School is closed?! Now what?! Here's what to do next Year 13's

I know for many of us this is such a confusing time, especially for students. A levels and GCSE’s in general can be stressful and at the moment there is an added element of stress. Additionally, applying to or thinking about applying to medicine/dentistry is a challenge in itself.

Here is a miniseries of advice, tips, do’s and don’ts to help you get through and make this time a little easier.

This is just my own personal advice, somewhat based on my experience and research. (Do clarify any questions with your teachers and academic advisors)

To start off this series here’s some advice for Year 13’s.

In my own experience, year 13 was a difficult year. Personally, the jump from year 12 to 13 was trickier than the jump from year 11 to 12. The content was more complex, and there seemed to be more of it. The medicine application process was definitely not easy. The early UCAS deadlines, working to meet high academic grades, interviews and waiting to hear back from universities became quite overwhelming at times. Not to add there is an added level of uncertainty at the moment.

The whole process with exams this year has not been 100% confirmed so here is what I would do in the meantime.

DO continue learning the A level content as ‘usual’ as best as you can. There are concepts in biology or chemistry you might need to understand before starting university. Follow along with any online lessons and teacher assignments you may have. Looking through your specification can help you plan which areas of the course you have covered and are yet to cover. You can write a schedule of areas you wish to go over and learn whilst studying remotely. There are many resources out there to help you learn your content. I personally did OCR A level Biology and Chemistry so feel free to contact me on Instagram or email me if you need and help/advice with these.

DO schedule your time to keep organised. There are plenty of online planner templates to help with this. This can help you keep on top of things, making you feel more relaxed.

DO take time out of your day to relax, whether this be cracking open a new book, delving into a new Netflix series or/and doing daily exercise. This can benefit your mental health.

DO practice good revision techniques you can implement into your studies that you can use when you get to university.

DO read around the subject of medicine and perhaps look into any new areas of research. There are plenty of books, papers and online webinars/ lectures to read or attend if you feel up to it. This can help spur your passion for the subject.

DO log any work you do / evidence of work just in case you need to go through any repeal process of exam grades. This could be:

• Keeping a record of which lessons you have attended.

• A folder of exam papers you have done.

• File any mocks you have completed to mark your progression.

• Everything/ anything you have to prove you deserve the grade you believe you should have received.

IF you are applying to medicine perhaps start looking over some anatomy content such as the thorax as this is quite a challenging concept to grasp in first year.

DON’T feel guilty for not being productive or working all the time. Looking and following productivity or ‘study’ pages can sometimes be off putting as there is often an unrealistic standard portrayed that you must be working all the time which is not the case.

DON’T let Medicine consume you. By this I mean do not spend your time worrying about university and the course. Trust in the process and believe in yourself, you have worked so hard already to get here.

Year 12's be on the lookout for some advice which will follow next in the series!