can i do biology at uni without doing the practicals?

im an external candidate and sadly i currently don't have the necessary funds in order to pay for the Biology AQA exam and practical together; can i just do the exam and does the practical really matter.

Reply 1

999tigger

19

Original post by MoralMoe

im an external candidate and sadly i currently don't have the necessary funds in order to pay for the Biology AQA exam and practical together; can i just do the exam and does the practical really matter.

Are the practicals part of the exam?

It says 4 units are exams
Two units assess investigative and practical skills which can be marked by schools, colleges or by AQA.

Presumably they count towards the A level and without them you will not have completed it? You would also need the marks.

You can sit just the exams, but you wont have completed the qualification. Talk to AQA.

Reply 2

username2911200

19

Original post by MoralMoe

im an external candidate and sadly i currently don't have the necessary funds in order to pay for the Biology AQA exam and practical together; can i just do the exam and does the practical really matter.

Original post by 999tigger

Are the practicals part of the exam? It says 4 units are exams Two units assess investigative and practical skills which can be marked by schools, colleges or by AQA. Presumably they count towards the A level and without them you will not have completed it? You would also need the marks. You can sit just the exams, but you wont have completed the qualification. Talk to AQA.

Considering the practical counts for 20% of your overall mark, it matters quite a lot. If you got one mark under 100% in all the exams then you wouldn't get an A overall. With 100% in all the exams you'd just about scrape an A with 80% of the total attainable marks.

This is from Oxford, but it makes sense it would apply to everywhere else:

'NB: If a practical component forms part of any of the A-levels taken, we expect candidates to have taken it and passed.'

https://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/requirements/academic

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 3

999tigger

19

Original post by Glassapple

Considering the practical counts for 20% of your overall mark, it matters quite a lot. If you got one mark under 100% in all the exams then you wouldn't get an A overall. With 100% in all the exams you'd just about scrape an A with 80% of the total attainable marks.

This is from Oxford, but it makes sense it would apply to everywhere else:

'NB: If a practical component forms part of any of the A-levels taken, we expect candidates to have taken it and passed.'

https://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/requirements/academic

Thanks couldnt be bothered looking up exactly how much % they were wortth. Finding lab time is usually difficult for private candidates.