Never rely on luck.
AQA A-Level Biology notes, written from past papers and examiners' reports — so you revise what the mark scheme actually rewards.
Sound familiar?
- I revise for hours and my grades still don’t move.
- I understand the content but keep losing marks on the wording.
- I don’t know which bits actually come up.
Knowing the content and knowing how it is marked are two different things. These notes are the second one.
What's actually in them
Every page is built the same way. Tap a section to see what it does.
The bulk of the notes. Every topic from the specification is framed in the way that you'll see it on the exam. The explanations listed are matched to mark-schemes, so you know you aren't missing any crucial information.
This is the content not directly listed in the specification. However, it is still useful to know, as it makes concepts more understandable and applicable to real-world Biology. Use it to broaden your understanding.
These sections are specific errors which students have historically made based on examiner reports. This is here to stop you from falling into the same traps.
Once you've learnt the main chunk of the content, test yourself with difficult questions which have shown up in past papers — they do link to the specification, but not directly, making them a challenge. Students have historically done poorly on these concepts, which is why I've included them to stop you from making the same mistakes.
The Nuclei logo symbol shows up on concepts which come up most often, year after year, based on exam history. If you're on a time crunch, make sure you focus your revision on these topics first.
The whole AQA 7402 specification, mapped
2 of 8 modules are being finished now; the rest are queued behind them. You can see exactly where everything stands.
Biological molecules
FinishingCells
FinishingOrganisms exchange substances with their environment
SoonGenetic information, variation and relationships between organisms
SoonEnergy transfers in and between organisms
SoonOrganisms respond to changes in their internal and external environments
SoonGenetics, populations, evolution and ecosystems
SoonThe control of gene expression
Soon
Who writes these
I'm Arnav. I tutor A-Level Biology one-to-one, and I kept watching the same thing happen: students who knew the content losing marks on how they wrote it. So I went through the past papers and examiners' reports and wrote the notes I wanted when I was sitting it.
More about meWhat my tutoring students say
These are from students I've tutored one-to-one, not from readers of the notes — the notes are new and nobody has sat an exam with them yet.
“Arnav's targeted tutoring significantly boosted my grades by identifying where I was losing marks and strengthening my use of key terminology.”
“Arnav helped me greatly in all three sciences and improved my ability thoroughly to write a response to test questions.”
“Arnav is a great A level Maths tutor he helped explain difficult topics clearly and helped me build my confidence and prepare me well for my exams.”
“I loved his way of teaching and method of helping me how to learn tricky subjects when I didn't understand it. He was a very helpful teacher and would highly recommend!”
“He simplified complicated gastroenterology concepts and focused on overarching ideas which are useful for the exam. The lecture was simple to follow but incredibly helpful.”
“Very knowledgeable and explained concepts very well. The combination of him drawing and how concise the points were made for an excellent teaching session.”
Read a chapter before you decide
Proteins & Enzymes, free and complete — the same format as the paid notes, nothing held back.