I loved biology. It was so interesting, particularly human biology. However, it is a difficult subject, with plenty of learning involved and it does require a lot of study time.
In order to achieve a high grade, you must space out your learning. My advice is to learn the topic well as you cover it in class. Write plenty of notes on it and draw labeled diagrams. Then, every weekend, pick a certain topic to revise as well. That way, you’ll stay on top of the workload.
Buy a biology revision book. It condenses the material down, highlights the important points and makes difficult topics, like respiration, easier to understand.
After learning a topic, use your exam papers to check how well you know it. Complete exam questions based on the topic and mark yourself based on the marking schemes. These will be the types of questions asked in June. Numerous questions are constantly repeated, you will notice this while doing the exam papers. Focus on these questions, hopefully you’ll be asked them in the exam too.
The exam itself is three hours long and divided into three sections. Section 1 is short questions, (answer five/six), section 2 is experiment-based questions (answer two/three) and section 3 is long questions (answer four/six).
Each section offers some form of choice. My advice here would be to answer as many questions as you can, while also leaving time at the end of the exam to re-read your answers. The examiner will mark all of your questions and use your best ones to calculate your overall grade. That way, you increase your chances of receiving a higher grade.
Grace Daly
Dental Science
Trinity College, Dublin