A Level Biology Tutoring, for Every Board
A Level Biology punishes vague language: mark schemes credit specific terms, and a correct idea phrased loosely often scores nothing. Every board also tests practical and data skills, but in different ways — a school-assessed practical endorsement at AQA and OCR, written practical units at Pearson Edexcel, and timetabled practical and planning papers at Cambridge International.
Short answer
A Level Biology is offered online, one-to-one.
A private lesson runs 90 minutes and starts at USD 95 per lesson; lessons are booked singly or in packages.
No group class runs for this exam.
From USD 95 per lesson
Your lessons are taught by Oliver Wright, who teaches A Level Biology.
- Structure shown for AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel, Cambridge International
- Live online lessons of 90 minutes
- From USD 95 per lesson
How A Level Biology is assessed, board by board
4 awarding bodies examine this subject, and they do not examine it the same way: different papers, different weightings, different practical arrangements. Find your board — it is printed on your school's timetable and on past papers — and read that block. Nothing on this page describes one board's paper as though it applied to all of them.
AQA
| Component | Share of grade | Length | Marks | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 — Topics 1–4 and relevant practical skills | 35% | 2 hours | 91 marks | short answer and extended response |
| Paper 2 — Topics 5–8 and relevant practical skills | 35% | 2 hours | 91 marks | short answer, extended response and comprehension |
| Paper 3 — Any content, any practical skills; includes one essay from a choice of two | 30% | 2 hours | 78 marks | structured questions, data response and essay |
| Practical endorsement in biology | — | Assessed in school | — | practical work and reported separately from the grade |
- The practical endorsement is assessed by the school across the required biology practicals and reported as pass or not classified. It carries no marks towards the A Level grade, and universities do look at it.
Checked on 22 September 2026
OCR
| Component | Share of grade | Length | Marks | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biological processes (01) — Modules 1, 2, 3 and 5 | 37% | 2 hours 15 min | 100 marks | structured questions and extended response |
| Biological diversity (02) — Modules 1, 2, 4 and 6 | 37% | 2 hours 15 min | 100 marks | structured questions and extended response |
| Unified biology (03) — All six modules | 26% | 1 hour 30 min | 70 marks | structured questions and extended response |
| Practical endorsement in biology | — | Assessed in school | — | practical work and reported separately from the grade |
- The practical endorsement is assessed by the school across the required biology practicals and reported as pass or not classified. It carries no marks towards the A Level grade, and universities do look at it.
- The same board also awards Biology B (Advancing Biology) (H422), which is examined differently. Check the specification code on your syllabus before assuming the structure above applies.
Checked on 22 September 2026
Pearson Edexcel
Pearson Edexcel International A Level Biology (YBI11)
| Component | Share of grade | Length | Marks | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1: Molecules, Diet, Transport and Health | 20% | 1 hour 30 min | 80 marks | multiple choice, short answer, extended response and calculations |
| Unit 2: Cells, Development, Biodiversity and Conservation | 20% | 1 hour 30 min | 80 marks | multiple choice, short answer, extended response and calculations |
| Unit 3: Practical Skills in Biology I — Written paper on the experiments done in units 1 and 2 | 10% | 1 hour 20 min | 50 marks | short answer and calculations |
| Unit 4: Energy, Environment, Microbiology and Immunity | 20% | 1 hour 45 min | 90 marks | multiple choice, short answer, extended response and calculations |
| Unit 5: Respiration, Internal Environment, Coordination and Gene Technology | 20% | 1 hour 45 min | 90 marks | multiple choice, short answer, extended response and calculations |
| Unit 6: Practical Skills in Biology II — Written paper on the experiments done in units 4 and 5 | 10% | 1 hour 20 min | 50 marks | short answer and calculations |
- This is a modular qualification: units are sat in January, June and October, can be taken in stages, and can be re-sat, with the best result counting. That changes how a two-year plan is built — and it is the main reason a Pearson student and a Cambridge student in the same class need different revision schedules.
- Practical skills are examined on paper, in units 3 and 6, rather than by a school-assessed endorsement. The experiments still have to be done — the questions assume the student has done them.
Checked on 22 September 2026
Cambridge International
Cambridge International AS & A Level Biology (9700)
| Component | Share of grade | Length | Marks | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1: Multiple Choice — AS Level content | 15.5% | 1 hour 15 min | 40 marks | multiple choice |
| Paper 2: AS Level Structured Questions — AS Level content | 23% | 1 hour 15 min | 60 marks | structured questions |
| Paper 3: Advanced Practical Skills — Experimental skills, sat in a laboratory | 11.5% | 2 hours | 40 marks | practical work and structured questions |
| Paper 4: A Level Structured Questions — A Level content, assuming the AS content | 38.5% | 2 hours | 100 marks | structured questions |
| Paper 5: Planning, Analysis and Evaluation — Experimental design; contexts may sit outside the syllabus | 11.5% | 1 hour 15 min | 30 marks | planning, analysis and evaluation |
- Cambridge examines practical work in a timetabled laboratory exam rather than through a school-assessed endorsement. Papers 3 and 5 together carry 23% of the A Level, which is more than most students allocate to practical preparation.
- There are three routes through the qualification: AS Level alone, AS then A Level in two stages, or all five papers in one series. Which route a school uses changes when each paper is sat.
Checked on 22 September 2026
Specifications are revised periodically. Each block links to the specification it was read from and gives the date it was checked; if your school has moved to a newer specification, that document takes precedence.
What A Level Biology covers
The syllabus areas most boards share. Which ones appear, in what order and on which paper differs by board and by specification code — your own specification is the final word. Topic names are left in English, as they appear on the paper.
Biological Molecules and Cells
Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids · Enzyme kinetics and types of inhibition · Cell structure: prokaryotic vs eukaryotic · Cell division: mitosis and meiosis
Genetics and Evolution
DNA replication, transcription and translation · Genetic variation: mutation, meiosis, crossing over · Natural selection and speciation · Genetic engineering and biotechnology
Energy, Ecology and Homeostasis
Photosynthesis: light-dependent and light-independent reactions · Aerobic and anaerobic respiration, the Krebs cycle · Ecosystems, energy transfer and food chains · Nerve impulses, muscle contraction, hormonal control
Where A Level Biology marks are usually lost
The right idea in the wrong words
Biology mark schemes are built on precise wording: water potential rather than water concentration, a complementary shape rather than a matching one, a named stage of a process rather than a general description. Students who understand the biology but write loosely lose a mark on almost every long answer. The remedy is to learn exact accounts of the core processes and compare one’s own phrasing with mark schemes.
Describing a graph without its numbers
Data questions ask students to describe a trend using values from the graph, calculate a rate or a percentage change, or judge whether a difference is real. Marks go when a description quotes no figures, units are dropped, or a correlation is presented as a cause. Every board includes statistical tests such as chi-squared and the t-test; students must know which suits which data.
Leaving practical skills in the laboratory
Every board examines practical skills in written papers as well: identifying variables, designing a valid method, judging the reliability of results, processing data. Students who followed the practicals without thinking about the method lose marks on questions that assume they understood it. Cambridge’s planning paper may use contexts outside the syllabus, so the skill has to transfer to an unfamiliar experiment, not just recall a familiar one.
How we teach A Level Biology
A tutor follows the board’s own topic order but teaches the processes as connected systems: respiration beside photosynthesis, the genetic code through to gene expression and inheritance. Each topic ends with exam questions marked against the board’s mark scheme, so the student sees which words earn credit. Data handling and the required mathematics — rates, percentage change, magnification and the statistical tests — are practised every week rather than left to the end. For AQA, essay titles that draw on the whole specification are planned regularly; for Cambridge, planning-paper questions start in the first term; for Pearson, the core practicals are reviewed before each practical-skills unit. Online lessons cannot replace bench work, so practical reasoning is trained with real datasets and written methods.
Your starting point is reviewed before the study plan is finalised. The exact method depends on the programme and is agreed on the intro call — for some students that means a timed section, for others it means reading a recent score report or a piece of marked work. We will tell you which applies to you before you book anything, rather than describing a process here that may not be the one you get.
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A Level Tutoring
Board-aware A Level tutoring online: AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel (UK and International A Level) and Cambridge International, subject by subject.
A Level prices
A Level tutoring from USD 95 per 90-minute lesson. Compare lesson packages and included materials.
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