Year 13

Highly interactive lessons include a wide range of teaching styles including theory, practical work, discussion, exam practice, and independent study

OCR A Level in Biology A (H420)

This new, linear A level course is studied from September 2020 to June 2022 and is assessed terminally by way of three written exam papers.

Biological processes 2hrs 15min 37%
Biological diversity 2hrs 15min 37%
Unified Biology 1hr 30min 26%

Formal coursework has been replaced by a non-examined Practical Endorsement, which is assessed internally and reported separately on the exam certificate as a Pass or Fail.

Learners complete a minimum of 12 assessed experiments covering the technical skills outlined in the specification. Students will be required to keep a record of their practical assessments throughout the course.

Further details of the course specifications can be found by visiting this link: A-Level OCR Biology A

A Level Lessons

Students have 7 periods of biology each week which is taught by two specialist biology teachers. Highly interactive lessons include a wide range of teaching styles including theory, practical work, discussion, exam practice, and independent study. Students are supported throughout the course to help them acquire the necessary knowledge and skills with emphasis placed upon developing independent learning through home and class work. Regular assessment, monitoring and feedback will ensure that students remain on track to achieve their potential.

Students are strongly encouraged to commit an additional double period to self-supported study in the science classroom where there are plenty of additional opportunities to develop and apply their understanding.

An overview of how the course is organised throughout the year can be found at the bottom of this page.

Biology Olympiad

The Society of Biology organises a Biology competition each year which offers an academic challenge to sixth form students. We are keen to encourage our boys to participate in this national competition and have been delighted with our considerable success in previous years with many achieving Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. Students answer two, one hour multiple choice papers which are available online. The majority of questions are based on the whole AS and A2 Biology course but also include some additional topics which are intended to stretch, challenge and motivate the most able.

A guide to the syllabus, past papers and answers can be found at the bottom of this page

Text Books

Students will need to refer to the OCR text book. Students purchasing this text book will be able to take advantage of full access to an online version which can be viewed on many different devices These will be available for purchase at a discounted rate from the school at the beginning of the school year only. Many students find a revision guide useful, as they are currently being revised by publishers to reflect the new A level format, we will update our recommendations as soon as all the alternatives become available for us to review.