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A-level Biology Study Group 2022

Poll

Which exam board are you taking?

Welcome to the A-level Biology Study Group! :woo:

This is where you can chat to others students taking your subject as you prepare for your A-level exams this summer.

What can I do in these groups?

Almost anything! If you need help with a certain topic, want to rant about something you are struggling with or just want to support other students who are trying to prepare, this is the place for you. We want these to be a useful place for everyone no matter what you're looking for!

What can't I do in these groups?

Asking or offering copyright papers is against our site rules, and so is taking conversation off-site to do these things. Any posts doing this will be removed. That's the only rule :naughty:

Ice Breaker questions if you want to use them!

> What exam board are you on? (Vote in the poll as well!)

> What bits of the course are you feeling confident with?

> What areas are you struggling with a little?

> Have you found any resources online that have helped you prepare?

Specifications:

Course: AQA - Biology 7402
Advance Information: AQA - Biology 7402
TSR AQA Biology Guide

Exam: Edexcel - Biology A (Salters-Nuffield)
Advance Information: Edexcel - Biology A (Salters-Nuffield)

Exam: Edexcel - Biology B
Advance Information: Edexcel - Biology B

Exam: OCR- Biology A H420
Advance Information: OCR - Biology A H420
TSR OCR Biology A Guide

Exam: OCR - Biology B H422
Advance Information: OCR - Biology B H422

Exam: WJEC - Biology
Advance Information: WJEC - Biology

Good luck with the next few months. Remember, ask for help, support where you can and together we can do this! :yes:
(edited 2 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Keeping this space for a list of resources or study tools that are recommended in this thread:

STGI A-level Biology exam question bank
Miss Estruch Youtube Channel
Studymind
Maths Made Easy - Biology
Physics and Maths Tutor - Biology
So..

> What exam board are you on? (Vote in the poll as well!)
AQA
> What bits of the course are you feeling confident with?
I feel pretty solid on AS, there is just sooo much to learnn.
> What areas are you struggling with a little?
MUSCLES!! I BAND, Z LINE, Sarcomere :rolleyes:
> Have you found any resources online that have helped you prepare?

Standard PMT, studymind, MME, STGI A-levle Biology exam q. bank, Miss Estruch YT channel (What a God send!!), save my exams
Original post by Bookworm_88
So..

> What exam board are you on? (Vote in the poll as well!)
AQA
> What bits of the course are you feeling confident with?
I feel pretty solid on AS, there is just sooo much to learnn.
> What areas are you struggling with a little?
MUSCLES!! I BAND, Z LINE, Sarcomere :rolleyes:
> Have you found any resources online that have helped you prepare?

Standard PMT, studymind, MME, STGI A-levle Biology exam q. bank, Miss Estruch YT channel (What a God send!!), save my exams

Thank you so much for the list of resources. I will get links to them and add them to the space above tomorrow morning!

Welcome :smile:
not super sure how these work haha but hi !
exam board: AQA
bits of the course i’m struggling with: autosomal linkage, properties of water, transcription & translation, and basically all the math stuff lol
bits of the course i’m confident with: most of the immune system stuff, epistasis, sex-linked genes (tbf most of the genetics stuff i’ve covered except autosomal linkage)
online resources: past papers, seneca, the kerboodle textbook, the snaprevise summary cheat sheets
Original post by radioactiveduck
not super sure how these work haha but hi !
exam board: AQA
bits of the course i’m struggling with: autosomal linkage, properties of water, transcription & translation, and basically all the math stuff lol
bits of the course i’m confident with: most of the immune system stuff, epistasis, sex-linked genes (tbf most of the genetics stuff i’ve covered except autosomal linkage)
online resources: past papers, seneca, the kerboodle textbook, the snaprevise summary cheat sheets

If you would like, I can help you with water and translation and transcription and AS maths stuff..I haven't covered A2 genetics yet
Original post by Bookworm_88

> Have you found any resources online that have helped you prepare?

Standard PMT, studymind, MME, STGI A-levle Biology exam q. bank, Miss Estruch YT channel (What a God send!!), save my exams

I've added all the resources that you've outlined that are free to use. Thanks!
Original post by Evil Homer
I've added all the resources that you've outlined that are free to use. Thanks!

Physics and Maths tutor, studymind and mathsmadeeasy are free websites too
Happy to give advice regarding exams - I have been an examiner for GCSE and A level biology for quite some years now (though obviously not the past couple!) :smile:
Original post by Bookworm_88
If you would like, I can help you with water and translation and transcription and AS maths stuff..I haven't covered A2 genetics yet

ah that’d be great, ty ! most of the A2 genetics stuff is pretty straightforward imo (plus it’s pretty interesting) - are you AQA too ?
Original post by radioactiveduck
ah that’d be great, ty ! most of the A2 genetics stuff is pretty straightforward imo (plus it’s pretty interesting) - are you AQA too ?

yessir..would you prefer me to do it through this channel?
Original post by Bookworm_88
So..

> What exam board are you on? (Vote in the poll as well!)
AQA
> What bits of the course are you feeling confident with?
I feel pretty solid on AS, there is just sooo much to learnn.
> What areas are you struggling with a little?
MUSCLES!! I BAND, Z LINE, Sarcomere :rolleyes:
> Have you found any resources online that have helped you prepare?

Standard PMT, studymind, MME, STGI A-levle Biology exam q. bank, Miss Estruch YT channel (What a God send!!), save my exams


Hey! I also do AQA. (And love Miss Estruch haha) For muscles, I looked at her videos but still didn’t fully understand, so I watched the snaprevise ones about it (the free ones on yt) and it rlly helped me, maybe check it out? Ofc make sure it’s the AQA one!
Time for a bit of ice-braking.

What exam board are you on?
AQA

What bits of the course are you feeling confident with?
Carbohydrates, lipids and proteins

What areas are you struggling with a little?
Evidence of semi-conservative DNA replication and the different nitrogen isotopes used in the experiment :s-smilie:

Have you found any resources online that have helped you prepare?

Aside from the ones I’ve already mentioned:
- snaprevise
- notes made by biologywitholivia. This one is probably unfamiliar to the majority of people so let me explain why it’s good. The notes used are derived from various mark schemes and the definitions + diagrams are paraphrased from the specification, which shows the reliability and precision of the notes used. The AS ones are free, whereas the A level ones are paid. Download the AS ones and see how good it is to you and if it’s up to your standards, I’d recommend the a level notes, provided you’re doing a level.

Happy studying everyone!
Original post by Reality Check
Happy to give advice regarding exams - I have been an examiner for GCSE and A level biology for quite some years now (though obviously not the past couple!) :smile:

How would you differentiate the style of answers between a test with a low mark and a test with a high mark?
If you were to give advice(s) to those who had a low mark, what advice(s) would they be?
Original post by 0ptics
How would you differentiate the style of answers between a test with a low mark and a test with a high mark?
If you were to give advice(s) to those who had a low mark, what advice(s) would they be?

Do you mean what characterises a weak script as a whole - generically?
Original post by Reality Check
Do you mean what characterises a weak script as a whole - generically?

Yes.
Original post by 0ptics
Yes.

Several things recur:


•

Lack of key terminology in all questions - this is crucial to access the marks and probably the hallmark of a weak script.

•

Not answering the question that was asked, and instead answering the question you wanted to be asked

•

Not having learnt definitions, and thus throwing away the easy one/two markers

•

Not making enough connexions between different parts of the course in the essays, meaning they can't talk about enough topics and it ends up as 'unistructural' with a low maximum mark.

•

Not showing enough or any working with maths questions, so when they screw up the answer, they end up with zero marks

Original post by Rara345
Hey! I also do AQA. (And love Miss Estruch haha) For muscles, I looked at her videos but still didn’t fully understand, so I watched the snaprevise ones about it (the free ones on yt) and it rlly helped me, maybe check it out? Ofc make sure it’s the AQA one!

Oh I get muscules now..or at least I think I do aha..I'll check snaprevise out
Original post by 0ptics
Time for a bit of ice-braking.

What exam board are you on?
AQA

What bits of the course are you feeling confident with?
Carbohydrates, lipids and proteins

What areas are you struggling with a little?
Evidence of semi-conservative DNA replication and the different nitrogen isotopes used in the experiment :s-smilie:

Have you found any resources online that have helped you prepare?

Aside from the ones I’ve already mentioned:
- snaprevise
- notes made by biologywitholivia. This one is probably unfamiliar to the majority of people so let me explain why it’s good. The notes used are derived from various mark schemes and the definitions + diagrams are paraphrased from the specification, which shows the reliability and precision of the notes used. The AS ones are free, whereas the A level ones are paid. Download the AS ones and see how good it is to you and if it’s up to your standards, I’d recommend the a level notes, provided you’re doing a level.

Happy studying everyone!

Did you get your head around semi-conservative replication, or did you need some help with it? :smile:
Original post by Bookworm_88
yessir..would you prefer me to do it through this channel?


Yes - please let's keep any help on content, study skills etc on this thread rather than conducting in via PM or, worse, attempting to do it offline. That way, the thread stands as a resource to those people interested in it who might be browsing, rather than actively contributing :smile:

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