This week’s reflections The first Biology paper is done. For some, it felt good. For others, it didn’t. Most students seem to have spent the week somewhere in between… remembering the questions they answered well, whilst becoming increasingly convinced they got everything else wrong. A quick word about the banana question on the AQA paper. I think it is fair to say that the banana question has had a bigger week than most celebrities. It has been discussed in classrooms, kitchens, group chats, car journeys, revision sessions and on Student Room. Some students have spent more time thinking about that banana than they spent answering the question. There are probably students who could now write a dissertation on banana ripening… but still haven’t opened a Paper 2. Enough. The banana is done. Let it ripen in peace. Paper 1 has gone. There are still two papers left and plenty of opportunity to put together a strong overall performance. On my mind this week I’ve been thinking about momentum this week. Some students are still discussing Paper 1. Others have already opened a Paper 2. By Friday, those small decisions add up. One of the hardest things about exams is knowing when to stop looking backwards. The temptation is to analyse every question, compare answers with friends and try to calculate what grade you’re on. The problem is that none of that helps with the next paper. The students who usually finish strongest are not necessarily the ones who felt best walking out of Paper 1. They’re the ones who reset the quickest. Things I’ve learned Every year students convince themselves that they need to spend the week before Paper 2 memorising more facts. Most already know far more biology than they think. The challenge is using that knowledge in an unfamiliar context. A question about a kidney isn’t really about kidneys. It might be testing transport across membranes, osmosis, proteins, enzymes, homeostasis, data analysis or all of them at once. The students who do well are often the ones who stop thinking in topics and start thinking in biological principles. If you find yourself saying, “I’ve never seen this before”, then take a deep breath and pause. You almost certainly have. It is usually the context that is new, not the biology. Study tip Between now and Friday, I would focus on three things. Complete at least one full Paper 2 under timed conditions. Mark it properly and identify the areas that are consistently costing you marks. Go back through those areas and make sure you understand them rather than simply re-reading notes. At this stage, a carefully reviewed paper is worth far more than several papers rushed through and never analysed. For Parents Students often come out of the first exam expecting to feel relieved and instead feel flat, frustrated or uncertain. That doesn’t necessarily mean the paper went badly. It usually means they cared about it. Try not to spend the week discussing individual questions. The most helpful thing you can do is help them turn their attention to Friday. A decent meal, a walk, an early night and a calm house are all more useful than another conversation about bananas. Quote of the week “You cannot change the cards you are dealt, just how you play the hand.” If you haven’t been to one of my information sessions where I share the details of what’s happening between now and September, you can sign up here: calendly.com/biologybyclareInstagram: @thealevelclubFacebook: Biology by Clare

Biology paper 1 is on Thursday! This week’s reflections For many of you, the countdown has become very real. This time next week, Paper 1 will already be over. The months of lessons, revision plans, flashcards, past papers and late-night worrying will have led to a single morning in a sports hall somewhere. Instead of, “How much revision have I done?” Start asking, “What should I be doing now?” It’s a much better question. What you do over the next few days matters far more than spending your time thinking about what you should have done in February. On my mind this week Revision and preparation are not quite the same thing. Learning content is one job. Getting yourself ready to perform in an exam hall is another. As June 4th approaches, the balance should start shifting towards the second. By this stage, most students know more Biology than they think they do. The challenge now is being able to access that knowledge quickly, accurately and under pressure. That means the next few days should feel different from the revision you were doing a month ago. If I were sitting Paper 1 on Wednesday, I’d begin with a simple question: “What would I hate to see on the paper?” Most students know the answer almost immediately. Perhaps it’s immunity. Maybe it’s transport across membranes. Perhaps it’s gas exchange, digestion, mass transport, DNA replication, protein synthesis, variation, classification or exchange in plants. Whatever the topic is, that’s where I would start. There is very little value in spending another evening revising the topics you already know well simply because they feel comfortable. The topics that make you slightly uncomfortable are often the ones that deserve your attention most. I’d also be spending a lot of time with exam questions. Not necessarily entire papers, but carefully chosen questions that force me to retrieve information and apply it. Questions expose weaknesses quickly. They show you exactly where your understanding is secure and where it still needs work. Most importantly, they stop revision becoming passive. I’d also be explaining Biology out loud. As I keep saying, the easiest way to discover whether you truly understand something is to try teaching it. Take a process such as DNA replication, protein synthesis or the movement of water through a plant and explain it without looking at your notes. Also, I’d be paying attention to the basics. Sleep Food Routine A short walk A bit of fresh air Students sometimes convince themselves that the answer is another three hours at a desk. Occasionally the better decision is getting an early night and returning to the work with a clearer head the next morning. Things I’ve learned Looking at the entire specification three days before an exam is enough to make anybody feel overwhelmed. There are hundreds of pages of content Required practicals to remember Definitions that need to be precise Processes that need to be understood rather than memorised A much better approach is to shrink the task. One topic One required practical One set of questions Complete it, then move onto the next Momentum is far more useful than panic Every year I see students make significant improvements in the final week because they stay focused on the next useful thing they can do rather than worrying about everything that remains. Study tip For the next few days, try creating evidence instead of seeking reassurance. Evidence looks like: Answering exam questions Completing active recall Explaining a topic without notes Marking your own work Identifying mistakes and fixing them Reassurance often looks like: Reading through notes you’ve already read several times Watching another video on a topic you already understand Reorganising resources Making revision look productive One tells you what you actually know. The other simply makes you feel busy. For Parents This is often the week when confidence seems to fluctuate by the hour. A student can feel positive after lunch and convinced they’re going to fail by dinner. That is completely normal. Try not to judge preparation based on mood. Exams feel close now and emotions tend to run high. The most helpful thing you can provide is usually stability. Encourage sensible sleep, regular meals and some time away from revision. Help them focus on the process rather than trying to predict the outcome. The paper will arrive soon enough. Until then, there is still useful work that can be done. Quote of the week “The best way to reduce exam stress is to replace uncertainty with evidence.” If you haven’t been to one of my information sessions where I share the details of what’s happening between now and June, you can sign up here: calendly.com/biologybyclareInstagram: @thealevelclubFacebook: Biology by Clare

On my mind this week I see this every single exam season. Students walk out of an exam feeling fairly neutral about how it went. Then the post-exam analysis begins. Someone says they got Question 4 wrong. Someone else remembers a detail you forgot. A friend confidently gives a different answer. Suddenly a paper that felt “fine” starts becoming “terrible”. Then comes Student Room. You search for an unofficial mark scheme. You find pages of students debating answers. Some sound certain. Some sound panicked. Some are convinced the grade boundaries will be a certain way. You read one thing that does not match your answer and immediately start mentally knocking marks off. Hours later, you feel worse than you did when you actually walked out of the exam. None of this changes a single mark on the paper! Things I’ve learned Once an exam has finished, there is very little value in carrying it around for the rest of the day. You are allowed to talk about it. You are allowed to laugh about the weird question everyone hated. You are allowed to feel annoyed if something caught you out. There just comes a point where thinking about it stops being useful. I have watched students convince themselves they have performed terribly and then open their results in August and realise they were nowhere near as accurate as they thought. Likewise I have heard many students say, “That was really easy”…and they failed. Students are usually very good at remembering mistakes. They are much less good at remembering everything they got right. Study tip Give yourself permission to close the door on a paper once it is done. Avoid unofficial mark schemes. Avoid spending the evening on Student Room. Avoid the group chat where everyone suddenly becomes an examiner. Move on to the next thing. For Parents One question seems to appear after every exam: “How did it go?” The problem is that students usually do not actually know. They know whether they found it hard. They know whether there was a question they disliked. They know whether they remembered everything they wanted to remember. What they do not know is how the paper will be marked, or where the grade boundaries will sit. “How did it go?”often invites an emotional answer rather than an accurate one. A more useful question might be: “What do you need right now?” Sometimes they need food, or a nap (that would be me!)Sometimes they need to switch off for an hour.Sometimes they simply need help moving onto the next exam without carrying the last one around with them. The ability to move on and focus on the next task is what is most useful. Quote of the week “You cannot start the next chapter if you keep rereading the last one.” If you haven’t been to one of my information sessions where I share the details of what’s happening between now and June, you can sign up here: calendly.com/biologybyclareInstagram: @thealevelclubFacebook: Biology by Clare

This week’s reflections I want you to ask yourself one question this week: “If my exam was tomorrow, what topic would I secretly hope does not come up?” Most students know the answer almost immediately. It tends to be the topic that sits in the back of your mind, the one that makes you think, “I’ll come back to that later”, before moving onto something that feels easier. You probably felt a small sense of panic just thinking about it. That’s important information! On my mind this week Revision has a funny way of pulling us towards what feels comfortable. You tell yourself you are “getting work done”, but often that means returning to the topics you already understand. You revise respiration because you get it. You answer another inheritance question because it feels manageable. You watch another video on enzymes because it gives you a sense of progress. Meanwhile the topic you secretly hope does not appear in the exam keeps being pushed further away. The problem is that avoiding it does not make it disappear. It just means that on exam day, you are meeting it for the first time under pressure. Things I’ve learned The students who make the biggest improvements are not necessarily the students who do the most hours. They are often the students willing to identify uncomfortable truths early. The best revision can feel frustrating. It can feel slow. Sometimes it feels like you are getting worse because you keep noticing things you cannot do. This is not failure! You are finding the gaps while there is still time to fix them. Study tip Write this at the top of a page: “If my exam was tomorrow, what topic would I secretly hope does not come up?” Write down your answer. Spend twenty minutes on it. Attempt some questions. Ask for help if needed. Repeat tomorrow. You do not need to fix everything at once. You just need to stop pretending the difficult topic is not there. For Parents Students do not always avoid topics because they are lazy. More often they avoid topics because they make them feel uncertain. If your child says they have revised for hours, try asking: “What topic would you least want to see on your exam paper tomorrow?” That question often tells you much more than asking how many hours they have worked. Quote of the week “Most students already know what they need to work on. Avoidance and hope rarely make a good revision plan.” If you haven’t been to one of my information sessions where I share the details of what’s happening between now and June, you can sign up here: calendly.com/biologybyclareInstagram: @thealevelclubFacebook: Biology by Clare

This week’s reflections Study leave sounds good until it starts. No school. No bells. No teachers telling you what’s next. At first, it feels like freedom. Then for a lot of students, it starts to feel overwhelming. The structure disappears and suddenly every day relies on self-discipline. That’s why some students make huge progress on study leave and others don’t. The students who do well are not necessarily revising for longer hours. They are protecting structure. I actually miss strict structure myself sometimes. When you run your own business, nobody tells you when to start, when to stop or what the day should look like. There’s no school timetable anymore. That sounds ideal until you realise how much mental energy gets wasted deciding what to do next. That’s why I make structure for myself. I plan my lessons, runs, gym sessions, work blocks, meals, piano, dog walks, reading and family time because structure makes life feel lighter. When those things already have a place in the day, there’s less negotiation, less procrastination and less wasted mental energy trying to decide what to do next. There’s a reason military environments rely on strict timetables. Structure removes unnecessary decision-making and keeps people moving forward even when motivation changes.Study leave works the same way. The students who cope best are usually the ones who give themselves an itinerary and follow it whether they “feel like it” or not. Study leave works best when the basics stay boring and consistent. On my mind this week A lot of students think study leave means they should be revising all day. That usually backfires. After a few unproductive days, guilt creeps in and they start measuring success by hours rather than actual learning. Most students would improve more from three focused hours than ten distracted ones. This stage is about quality and repetition. Can you explain the topic without notes? Can you answer questions under pressure? Can you spot patterns in mark schemes? That matters far more than sitting at a desk for twelve hours staring at a highlighted textbook. Study tip Create a simple structure for every study leave day. Start with something difficult while your concentration is highest Build in exam questions every day Review mistakes before moving on Finish with a clear plan for tomorrow Keep it simple enough that you’ll actually follow it. Momentum matters more than making the “perfect” timetable. For Parents Some students need quiet. Some need breaks. Some will look calm while feeling stressed internally. What helps most is consistency around them. Regular meals, good sleep and reducing unnecessary pressure often has a bigger impact than repeatedly asking how revision is going. Try to focus conversations on process rather than panic. Students need to feel that study leave is manageable, not that every day is a judgement on how the exams will go. Quote of the week “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” Success depends on your ability to adapt.   If you haven’t been to one of my information sessions where I share the details of what’s happening between now and June, you can sign up here: calendly.com/biologybyclareInstagram: @thealevelclubFacebook: Biology by Clare

This week’s reflections In my experience, the students most likely to try and cheat on tests are often the most capable. The issue isn’t understanding. It’s fear of getting something wrong. For some, a mistake feels like judgement. So they manage it. They check answers early, avoid uncertainty and stay within what feels safe. That limits progress. Avoiding mistakes means avoiding the exact information that shows what needs to improve. The exam doesn’t allow that. Every question requires a decision whether you feel ready or not. On my mind this week In a group of 8 students I saw this week, I posed a question. Seven got the same question completely wrong. That was the most useful part of the lesson. It showed the gap clearly and gave us something to fix. The students who engage with that improve quickly. The ones who struggle are often the ones who find it hardest to sit with being wrong. The difference isn’t ability. It’s how they respond to the feedback. Are they going to give up? Will they keep going until they get it right? Study tip Answer questions you’re unsure about without checking first. Stop looking at the mark scheme! Allow a delay between completing the question and checking the answer. Focus on: Where it went wrong What you misunderstood What assumption you made Ask for help. Get clarity. Don’t give up until you get it! For Parents It helps to create an environment where it’s safe to get things wrong. Students need to be able to say they got something wrong without it feeling like a problem. Last night, 7 out of 8 students missed the same question. That wasn’t failure. It showed exactly what needed attention.If mistakes are hidden, gaps stay. If they’re addressed, students improve. Resilience in exams comes from being used to things not going to plan and knowing how to respond. Quote of the week “The only real mistake is the one you don’t learn from.”   If you haven’t been to one of my information sessions where I share the details of what’s happening between now and June, you can sign up here: calendly.com/biologybyclareInstagram: @thealevelclubFacebook: Biology by Clare

This week’s reflections At this stage, it’s not the plan that matters most. It’s what happens when the plan breaks. Things will get in the way. They always do. A bad day, a missed session, a topic that takes longer than expected. What separates students now is not perfection. It’s how quickly they return to what works. It’s the London Marathon today and it’s a good reminder of what this stage actually is. Nobody gets through 26.2 miles without something going wrong. Pacing errors, heavy legs, moments where it would be easier to stop. The ones who finish well are not the ones with the perfect race. They are the ones who keep going when it gets uncomfortable. I felt that this week in a different way. I completed my 300th parkrun, which sounds neat and tidy when written down, but has been anything but.  Waiting for everything to feel aligned is not an option. You just keep moving forward. On my mind this week Falling behind isn’t the problem. Staying there is. The students who do well don’t avoid disruption. They just don’t let it turn into a pattern. They go back to their method and keep moving. That’s what days like today show so clearly. Momentum is not built from perfect conditions. It’s built from continuing when things feel a bit off. There is something reassuring in knowing that you don’t need to feel great to make progress. You just need to keep returning to what works. Study tip No thinking. No overplanning. Just start. On a good day, you build momentum. On a difficult day, you protect it. For Parents Things won’t run perfectly. Progress comes from returning to the process, not reacting to every setback. With exams so close, it can feel like every small disruption matters more than it actually does. What students need most is not pressure to make up for lost time, but the stability to keep going. Much like a marathon, it is the steady, consistent effort that carries them through, not bursts of intensity. Quote of the week “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”   If you haven’t been to one of my information sessions where I share the details of what’s happening between now and June, you can sign up here: calendly.com/biologybyclareInstagram: @thealevelclubFacebook: Biology by Clare

This week’s reflections There’s a bit more pressure after the Easter break and it has very little to do with how much content is left and far more to do with how students start to experience the time they have. Up until now, there has been space to delay things slightly, to revisit topics later, to feel as though understanding will eventually fall into place with enough exposure. That sense of distance has gone. The exams are no longer something abstract on the horizon, they are close enough now that what is done each day carries more weight. What tends to separate students at this point is not a sudden increase in effort, but a change in how deliberate that effort becomes. The students who do well are rarely the ones doing the most in terms of hours. They are the ones who begin to focus on whether what they are doing is actually working. There is no need for a complete reset or a complicated new plan. In most cases, the most effective approach is to continue attending lessons properly, engage fully while you are there and then follow up with work that forces you to think rather than just revisit. Small gaps closed consistently will take you much further than occasional bursts of intensity. On my mind this week There is often an increase in time spent working, but not always an improvement in the quality of that work. More notes are written, more pages are highlighted, more time is spent looking over material that feels familiar. The difficulty is that familiarity creates a false sense of confidence. It can feel as though something is understood simply because it has been seen multiple times. A better measure is much less comfortable but far more accurate. If a student is asked to explain a topic out loud, without notes, and to do so in a way that is clear and precise, it quickly becomes obvious where the gaps still are. What matters now is the ability to use knowledge rather than recognise it. That means being able to explain processes in full, apply them to unfamiliar questions and make connections between topics without being prompted. This is what examiners reward and it is what students need to start prioritising as the exams approach. Study tip I’ll never get bored of saying this one… Choose a topic and talk it through as though you are teaching it to someone else. This should not be a rushed summary. It needs to be detailed enough that another person could genuinely understand the process from your explanation alone. Where you hesitate, oversimplify or avoid detail, you have identified a gap. At that point, return to your notes or resources, fill that gap properly and then repeat the explanation from the start. Once you can do this with confidence, move immediately into exam questions on that topic so that you are applying what you have just secured. This approach is more demanding than re-reading or highlighting, which is why it is often avoided. However, it is also far more effective at preparing you for what the exam will actually require. For Parents As students return to school after Easter, the pressure often becomes more noticeable, although it is not always expressed directly. Many students are aware of what they need to do, but may struggle with consistency or feel overwhelmed by the volume of work ahead. What tends to help most at this stage is not increasing the number of reminders about revision, but supporting the routines that allow students to work steadily. Keeping evenings as predictable as possible can make a significant difference, as it reduces the friction around getting started. Encouraging your child to explain what they have learned, rather than asking how long they have studied, shifts the focus towards understanding rather than time spent. Protecting sleep becomes increasingly important, as fatigue has a direct impact on both memory and concentration. It is also worth paying attention to the type of revision being done. Students who spend most of their time going over notes may feel busy without making the progress they expect. Gentle prompts towards testing themselves, whether through questions or explanation, can help to redirect this. Above all, it is important to recognise that any frustration or resistance is often a reflection of pressure rather than a lack of effort. Maintaining a steady environment at home can help them manage that pressure more effectively. Quote of the week “Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.”   If you haven’t been to one of my information sessions where I share the details of what’s happening between now and June, you can sign up here: calendly.com/biologybyclareInstagram: @thealevelclubFacebook: Biology by Clare

This week’s Sunday Setup is about Easter. For most students, this is either two or three weeks where school falls away completely. No timetable No lessons No one checking in every day Whilst that sounds like a break, it often creates the exact problem that holds students back. When the structure disappears, most students realise they were relying on it far more than they thought. This week is about replacing that structure properly. This week’s reflections School secretly does a lot of the work for you. It tells you when to start What to focus on How long to stay with something When to stop During term time, even if motivation is low, something still gets done because the system keeps moving. Easter removes that. What replaces it is not always productive revision. It is often hesitation, overthinking, or long days that feel busy but achieve very little. That is why this period of time matters so much. Not because you suddenly need to do more, but because you need to be more deliberate. On my mind this week A lot of students approach Easter with good intentions but no real plan for how their days will work. They say they will revise, but they have not decided: What they are starting with How long they will focus for What “done” actually looks like So the day drifts. They move between topics, revisit things they already know, or spend too long on low-impact tasks. The students who use Easter well do something much simpler. They create structure before they need motivation. They decide in advance: This is what I’m doing in the morning This is what I’m doing in the afternoon This is what success looks like today It removes the constant decision-making that drains time and energy. Things I’ve learned about A-Level Revision Students often think they need to feel motivated to work well over Easter. They don’t. What they actually need is a repeatable rhythm. A way of working that they can return to each day without starting from scratch. The most effective students are not constantly reinventing their approach. They are repeating a small number of useful behaviours: They sit down at the same time. They focus on one thing properly. They test themselves. They review what went wrong. Then they do it again the next day. It is not exciting, but it is very effective. Easter rewards consistency far more than intensity. Study tip At the start of each day, decide three things: The first topic you will start with The one task that must be completed properly The question you will answer to test it Keep it simple. If you finish those three things well, the day has been productive. Everything else is a bonus. This is how you stop Easter becoming overwhelming. For Parents Easter can be a surprisingly difficult period for students. From the outside, it looks like they have plenty of time. From their perspective, it can feel unstructured and uncertain. Without the routine of school, many students are unsure how to organise their days, which can lead to procrastination or stress. What helps most is encouraging a simple daily structure rather than expecting long hours. A clear start to the day, a defined focus and a sense of completion in the evening tends to create far more progress than vague, open-ended revision. One thing to try this week Instead of planning the entire two or three weeks, just plan tomorrow. Decide: What time you will start What your first task is What you will complete before you stop Then repeat that process each evening for the next day. You do not need a perfect plan for Easter. You need a structure you can actually follow. Quote of the week “You don’t get confident by thinking about doing the work. You get confident by doing it, repeatedly, when you don’t feel like it.”   If you haven’t been to one of my information sessions where I share the details of the courses that are starting in February, you can sign up here: calendly.com/biologybyclareInstagram: @thealevelclubFacebook: Biology by Clare

This week’s Sunday Setup is about something most students don’t focus on enough as exams get closer: how you want to feel when it’s all over. There are now less than three months until A levels finish. At this stage, it’s very easy to get stuck in the day-to-day. How much you’ve done, how tired you feel, whether it’s working. Zoom out for a second. Results day is coming. The way you feel on that day will not come from one perfect week of revision. It will come from whether, overall, you showed up properly. That is what this week is about. This week’s reflections Most students think they need more motivation. What they actually need is a clearer picture of where they’re heading. If you only focus on today, everything feels heavy: How much do I need to do? Why can’t I remember this? Am I doing enough? A better question is: How do I want to feel on results day? Calm Certain Proud of the effort I put in Once that’s clear, the day becomes simpler. You’re not trying to feel motivated. You’re just acting in line with that version of yourself. On my mind this week Results day is not just about grades. It’s about whether you feel like you used your time properly. The students who feel settled in August are not the ones who had the easiest revision period. They are the ones who kept things consistent. They didn’t rely on bursts of motivation. They built routines they could stick to, even on average days. That feeling of being proud of yourself is built consistently in the background, over time. Things I’ve learned about A-Level Revision Students often think confidence comes from knowing everything. It doesn’t. It comes from knowing you did what you said you would do. If you keep showing up, even when it feels a bit repetitive or a bit slow, you build evidence. That evidence matters far more than the odd “good day”. You don’t need perfect revision. You need consistent revision. Study tip Before you start, pause for a moment and ask: What would someone who feels calm and confident on results day do right now? Then just do that. Keep it simple: One topic One question Done properly That is enough. For Parents This period can feel intense for students, even if they don’t always say it directly. What helps most is consistency at home. A steady routine, encouragement around effort and keeping things calm goes a long way. One thing to try this week Write down three words that describe how you want to feel on results day. For example:CalmConfident Proud Keep it somewhere you’ll see it. Each day, ask yourself:What is one thing I can do today that moves me closer to feeling like that? Then do it and move on. Quote of the week “You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”   If you haven’t been to one of my information sessions where I share the details of the courses that are starting in February, you can sign up here: calendly.com/biologybyclareInstagram: @thealevelclubFacebook: Biology by Clare