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CGP Books and A Level Biology

9

Iam doing Edexcel SNAB Biology, and the book school gave us from Edexcel is rubbish and waffles alot.

Iam revising from the CGP Biology Book (ALOT Better and EXACTLY whats on the specfication).

However ive heard you cant get an A Grade from working with CGP Book, is this true? any advice?

Thanks

Reply 1

Sparkly-Star

13

I wouldn't recommend CGP books for A - levels actually. The Edexcel book is probably the most closest matched to the specification. With AQA I have a book that I really don't like cos of all the waffle, but I find it the most useful because it contains the information I need. Comparing it with my CGP book, it has bits missing and stuff. :frown:

I think you should compare the specification with the CGP book. If you're happy with it then that's fine but personally I'd go for the book by the exam board. :yep:

Reply 2

Medicz

OP

9

Sparkly-Star

I wouldn't recommend CGP books for A - levels actually. The Edexcel book is probably the most closest matched to the specification. With AQA I have a book that I really don't like cos of all the waffle, but I find it the most useful because it contains the information I need. Comparing it with my CGP book, it has bits missing and stuff. :frown:

I think you should compare the specification with the CGP book. If you're happy with it then that's fine but personally I'd go for the book by the exam board. :yep:

[/QUO
My Edexcel books got stuff missing of the specfication lol?

CGP = Got Everything and MUCH better explained and NO waffle.
The Edexcel Book chats sh*t, toooooo much. And its rubbish at explaining.

Is there any problem with me using JUST CGP Book, iam 100% sure its got EVERYTHNIG in the specfication./

Thanks

Reply 3

Sparkly-Star

13

[QUOTE="Medicz"]

Sparkly-Star

I wouldn't recommend CGP books for A - levels actually. The Edexcel book is probably the most closest matched to the specification. With AQA I have a book that I really don't like cos of all the waffle, but I find it the most useful because it contains the information I need. Comparing it with my CGP book, it has bits missing and stuff. :frown:

I think you should compare the specification with the CGP book. If you're happy with it then that's fine but personally I'd go for the book by the exam board. :yep:

[/QUO
My Edexcel books got stuff missing of the specfication lol?

CGP = Got Everything and MUCH better explained and NO waffle.
The Edexcel Book chats sh*t, toooooo much. And its rubbish at explaining.

Is there any problem with me using JUST CGP Book, iam 100% sure its got EVERYTHNIG in the specfication./

Thanks

Lol does it? That's pretty strange... it shouldn't ha. :p:

If it has everything then that's fine and no I wouldn't just rely on one book. I rely on a few sources it makes sometimes the things that I learn a lot clearer or gives me more info which I sometimes find useful. Like online websites and other books. :yep:

If you're happy with your CGP book and find that you're not struggling with exam papers then you should be cool. :yep:

After all the Edexcel book is probably a text book so it would contain waffle and the CGP one is a revision book so it won't contain useless info. :yep:

Reply 4

cousto

12

i advise you to use the snab book amd cgp book together so if the snab book doesn't make it clear have a look at at the cgp book thats how i done AS

Reply 5

SomeStudent

15

The good thing I like about the CGP books is that they cover everything from the specification :smile:

And they have clear, concise points. But you still have to familiarise with your study book, it may contain important information as well =)

Reply 6

Marie-Claire

9

I used the CGP book to revise initially (I'm not doing Edexcel though) and then my own notes to back it up. I don't think it goes into enough detail to get you an A on its own, but if it gives you the grounding in the topics so you understand them then maybe the other book or any notes you took yourself can fill in the details.

Reply 7

antonfigo

3

I would not recommend any other book than the book edexcel made themselves...

Just go through the spec...then underline the important pieces from the edexcel text book...
Read through the text once....Then skim through ..... then read the underlined points....Then go through the text once more...while asking questions to yourself mentally.....
This is really effective if you have the time.

These days edexcel makes BS papers.... Its all graph decoding , practical applications ,ethics and communication for the most part...and very little actual knowledge of biology... so good luck (thinking outside the box) !

Reply 8

anisaMN

Hi,well Edexcel is normally the easier board than Aqa.I've used both revision guides and find CGP the better one but it can only get you to the C grade maximum if you learn it inside out. For the higher grade do exam questions and use text book.Examiners like how science works question and that will get you the higher grade.
I know from experince.

Reply 9

Meesta

2

anisaMN

Hi,well Edexcel is normally the easier board than Aqa.I've used both revision guides and find CGP the better one but it can only get you to the C grade maximum if you learn it inside out. For the higher grade do exam questions and use text book.Examiners like how science works question and that will get you the higher grade.
I know from experince.

C maximum? mmm i got a high B and a A in my biology exams last year while just using the CGP guide and being poorly taught.

Reply 10

hissyfit

15

Medicz

Iam doing Edexcel SNAB Biology, and the book school gave us from Edexcel is rubbish and waffles alot.

Iam revising from the CGP Biology Book (ALOT Better and EXACTLY whats on the specfication).

However ive heard you cant get an A Grade from working with CGP Book, is this true? any advice?

Thanks

If you can afford it get this 1 its got a different approach than the CGP one,written by Edexcel & has soem common mistakes students make.
http://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/Secondary/Science/16Biology/EdexcelGCERevisionGuides/ISBN/BiologyRevisionGuides/EdexcelASBiologyRevisionGuide.aspx

I agree with the textbook being useless @ explaining stuff & what exactly you need to know,it just waffles on forever. :frown:

I do SNAB Edexcel btw,Am doing AS @ the moment,so can t say you ll get an A....
Make sure you understand each topic on the specification (CGP is really good for that as it explains things clearly)
Good Luck :wink:

Reply 11

uni9908

Medicz

Iam doing Edexcel SNAB Biology, and the book school gave us from Edexcel is rubbish and waffles alot.

Iam revising from the CGP Biology Book (ALOT Better and EXACTLY whats on the specfication).

However ive heard you cant get an A Grade from working with CGP Book, is this true? any advice?

Thanks

I used cgp last year for edxcel and got 120 for unit 1 and 115 for unit 2.

Reply 12

Ankurr1

Can anyone plzz upload the CGP A2 Biology Revision guide

Reply 13

Id and Ego seek

21

CGP doesn't go into nearly enough depth to get those higher marks; it needs to be foundation with the exam board's textbook, study books and extra reading.

No single textbook should be used alone anyway.

Reply 14

BobLoblawLawBlog

16

Original post

by Medicz

Iam doing Edexcel SNAB Biology, and the book school gave us from Edexcel is rubbish and waffles alot.

Iam revising from the CGP Biology Book (ALOT Better and EXACTLY whats on the specfication).

However ive heard you cant get an A Grade from working with CGP Book, is this true? any advice?

Thanks

I can't speak for edexcel, but for AQA biology I only used the cgp revision guide to revise (and for certain parts teach) for unit 1 and unit 2. I don't have my unit 2 result, but I got an A in unit 1 (albeit a low A). So it is possible to get an A using the CGP guide. Just make sure you tick each specification point as you go through to make sure you don't miss anything.

Reply 15

Selym95

15

I have just finished my AS Level is Biology with Edexcel. The SNAB revision guide stays very close to the spec and supplies enough info to get an A grade. I received an A grade in January purely using the SNAB revision guide and obvious past papers etc.

Reply 16

Liamnut

13

Original post

by Id and Ego seek

CGP doesn't go into nearly enough depth to get those higher marks; it needs to be foundation with the exam board's textbook, study books and extra reading.

No single textbook should be used alone anyway.

I hate the "no single book" thing. It can't be that hard to make one single book that contains all the information when people manage to get 100 UMS. If a student knows all the info, the people writing the books should too,

I only wish to use CGP due to the fact that the book OCR recommends has loads of mistakes.

Reply 17

hslakaal

17

I personally don't like CGP when teaching students.

It has scope, but really lacks in content. Use the Edexcel book, and just do loads of past papers. The content of biology is not hard at all. It is all about few basic concepts and applying your logic to it. If you encounter a question you can't do, consult the book, and the wonderful world of the internet if the book doesn't help. CGP tends to have slightly muddled up explanations, simply due to it being rather "bullet-pointed", shall we say.

If you're on the lower side of grades atm, the CGP will help. But for students who are at B/A/A*, it won't help you get those extra few marks which aren't simple memory tests.

Reply 18

umarrd

7

Would I have a good shot?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 19

Ruxsh

3

Has anyone actually used a CGP book as well as done lots of past papers and only sometimes (really small - when they don't understand something) used the big textbook and still got an A or A* with the help of their teacher as well as hard work?

CGP Books and A Level Biology

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