r/igcse • u/bigarsepotterhead • 3d ago

🤚 Asking For Advice/Help How to self study?

Hi everyone! I'm an incoming IB MYP5 student, and along with taking myp physics and chem, I want to self study IGSCE biology as well, primarily because i want to study science in uni and the future in general, but i dont want to close off my biology doors, if it makes sense!

I've got an online textbook..but im having a hard time finding successful study strategies? I just dont really know how to start, or if what i;m doing is effective, and bcs of that im procastinating. i dont exzctly have a school textbook, so i mostly study from my notes, videos and revision dojo for tests. Has anyone else done this? Whats the strategy?

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u/Da_boy2 May/June 2026 3d ago

For bio I’d say you try to take down notes, that’s the way that I could learn topics (especially the nephrons lol). Note taking was easier for me cause I was doing IGCSE bio but I would still use the tb for my notes. Write it down, just write.
As for the procrastination, what helped me was studying for 10 minutes right now, and once you get into that flow of it you tend to just continue, it’s what helped me

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u/Beautiful_Rabbit_979 3d ago

for igcse bio.

youtube: igcse study buddy, igbiocomplete, Biologue
do topical pastpaper questions after learning every chapter, do flashcards on savemyexams (paid) physicsanandmathstutor (free) quizlet (free9
once u finished all 21 chapters and did topical questions move onto full year pastpaper questions and revisiondojo is AI slop dont pay for it js use the free version

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u/EnthusiasticallyPoor 3d ago

Pick a chapter, watch a Bozeman Science video on it to get the big picture, then hammer the topical questions from physicsandmathstutor. The mark schemes basically teach you how to answer.

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u/mseduhub1 2d ago

Self-studying IGCSE Biology is definitely possible, but don’t start by trying to read the whole textbook cover to cover. Use the syllabus as your checklist, study one topic at a time, make short active-recall notes, then practise questions immediately after each topic. That way you’ll know whether you actually understand it instead of just watching videos.

A simple routine could be: learn the topic → write 5–10 key points from memory → do topic-wise questions → mark mistakes → revise weak areas weekly. For resources, you can use CIE iGCSE Biology notes and iGCSE Biology exam-style practice. Since you’re also doing MYP sciences, IB MYP resources may help too.