How to get an A in a level biology?

a bit more context?

I did a level biology last year I got a B I want to resit it in 2021 how do I ensure that this time round things go more smoothly?

I will be reteaching myself everything from scratch.

here are my steps (i graduated with a bio degree and got 98% back in AQA Biology A level):


1.Find the official/exam board-certified course textbook such as by Pearson/Oxford and learn it almost off by heart, as close as you can get: rote memorisation of the words is only the 2nd from top 'level' of learning that is required: upon doing this with enough discipline you will find yourself progressing from just memorising words on a page to genuinely understanding the material in a way that sticks in your mind.

2. When you write revision notes DO NOT 'summarise', rather you should 'make cues' to help you recall deeper levels of detail: if you think of notes 'to summarise' the material then you are brushing over all the fine details that are critical in biology, rather you should think of your note 'to cue' the material you actually remember far more than you realise, you just need that one word or phrase to jog your memory of it... so find a diagram that will only show the basic steps... and then you will know finer detail within those broad steps - so in the exam you could picture that basic diagram in your head

3. For any parts that are particularly difficult to remember, read around the subject. For example, how to remember which heart valve does what? the vena cava returns deoxygenated blood from the body to the heart, how do i know this? vena cava is latin for "hollow veins" according to wikipedia, so i suppose it makes sense why they would be described as 'hollow', etc. So here i am doing extra reading by studying a wee bit of Latin and it turns out to be less work rather than more overall! Most of the time though reading around the subject should be in terms of biological detail rather than Latin though which was just an example!

4. Do A FEW past papers, just to get you used to the mark scheme, but don't lose track of learning the textbook off by heart and reading around the subject where necessary - don't overdo past papers: if you get 75% in 3 past papers then you have wasted 75% of 3 hours of your time

For my exam board edexcel B the textbook is incredibly concise and not very good. CGP do not make revision guides for my exam board.

CGP cannot be the course-certified textbook! it is usually Pearson or Oxford press and it should be about 1.5 inches thick i think CGP guides should be banned tbh.

CGP is really bad for A-level

I personally loved CGP for biology!!! used that book to death

I personally loved CGP for biology!!! used that book to death

CGP cannot be the course-certified textbook! it is usually Pearson or Oxford press and it should be about 1.5 inches thick i think CGP guides should be banned tbh.

Cgp has all the points you need to know. The other books tend to give you lots of information you dont need to know. But having more than 1 book to add missing information in is good.

CGP cannot be the course-certified textbook! it is usually Pearson or Oxford press and it should be about 1.5 inches thick i think CGP guides should be banned tbh.

I am going to do biology A level in September and my plan was to buy CGP books, which type of book should I buy instead

what's the exam board? the official AQA-approved textbook for me was this, but it's £43 and i would expect the school to fund it for you. It's an inch thick which puts off lots of students, but A level Biology is notoriously difficult - the hardest A level content-wise (the other sciences are harder conceptually)