Why Revise The Core Practicals?

As well as providing you with the information for before you carry out your practicals, we strongly recommend that you go over the practicals for any tests (including mocks).

Credit: Department of Life Sciences, University of Limerick

So you may or may not know that the SNAB A level exams include 3 biology papers which test you from topics 1 to 8. So why revise the core practicals? It is necessary to do so as the elements from your core practicals will be assessed in your exams, as outlined in the SNAB A Level Specification. For example, a question can come up in the test paper relating to the Daphnia experiment as: “Outline two reasons why using Daphnia may be more appropriate than using a different organism”. See what we mean? This is why it is very important to revise and go over these core practicals for your exams; they could be difference between a B grade and an A grade. But not to worry, we are here to help! We will provide you with details on all core practicals including aims, variables, equipment, methods, writing a conclusion, providing evaluation points and more. This is information which you just cannot get from the course textbooks.

‘The assessment of practical skills is a compulsory requirement of the course of study for A level biology. It will appear on all students’ certificates as a separately reported result, alongside the overall grade for the qualification’.

– SNAB Specification, Pearson Edexcel

The information we provide on our website can be used for upcoming core practicals to be taken in class. The SNAB course structure involves carrying out these practicals over two years: nine in the first year and eight in the second. Your teacher will be monitoring and examining you during these investigations. They will have a sheet with a list of different skills which you need to display. This sheet is available here. In order to pass, you must tick all boxes and show that you are fully competent.

Download the list of SNAB AS core practicals here: AS Core Practicals

Download the list of SNAB A2 core practicals here: A2 Core Practicals