Exam-board routes

These are the eleven A-level biology routes this library is written for. Whichever of them you are sitting, you get the same thing today, and the same thing is true of all eleven.

InkBiology teaches A-level biology from a curriculum of its own, written to hold more than any single specification asks for. No board has been mapped against it. That means no lesson, question or card on this site is claimed to cover any part of any of these routes, however closely it reads like it does. The overlap is large, because A-level biology is A-level biology, so the lessons are worth your time on any of these specifications. What is on your paper is what your board says is on it, and each card below links to the document that says so.

AQA Biology

7401/7402 · AS and A level · England

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Linear; Paper 1 (topics 1-4, 2h, 91), Paper 2 (topics 5-8, 2h, 91), Paper 3 (all topics, 2h, 78, incl. practical/data and one 25-mark essay). Separate Practical Endorsement.

Taught in England. Overseas centres are being withdrawn through 2028/29.

Version 1.6, published 2026-07. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

OCR Biology A

H020/H420 · AS and A level · England

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Linear; Biological Processes (M1,2,3,5, 2h15, 100), Biological Diversity (M1,2,4,6, 2h15, 100), Unified Biology (M1-6, 1h30, 70). Separate endorsement.

Version 4.1 (A), 4.0 (AS), published 2026-04. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

Cambridge International Biology

9700 · AS and A level · International

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Staged or linear; P1 MCQ (1h15, 40), P2 AS structured (1h15, 60), P3 Advanced Practical (2h, 40), P4 A-level structured (2h, 100), P5 Planning/Analysis/Evaluation (1h15, 30).

Cambridge says the 2028 update changes nothing significant about what is taught, so both exam windows are recorded together.

Version 2025-2027 v1; 2028-2030 v1 held alongside, published 2023. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

Pearson Edexcel Biology A (Salters-Nuffield)

8BN0/9BN0 · AS and A level · England

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Linear; contextual SNAB topics; Paper 3 carries a pre-release scientific article. Separate endorsement.

Paper 3 carries a pre-release scientific article that changes every year, so no revision library can cover it in advance.

Version Issue 4, published 2018-11. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

Pearson Edexcel Biology B

8BI0/9BI0 · AS and A level · England

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Linear; conventional topic order; P1 (T1-7, 1h45, 90), P2 (T1-4+8-10, 1h45, 90), P3 (all, 2h30, 120). Separate endorsement.

Version Issue 4, published 2018-11. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

Eduqas Biology

B400QS/A400QS · AS and A level · England

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Linear; three components, each 2h/100/33.3%; Component 3 is 80 compulsory marks plus 20 on one option. Separate endorsement.

Structured differently from the WJEC route, which is listed separately below.

Version v2, published 2019-01. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

WJEC Biology

2400QS/1400QS · AS and A level · Wales

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Unitised; AS contributes 40%; Unit 4 has 70 compulsory + 20 option marks; Unit 5 is an external practical examination (50 marks, 10%).

The AS content may be amended from September 2028.

Version v3, published 2023-10. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

CCEA Biology

1010 · AS and A level · Northern Ireland

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Unitised; AS contributes 40%; AS3 and A2 3 combine external theory with internally assessed practical work.

Version v2, published 2017-04. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

Pearson Edexcel International A Level Biology

XBI11/YBI11 · IAS and IAL · International

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Six externally assessed units; written practical-skills papers (WBI13, WBI16); WBI15 carries a 20-mark scientific-article question. January, June and October sittings vary by unit.

A modular route: units are sat in different exam months.

Version Issue 2, published 2021-02. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

OxfordAQA International A-level Biology

9610/9611/9612 · IAS and IAL · International

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Five modular written units BL01-BL05, each 1h30/75/20%; BL05 synoptic and practical-heavy; practicals assessed in writing.

Version v5.1, published 2025. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

OCR Biology B (Advancing Biology)

H022/H422 · AS and A level · England

What you get today: the whole library, free, and no claim that it covers this route. The lessons are written from our own curriculum of A-level biology rather than from this specification, and nothing here has been checked against it statement by statement. They are useful to you; they are not a substitute for what your board publishes.

How it is examined: Linear; Fundamentals (2h15, 110), Scientific Literacy (2h15, 100, with an advance-notice article), Practical Skills (1h30, 60). Separate endorsement.

Final AS exams in summer 2027 and final A-level exams in summer 2028, with no resit after that.

Version 3.2 (A), 3.1 (AS), published 2026-04. Read the specification for what is examinable on this route.

Qualification codes and short topic labels are used for identification; all teaching text on this site is original. Specification documents remain the copyright of their awarding bodies; follow the links for the authoritative versions.