Super-curricular Study
‘Super-curricular’ is different from extra-curricular (hobbies and enriching activities) in that it is about stretching yourself academically beyond the narrow A Level syllabus, and it is something all the best A Level students will be doing. When we say you should be working an hour independently for every hour in class this is a big part of what you should be doing.
Step 1: Take a look at our wider reading list for each subject in this document
Step 2: Consider using some of the following news, journal, lecture and research site links, or taking on a ‘MOOC’ (massive open online course) from one of these providers:
• Bristol Festival of Ideas has a full index of its talks at https://www.bristolideas.co.uk/attend/
• Bristol University have produced lots of resources, including online lectures, to support students in exploring HE options or super-curricular research. You can sign up for access to these at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/outreach/virtual-resources-for-students/
• Another fantastic reservoir of free online lectures to add power to your University personal statement can be found through Gresham College at https://www.gresham.ac.uk/
• Swansea University has a great range of webinars related to the full range of Uni course they offer and wider issues at https://www.swansea.ac.uk/study/webinar-series/
• Speakers for Schools run an excellent series of online talks relating to particular areas of work through the year. The full list is at Upcoming Broadcasts - Speakers for Schools.
Useful links
Some useful links to help with your studies.
TED Talks – videos and transcripts of inspirational talks by leading subject experts.
The Faculties – videos and podcasts of English, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, History and Psychology lectures from UK universities.
In Our Time archive - a vast range of radio discussions between academic experts on almost everything imaginable – listen online or download as MP3 files to play on the move.
Futurelearn - browse the online free courses on a wide range of subjects – all provided by Universities and constantly updated with courses that are linked to a wide range of A-level courses and beyond…
Loopa - a great resource for students studying and revising A-level Psychology.
The Financial Times (for secondary schools) - our school is registered to enable access to full content from within the school. You are also encouraged to register yourself for updates at https://join.ft.com/f52def46-bc77-4211-9095-0c292609f469
The New Scientist - we have subscriber access to the full archive with the login available from the 6th Form librarian
The New Internationalist - we have subscriber access to the full archive with the login available from the 6th Form librarian
Michael Sandel’s ‘Justice’ course – the most popular Uni course in the world, both at Harvard (everyone goes) and on-line – covers the nature of morality and justice
Coursera - free online courses from a range of Universities
MIT - free online courses from MIT
EDX - free online courses from a range of Universities
Khan Academy - free online courses on all sorts of things
Yale - free online courses from Yale
iTunes U - accessible via itunes and containing courses from everywhere, including loads from Oxford University
HE+ - a website put together by Cambridge University to support 6th form students in all subjects with wider reading and applications (not just for Cambridge)
Staircase 12 - a website put together by University College, Oxford to support students considering HE applications (not just Oxford) - contains interviews and book reviews from current students
Cambridge University audio and video lectures
Directory of Open Access Journals
CrashCourse on YouTube is fantastic for lots of subjects, parcelling them up into 10 minute videos including nice animation
IFL Science - well worth following for updates on science stories
