Starting sixth form in September and feeling a bit nervous? Here are Ellie's tips for making the most of the opportunities Year 12 brings.
Updated: 22 Sept 2025Year 12 is an important year in your school life – it's when you start studying for your A Levels, and your school will begin nudging you to think about uni. But what do you do in Year 12? What is Year 12 like?
As someone who has gone through Year 12, here are some things I wish I’d known back at the start and some tips I’ve picked up along the way that could help you make the most of it.
If you're moving to college or have new people coming to your school’s sixth form, one of the most important things you can do is be open to change. People split up for sixth form and friendship groups will inevitably change.
In the first few weeks, you’ll find that everyone is quite friendly and open to talking to anybody. Make the most of this – talk to as many people as you can; if there are new people who look scared or lonely, talk to them.
By the end of the first half term, people will have formed their friendship groups and it will become a lot more difficult, although not impossible, to talk to new people. That being said, try not to close yourself off after the start as I actually found some of my closest friends quite late on.
This is dependent on where you go and what kind of opportunities there are, but Year 12 is the PERFECT time to try new activities as you won’t have any proper exams to revise for.
Whatever you’re interested in, try and find a club or opportunity that you will enjoy - not only will it be a nice break from school work and a way to meet new people, but these activities can be so helpful for your personal statement.
Subject clubs and mentoring younger students could be a great idea if you’re looking for subject-specific experience, otherwise things like the student leadership team are a great way to gain new skills which, of course, you can boast about on a university or job application.
Also, if you get the chance, do work experience! It can be a drag finding places that will accept you, but everyone finds it fun and insightful and, again, it gives you great experience to talk about on an application. It can also help you get an idea of what you want to do after school/college and can be helpful in choosing a degree subject.
I spent months of Year 11 studying non-stop for my GCSE exams and then months afterwards doing absolutely zero work. So, when I started Year 12 I found it really difficult to get back into a routine and find a good balance between work and rest.
This is going to be different for everyone – you don’t want to work too hard and burn yourself out before Year 12, but if you’re too lazy you’ll have to deal with the consequences in Year 13. I would say make sure you give yourself at least one day a week where you don’t do any school work and make sure you see your friends.
Pro tip: Always catch up on lessons if you miss them because you won’t go over the content again and it could come up as an essay in the exam. Plus, asking your teachers what you missed gives them a good impression of you and they might be writing your UCAS reference.
Sixth form is quite mystifying – some people find there is a huge jump between GCSE and A-level (which some can find hard to deal with) and some people find there’s no real difference.
In my experience, you realise the jump you’ve made gradually over the year. The first term is mainly about settling in and adapting to the new environment/people/subjects. The issue wasn’t the workload increasing (although it definitely did) but it was all the things you have to do on top of that, like applying for work experience and summer schools (obviously optional) and university decisions and applications.
In summary – if you're heading in to Year 12, there are lots of exciting and scary new things to come, but hopefully it will be more fun than GCSE exam season!
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