Ahh Biology, my favourite subject. But my least favourite to revise (oh the irony…). Going into A Levels I knew I wanted to take biology because it’s necessary for my course at university, so I never doubted my choice of taking it. Though I have some friends who didn’t enjoy it and ended up dropping biology. I think everyone has a love hate relationship with bio, keeping it is a matter of loving it more or hating it more (I love it more hehe). So, what was my experience with A Level Biology? Read on to find out.
What can I expect?
For the jump between high school and A Levels, personally I didn’t find it very big at all. Our first chapter was about cells so it was a nice warm up chapter to recall the things we learned before. We learned many similar topics as in IGCSE just in greater detail. But… well, I’m not gonna sugar coat this. Expect loads of stuff to memorise. Loads. That’s probably the most significant difference between high school and A Levels. Don’t mean to scare you or anything, just being honest. I found it quite overwhelming at first. The notes I made for each chapter was literally so packed with information, there was barely any white space left. After I found a study method that worked for me, things did become more manageable so it wasn’t all that bad. Just make sure to keep up with work so things don’t pile up!
How many papers are there?
At AS, there’s Paper 1, 2 and 3.
- Paper 1: 40 MCQ questions, 1 hour
- Paper 2: Structured questions, 1 hour 15 minutes
- Paper 3: Practical paper, 2 hours
At A2, there’s Paper 4 and 5
- Paper 4: Structured questions, 2 hours
- Paper 5: Written practical, 1 hour 15 minutes
How’s the workload?
Biology took the most time compared to my other subjects just because there’s so much to memorise. For me, making notes for a chapter would take +/- 4 days, memorising it would take maybe half a day. Then I would have to go over my notes a few more times after that to make sure I really remember it. Past paper wise, I find they help jolt your memory rather than help you learn the content as with other subjects. They are still very important though because in Biology there are some really interesting(?), out of the box(?), funny(?), questions, so you’ve gotta train your brain to be flexible in that sense. Oh, a tip for revision: Make your notes/flash cards ASAP after you finish learning a chapter, even if you don’t plan on memorising right away. That way you can just focus on memorising them when exams roll around.
What’s the practical paper like?
So in Paper 3, I almost had a break down because my enzyme solution wouldn’t change colour! It was supposed to turn clear but nothing happened???? (I almost cried haha) After I came out of the lab my teacher told us that the way we present the data carried the most marks so we shouldn’t worry too much. In Paper 5, I had another mini heart attack. The question of planning an experiment was about a computerised reaction test, which we never learned before! Then the second question was about sperm count…which we also never done. In my opinion, bio practicals can be very out of the blue. They can ask what seem to be out of syllabus but they actually aren’t. What to do? Step one, do not panic like I did. Step 2, make sure to know all the possible experiment methods, even if they seem unlikely to come out, like quadrat sampling etc. Step 3, try to link those funny questions to what you know. It’s in your brain somewhere!
How’s the jump from AS to A2?
I felt the jump was bigger than from high school to A Levels. Our first A2 chapter was on respiration which involved a lot of biochemistry. I wasn’t used to it so I found it really difficult. Though as things always do, after awhile I got the hang of it and things were back on track.
Biology may be very intimidating (just look at my mountain of notes), definitely not for the faint of heart. But if you really want to, go for it! Workload aside, I really loved the content, the topics were all so interesting, my favourite was on genetic engineering and conservation. To be honest, A Level Biology helped me get a feel of the different branches of biology, which I am really grateful for! It helped me decide on my university course. For anyone with an interest in biology, I 10/10 recommend A Level Biology (though with a warning sign about the workload!).
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