Written Alternative Papers

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As mentioned quite a few times before, two out of the six units you take in A Level sciences will involve practical work. Practical knowledge will be assessed in all six units. So, you can be asked about experiments and procedures in your Unit 1, 2, 4 and 5 tests. Unit 3 and 6 are specifically focused on practical skills and knowledge. International students will not be able to take the actual practical assessments and so the alternative is the practical written paper which replaces practical units (Unit 3 and 6).

The written alternative to internal practical assessment have the unit codes:
Unit 3B: 6BI07 + 6CH07
Unit 6B: 6BI08 + 6CH08

Course structure for Edexcel Biology and Chemistry - Part One

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If you're from the UK and you are taking Edexcel Biology and Chemistry at the Advanced Level, you will have to take four written examinations. If you're an international student, you will have to take two additional exams which serve as the written alternative to practicals/coursework.

EDEXCEL BIOLOGY

The official specification can be downloaded here.

The international extension to this specification is here.

The specification code for AS Biology is: 8BI01

The specification code for A2 Biology is: 9BI01

You will have to take a total of six units in the entire course. Units 1, 2, 4 and 5 include the actual content which you must learn. Units 3, 3B, 6 and 6B examine practical aspects to the course. I will focus more on Units 3B and 6B since these are the written alternatives to coursework and they often test content taken directly from the specification. The codes for Unit 3 and 6 are: 6BI03 & 6BI06. The codes for 3B and 6B are: 6BI07 & 6BI08.

Each of the 'main' units is divided into two topics.