A-Level Biology is undoubtedly a large amount of knowledge that is covered in the short span of 2 years. In order to feel prepared and to target what your specific exam board expects of you, it is best to start by familiarising yourself with the specification. Your A-Level Biology tutor can help with this. This way you are also unlikely to miss out on any required knowledge. You can even use your specification (AQA, Edexcel, OCR) as a to do list by printing it off.
When revising, practice questions and past papers are what will help you see where your current understanding lies and any weak areas. With reference to the mark scheme, you will pick up trends in what the examiners are looking for. Unlike the other sciences, Biology mark schemes tend to be extremely specific. You can clearly see where the marks are awarded and pay attention to underlined words that are a requirement for marks in certain questions. Mark schemes may also highlight what sort of terminology will be accepted and what will be ignored. Thus, you can use this as a guide to remove or include these words from your vocabulary when writing your exam responses.
Mind maps can be helpful to condense large amounts of information into the key elements. They can then be stuck up in your room for a constant reminder or easy access to important facts. You can do a similar thing with flashcards, as there is a fair amount of memory work in Biology.
It’s essential that before attempting practice questions or trying to condense information into notes that you understand the content. Listening in class will never do you any wrong as this is where most of your initial learning happens. Always ask questions until you reach some understanding of the content. When you are doing your individual learning, it can be helpful to watch videos that explain complex theories in simple terms with more visually stimulating methods. Good A-Level content can be found on YouTube such as on free science lessons.
A-level Biology is a difficult A-level subject due to the breadth of content within the curriculum. Many students find the jump from GCSE Biology to A-level Biology very daunting, even if you scored grades 7-9 in your GCSEs. To be successful in A-level Biology you will need good time management skills, in order to cover all the content ahead of exams, amongst other independent study skills.
Keep practising and don’t wait to ask questions or reach out for support from teaching staff at school or experienced tutors, as they are experts in their fields.
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