How to Study Biology: Tips for Smart Notes and Memorisation

This is the third in the Subject Guides series, which gives detailed advice on how to study and score well for specific subjects. It contains edited excerpts from Chapter 4 of the book “How I Study”.

When I was still in secondary school, a senior (who was taking Physics) warned us against choosing Biology in JC. “There’s so much to memorise,” she said emphatically. “You’ll have lecture books stacked this high,” she brought both hands apart to indicate a thick pile.

This statement was corroborated when I amassed a collection of nine lecture books, each comprising over a hundred pages, by the time we’d finished the syllabus in JC2. (My friend’s entire set of Physics notes was comparable to three of my Biology lecture books, or maybe even less.)

Admittedly, Biology is content-heavy, but the subject demands more than rote memorisation. You have to be able to explain the concepts clearly and apply them to novel scenarios.

Effective studying also does not come from memorising whole lecture books. Devoting your energy to the key concepts is crucial.

Memorise Core Biology Content

For Biology, you will have to memorise—there’s no skirting around that. But never memorise blindly; always seek to understand first. This understanding will also aid you greatly in committing the new terms and details to memory.

The best way to learn new content is to use active recall and spaced repetition. (These techniques are covered in Chapter 2 of How I Study.) However, there is no need for fancy apps or flashcards. Doing practice questions and papers is a great form of active recall, while consistently studying for every test forces you to revisit previous topics as spaced repetition.

Do Biology Practice Papers

The exams demand not a mere regurgitation of memorised facts, but application to novel scenarios. Generally, there are two types of questions in Biology papers:

1. Content-based questions: “mere regurgitation of memorised facts”
2. Scenario-based questions: “application to novel scenarios”

The best way to master both question types is to do plenty of practice papers.

Use Biology Mark Schemes

While most students do not pay special attention to the answer keys given, I find these to be the most precious resource—especially for Biology in JC.

You will see exactly how the marks are being allocated. The key points are all there—often right out of your lecture notes, but very helpfully pared down to whatever you’re required to memorise.

(I actually went so far as to compile a set of what I call “Biology Tutorial Notes”, with points taken from the mark schemes of hundreds of tutorials and exam papers from top JCs. They are available here.)

Make Summary Notes For Each Biology Topic

Making notes for Biology is contentious. Among the top scorers in Biology in my school, there were those who created notes for every topic, and others who studied right out of the lecture notes. (I will save my personal insights on making notes and whether or not it is beneficial for a separate blog post. Or, you can read all about it in Chapter 3 of How I Study.)

In short, you have to decide what works for you because everyone has different learning styles. I personally made handwritten notes for every Biology topic. While I would omit certain points from the lecture notes, I still found my own notes too wordy. It was only after doing the tutorials and practices that I could see, in hindsight, which were the essential points that I had to remember for the exam.

So I did summary notes for each topic, and I highly recommend this. As you’re writing out the summary notes, it’s a good revision of that topic. The completed notes then serve as the best revision material—all you need to know for the exam.

A-Level H2 Biology Notes

Have a question? Leave a comment below or drop me a message anytime. Don’t forget to check out the other articles in the Subject Guides series too.