Programme of Study & Syllabus
Contents
The Syllabus, Examinations and Assessment
How Your Work is Assessed on the Course
The Transition from IGCSE to AS Level - Some Tips
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Welcome to your Wolsey Hall Edexcel UK AS Level Biology course. Please take the time to read carefully through this page as it explains how the course is structured, how to get the most from your studies and how your work will be assessed. At the end of this page, you will find details of the reading you will need to do from your textbook and also how each module links to the Edexcel syllabus and the final examinations.
This course will lead you step-by-step through the syllabus by way of video links, resources, assignments and, of course, the textbook, so that by the end, you will be confident and fully prepared for your final examinations.
‘Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.’ Richard Dawkins
Life is beautiful! From atoms to cells, from genes to proteins, from populations to ecosystems, biology is the study of the fascinating and intricate systems that make life possible. Studying biology will enable you to learn about the natural world and all the living things within it. Boost your knowledge in life and living organisms and gain an insight into evolution, gene expression and biological molecules.
A Level biology blends theoretical and practical understanding with analytical skills. You will develop a deep understanding of the intricacies of the living world and its interaction with other systems, including its impact on us and us on it. Alongside in-depth knowledge of the biological world, the study of biology also helps you to develop skills in research, problem solving, organisation and communication.
Gaining an A Level in biology opens up a vast range of opportunities for both university degrees and career options. Biology is a pre-requisite subject for many degrees in Biological Science and Medical related fields of study. Careers directly related to biology include medicine, veterinary science, pharmacy, physiotherapy, biomedical engineering, microbiology, marine biology, conservation and ecology, environmental management, food science, agricultural engineering and zoology. Biology is also a requirement for some Psychology degrees.
‘I think the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be at the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning.’ Steve Jobs
The aims of this course are to enable students to develop:
- Essential knowledge and understanding of different areas of the subject and how they relate to each other.
- And demonstrate a deep appreciation of the skills, knowledge and understanding of scientific methods.
- Competence and confidence in a variety of practical, mathematical and problem-solving skills.
- Interest in and enthusiasm for the subject, including developing an interest in further study and careers associated with the subject.
- Understanding of how society makes decisions about scientific issues and how the sciences contribute to the success of the economy and society.
The Syllabus, Examinations and Assessment
This Wolsey Hall course is designed to prepare you for the Edexcel UK AS Level Biology examinations which you will sit at an Edexcel exam centre. It is vitally important that you become familiar with the syllabus which can be found below:
READ - Syllabus (Edexcel) Download READ - Syllabus (Edexcel)
The examination code for UK AS Biology is: 8BN0.
For the UK AS Level in Biology you will sit the following two papers: They must both be completed in the same exam series.
- Paper 1: Lifestyle, Transport, Genes and Health – This paper is worth 50% of your AS grade. Length: 1 hour and 30 minutes. This paper carries 80 marks in total and may include multiple-choice, short-open, open-response, calculations and extended writing questions. The paper will include questions that target the conceptual and theoretical understanding of experimental methods.
- Paper 2: Development, Plants and the Environment – This paper is worth 50% of your AS grade. Length: 1 hour and 30 minutes. This paper carries 80 marks in total and may include multiple-choice, short-open, open-response, calculations and extended writing questions. The paper will include questions that target the conceptual and theoretical understanding of experimental methods.
All components are externally assessed. The syllabus is examined in the June examination series.
N.B. The Edexcel AS Biology course 8BN0 is a standalone AS Biology course and it does not have a practical exam, but written questions about practical experiments will come up in both AS papers. The work done on this course is identical to that for the first year of the full A Level course.
If you decide you want to progress to the full A Level in Biology, you will sit another three papers at the end of the full course BUT the grades received for your AS qualification will not count towards your full A Level qualification. If you decide you wish to complete the full A Level in Biology, you need to let your Student Progress Manager know as soon as possible. This will mean that you need to complete The Practical Endorsement as part of your full A Level and you will need to enrol at an examination centre in order to do this.
This Programme of Study covers the AS course only.
Assessment Objectives
The assessment objectives (AOs) for UK AS Level Biology are as follows:
AO1:
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, processes, techniques and procedures.
AO2:
- Apply knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, processes, techniques and procedures:
- in a theoretical context
- in a practical context
- when handling qualitative data
- when handling quantitative data.
AO3:
- Analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific information, ideas and evidence, including in relation to issues, to:
- make judgements and reach conclusions
- develop and refine practical design and procedures.
Wolsey Hall offers a unique model of offline and online resources to our homeschooling students – a model which we have developed based on our many years’ experience of providing homeschooling courses to students.
Textbook
Each subject specialist team carefully selects the best textbook for you to use as you study. The textbook for the AS UK Biology course is:
Pearson Edexcel Salters-Nuffield A Level Biology Student Book 1, by Peter Anderson et al. (Pearson Edexcel, 2015); ISBN: 9781447991007
This textbook is used for the whole AS course and it is referred to in the reading column of this POS as ‘Student Book 1’.
Throughout the course, we recommend that you complete all of the questions and exercises in the textbook – the table below will highlight which pages you should read for each module. The answers to the questions (both ‘in-text’ and exam-style) can be downloaded from the module section of Canvas or downloaded from the Pearson ActiveLearn site.
The textbook comes with three years’ access to ActiveBook, an online, digital version of your textbook. Follow the instructions printed on the inside front cover to start using your ActiveBook. More details of this resource and how to use it can be found on pages 6 to 7 of your textbook.
Resources
- Overview of the New A Level Biology Courses
- Transition Guide for AS and A Level Biology (Edexcel)
- Handling Data from Experiments
- Basic Equipment List for Practicals
- Practical Resources
- A Range of Biology Experiments
- Command Words (Edexcel)
- Optional Further Reading List
- Referencing
- Useful Websites
You should also make use of the exam preparation material at the end of the course to help you to prepare for your final examination.
The AS Level Assessment Model
At AS Level, there are two examination papers. The papers will contain multiple choice questions, along with a variety of short and long response questions. Some of the questions may require more extended responses and require students to follow a line of reasoning to complete an answer. Across the two papers, the minimum proportion of questions assessing mathematical skills will be 10%, (see Appendix 5: Mathematical skills and exemplifications in the syllabus on Canvas), and approximately 20% of questions will assess practical skills (see Appendix 4a: Practical skills identified for indirect assessment and developed through teaching and learning in the syllabus on Canvas). However, these may not be evenly balanced across both papers.
Each paper has a particular focus on certain topics from the specification.
Paper 1: Lifestyle, Transport, Genes and Health (50% of AS Level) – 1 hour 30 minutes; 80 marks
- Questions may be multiple choice, short-open, open-response, calculations or extended-writing questions.
- Some questions will assess conceptual and theoretical understanding of experimental methods.
- The subjects assessed on paper 1 will be covered in Wolsey Hall modules 1 to 4. These include:
- Lifestyle, Health and Risk
- Genes and Health
Paper 2: Development, Plants and the Environment (50% of AS Level) – 1 hour 30 minutes; 80 marks
- Questions may be multiple choice, short-open, open-response, calculations or extended-writing questions.
- Some questions will assess conceptual and theoretical understanding of experimental methods.
- The subjects assessed on paper 2 will be covered in Wolsey Hall modules 5 to 8. These include:
- Voice of the Genome
- Biodiversity and Natural Resources
Practical Skills
In the course of your studies, you will be expected to develop a range of experimental and investigative skills. For distance learners however, there are considerable risks to health and safety presented by attempting to carry out unsupervised practical work at home and Wolsey Hall does NOT recommend this.
Questions on the written examination papers will aim to assess the knowledge and understanding that students gain while carrying out practical activities, within the context of the nine core practical activities. As it is not possible to perform these practical procedures in an unsupervised environment, this Programme of Study contains a wealth of virtual practical exercises that will help you understand the core practical exercises.
Using a variety of apparatus and techniques, you should be able to design and carry out some simplified practicals that require very basic equipment. While you won’t get an opportunity to use a lot of the glassware and specialised equipment, you’ll still have the opportunity to gather data and consider how the methods could be improved. We will also be providing some videos of the practicals being completed in a school laboratory, with discussion of the kind of things you should think about when you get questions about the practicals, so please make sure you watch these even if you won’t be able to do the experiments yourself!
If you decide later on that you wish to complete the full A Level, you will need to build on practical skills learned at IGCSE, becoming confident practical biologists, handling apparatus competently and safely. Using a variety of apparatus and techniques, you should be able to design and carry out both the core practical activities and your own investigations, collecting data which can be analysed and used to draw valid conclusions. This will be assessed by an external examination centre if you choose to switch to the full A Level in Biology.
All the files required for your course are uploaded onto our Learning Management System, Canvas. Once you have read through this page and downloaded the Programme of Study (POS) then you are ready to begin the course.
The course is divided into nine modules: There are eight theory modules and one revision module. These modules will help you to get the most out of your textbook. Each module is subdivided into topics so that you can study the course in manageable chunks. Each topic is set out as follows:
- Introduction – This section provides a brief synopsis of the topic and lists the learning objectives.
- Read and Make Notes – This section includes page references for the textbook. You should read, make notes and complete the activities.
- Consolidate – Here there are links to additional resources to supplement and increase your understanding of the topic.
- Tasks – This section identifies the questions to answer in the textbook; some questions in the end of topic and extension sections of the book relate to more than one module.
- Practical Knowledge – Make use of the Core Practicals to develop your understanding of practical techniques.
- Top Tips – Handy tips to aid your understanding, with a focus on the kinds of questions you might get in exams, and how to get the most out of your answers.
- Key Terms – Keep track of new terminology by adding it to your glossary.
- Quiz - At the end of each module, there is a quiz which enables you to test what you have learnt before you move on to the next topic. This is a multiple-choice activity that can be completed as many times as you wish to ensure that you have fully understood all the material covered in the topic.
Once you have completed all the topics in each module and are fully prepared and feel confident with the material, you should be able to complete your assignment and move on to the next module.
How Your Work is Assessed on the Course
Your progress will be assessed by completing an assignment at the end of each module. We recommend that you do NOT look at the assignments until you've studied all the topics in the module. This will ensure that you focus on everything you need to know for the exam. If you focus only on what you need to know to do well in the assignment, you will miss important elements in each module that you need to know and understand.
The assignments have been designed to help you prepare for your final examination – many of the questions are based on past exam papers. Answering exam-style questions is crucial in developing your exam technique, understanding exactly what the examiner is looking for in each case and ensuring you are confident when you tackle the real exams. We do not expect you to complete your assignments without referring to your notes or textbook, however, we encourage you to rely less on these as you progress through the course. By your final assignment you should be able to work without reference to any additional notes. Please do not use internet search engines at all for your assignments; there is too much information that is beyond the scope of your syllabus and you’re more likely to get unhelpful information and earn fewer marks.
The assignments allow you to think critically about what you have learned and will enable your tutor to see how well you are progressing. Your tutor will mark your assignments and provide you with detailed feedback. Once you have had your marked assignment returned, you will be able to access the mark scheme and/or a specimen answer (an A-grade piece of work). You should always reflect carefully on your tutor’s feedback and apply it in your future assignments.
You should read the assignment questions carefully and answer them to the best of your ability, providing relevant examples where necessary. If you don’t do well in your first assignment, don’t worry; your tutor is there to provide advice.
We ask that you do not submit multiple assignments at the same time. For you to see a steady improvement in your marks, it is very important that you reflect on your tutor’s feedback before beginning each new assignment, so that you can incorporate their tips for improvement into each new piece of work.
To get the best out of your course, before submitting each new assignment, you must:
- Complete all the reading, notes and activities in the preceding module;
- Read carefully through all of your tutor’s comments on your last assignment;
- Use the mark scheme and/or any exemplar or specimen answers provided to help you plan for the next assignment.
We cannot guarantee that tutors will be able to mark multiple assignments within the 3-5 working day window and your work may be returned to you to complete again in light of more recent feedback.
All assignments are submitted via Canvas – you should consult the Canvas Guide for more information.
Optional Mock Exam Service
At the end of the course, you will have the chance to use our Optional Mock Examination Service to complete a full set of AS Level Biology (UK) exam papers. These must be completed under examination conditions and will be marked by your tutor. They provide a good opportunity for you to test your subject knowledge and exam technique so you are well prepared for the examinations.
The Transition from IGCSE to AS Level - Some Tips
AS Level is a step up from IGCSE and you must expect this to be a challenge, but if you have a good understanding of the key ideas from IGCSE you will find the transition much easier. Before you start this course, it is a good idea to review your IGCSE Biology notes and have your textbook at hand to act as a bridge.
Many of the ideas covered at IGCSE may have come quite easily to you and consequently you did not need to work hard at trying to understand them. At AS Level, you may find more areas that challenge you, so be prepared to work harder at furthering your understanding. This will require patience, but will pay dividends when you crack it and your marks start improving. Making sure you go over concepts you’re not sure about, reworking notes or using other information sources are all activities that may help you understand these new ideas. Also keep in mind that while you may earn marks for using basic key words for IGCSE, you will be expected to use higher level and more complex key words for marks in AS Level questions on similar concepts. Photosynthesis, for example, still involves the conversion of water and carbon dioxide to glucose and oxygen, but the understanding of how this happens is much more complex at AS Level.
You may now find it more challenging to earn marks, examiners may be more particular and demand more detail, greater breadth and depth in your longer answers, and more specificity throughout. Don’t forget what you’ve learned at IGCSE, as much of it forms the basis for the new information you’ll be working on at AS Level.
A lot of students may have been told at IGCSE to answer their exam questions as if the examiner was a young child, basically explaining everything clearly and simply. At AS Level this can be a real downfall for many students. I would instead recommend you think of your examiner as someone you really want to impress. Show off your understanding by using the words in context. At IGCSE you may have explained each key word to show that you understood it. At AS, you need to use it correctly in context, and that’s enough.
It’s very important to use the appropriate words in the correct context. Is the question about mutations referring to the chemical structure of DNA, the function of enzymes, or evolution? Are you going to discuss primary and tertiary structure of proteins or how advantageous alleles increase the chances of survival and breeding? It is important to understand which terms to use in which context. Of course, you may find, as many do, that things just click into place once you start your new course.
Your skills in applying what you know to unfamiliar areas will be assessed in examinations. This is an area that many students find daunting at first. You may only have experienced examinations that test what you have been taught and know. However, as you progress through higher educational levels, examinations will begin to test your ability to apply your understanding of a theory or process to unfamiliar areas. A new disease, a protein, a species you may never have come across. Don’t panic – you haven’t missed out a large part of your studies! Look for key words and information in the question that hints to subjects you have studied. You may find this difficult at the beginning, but as you practise questions you will find it becomes easier and your marks will improve. As with anything we’re unfamiliar with, patience and dedication help us get it right in the end!
You will need to apply AS Level ideas and contexts covered in the first AS Level module to other modules later in the course. So, try not to box things up and forget them, because you will need to revise all key areas before you sit the rest of your papers.
We all have days in which we are busy at certain times and free at others. Whenever you are free, you must learn to work smart and make the most of your free time. If you make sure that it becomes a regular occurrence, i.e. a habit, you will develop a routine way of working. It is always easy to put off work – everybody does it! However, if you timetable your AS Level Biology work, you will find it easier to stick to a plan that works and thus continues. For example, you may be free on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings from 7 to 9 o’clock, so you timetable the AS Level Biology work you’ve been set for this free time. But if you have enough time, you could also do extra work – the work that really makes a difference. Successful students are those who develop a work routine in their own time, so they are able to enhance their learning. This is independent learning.
You should be studying in the region of 10 to 12 hours a week to complete this course. Learn smart: create glossaries and revision cards for key definitions as you go. Sticking the most difficult facts, or groups of similar words (with their key differences highlighted!) on a poster or a post-it note can be really helpful because you’ll see it more often. Memories are strengthened by pulling them forward again and again into the front of your mind; if you just remind yourself of something, e.g. by glimpsing the words on your fridge door, you’ve automatically strengthened a memory – and you’ve got the milk for a cup of tea at the same time!
There are many resources linked to this course. They have been checked carefully as there are also lots of resources available online which are unreliable, so it is better to ask your tutor for advice if you require help in a particular area.
You also need to remember that many of the skills taught during this course will take time and practice to embed. This is especially true of the vocabulary, as some of the words are so similar. Keep going and ask for support if you need it.
When you study a Wolsey Hall course, you are never alone. There are lots of people who are willing to help you. Everyone is on your side!
- Tutors: At Wolsey Hall, all our tutors are friendly and knowledgeable. They are subject experts and you should not be shy about asking them questions about your course. You will meet your tutor at the start of your course and you should contact them via Canvas messaging if you have any questions.
- Student Progress Managers: You have already been assigned a Student Progress Manager who can help with your Assignment Schedule.
- Exams Officers: Wolsey Hall’s Exams Officers are here to help students with any queries regarding exam centres.
- Canvas Help Desk: Canvas is a great virtual learning environment, but we understand that sometimes, even the best things can go wrong! If you have any problems with Canvas (e.g. uploading assignments or unable to access resources) you should submit a Canvas Help Ticket.
For information about how to create and submit a Help Ticket, please refer to the Canvas Guide.
We hope you’ll enjoy your course and studying at Wolsey Hall. We wish you the best of luck in your studies and success in your examinations. Please do let us know how you get on when you receive your examination results!
The Wolsey Hall Team