated but you need to be prepared for all the same procrastination and revision fatigue to set in.

The best thing you can do to counteract this is to study ‘little and often’ - don’t promise yourself a 2 hour study session every day - it is likely you will feel daunted and not study at all. It is much better that you keep the momentum going and be consistent - remember you are training for a marathon not a sprint!

3. ‘I’m good at these subjects, I can cram before exams and get an A’

Cramming no longer works!

I wish students would believe it when they hear it.

The problem is teachers tell students this at GCSE, but… quite often students still cram and do fine… so surely teachers are also wrong about this…

I’m here to tell you that this is no longer true.

You need to study consistently through the year for A-level!