Cambridge AS Level Biology Tutors Online

Cambridge AS Level Biology is syllabus 9700. This page works from the syllabus for exams in 2025, 2026 and 2027, version 1. Exams are available in the June and November series, and the syllabus is also available for examination in March for schools in India.

The qualification is one half of a two year course. A student can take the AS Level on its own, or take it in Year 12 and carry the result forward into the full A Level. Candidates following an AS Level route are eligible for grades a to e, and candidates following an A Level route are eligible for grades A* to E. The AS grade scale stops at e and uses lower case letters.

An AS Level candidate sits three papers in the same exam series. Paper 1 is Multiple Choice, lasting 1 hour 15 minutes and carrying 40 marks, as 40 multiple choice questions based on the AS Level content, worth 31% of the AS Level. Paper 2 is AS Level Structured Questions, lasting 1 hour 15 minutes and carrying 60 marks, also based on the AS Level content, worth 46% of the AS Level.

Paper 3 is Advanced Practical Skills. It lasts 2 hours, carries 40 marks and is worth 23% of the AS Level. It stands apart from the other two because it is a timetabled, laboratory based practical paper in which candidates carry out investigations with real apparatus rather than answer questions about experiments on paper.

Those three percentages add up to the whole AS Level, and Paper 2 is the largest single paper. A candidate who is strong on multiple choice but slow at writing structured answers will lose more than they expect, because Paper 2 carries 60 marks against Paper 1's 40.

The assessment objectives are three. AO1 is knowledge and understanding, covering scientific phenomena, facts, laws, definitions, concepts and theories; scientific vocabulary, terminology and conventions including symbols, quantities and units; scientific instruments and apparatus including techniques of operation and aspects of safety; scientific quantities and their determination; and scientific and technological applications with their social, economic and environmental implications.

AO2 is handling, applying and evaluating information. Candidates must locate, select, organise and present information; translate information from one form to another; manipulate numerical and other data; use information to identify patterns, report trends and draw conclusions; give reasoned explanations for phenomena, patterns and relationships; make predictions and construct arguments to support hypotheses; apply knowledge and principles to new situations; evaluate information and hypotheses; and show awareness of the limitations of biological theories and models.

AO3 is experimental skills and investigations. The weightings are identical for the AS Level and the A Level: AO1 at 40 per cent, AO2 at 40 per cent and AO3 at 20 per cent.

The per paper weightings are unusually clean, and they tell a student exactly what each paper rewards. Paper 1 is 50 per cent AO1 and 50 per cent AO2, with nothing at all on AO3. Paper 2 is also 50 per cent AO1 and 50 per cent AO2, with nothing on AO3. Paper 3 is 100 per cent AO3 and nothing else.

So no written paper asks a candidate to demonstrate a practical skill, and the practical paper asks nothing else. A student who can recall every fact and handle every data question will still lose the whole of that 23 per cent if they cannot use a microscope, take readings and record results properly.

The AS Level content is topics 1 to 11. They are cell structure; biological molecules; enzymes; cell membranes and transport; the mitotic cell cycle; nucleic acids and protein synthesis; transport in plants; transport in mammals; gas exchange; infectious diseases; and immunity.

Those eleven topics form a coherent first year: the chemistry and machinery of the cell, how cells divide and make proteins, then how whole organisms move substances, exchange gases and defend themselves. A Level candidates go on to topics 12 to 19, which are energy and respiration, photosynthesis, homeostasis, control and coordination, inheritance, selection and evolution, classification, biodiversity and conservation, and genetic technology.

The syllabus states that the content of the AS Level learning outcomes is assumed knowledge for the A Level components. That matters for a student who takes the staged route, because Paper 4 and Paper 5 build directly on all eleven AS topics rather than starting fresh.

Paper 3 has a published mark allocation, which is the clearest revision guidance in the document. Marks are divided into three skills: manipulation, measurement and observation carries 15 to 17 of the marks; presentation of data and observations carries 11 to 13; and analysis, conclusions and evaluation carries 11 to 13.

The paper has two or three questions totalling 40 marks, and it always requires candidates to carry out an investigation or investigations. Within that they may be asked to make decisions on techniques, collect quantitative or qualitative data, present the data as tables, charts, graphs and other appropriate means, analyse the data including calculations, draw conclusions, and suggest improvements to the procedure or modifications for extending the investigation.

The paper also always requires work with a light microscope. Candidates may be asked to prepare slides, make observations of specimens, present their observations appropriately, analyse data including calculations, and make deductions and conclusions from what they see. Because microscopes are shared, the syllabus states that each centre provides microscopes for half of the candidates at a time, so half the candidates should start on the investigation while the others start with the microscope.

The expectations behind those marks are spelled out in detail. For decisions relating to measurements and observations, candidates should be able to identify the independent and dependent variable, decide a suitable range of values for the independent variable, decide the number of different values and the intervals between them with a minimum of five, decide how to change the independent variable, decide how the dependent variable should be measured, decide the number of replicates at each value, decide appropriate controls, and decide which variables need to be standardised and how to standardise them.

For microscope work, candidates should be able to set up a light microscope to view and observe specimens, follow instructions to find and draw particular tissues in plant and animal specimens and label the drawings appropriately, follow instructions to find and draw particular cells and structures within the cells, make a temporary slide of stained cells or tissues, and calculate actual sizes of tissues or cells from measurements of photomicrographs using magnifications.

Two further practical points are worth knowing. Questions on Paper 3 may be based on biology that is outside the syllabus content, but candidates are mainly assessed on practical skills rather than theory, and additional information is given where needed. And no dissection of materials of animal origin is required in Paper 3, though dissection and interactive videos remain a useful teaching aid.

The syllabus advises that learners should spend at least 20 per cent of their time doing practical work individually or in small groups, and that this figure does not include time spent watching demonstrations or simulations. That is a real requirement rather than a suggestion, because the practical exam is a hands on paper.

The three routes are set out plainly. Route 1 is AS Level only, taking Papers 1, 2 and 3 in the same exam series. Route 2 is the A Level staged over two years, taking Papers 1, 2 and 3 in Year 1 and Papers 4 and 5 in Year 2, with the AS Level result carried forward subject to the rules and time limits in the Cambridge Handbook. Route 3 is the A Level taken all in one series, with all five papers.

The qualification is graded a, b, c, d or e for an AS Level candidate.