A-levels can be a big step up from GCSE. There are more details, more depth and often some satisfying answers to questions left over from earlier lessons. For this reason, A-level subjects can feel like they make more sense than GCSE courses, while being more challenging.
Students sometimes wonder how to prepare for this leap. Parents often ask how they can best support their child in moving from GCSE to A-level, especially in subjects they themselves didn’t study at school. Don’t worry!
The transition to A-level doesn’t need to be scary, and what happens at home can be a big help – you may even have fun doing it.
Keep the end in sight when moving from GCSE to A-level
The good news is that, like GCSE, each A-level exam course has a clear path – its specification. Often, students are aware each exam board (AQA, Edexcel, OCR etc.) provides a course specification but often they don’t make use of it. It’s there for you to download. Treat it like a reference guide – it might not be bedtime reading, but it shows you where you are and what’s coming up. It also has some tips for what the exam questions will look like.
(As an example, here is a link to the AQA A-level biology specification) Continue reading “How to move from GCSE to A-level – tips for students and parents”
