Did you get an A/A* in Biology AQA A level? please advice

Hi,

So I have just finished AS on AAB I got a B in Biology AQA AS and I cant seem to be getting As. I would love to hear how you got an A/A* in Biology AQA. I would really like to get these grades. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

OP

BUMP

Original post by Becky

Hi,

So I have just finished AS on AAB I got a B in Biology AQA AS and I cant seem to be getting As. I would love to hear how you got an A/A* in Biology AQA. I would really like to get these grades. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Past papers. Biology A level examiners are looking for key phrases and such when describing different processes, so if you get familiar with them then you'll know what they want for the marks.

Reply 3

Lady_L

10

Original post by Becky

Hi,

So I have just finished AS on AAB I got a B in Biology AQA AS and I cant seem to be getting As. I would love to hear how you got an A/A* in Biology AQA. I would really like to get these grades. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I just got an A at AS. I read and made detailed notes on the whole of my text book. I then made flash cards of my notes in a concise form. I answered all the questions in my text book and did a fair few numbers of past papers. It all tool ages.

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Reply 4

Alexandra's Box

17

Original post by Becky

Hi,

So I have just finished AS on AAB I got a B in Biology AQA AS and I cant seem to be getting As. I would love to hear how you got an A/A* in Biology AQA. I would really like to get these grades. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Original post by DarkAndTwisty

Past papers. Biology A level examiners are looking for key phrases and such when describing different processes, so if you get familiar with them then you'll know what they want for the marks.

I've only just done AS, like you, but doing this really helped me with my exams, as well as brightly coloured summary sheets (I'm a visual learner.)
I got A grades in both my exams, but thanks to the coursework, which was a C, got a high B overall. Will probably be able to wangle an A predication though :ninja:

Reply 5

catseymour

I got an a* and I think the main reason I managed to do well was just solid hard work, I mean A LOT of revision and make use of all the past papers available as aqa follow a pattern of the past papers. A lot of aqa papers is application so make sure you get used to answering questions on different topics. Also practice the isa skills as a lot of people being their grade down with the practical. For unit 5, you've got to do a few practice synoptic essays to get into it and do lots of plans for different questions. Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great :smile:

a levels are just hard work sometimes haha but just try to relax about it

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Reply 6

Becky

OP

1

Original post by catseymour

I got an a* and I think the main reason I managed to do well was just solid hard work, I mean A LOT of revision and make use of all the past papers available as aqa follow a pattern of the past papers. A lot of aqa papers is application so make sure you get used to answering questions on different topics. Also practice the isa skills as a lot of people being their grade down with the practical. For unit 5, you've got to do a few practice synoptic essays to get into it and do lots of plans for different questions. Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great :smile:

a levels are just hard work sometimes haha but just try to relax about it

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Well done on getting an A*!! and thank you for your advice. I got an A in the EMPA but Bs in my unit 1 and 2. I think its the application questions that let me down. I just go blank. how do you think i can improve this? esp the 1/2/3 markers i always lose. Thanks (thumps up)

Reply 7

Becky

OP

1

Original post by DarkAndTwisty

Past papers. Biology A level examiners are looking for key phrases and such when describing different processes, so if you get familiar with them then you'll know what they want for the marks.

would i advice i look at the examiners report? or is that just no use.

Reply 8

Becky

OP

1

Original post by Lady_L

I just got an A at AS. I read and made detailed notes on the whole of my text book. I then made flash cards of my notes in a concise form. I answered all the questions in my text book and did a fair few numbers of past papers. It all tool ages.

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Well done on the A. i do the same as well :smile:

notes, flashcards and plenty of past papers. I think its some questions that let me down like application questions and the weirdly worded questions. How do you deal with these?

Reply 9

Becky

OP

1

Original post by Alexandra's Box

I've only just done AS, like you, but doing this really helped me with my exams, as well as brightly coloured summary sheets (I'm a visual learner.)
I got A grades in both my exams, but thanks to the coursework, which was a C, got a high B overall. Will probably be able to wangle an A predication though :ninja:

well done! am the opposite haha got an A in the EMPA and Bs in my exams. Thank you!

Reply 10

peter12345

People say past papers, this is generally a good strategy but they are quite rightly been trying to stamp out past paper memorizers by giving tricky exams. Everyone remembers the legendary January 2010 AQA Biology exam. So many people complained that the exam was bull**** but if it was bull**** then how did I get 98%? I got 98% because I didn't just blindly memorize past paper answers, I used logical reasoning to put together all the knowledge I learnt and apply it to any particular question even if it was unfamiliar. Approaching a question with the thought that "the past paper answer for this sort of question was this so I will put down exactly that is the wrong way to go about it because if you come across an unfamiliar question you are stuffed. You must fully understand the topic so that you can apply it to any scenario from first principles.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 11

DarkAndTwisty

9

Original post by Becky

would i advice i look at the examiners report? or is that just no use.

You can do, it's useful to see where people slip up. Last year (AS) someone on here compiled a list of answers from mark schemes that they're usually looking for for each type of question. If you have the time, you could do that yourself, I found it really helpful :smile:

Original post by peter12345

People say past papers, this is generally a good strategy but they are quite rightly been trying to stamp out past paper memorizers by giving tricky exams. Everyone remembers the legendary January 2010 AQA Biology exam. So many people complained that the exam was bull**** but if it was bull**** then how did I get 98%? I got 98% because I didn't just blindly memorize past paper answers, I used logical reasoning to put together all the knowledge I learnt and apply it to any particular question even if it was unfamiliar. Approaching a question with the thought that "the past paper answer for this sort of question was this so I will put down exactly that is the wrong way to go about it because if you come across an unfamiliar question you are stuffed. You must fully understand the topic so that you can apply it to any scenario from first principles.

With all due respect, doing past papers isn't just memorising, it helps you understand the subject better. I would learn things from the textbook and they'd be out of context and I'd be like "wha??", and then I'd do some past papers, see how they came together and be like "okay, I get it now". And this is coming from someone who got 100% UMS in both A2 exams. Not everyone learns the same way as you, you know.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 12

MarkProbio

7

I just got an A in AS Biology (OCR), including full UMS in the June exam.

My advice would be to learn the key words and phrases. Recognise the difference between "describe", "explain", "suggest" questions because you can easily drop marks by misunderstanding the question.

Even if you're 100% sure on something, keep on re-writing your notes and finalise a definition for every key word you come across with use of mark schemes.

Biology isn't full of hard concepts like some other subjects, it is mainly about memorising things and learning how you personally remember things best. Good luck!

Reply 13

JAJC

11

Ye don't be retarded like me and miss your A* by stupidly not looking on the back of your Biol4 paper missing out 4 marks and losing 90%, i'll never live my stupidity down.

moral of the story: check the back of your paper

Reply 14

Timikji

9

I just got an A at A2. Learn all of the content inside out but learn it as it's phrased in the specification and mark scheme. Understanding the content isn't enough, you have to memorise the wording and phrases to pick up marks.

Reply 15

catseymour

Original post by Becky

Well done on getting an A*!! and thank you for your advice. I got an A in the EMPA but Bs in my unit 1 and 2. I think its the application questions that let me down. I just go blank. how do you think i can improve this? esp the 1/2/3 markers i always lose. Thanks (thumps up)

Thank you! All I can say is practice a lot of past ones as although they all change, they do help. I was the same and really struggled with the application so it takes a bit of getting used to but it is definitely possible to bring up your grade by getting your hands on as much past material as possible. I would also advise making sure you know the specification of the syllabus and what's needed and look at examiners reports for the essays and such. I would try to do as many of the application questions from the book as you can as well as it just helps you get a feel for it all but don't try to learn the application stuff as you don't need to and it will waste brain space haha hope this helps :smile:

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Reply 16

Maid Marian

20

I got an A*, and it was due to memorisation of the mark scheme and the specific answers they want you to give for each type of question.

Of course, learn all the content (I found the CGP guides good as well as the AQA textbook), but the most important thing that cannot be stressed enough is past papers. Do them several times over until you know the answers off by heart.

Reply 17

Becky

OP

1

Original post by catseymour

Thank you! All I can say is practice a lot of past ones as although they all change, they do help. I was the same and really struggled with the application so it takes a bit of getting used to but it is definitely possible to bring up your grade by getting your hands on as much past material as possible. I would also advise making sure you know the specification of the syllabus and what's needed and look at examiners reports for the essays and such. I would try to do as many of the application questions from the book as you can as well as it just helps you get a feel for it all but don't try to learn the application stuff as you don't need to and it will waste brain space haha hope this helps :smile:

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I don't understand why it want let me give you a thumbs up again :/ but thank you for your advice. The application questions i've always dodged in the books so i will do them for my A2s thank you! and thank you to everyone else! Good luck at Uni or whatever path you all decided to go down! :smile:

Reply 18

Silver_moon

2

What good revision books are there for as level as I want to get started as I know it's tough ?