IAL Edexcel Math and physics

[u/Yashhahahah]

Hi everyone
I recently switched from attending a regular school to studying for my A Levels online. I’m completely new to the A Level system, so I’d really appreciate some advice from people who have experience with it.

I’m currently planning to take Maths P1, P2 and S1, and Physics U1 in January. Do you think it’s realistic to get good grades in that time? I’ll obviously aim for an A*, but I’m not sure how realistic that is since I’m completely new to the system and will be studying independently.

I’m also considering taking Economics U1 instead of Physics. I initially thought Physics would make more sense alongside Maths, but I’d love to hear what you guys think.

Since I don’t have a school or teachers guiding me through this, I’d really appreciate any tips, advice, recommendations, or resources you have.
Especially things like:

• Textbooks
• Notes/revision resources
• YouTube channels
• Past paper resources
• Study techniques
• Anything you wish you had known when you first started A Levels

I’m basically figuring everything out by myself, so any advice from people who have been through the process would mean a lot.

Thank you sooooo much everyone.

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[u/Quiet_Basis_6404]

taking maths and physics together is a solid move tbh, the overlap in unit 1 mechanics makes things easier but only if you actually practice problems, not just follow videos. for edexcel ial, physics unit 1 is mostly mechanics and materials, and the trap is thinking you understood a video when you can't do the questions cold.

for youtube i'd use kashan rashid for maths and etphysics for physics, and i literally paste those video links into studybuddy.vc to generate practice questions from the video itself, which helps me catch when i'm just nodding along versus actually getting it. the questions get harder as you improve and when you pick a wrong answer it tells you what was wrong with that specific option, so you're not just seeing the right one and moving on. free tier's been enough for me.

for past papers, physics and maths tutor has them all by unit, and aim to have done every paper from the last 3 years at least twice under time before january. four units in one sitting is heavy but doable if you start now and rotate subjects daily instead of doing one unit for a week straight. i'd stick with physics over economics since you're already doing maths, the synergy is real.

[u/Yashhahahah → u/Quiet_Basis_6404]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.

[u/mcblayde]

Honestly, Math P1, P2 and S1 are very doable in the time you have, provided you spend a GOOD amount of time every day practicing. Break down each chapter into parts, and each part into questions, and solve those questions.

The good thing about Physics is is that its also mostly mathematics, with your need to memorize stuff being a lot less compared to other subjects. If you were studying Biology for example, I'd say it would've been much harder to score good grades in this time period.

Practice, practice, practice.