How to get A/A* in A-Level Biology

I'm doing A-level in Biology (Edexcel) and Chemistry (Edexcel) with the new specification. I've seen that there are three exams for each with the last exam looking to seem extremely difficult.
1.)What books/revision guides should I buy to get an A/A* in these subjects?
2.)Are the text books enough to achieve a high grade because I've heard that you have to go beyond the specification in order to achieve a high grade
3.) Do you think it's possible to achieve a high grade by learning/revising from textbook/ revision guides independently?

Hi!
The textbooks that you use in class is sufficient enough to help you get an A*. What I did was I had made notes and did a lot of exam papers over and over again.
I did a lot of independent revision and had asked my teacher to print a lot of exam papers and the exam scheme. A tip that may help would be to see what the examiners are looking out for by looking at the answer schemes so when you do your exam paper, you will know what to look out for and so you'll get the full marks.
You can do it!!! Don't worry too much about it!^^ Have a positive mindset and you're going to do awesome!^^
-Gabrielle

I just started A level biology too.
I heard from my school that it is very hard to find resources such as past papers and good revision guides as we are doing reformed a levels.

Is this true?

Yeah i also heard about that as well since the a levels exams in 2017 will be the first of new a levels. I guess the old past papers from 2008 specification might be a last resort

Thank you so much for your reply. It really has given me a lot of motivation because I was looking at different forums about how the revision guides are more useful than the textbooks and to not use the textbooks.
Could you recommend what books/revision guides you used (possible link)?

I think I will use old past papers just to practice my knowledge. Unlike previous years, we are no longer able to memorise the format of the paper or practice past papers, so kinda difficult for us.

If I'm not wrong, you should be able to search for the sample papers for the new syllabus If not, you should ask your teacher because they are likely to have access to these papers or else, how would they be able to prepare the students? Haha>< You can do it!!!

I'm doing A-level in Biology (Edexcel) and Chemistry (Edexcel) with the new specification. I've seen that there are three exams for each with the last exam looking to seem extremely difficult.
1.)What books/revision guides should I buy to get an A/A* in these subjects?
2.)Are the text books enough to achieve a high grade because I've heard that you have to go beyond the specification in order to achieve a high grade
3.) Do you think it's possible to achieve a high grade by learning/revising from textbook/ revision guides independently?

1. Buy CGP TEXTBOOKS (not CGP revisions guides. There's a huge difference).

2. False. Going beyond specification to get high grades doesn't make sense. Why on earth would they write a specification in the first place if no one adheres to it? Also, yes, along with past papers, those textbooks are enough to achieve high grades.

3. Yes. I got an A at AS doing independent study. I'd do the work beforehand, then essentially fall half-asleep in lesson.


I think the difference between an A* student and A student is not in ability, but in the knowledge of mark schemes. Biology has a very pedantic markscheme that can discard many marks from your total if you're not careful. In other sciences where A* and A represent genuine ability gap, in biology it's not quite the case, necessarily.

Once you've understood the content, I'd try and do some past papers to see how you're suppose to apply it to certain questions. After you've got that sorted, you should realistically achieve A*/A.

Thank you for the reply. Since there are going to be only a few past papers for the new specification. Do you know any other ways in order to prepare for the exams? I also asked about going beyond the curriculum because i have a feeling that the exams have questions that you didn't specifically learned but actually test of applying your knowledge (they've have done this in GCSE's a lot)

Hi, similarly I am also doing A level edexcel Biology of the new spec (along with chem) but I am very confused on to how to get a grade b or above in biology, as my teacher said that even if you know everything on the revision book "Edexcel As biology B endorsed by edexcel official textbook" and not a cgp book we will get an E, then I asked a year 13 i knew who did biology and he said the same thing he could recall from the book but still got a E (and he is quite smart) then he proceeded to tell me about applying and understanding and not just remembering which is what my teacher also said, and this statement has got me very confused as if I know everything from the book and can recall it when needed on questions will I get an e? becuase i read the above statements on this thread and they sad we can get a very good grade from knowing the book. Please help.....

Hi, I'm also doing a level biology and chemistry at the moment, and just got As at AS. I think the real thing that people struggle to realise is that with the new spec, they aren't testing your recall as much as your understanding. Sure, if you can recall the facts then that's great, but there just simply aren't many questions where you're able to write factual statements based on recall. There are a lot more application questions and questions which are completely unfamiliar - might be on something you've never considered before. This is where having a good understanding of the subject is crucial - understanding the science allows you to be more flexible, and approach unknown questions more easily. Having said this, the main way I revised was just reading through the textbook and my revision notes. My advice would be to try to understand the topics when you learn them, so ask all those questions in class to try to find out WHY something happens (a good thing to do anyway!)Good luck!

1. Buy CGP TEXTBOOKS (not CGP revisions guides. There's a huge difference).

2. False. Going beyond specification to get high grades doesn't make sense. Why on earth would they write a specification in the first place if no one adheres to it? Also, yes, along with past papers, those textbooks are enough to achieve high grades.

3. Yes. I got an A at AS doing independent study. I'd do the work beforehand, then essentially fall half-asleep in lesson.


I think the difference between an A* student and A student is not in ability, but in the knowledge of mark schemes. Biology has a very pedantic markscheme that can discard many marks from your total if you're not careful. In other sciences where A* and A represent genuine ability gap, in biology it's not quite the case, necessarily.

Once you've understood the content, I'd try and do some past papers to see how you're suppose to apply it to certain questions. After you've got that sorted, you should realistically achieve A*/A.

where do you buy the CGP textbooks?

I'm doing A-level in Biology (Edexcel) and Chemistry (Edexcel) with the new specification. I've seen that there are three exams for each with the last exam looking to seem extremely difficult.
1.)What books/revision guides should I buy to get an A/A* in these subjects?
2.)Are the text books enough to achieve a high grade because I've heard that you have to go beyond the specification in order to achieve a high grade
3.) Do you think it's possible to achieve a high grade by learning/revising from textbook/ revision guides independently?