Background Information About Studying Biology

This course builds on knowledge, understanding and practice skills that you will develop during your GCSE science course. You should gain at least a GCSE grade B in biology or BB in science (double award), both of which provide suitable preparation for the a-level.

Biology, with its mixture of scientific method, problem solving, practical skills and socially relevant content, provides a useful complement to arts humanities among mixed A levels. It also enables students to develop the essential skills of synoptic essay writing, an aspect of modern education highlighted as missing by the major universities. This makes the qualification highly sought after.

Students Opinion: Very difficult, one of the hardest A Levels.

It`s not that hard. A fair bit of memorisation required, but nothing too bad. It is definitely easier than chemistry and more enjoyable, if you like learning facts. If you enjoy reading biology topics especially human biology, it becomes easier to learn. There are no `hard` concepts -not in AS anyway-.... just a lot of content to know, which needs to be broken down and learned effectively and applied to questions.