Edexcel A-Level Biology A (Salters-Nuffield) guide FAQ (9BN0)
Guide overview All 8 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
Edexcel A-Level Biology A (Salters-Nuffield): questions and answers
Specification 9BN0. Two sets, because students and parents ask different things.
For students
Am I on Biology A or Biology B?
Edexcel runs two A-Level Biology specifications. This guide is Biology A, Salters-Nuffield, 9BN0, taught as eight context-led topics. The other is Biology B, 9BI0, the concept-led route with ten topics, organised completely differently.
The code is on your exam timetable. If yours says 9BI0 you need the Biology B guide instead.
Which topics are on which paper?
Paper 1 examines Topics 1 to 6. Paper 2 examines Topics 1 to 4 plus Topics 7 and 8. Paper 3 draws on all eight. The full breakdown is here.
Topics 1 to 4 appear on every paper, which is why they are worth doing first and returning to most often.
Is the Practical Endorsement in it?
The Endorsement itself is marked by your teacher across the course and reported separately as a pass, so it is not examined and not in the guide.
The eighteen core practicals are also examined on the written papers, and that content is in the guide inside the topics it belongs to.
Are the calculations covered?
Yes. Magnification and scale, rates from gradients, chi-squared and the choice of statistical test, standard deviation, the Hardy-Weinberg equation, dilution and concentration, and percentage change.
How long does one session take?
About twenty minutes for one subtopic, all three steps. Topics run from 180 to 319 questions, so work by subtopic.
Can I do it in my head instead of writing?
Write. Biology marks turn on named structures, named processes and precise definitions, and step 2 is where the wording gets corrected. The method page sets out the evidence.
When should I start?
9BN0 is linear, so all three papers are sat at the end of Year 13. Work each subtopic in the week it is taught, or start a full first pass in the January of Year 13.
Do I still need past papers?
Yes. Past papers train the data analysis, the unfamiliar context and the extended answers. Pearson publishes them free.
For parents
What is this, in plain terms?
A PDF of 1,892 exam-style questions covering the whole of Edexcel A-Level Biology A, with the answers printed after each topic.
It is not a textbook. It is the tool for getting taught content into memory and for showing whether it went in.
How do I check it is the right course?
Find the specification code on the exam timetable. Edexcel runs Biology A, Salters-Nuffield (9BN0) and Biology B (9BI0). They are different courses and the guides are not interchangeable. This one is 9BN0.
How do I know if it is being used properly?
There should be handwritten answers on paper and three passes over the same questions, and two scores per session to compare.
My child revises for hours and the grades have not moved.
Rereading and highlighting are the two most common revision activities and Dunlosky and colleagues rated both low utility in their 2013 review of ten techniques. The method page sets out what to do instead.
How much is it compared with a textbook?
£8.00 for the whole specification. An endorsed Edexcel A-Level Biology textbook is usually £30 to £40 and covers one of the two years.
How much time does the whole course take?
136 subtopics at roughly twenty minutes each is about 45 hours for a full first pass, spread across two years.
My child has fallen behind. Where should they start?
With Topics 1 to 4. They are examined on all three papers and everything else assumes them.
Edexcel A-Level Biology A (Salters-Nuffield) Active Recall Guide
1,892 questions with their answers, 136 subtopics, one file.