4 Top Tips for preparing for Sixth Form and A-Levels

So sorry I've been so inactive on my blog! But I am now back with some tips on how to prepare for A Levels. For anyone living outside of the UK, A Levels are qualifications students take aged 16-18 and Sixth Form College after secondary school. In year 12 (aged 16-17) students take what are called AS Levels. They take 4 AS Levels which are effectively half an A Level. In year 13 (aged 17-18) the student will usually drop one AS Level and continue to study for 3 A Levels.

I have almost completed my first year of AS Level and before I begin my top tips I must add that everyone's experience of A Levels and Sixth Form is completely different, depending on who you are and what the 6th form is like. I personally attend an extremely academic college with over 2,000 students, which is something I expected to love.

1) Prepare for a lot more work. When I was in year 11 I heard many people tell me that A Levels were far harder than GCSEs but refused to believe 4 AS  Levels could be more work than 9/10/11 GCSEs. When I first got to 6th form I still believed this as the work did not seem to intense. However, once revision started creeping up it became apparent there was a lot more contents than I had originally realised. Of course, this all depends on which subjects you take (I took English Language, Sociology, Religious Studies and Performance Studies). You may also find a lot of gaps in your work which at the time was just 'pointless homework' or 'independent study time'. Teachers will expect you to enhance your own knowledge and certain subjects will only give you the very basics. Be prepared for some extra reading

2) Utilise your free lessons. After secondary school, free lessons seem like a Godsend; a time to relax with friends and forget about your ever immanent exams. NO!!! Okay, at first most A Level students do use their free time in this way before the work load gets to intense, however as you get deeper into the year I would strongly advise spending as much of your free lessons working. By doing this you will be able to have more free time after college and at weekends for sleeping and eating, what could be better?! Just think, spending your free last lesson on a Friday finishing off some homework could completely free up the rest of your weekend...

3) Get organised!! It's best to find this out before 6th form rather than half way through AS... organisation is vital! Most sixth forms wont provide supplies so a trip to Staples may be needed. My advise for getting organised in purchasing 5 big ring binders (the ones which have the levers in the middle, I'm sure they have some fancy name which I don't know..) and leaving four at home, one for each subject, and taking one in your college bag for everything. Invest in a pack of page dividers (you will be amazed how quickly these need replacing) and divide your 'general' ring binder into your 4 different subjects. It would be a good idea to transfer the notes from your general school file into your home files ever 3-4 weeks so your notes stay clean and tidy. Of course, you don't have to follow this tip, but I would advise thinking about how you plan to organise your notes before starting A Levels. Make sure you date all your work so if your notes do get muddled it will be easy to organise them again. A piece of stationary which I believe is a MUST is a hole puncher. The amount of unpunched sheets of paper you will be given is insane and there's never a hole punch in sight when you really need one...

4) Decide what you really want out of sixth form. This is something that will be entirely dependant on who and which sixth form you go to. My experience wasn't the best, I found my college was too big too meet anyone new. Okay, that sounds like I'm completely contradicting myself, but what I found was that everyone already belonged to a friendship group and weren't willing to mingle. Some of my friends who went to small sixth forms have made tonnes of new friends, as they all socialise together. However, small sixth forms are usually part of a secondary school which can also have it's disadvantages, often you'll be treated much less maturely and you'll be surrounded by younger children. That's one thing I love about going to an independent sixth form, you get treated like an adult. I am able to leave the college site when I like and am free to spend my time how I wish. My advise is REALLY think about what you want out of sixth form. I could go on and on about this point as there is so much to say, I could make a separate article about choosing the right sixth form if you feel it would be helpful? Let me know!

I hope these tips helped you all, just enter A Levels with some of these things in the back of your mind and you should be fine! Please let me know in the comments if this article was helpful, I would be happy to do some more posts like this such as Revision Tips or Preparing for GCSEs if people wanted me too? Just pop a comment to me! I will aim to upload a new post this time next week.

Katie xx  

James Duncan Diet- Day 3

Day 3

Breakfast- 1 boiled egg and grapefruit

Lunch- Fresh Fruit

Dinner- 2 Lamb chops and Salad

Today was a very busy day for me, as I was shopping most of the day and decided to bike into town (around 1 1/2 miles each way and roughly 2 miles walking), so I felt I didn't need to do any extra exercise. 

Breakfast was quite rushed, and I didn't really have an appetite at 9am and would have preferred to have Waite until I was actually hungry, however I was due to meet my friend so I had to eat it earlier than usual. I managed to cook the egg so that the yolk was runny - and it was so tasty! 

I was busy all day, so food wasn't really on my mind. However my friend did notice how I was much quieter than usual and I wasn't sure if this was down to lack of energy. 

Lunch was very challenging today, as my friend decided she would endulge in a massive portion of chips for lunch and eat them right in front of me! Nevertheless I was strong, and quitely ate my ready-made fruit pot for tescos whilst she thought it would be amusing to wave the chips in my face - and no, it was not amusing. I was starting to get a little bit frustrated, however once we had both finished our lunches I felt a lot more energised and lively. 

I didn't eat my dinner until around 8pm, so I didn't feel hungry later in the evening. I don't have a grill, so I had to cook the lamb. Out of all the meals I think this one was the tastiest and most filling out of them all!

I can already notice some visible differences in myself, however im not sure if this is just due to confidence. I think my face has lost weight, and so has my stomach. 

I'm finding that each day is getting easier, and I'm feeling less and less hungry. The fact that I'm nearly halfway is really motivating, and the fact I'm noticing the difference already really helps too!

Day 4 will be up tomorrow so follow me for updates!  

James Duncan Diet- Day 2

Today's post will be an update on how I am coping with the James Duncan diet.

Day 2

Breakfast- 1 boiled egg and grapefruit

Lunch- Grilled Chicken and tomatoes

Dinner- Steak and Salad

Today was much better than yesterday, and my hunger was much weaker. I had a much later breakfast, at around 10am. 

For lunch you were allowed an unlimited amount of chicken, so I took advantage if this and has 2 chicken fillets. I seasoned it slightly with salt and pepper and added lemon juice before cooking - it was delicious! Stupidly I forgot the permitted toast - which I really could have done with!! I also accompanied it with water and a slice of lemon. 

I was okay throughout the day hunger wise, however I did notice how I was a lot more sluggish. 

I had steak and salad for dinner at around 6pm, which I must admit, was disappointing. I found it quite unforfilling and was hungry by 8pm 

The time I found most difficult on Day 2 was around 8-11pm, and I was craving some carbs or chocolate. However I managed to resist the temptation and once I went to bed, the cravings had gone. 

Day 3 post will be up tomorrow, thanks for reading!

James Duncan Diet! Introduction and Day 1

For the next week I will be following the James Duncan diet, which is a very strict 7 day diet plan which claims to make you lose a stone in a week! I have my school prom coming up next week and I wanted to give it a go, as I have put a bit of weight on over exam period. If you want to check out the diet the link is here! http://www.jaduncan.com/2006/04/how-i-lost-stone-in-week.html

Day 1
Breakfast -  Dry Toast and Tomatoes
Lunch -  Fresh Fruit
Dinner - 2 Boiled egg, salad and grapefruit

I never usually have an appetite in the morning, however I forced down the toast and tomatoes as a knew I would definitely regret skipping it by 11am. I had my breakfast at around 8am and by 12pm I was beginning to feel peckish.

I managed to keep my hunger at bay until 1pm, where I had two bananas and some red grapes for lunch. Seeing as I've finished my exams and no longer have to attend school, I have a lot of free time, which often leads to boredom. I don't know about you, but one of the things I do when I'm bored is eat the entire contents of the fridge. Obviously I couldn't do that, so I had to find things to take my mind off the thought of food, so I ended up having a movie afternoon.

By 5pm I had somehow managed to avoid the mid-afternoon snacking fest and was pretty much starving. I prepared myself a generous amount of salad, filled with lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onions, celery and peppers topped with the boiled eggs. By the time I had finished the salad I felt slightly sick due to the eggs, and my mouth had a very strange tang to it after I'd had the grapefruit for dessert. My family were enjoying gammon, potatoes, peas and cheese sauce and I was dying for just a bit of bread and butter or potatoes.

I went to bed at 10.30pm feeling surprisingly content and woke up this morning feeling fresh and optimistic.

My thoughts on the diet after the first day are; that it is a lot harder than I originally expected it to be, however today is a much better day as I will be entitled to both chicken and steak. It has also helped me understand the errors in my diet, and for me personally I have already realised that I probably snack and eat more carbs than what is recommended.

I will be posting everyday on my progress, feel free to ask me any comments. My next post will be up around this time tomorrow on Day 2, so keep an eye out!

First Post!

Hey Guys!
This is my first ever post and I am so excited to get my blog up and running. I am 16 years old and from England. In my blog I will be bringing you all my latest beauty tips including hair, makeup and clothes. I will try post as frequently as possible but I am currently taking my GCSE exams so I'm very busy at the moment. I will try get some good tips together for you all and I will them be able to focus on this blog more in a few weeks time. See ya soon! Katie xx