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AQA AS/A2 Biology

In September, I start the AQA biology course, and I was wondering what tips any current or pass students have? I found my most effective technique at GCSE was to print out the specification and tick off when we learnt certain areas in class, and at home. I was curious as to if anybody had any other tips? I have multiple revision sites, but of course you can never have too many, so if anybody has any more, or worksheets or general tips, please let me know! I hope this will be useful to other people too!

I thank you in advance, I'm hoping to go on and study midwifery, and biology has always fascinated me and an A would be great!

*My teacher usually provided the tick sheets for GCSE. I was wondering if anyone had the spec but basic as could be, so I could use for A-level? If not, I will put one together for anyone.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 1
There's a completely different technique at AS.

No matter how good of a biology student you are, if you don't start using the specific words in the mark schemes, you will not receive a good grade. The content isn't bad at AS. The marking is strict.

Use the AQA nelson thornes book for most of the things alongside a CGP study guide.

Revise early on, there's a lot of content.

The coursework is a ***** try your best.
Reply 2
Original post by zed963
There's a completely different technique at AS.

No matter how good of a biology student you are, if you don't start using the specific words in the mark schemes, you will not receive a good grade. The content isn't bad at AS. The marking is strict.

Use the AQA nelson thornes book for most of the things alongside a CGP study guide.

Revise early on, there's a lot of content.

The coursework is a ***** try your best.



Okay, thank you! I got 2 A*s in my GCSE coursework, 44 and 48, hopefully I can ace a-level but I know that it'll be 1000x more difficult. However, I'm looking forward to it!
Reply 3
Ticking things off the specification as you revise is a good idea. As said above, keywords matter A LOT. Even if you have the correct reasoning, if you miss that keyword, you won't get the mark.

The best thing to do is start revision early.
Reply 4
Original post by zed963
There's a completely different technique at AS.

No matter how good of a biology student you are, if you don't start using the specific words in the mark schemes, you will not receive a good grade. The content isn't bad at AS. The marking is strict.

Use the AQA nelson thornes book for most of the things alongside a CGP study guide.

Revise early on, there's a lot of content.

The coursework is a ***** try your best.


What did you end up getting in BIOL2 zed, biol2 bent me over btw :biggrin:

Original post by iamabbie97
In September, I start the AQA biology course, and I was wondering what tips any current or pass students have? I found my most effective technique at GCSE was to print out the specification and tick off when we learnt certain areas in class, and at home. I was curious as to if anybody had any other tips? I have multiple revision sites, but of course you can never have too many, so if anybody has any more, or worksheets or general tips, please let me know! I hope this will be useful to other people too!

I thank you in advance, I'm hoping to go on and study midwifery, and biology has always fascinated me and an A would be great!

*My teacher usually provided the tick sheets for GCSE. I was wondering if anyone had the spec but basic as could be, so I could use for A-level? If not, I will put one together for anyone.


Mate AQA in my opinion is probably the worst exam board to do Biology
but anyhow you have to make sure you dont get left behind and you
fully understand the content as you're going through it as there is a lot of content
Try and get ahead if you can. Start past papers early as mark scheme answers are key to AQA Biology
Understanding is key as there is a lot of AO2 & AO3 questions, application of Biology and How science works
All the best to you :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by AhmedDavid
What did you end up getting in BIOL2 zed, biol2 bent me over btw :biggrin:



Mate AQA in my opinion is probably the worst exam board to do Biology
but anyhow you have to make sure you dont get left behind and you
fully understand the content as you're going through it as there is a lot of content
Try and get ahead if you can. Start past papers early as mark scheme answers are key to AQA Biology
Understanding is key as there is a lot of AO2 & AO3 questions, application of Biology and How science works
All the best to you :smile:


I've heard AQA isn't great, but it's what my sixth form offers, and all other colleges in my area, but I'll still try my best :smile:
Thank you for the tips! And thank you! :smile:
Reply 6
Original post by Trainz
Ticking things off the specification as you revise is a good idea. As said above, keywords matter A LOT. Even if you have the correct reasoning, if you miss that keyword, you won't get the mark.

The best thing to do is start revision early.


I'll be sure to make some keyword cards, because I think that was my low point at GCSE. But this a-level is my most important, so believe me I will be keyword crazy :wink:

I'm going to (attempt) revise over what we learnt in lesson at home after school, it worked for me at the end of year 11 so hopefully I can continue that.

Thank you :smile:
Reply 7
Original post by iamabbie97
Okay, thank you! I got 2 A*s in my GCSE coursework, 44 and 48, hopefully I can ace a-level but I know that it'll be 1000x more difficult. However, I'm looking forward to it!


Doesn't matter how many A*s you get, people with 5A* are sometimes not able to get a good grade. Don't use GCSEs as a predictor too much.
Reply 8
Original post by AhmedDavid
What did you end up getting in BIOL2 zed, biol2 bent me over btw :biggrin:


All the best to you :smile:


I was fine with Biol2 got an A. It was Biol1 that screwed me up got a C.

Overall ended up with a B :frown:

How did you do overall?
Reply 9
Original post by zed963
I was fine with Biol2 got an A. It was Biol1 that screwed me up got a C.

Overall ended up with a B :frown:

How did you do overall?


Opposite to you 90ums in Biol1 and then messed up BIOL2 where I got a B
B in the empa aswell so ended up with a B overall :frown: gutted
Original post by zed963
There's a completely different technique at AS.

No matter how good of a biology student you are, if you don't start using the specific words in the mark schemes, you will not receive a good grade. The content isn't bad at AS. The marking is strict.

Use the AQA nelson thornes book for most of the things alongside a CGP study guide.

Revise early on, there's a lot of content.

The coursework is a ***** try your best.



If only someone said this to me when I started A level Biology in September, then I wouldnt have failed :frown:. Oh well I've learnt from my mistakes and I'm going to work my ass off in year 13!!!!
Original post by iamabbie97
Okay, thank you! I got 2 A*s in my GCSE coursework, 44 and 48, hopefully I can ace a-level but I know that it'll be 1000x more difficult. However, I'm looking forward to it!


GCSE coursework is sooooo easy I got A* as well without even revising properly but dont let that trick you, at alevel it is soooooo different and much more hard. I got a U in my coursework. :frown:

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