ever felt overwhelmed by igcc biology like the subject was a dense jungle and you were just a small Explorer trying to navigate its complexities it's a subject which can seem incredibly difficult and frustrating at first but using some simple tips tricks and strategies I managed to get an A star with a score of 96 on the subject and you can too not sure how to go about this don't worry you're in the right place to find out hey my name is Arian and this is my guide to getting an a star in igcc biology as someone who got a 96 on the subject igcs biology is all about knowledge and at times memorization unlike most of the other Sciences you don't for the most part have to learn methods and apply them during the paper instead most of the questions that appear on your biology exam will be completely knowledge based meaning that they have one correct answer and there's no way of getting to or finding this answer unless you have it learned or memorized in advance this means that more than anything else it is imperative that you get really efficient at learning the syllabus content since the syllabus is really quite extensive and you do need to know all of it if you want to have a serious shot at getting an a star first up organize yourself get a copy of the official syllabus document or specification for igcc biology which you can find online on the website of whoever administers your exam board so for example for us C students you would find it on the Cambridge International website go through the entire syllabus and break it down into manageable chunks keeping in mind which topics go well together and also how much time you'll need to learn each topic then using this list create a long-term personalized study schedule setting individual deadlines for each topic or chapter that has to be studied having fixed deadlines for individual topics will help keep you accountable and motivate you to stay on track with your schedule for a full guide to creating the perfect igcs or A- level study schedule make sure to check out the video that I'll have Linked In the description down below now that you've got a schedule how do you maximize your knowledge retention to ensure that you get the most out of the time that you put into studying igcc biology as I said earlier you need to make sure that you know all of the subject content thoroughly by heart this means that you need to make your textbook your best friend yeah I know that I've said this in all of my guide videos till date whether it be maths chemistry or physics but believe me when I say that this doesn't hold true for any subject as much as it does for igcc biology the igcc biology textbook was the resource which I found the most useful as a student when I was is preparing for the exam pay attention to every single thing given in the textbook whether it be worked examples additional information practice problems experiments and so on this may seem a little excessive but you've got to remember that even in the case that you do end up reading something that isn't directly in the syllabus all of the information given in the textbook will help you improve your overall conceptual understanding of all of the topics and make sure that you get a well-rounded complete understanding of everything that you're studying the questions given in your textbook are also some of the most important key factors that will come into play during your igcc biology preparation make sure to solve these questions at the end of each topic that you're studying since between short questions given Throughout the chapter and end of unit exercises they will typically cover all of the material which you need to know from that topic for your exam doing all these questions helps you ensure that you didn't miss anything while you were studying and if you did you can go back and relearn it as usual even though the textbook is the best resource when it comes to icsc biology preparation this doesn't mean that there won't be times when you'll want additional resources or help this is when online resources come in the internet has a lot of really useful resources which you can use throughout your igcc biology preparation for example websites like KH Academy or crash course have excellent topic explainer videos yeah these videos aren't directly made for the igcs biology curriculum but it's important to recognize that biology is the same everywhere so watching these videos will help you cover the information that you need to learn and they're a great resource for learning topics conceptually I generally recommend that if you're having trouble with a certain topic finding topic explainer videos is a great way of solidifying your understanding Beyond what's given in your syllabus document or your textbook this also applies to other content here on YouTube where a lot of creators are making wonderful topic explainers and syllabus summary videos as a rule of thumb whenever you come across a topic that you're having trouble understanding a quick search on YouTube coupled with a look at the two websites Khan Academy and crash course which I mentioned earlier is a great way of making sure that you understand it properly additionally check out the notes and resources given on websites like znotes save my exam and physics and math tutor these notes avoid all of the excess sometimes unnecessary content given in the textbook instead being straight to the point reviews of the syllabus content while I wouldn't advise using these over your textbook using them with your textbook is a great way of covering all of the information especially when you're in a time crunch and don't have the time to read through your entire 300 Page textbook in full they're great for revision especially last day revision but but I wouldn't use them when you're initially learning Concepts when you're using these resources don't just read or watch them passively instead practice the process of active recall this means that you actively test your knowledge as you go use methods like quizzing yourself flashcards or teaching other people to solidify your understanding and ensure that you're getting everything correct actively test your knowledge of Concepts as you go use techniques like flash cards quizzing yourself problem sets or teaching topics to someone else this will help solidify your understanding of topics and help you ensure that there isn't anything that you've missed out on while you were using resources an exercise which I had personally carried out while I was doing my ngcs was that I would go through each chapter of my textbook each chapter of the textbook would usually have a lot of definitions and key terms which you needed to memorize since these would often show up as one Mark or two Mark questions on the exam so what I did is I'd sit with a few sheets of paper cut them up into small flash card like shapes and then I'd write the word on one end and then on the other side I'd write its definition I labeled each of the cards by chapter put a rubber band around them and then toss them into my desk drawer in the future whenever I get bored of solving problems or past papers I take out my flash cards pick one at random and then try and recite the definition to myself without looking at it once I was done reciting it I'd go and I'd read the definition which I'd written on the other end to ensure that it matched what I had said if it hadn't I would repeat the exercise until it matched this is a really effective technique if you make a lot of flash cards for a lot of different topics or even multiple subjects at once since it makes the learning process seem gamified while also ensuring that you stay in touch with all of the terms and Concepts which you need to have memorized there's a lot of other different ways of practicing active recall and I'd recommend taking the time to identify which ones work best for you remember it's never too late to change the way you study and become more efficient throughout your study style once you're done learning the content past papers are the ultimate way to revise for gcsc biology solve as many papers as possible and read as many mark schemes as possible as well while solving pay attention to the exam structure and question types there are a lot of Trends across both of these which are really easy to identify once you've solved enough papers for example after you've solved five or six alternative to practical or ATP past papers you should have the drawing or sketching question down to memory since it appears in almost every single paper and the mark schem for each one of these is also pretty much identical so it's very easy to get marks on this once you've done it enough times there's a lot of such questions which appear pretty frequently throughout the years and it's really important to read and memorize the mark schemes for each of these so you know exactly what is demanded of you to get each Mark familiarize yourself with the marking criteria for different kinds of questions this will help you tailor your answers specifically to the questions and maximize how many marks you get while solving questions pay close attention to details biology often requires really precise and accurate answers make a note of how many marks a question is worth before you write it this will help you identify just how many points you need to write when in doubt write as many points as you can think of for a question remember Cambridge marks your papers additively this means that you gain a mark for each correct point that you've written but you don't lose any marks for any wrong points that you've written as long as they don't contradict any of the correct ones this means that if you're ever in a spot of confusion you should try and write down as many points as possible in order to maximize the number of marks you get on the answer even if you're not sure what the full answer is if you ever find yourself in a situation where you know five points for a four marker question and you're really sure that each one of those five points will earn you a Mark still write down all five remember better safe than sorry especially when your grade depends on it and you never know when a point that you're writing might not be given in the mark scheme so write down everything that you know also many biology questions require you to draw or label diagrams practice drawing clear and labeled diagrams to solidify your understanding of each of the ones that may appear on your exam a great way of doing this is to make a list of all of the different diagrams which typically show up throughout past papers and then practicing drawing all of these on the day before the exam speaking of the day before the exam if you find yourself in a bit of a tough spot where you don't have as much time as required to finish writing all of the past papers which you'd initially intended to do before your exam don't worry just read through the mark schemes for all of the papers which you don't have enough time to write it's always helpful to read through as many mark schemes as possible before your exam especially in subjects like biology where the questions are more often than not always knowledge based so there you have it these quick tips tricks and strategies can help you conquer igcc biology and achieve your AAR goal remember consistent efforts effective study habits and a genuine interest in the subject are key to doing well at igcs biology if you found any of the advice I gave you in this video helpful make sure to smash the like button and subscribe to the channel so you never miss an upload if you have any questions or want to share your own igcc success stories feel free to leave a comment in the comment section down below I'll try to answer as many of yall's questions as possible anyways as usual I'm out that's all for today and thank you very much for watching