Using the Specification | Studying Effectively for GCSE's & A-level's

Summary

This video offers valuable insights into studying effectively for GCSEs and A-Levels, emphasizing the importance of the examination board's specification document. The specification outlines the curriculum, exam formats, and content, serving as a guide for teachers and students alike. It is crucial for organizing notes and revision materials. The video provides a step-by-step guide on how to find and utilize the specification, including tips on using digital platforms like Google Drive for easy access and note-taking. Additionally, it suggests strategies for understanding complex points and finding supplementary resources online, ensuring comprehensive preparation for exams.

Takeaways

• 📚 The specification is a crucial tool for students preparing for GCSEs and A-Levels, as it outlines the content and structure of exams.
• 🏫 The specification is created by exam boards and guides teachers on what to teach, varying slightly between different exam boards like AQA and Edexcel.
• 🔍 Specifications detail the exam formats, such as the duration of exams and the inclusion of practical endorsements for subjects like chemistry.
• 📈 It provides a framework for organizing study materials like notes and flashcards, helping students see how their learning fits into the entire course.
• 📝 Specifications vary in length and detail; some are comprehensive while others, like AQA English Literature, are brief and more useful for teachers.
• 💻 To find the specification, students should ask their teachers for the exam board and subject, then search online using the exam board's name, subject, and 'specification'.
• 🔗 For A-Levels, there are separate AS and A-Level specifications; the AS covers the first year, while the A-Level includes both years' content.
• 📁 Once found, it's recommended to download and save the specification to a cloud service like Google Drive for easy access and note-taking.
• 🖋 Google Drive's commenting feature can be used to ask questions or make notes on sections of the specification that need further clarification.
• 🔎 Regularly reviewing the specification can help students track their progress and ensure that all topics are covered in class.
• 🤔 If a specification point is unclear, students can search online or ask teachers for clarification to ensure they fully understand the content.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of a specification in the context of GCSEs and A Levels?

The primary purpose of a specification is to guide students' revision by providing a detailed outline of the subjects they will be studying, including the formats of exams and the content that will be taught.

Who creates the specification document for GCSEs and A Levels?

Exam boards create the specification document, which tells teachers what to teach and helps students understand what they need to learn.

How do different exam boards affect the content taught in GCSEs and A Levels?

Different exam boards may cover slightly different topics, and in different ways. Subject teachers decide which exam board's specification they will be teaching from, which can lead to variations in content.

What does the specification document include for a subject like OCR A Level Chemistry?

For OCR A Level Chemistry, the specification includes details about the exams, such as their duration, the existence of a practical endorsement, and the content that will be taught throughout the course.

How can the specification help students organize their revision materials?

The specification provides a framework for organizing notes, flashcards, and other revision materials, ensuring that students cover all the necessary content in a structured manner.

What is the difference between the AS Level and A Level specifications?

The AS Level specification covers all the content that will be studied in the first year, while the A Level specification includes everything covered in both the first and second years of study.

How can students find out which exam board's specification their school is following?

Students can ask their subject teachers directly or send an email inquiring about the exam board and subject specification being used for their studies.

What is the recommended method for accessing and storing the specification document?

The recommended method is to download the specification, save it, and upload it to a cloud storage service like Google Drive for easy access from any device.

Why is it beneficial to periodically review the specification during the course of study?

Periodic review of the specification helps students track their progress through the course, ensuring that they are covering the content in the same order as it is listed in the specification.

How can students use the specification to ensure they have covered all necessary topics in class?

By comparing the points in the specification with their notes and flashcards, students can identify any gaps in their learning and seek clarification from their teachers if needed.

What can students do if they encounter difficulty understanding certain points in the specification?

Students can search online for explanations of the points, use resources linked to the specification, or ask their teachers for clarification via email or in person.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Understanding the Role of a Specification in Exam Preparation

This paragraph introduces the concept of a specification as an essential tool for guiding revision and ensuring comprehensive coverage of subjects for GCSEs and A-Levels. The specification is a document by exam boards that outlines the curriculum and exam formats for teachers and students. It covers the content and structure of exams, providing a framework for students to organize their notes and study materials. The speaker explains that while some specifications are extensive and detailed, others may be brief and more useful for teachers than students. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of consulting the specification for a clear understanding of the course content and to track progress throughout the academic year.

05:00

🔍 Locating and Utilizing the Specification for Effective Study

The second paragraph focuses on how to find and use the specification for effective study. It suggests asking teachers for the specific exam board and subject being taught, then searching online using the exam board's name along with the subject and the term 'specification'. The speaker provides a step-by-step guide on downloading the specification, saving it to a digital platform like Google Drive for easy access, and using its comment feature for notes and queries. The paragraph also discusses the importance of regularly reviewing the specification to align with class progress and to ensure all topics are covered. It mentions the utility of online resources and videos linked to specification points for better understanding and clarifies that while specifications can be tricky, seeking help from teachers or online resources can be beneficial.

Keywords

💡Specification

The term 'specification' in the context of the video refers to a document created by exam boards that outlines the curriculum and content for various subjects. It is crucial for students as it guides teachers on what to teach and helps students understand the scope of their courses. The video emphasizes the importance of the specification for organizing notes and revision materials, ensuring that students cover all necessary topics for their exams.

💡Revision

Revision is the process of reviewing and consolidating material that has been previously learned, typically in preparation for an examination. In the video, the presenter discusses the importance of using the specification as a tool to guide revision, ensuring that students have a structured approach to reviewing their coursework and are well-prepared for their GCSEs and A-Levels.

💡Exam Boards

Exam boards are organizations that administer examinations and set the criteria for educational assessments. The video mentions that different exam boards, such as AQA and Edexcel, may have slightly different topics and styles of questions, and teachers choose which exam board's specification they will follow for teaching a particular subject.

💡GCSEs

GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education, which is an important set of examinations in the UK that students typically take at the end of their secondary education. The video is aimed at helping students study effectively for these exams, with the specification being a key resource for understanding what will be tested.

💡A-Levels

A-Levels, or Advanced Levels, are qualifications offered in the UK that are typically taken after GCSEs and are part of the sixth form curriculum. They are more specialized and in-depth than GCSEs and are often used for university applications. The video script discusses the specification's role in guiding the study of A-Level subjects.

💡Content Coverage

Content coverage refers to the range of topics and material that a student is expected to learn and understand within a course. The video highlights that the specification provides a clear outline of the content coverage for each subject, which is essential for students to know what they need to study.

💡Organizing Notes

Organizing notes is the process of arranging and structuring the information that students gather during their studies. The video script suggests using the specification as a framework for organizing notes, flashcards, and other revision materials to ensure that all topics are systematically covered.

💡Learning Objectives

Learning objectives are the goals or outcomes that a student is expected to achieve by the end of a course or unit of study. While the video mentions that the specification includes learning objectives, it also notes that these are not particularly important for most students, as they are more relevant for teachers in planning instruction.

💡Google Drive

Google Drive is a cloud storage service that allows users to store files, documents, and other data online. In the video, the presenter recommends uploading the specification to Google Drive for easy access and the ability to comment on specific sections, which can be helpful for revisiting difficult points or asking teachers for clarification.

💡Practical Endorsement

A practical endorsement is a component of some A-Level subjects, such as chemistry, which requires students to demonstrate practical skills in addition to theoretical knowledge. The video script provides an example of how the specification outlines the structure of exams, including the practical endorsement, for A-Level chemistry.

💡Online Resources

Online resources refer to the wealth of information and study materials available on the internet. The video mentions finding online resources linked to the specification, such as playlists of educational videos, which can help students better understand the content they are studying.

Highlights

The most important tool for helping you guide your revision is the specification document created by exam boards.

Each exam board covers slightly different topics in different ways, and your teachers decide which exam board to teach from.

The specification document includes everything about your subjects, including the format of the exams you will be taking.

For OCR A Level Chemistry, there are three exams: two of which are two hours and fifty minutes, and one is one hour and thirty minutes, along with a practical endorsement.

The specification is useful for seeing where your learning fits into the rest of the course and organizing your notes and revision.

Specifications for subjects like AQA English Literature are shorter and more useful for teachers, listing text options for study.

To find the specification, ask your teacher for the exam board name and subject, then search for the specification online.

Downloading the specification and saving it in Google Drive allows for easy access and the ability to add comments.

Regularly reviewing the specification helps ensure that all topics are covered and understood.

If a point in the specification is unclear, copying it and searching online can often provide explanations or resources.

There are resources like playlists or documents that link specification points to online resources, aiding in study and revision.

For subjects like A Level Maths, content is standardized across exam boards, making online resources universally applicable.

Checking the specification weekly or bi-weekly helps track progress and ensures alignment with course content.

Teachers can provide PDF copies of the specification if needed.

Using digital copies of the specification can be more practical and accessible than printed versions.

Transcripts

hey friends and welcome back to our

series and studying effectively for

gcses and a levels

in this video i will briefly mention the

most important tool for helping you

guide your revision

and ensuring you've covered everything

which is a specification

so essentially this specification is a

document created by exam boards

which tells teachers what to teach you

each example covers slightly different

topics

and in different ways and your subject

teachers decide which example they will

be teaching from for example your

physics teacher could be teaching from

aqa

whereas your history teacher could be

teaching from edexcel most exam boards

are the same but there are small

differences between

topics content and the style of

questions anyways the specification

looks something like this

and it's basically a long document which

tells you everything about your subjects

including the formats of the exams you

will be setting

so over here you can see uh for ocr a

level chemistry

they have three exams uh two of which

are two hours and fifty minutes and a

number

is one hour 30 minutes and then there's

a practical endorsement as well

then for most of the document it just

shows you uh the content that your

teachers will be teaching you through

your

gcseo a level this is particularly

useful as it helps you see where your

learning fits into the rest of the

course so it goes on about the content

for a few dozen pages

and then towards the end it talks about

some of the learning objectives and

a few other things to do with the course

uh which isn't particularly important

for most students

of course you don't have to read the

entire document the most important thing

to look at is just a section on the

content that you will be covering

as it provides a framework for

organizing your notes and your

flashcards and

everything else to do with revision now

the specification for ocra level

chemistry is fairly long

but for something like aqa english

literature the specification is fairly

short and doesn't provide much value to

you as a student

it's more useful for teachers and in the

case of english literature

it just lists the options for texts that

you can study

and your teachers will have picked one

of these so now how do we go about

finding the specification

well the easiest way is for each subject

ask your teacher what example you're

doing

and you may already know these facts

because they may have told you before

during the lesson

but if you don't then just send them an

email asking what example it is

and after asking them you can search on

google something like

your exam board name followed by your

subject

and then just writing specification

after that so for example my

exam board is ocra a level

chemistry specification

so if i search that then it takes me to

this page the first link

and in the case of a level

specifications you actually have two

you have the as level specification and

the a level one

and the aes is basically all the content

you will be covering in your first year

and the a-level is all the content you

will be covering in your first

and second year so everything inside the

as

specification is included in the a-level

specification

apart from a few things like exam

formats and whatnot so you can just

press the download a level specification

and if you're not 100 sure this is your

specification

then you can just email your subject

teachers asking them for a pdf copy of

the specification and they can just give

it to you because they are allowed to

share with students and after finding a

specification what i like to do is

download it and save it

and then open up my downloads folder and

from the downloads folder

i upload it onto a google drive folder

um so if i do that now then

just rename it to the specification or

whatever

rename it to specification press enter

and when i double click on this then you

can see the specification is now loaded

into uh google drive so the nice thing

about this is that you can access it

anywhere

and on your phone if need to be

otherwise like to print out the

specification but since ink is expensive

i don't really bother

and besides the one time i did print out

the specification i ended up just

letting it accumulate dust on my shelf

because i always started a digital

specification and a feature i also like

about google drive is a comments feature

so if i highlight a section then i can

just leave comments about

it writing something like i don't

understand

this and then i can just come back to

this point later on

um or ask my teacher about it so

basically reading through the

specification is quite useful after

craving something in class

and each time you uh read a points from

the specification you should ring a bell

of something you've covered covered in

class and if it doesn't then it's best

to go back to your notes

or your flashcards to make sure it's

actually covered and if it still hasn't

been covered it may be worth asking your

teacher about it i usually tend to look

at specification every week or two

to check how we're progressing through

the course because as your teacher

teaches more of the course

you should see that they're slowly

covering the content in the same order

as it's listed in the specification now

the specification can be quite tricky to

understand at times

so what i find useful is copying a

points from the specifications so

say i don't understand what this points

means

and if i just paste it and search it

then there's usually a website

which mentions the same points so if i

go to this first link

then it tells me what this point from

the specification actually means

and then i can be like oh yeah i

actually did a cover that in lesson

i would just wasn't sure on the wording

they used in the specification to

describe that

piece of content but if nothing comes up

when you google it i would recommend

asking a teacher about that

specification point

um in some kind of email or something

and they'll usually explain to you what

that actually means for your

specification you can also find some

documents which have links to the points

in the specification to resources online

for example

this a-level uh playlist by jack brown

he's made videos

on everything from the specification for

a level maps

and it's all linked here so you can just

uh read

about it here and the reason you can do

this is because for the new

a level uh maps all exam boards have to

do pretty much exactly the same content

so so if you're doing aqa maps then you

will cover

like 95 of the same content and so now

it's doing excel

maps for a level so this document is

pretty useful because if you think you

haven't learned something properly from

a level maps then

you can always check with this video and

i'm sure there are many other documents

like this and how bad that you can find

after doing a bit of googling anyways

that's pretty much it for now

we will be referring back to

specification later videos especially

when we're making notes and flashcards

and organizing them according to

specification

but for now i'll see you next video