1 Photosynthesis
2 Ecology
3 Sampling Techniques
4 Succession
5 Global Warming
6 Evolution
7 DNA Profiling
8 Forensics
9 Non-specific Immunity
10 Specific Immunity
11 Viruses & Bacteria
12 Measuring bacterial growth
13 Antibiotics
1 Aerobic Respiration
2 Anaerobic Respiration
3 Muscles
4 The heart muscle
5 Regulation of heart rate
6 Regulation of breathing rate
7 Cardiac output & the spirometer
8 Animal hormones
9 Homeostasis
10 The kidney
11 Osmoregulation
12 The nervous system
13 The synapse
14 The eye
15 Reflex actions
16 Coordination in plants
17 The human brain
18 Brain disease
19 Gene technology
Unit 6:
Includes all practicals from all previous units
(including Units 1 and 2)
Edexcel IAL Exams (3 units)
Unit 4: Energy, Environment, Microbiology and Immunity (WBI14)
Written examination: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Availability: January, June and October.
Total: 80 marks
40% of the overall percentage of the A2 grade
Unit 5: Respiration, Internal Environment, Coordination and Gene Technology (WBI15)
Written examination: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Availability: January, June and October.
Total: 80 marks
40% of the overall percentage of the A2 grade
Unit 6: Practical Skills in Biology II (WBI16)
Written examination: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Availability: January, June and October.
Total: 50 marks
20% of the overall percentage of the A2 grade
Unit 1:
Monday 08 January
Unit 2:
Monday 15 January
Unit 3:
Friday 19 January
Unit 4:
Thursday 11 January
Unit 5:
Wednesday 17 January
Unit 6:
Tuesday 23 January
How to score an A* in A-level Biology?
Use the specification as a checklist to guide you on what to study and what is not relevant Textbooks contain extra details that are not required for your exam. Make sure that you only learn what is needed from the specification
I usually see students gathering information from different resources and making their notes
Don’t waste time on this, you’d rather invest that time solving past exam papers
You still need to write a few notes, try to find ready-made notes that fully cover your syllabus and annotate them with your thoughts
Don’t leave the past papers until the end, solving classified exam papers while you’re studying, preferably after each section. This will enforce your learning. You also need to develop the skill of writing long answers, which must be developed early before your exam. This is what I have done for my students, I classified exam questions for each topic and solved those questions
Memorisation is part of learning biology, you’ll eventually learn all the little details if you keep solving past papers. So, do not waste time trying to memorise at the beginning, focus on understanding the big ideas first
A-level biology can be tricky especially when it comes to practicals, you probably didn’t have the chance to do all the core experiments required by your exam board. Try to find a series of lectures to clarify the content. Those lectures have to be specific to your syllabus, otherwise, you have to collect the information from many different resources which is a waste of time
You have done the notes, solved classified questions, and eventually, you must solve full past exam papers. Start with old papers (those are relatively easier). Solve first with an open book starting with 2019 papers (those are the first papers in the new syllabus)
If you have enough time then start with 2016 papers but ensure that you cancel questions from the old syllabus
When it comes to the last 3-4 full exam papers you need to pace yourself to finish on time. This is one of the most critical issues when it comes to biology exams, many students know all the answers and yet do get the chance to reach to the end of the exam paper. Your target should be to finish the exam paper and have 10 - 15 to revise your exam paper
Bookmark or highlight your mistake while solving full papers, this will become your last-day revision sheet, it’ll have to improve weak points and give you more confidence
Mark your answers after each paper. Don’t be lenient while marking, examiners are quite strict, and you really need written answers to compare your answers to. Check my solved exam papers, I have basically solved almost every exam paper and classified those for each topic
One good exam technique is to write up all keywords related to the question in pencil and then write a statement about each keyword. You need to write more statements that what the question is asking for, this will ensure that you are covering all the mark scheme points. Ideally, if the question is for 3 marks you need to write 4 or even 5 points