Is Sixth Form Really That Hard? | My Highlights

Hello everyone or Assalamu Alaikum! It has been such a long time since I sat down and wrote a blog post and I have missed it so much! The last two months have been so busy for me as I have completed my A Level exams. I honestly felt this extreme joy as soon as I completed my last A Level exam on the 23rd June 2023!

I truly believe that the last two years have been some of the best years of my life as I have just grown so much as a person.

So, just like I did in Year 12, here are some of the highlights of sixth form which makes me feel quite emotional! I will also In Sha Allah make articles for advice for Year 12s and Year 13 to help you all out!

A Levels:

For those of you who don’t know, I have done A Levels Biology, Chemistry and Maths throughout the two years of sixth form and also an Extended Project Qualification in Year 12. Alhamdulillah! I say that because Allah teaches us to say Alhamdulillah regardless of the situation we are in. Because despite these A Levels being subjects that I adore to this day, I still had challenges to get through. I still remember the Year 12 Surobi who would be upset over grades that were lower than she expected which she considered ‘bad grades’. But this was not only a test of my academic knowledge, but it was also a test of building my character. I remember those times (even yesterday) where I would feel so tired but I would push myself to just do one more question and keep going! But, also I reminded myself that mental health comes first. When you prioritise yourself, work hard and have faith in Allah, everything works out in the end. And Alhamdulillah, I was still able to sit all of my exams successfully. I would have that big smile on my face when I finally started seeing improvements in my grades. So, to all the students out there, don’t give up! It will work out in the end!

Throughout sixth form, my favourite subjects fluctuated. But with all honesty, majority of the time, for me I loved Biology the most! I just love how AQA Biology can just get deeper and deeper and you are constantly forced to keep asking ‘why?’ ‘So what?’ Yes, the specificity of the mark schemes would annoy me sometimes but, I love learning processes and cycles, something that Biology encapsulates around!

Next up, was Chemistry for me! It would be a disservice to myself if I hid the fact that I actually disliked Chemistry in Year 12! So I will tell you right now, I did not really enjoy Chemistry in the beginning! But as soon as I found the right revision techniques (which I will In Sha Allah share one day!) it really skyrocketed my learning and I started loving Chemistry. There was one point where Chemistry even took over Biology because of how addictive doing the questions were. (But Biology is still my favourite, sorry).

And last but not least, Maths was at the bottom! Don’t get me wrong, I love Maths and that’s why I picked it. But A Level Maths is quite different to GCSE Maths and this really challenged my problem solving skills. It was frustrating at times sitting there trying to work out the answer and the range of questions available in Maths is huge! But again, once I worked out how best to revise, it really helped me!

So, yes, that was a very brief overview of my A Level subjects. My most creative project was the EPQ, as it allowed me to broaden my knowledge on a topic related to the degree I applied for as well as also being able to communicate with others!

I hope that I can continue broadening my knowledge just like these A Levels have done for me! Have exams been stressful? Yes. But has doing the subjects I am passionate and enthusiastic about also helped? YES ABSOLUTELY!

Teachers:

Okay, of course I cannot name any of the teachers due to privacy. But what I will say is that every teacher I had during my A Levels have helped me in some way. Maybe some to teach me content, others to scare me or others to provide free entertainment! One piece of advice I have to anyone and everyone is to make teachers your best friends. Please do not try to act cool and upset your teachers because a) they are just humans trying to do their jobs b) they don’t deserve mistreatment, just like any other person and c) they will want to help you more if you help them!

If you have a teacher whose teaching style you don’t understand, try your best to understand but if you can’t, go and seek help from a teacher whose teaching style you do understand. Perhaps, ask for their timetable or when they are free and ask them then! Also, seek help from your friends too, that can help!

Friends:

Friends. These are the people who come to your life for a reason, and usually only for a season. I can safely say that I have made better friends as every year the more I grow and level up, so does my friend circle with the mercy of God. Friends can be amazing as they can empathise with you, joke around with you and also make you learn new things. But also, they can get you involved in drama too. This is why it is so important to not get attached to a group of people. These people are amazing but I did subconsciously get attached to some drama but Alhamdulillah I detached from it, and I never did anything that broke my boundaries and values. I followed my gut on who to stop talking to and who to keep in my life.

That is the most important thing. Always stick to your boundaries and values and be yourself regardless of who is there and regardless of the situation. Follow your gut on who to keep in your life.

Social Life:

So did I actually get to go out with my friends? Yes and no. Yes, with some friends I did go out who needed my energy at the time. So for example, one great memory I have is where we had a girls’ Iftar this year in Ramadan in one of my friend’s houses. It was such a great way to bring the sisterhood together. But there were also a lot of the times where we had to cancel the plans because either I or my friends were busy. And I am here to tell you, that is okay! Because firstly, you do need to sacrifice quite a lot for the good grades in A Levels and also 2 years is not a very long time to be able to talk to everyone! So yes, have a social life but don’t let it overpower your education and goals!

Social Media:

For the past two years, the three social media apps that I really used was: YouTube, Pinterest and Snapchat. I think that Instagram and TikTok can be quite addictive and distracting so that was one of the main reasons why I avoided these apps. This was one of the best decisions because I really focused on my education without these apps and it meant I had more time to do things such as travelling. I feel that you should only have these apps if it will benefit you or if you are building a brand.

Health:

Alhamdulillah, I do believe that my health has improved and two of the main things that really helped me was having a growth mindset and also learning how to destress. Having a growth mindset means that instead of beating yourself up, you instead ask what you learned and you try your best not to make mistakes. Learning how to destress ensures you don’t burn out. These are things that can really help your mental and physical health.

I also had higher levels of physical activity during sixth form as I walked from home to school with my heavy bag (sometimes 9kg, which I do not recommend!). This was roughly a 40-minute walk but I really enjoy walking!

Religion:

Everyone’s journey with religion is completely unique and my story is no different. Some of the key events in sixth form that led me to getting closer to my religion are: praying in school, finding religious friends and also going to Islamic events.

I even started wearing the headscarf (Hijab) in February of Year 13 because I really feel that Islam is part of my identity and this is a commitment to my faith.

My best tip would be to stay consistent in your Salah 5 times a day every day and I have made a variety of articles on this topic here.

Extracurriculars:

I had to do quite a few extracurriculars within my school, some of which you can now check out on my Linkedin profile. Extracurriculars are great to have a work-life balance but some of the extracurriculars outside of school that I have been passionate about is my blogging and podcasting.

I haven’t been as consistent on my podcast over the past year just because my sister has moved out and we have been quite busy. I have been consistent on my blogs here and on Medium, but I have stopped posting for the last few weeks due to exams. But In Sha Allah, I plan to be quite active on these platforms over the summer so stay tuned and follow me on these platforms.

These were some of the highlights from these past two two years of sixth form! I will truly miss my sixth form because there were some amazing people and vibes, I was able to grow as a person and also really liked the environment! Now, I am on my summer holidays for the next 2-3 months and I have now started a new TikTok account to document my memories and share some more of my knowledge. Check out and follow my TikTok account here: https://www.tiktok.com/@surobiscribbles

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!