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Biology a level

I'm interested in doing biology A level, could any current A level students give me an insight of what it's like and what kind of work you're currently doing. thank you.
You basically have to memories an entire text book and regurgitate it in an exam. That's the most honest and simplest way to describe it. Except over half of that text book won't even appear in the exam but you have to learn it all anyway.
Excluding the "guess the answer" random questions.

I liked it enough at AS. Did alright with a C. Really hated it at A2 and would not recommend at all as an A2. The content is a lot less interesting (Krebs cycle, oxidative phosphorylation..ect) so a lot harder to remember.

I got an A at GCSE.
It totally depends what exam board you're doing, for example we learn forensic biology which apparently others do not do. The boring stuff will drive you crazy such as respiration, but I love it as a subject itself. The application questions are quite tricky, other than that a very good memory will help you a lot.
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RMNDK
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Original post by Strawberry68
You basically have to memories an entire text book and regurgitate it in an exam.

Except over half of that text book won't even appear in the exam but you have to learn it all anyway.




Oh My ****ing God

PREACH
:crossedf:
Original post by hollybarnard
I'm interested in doing biology A level, could any current A level students give me an insight of what it's like and what kind of work you're currently doing. thank you.


I personally like it.

You build up on everything you learned in GCSE, and while there IS alot of memorization to it, you still have to understand loads, and actually like biology. I personally enjoy every aspect of it except for botany, when it comes up. (And it does especially at A2).

What you specifically study depends on the board.

At AS I studied Immunity, diseases, DNA replication and protein synthesis (mitosis at AS, meiosis at A2), transport in humans (the heart and blood circulation), transport in plants, cell structure, biological molecules, enzymes and a bit of ecology. Oh and the gas exchange system, (lungs etc. and diseases related to it such as emphysema)

I disagree when people say you have to regurgitate everything. Like I said you still need to UNDERSTAND what is actually going on, as some questions are not straightforward at all.
Original post by PharaohFromSpace
I personally like it.

You build up on everything you learned in GCSE, and while there IS alot of memorization to it, you still have to understand loads, and actually like biology. I personally enjoy every aspect of it except for botany, when it comes up. (And it does especially at A2).

What you specifically study depends on the board.

At AS I studied Immunity, diseases, DNA replication and protein synthesis (mitosis at AS, meiosis at A2), transport in humans (the heart and blood circulation), transport in plants, cell structure, biological molecules, enzymes and a bit of ecology. Oh and the gas exchange system, (lungs etc. and diseases related to it such as emphysema)

I disagree when people say you have to regurgitate everything. Like I said you still need to UNDERSTAND what is actually going on, as some questions are not straightforward at all.


thank you, i appreciate it!

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