BioGrad Examination Centre at Liverpool Science Park offers a unique set of laboratory based practical endorsement courses that support all the requirements of the Biology, Chemistry and Physics assessed practicals for OCR, AQA and Pearson Edexcel.

The programmes have been developed by real research scientists and qualified assessors with input from exam officers to fulfil all criteria of the A-level practical endorsements.

All sessions are taught in very small group sizes so that students have the opportunity to spend quality time with the scientists and have time to make (safe) mistakes, learn and try again until they are confident in their work.

“The environment is stimulating – lots of choice of professional lab apparatus to hand – and the atmosphere calm and highly conducive to the development of strong practical and investigative skills.”

BioGrad Examination Centre Monitoring Visit – 2019
“The group size of students is restricted on courses to ensure that each student has access to their own apparatus and bench space to work. This also had the added advantage of allowing a great working relationship between Kathryn and her students so that they knew they could ask her for help when they did need it.”

BioGrad Examination Centre Monitoring Visit – 2019
“Students come from a range of different backgrounds to experience the required practical work offered at BioGrad. It is clear from conversation with them that they are very much enjoying the course, they can see how the methods they are provided with become less descriptive over time which demands more from them as individuals.”

BioGrad Examination Centre Monitoring Visit – 2019
“One student mentioned that the experience had made her want to follow a career path in STEM, she said that she would love to live her life in the lab! Another said that she would miss this experience when going home. When I asked how the course could be improved they found it hard to suggest anything. Their confidence levels and engagement with practical sciences were sound.”

BioGrad Examination Centre Monitoring Visit – 2019
“Their [BioGrad Staff] enthusiasm for this work is impressive, the practical courses not only providing the minimum experience for students but, with independent investigation opportunities and an insight into potential career pathways for students. I am really pleased to see such outstanding provision available for students who are not in a routine school or college environment. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to supporting them to develop their practical skills in such a stimulating environment.”

BioGrad Examination Centre Monitoring Visit – 2019

Message from the Head Teacher

"All of the team and myself have worked tirelessly over the last 2 years to offer students a laboratory training experience that is second to none. Calling on decades of laboratory research and teaching experience, we are able to offer practical endorsement courses that far exceed the requirements specified by the exam boards.

Our courses are designed to give all BioGrad students the capacity to reach their full potential, develop exceptional practical skills and gain a significant amount of work-related learning. Additional activities are provided to solidify learning, encourage teamwork and effective science communication plus life skills which are necessary to thrive in Higher Education or employment. All of this is hosted within the world class facilities at Liverpool Science Park, nestled in the shadows of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King. Our aim is for all students to leave our courses confident and inspired to pursue Science studies at a higher level.”

Kathryn Woods – Head of BioGrad Examination Centre

Courses are available for the below subjects:

BioGrad laboratories are world-class research facilities and our courses are held with real scientists. The BioGrad programme is designed for students who wish to invest their time and energy into developing real laboratory skills that will ultimately get them into work/university whilst also developing their theoretical knowledge to support their A-level studies. These courses are more than just obtaining the minimum requirement to pass.

Our staff spend a great deal of time and effort adding ‘extra value’ evening activities, showing students the real experiments that they use in their own work and writing references after the courses.

BioGrad are working with education psychologists to track the progression of our students after they have competed their practical endorsements with BioGrad. We are establishing best practices for teaching laboratory skills and will be inviting all students who attended these courses to help us in this research by allowing us to follow up with them occasional after they have completed their training.

How to book

Places are strictly limited to a maximum of 15 students per week. We can only accept bookings from students from exam centres that have working agreement in place with BioGrad. Students can check the current list of partner exam centres below:

Click here to view BioGrad Partner Exam Centres

10693 - Excel Centre Dalston - London, England

10776 - Catford After School Club - London, England

10777 - Excel Centre New Cross - London, England

10780 - Walworth After School Club - London, England

10780 - Sydenham After School Club - London, England

13261 - Excel Centre Stratford - London, England

13280 - AEC Tutors - London, UK

13289 - Merit Tutors - London, United Kingdom

14123 - WinA Tutorial College - London, UK

25320 - Alpha Tutorials - Leicestershire

29025 - Bridgenorth Endowed - Shropshire, England

29365 - Thomas Adams School

33507 - Ashton Sixth Form College Centre

37601 - Woodhouse Grove School - West Yorkshire, England

54321 - Teign School - Devon

56320 - Beacon Academy - East Sussex, United Kingdom

58116 - Faregos Home Education Group - Hampshire, England

62311 - Cherwell College Oxford - Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

69744 - Basil Paterson College - East Lothian, Scotland

69808 - Merchiston Castle School - East Lothian, Scotland

69854 - Wallace College - East Lothian, Scotland

74694 - TutorASAP International Study Centre, Spain

If your centre of choice is not currently on this list, simply ask them to complete the below form and send it to exams@biograd.co.uk or call 0151 482 9695 for further information.

Exam Centre Application Form

Further Information

For further information please contact us using this form or email us at info@biograd.co.uk.

BioGrad ON FACEBOOK

For updates about new courses and to keep in touch please follow us on Facebook below.

BioGrad

BioGrad ON TWITTER

For updates about new courses and to keep in touch please follow us on Twitter below.

Tweets by @BioGradLabs

WHAT DO OUR STUDENTS SAY?

“My lab tutor was a skilful and talented teacher. He was able to simplify complex topics so all of the students could understand and then followed up to ensure we all fully grasped the techniques being taught. He made sure that any errors were rectified immediately so that we were always learning the correct techniques"

Lucy - Introduction to Genetics
"I attended the course because I wanted to work in the pharmaceutical industry but didn't have enough lab based experience. After the course I had experience in some of the most up to date techniques, taught by researchers working in the pharmaceutical industry. During the lunch time I was able to chat with all of the tutors and seek their advice for securing the job I wanted. Through the experience and advice I received I managed to secure a graduate level job in a small pharmaceutical company. I cannot recommend this course enough!"

Josep (Graduate researcher) - Practical skills in drug discovery
"I received excellent tuition from a patient teacher who had an incredible enthusiasm for laboratory research. Under her tutelage and supervision, I acquired many laboratory skills in the area of cell culture techniques and high throughput screening for pre-clinical drug discovery."

Akang (Research Scientist) - Introduction to mammalian cell culture and Practical drug discovery
"This was the first time I had the chance to perform practical laboratory techniques which I had only seen in lectures before this point. The tutors let us try a number of different ways to quantify cells and gave us the time and guidance to perfect our own techniques."

Mark - Introduction to mammalian cell culture
"I was taught by an experienced researcher who gave us the opportunity to work with many different cell types. I was able to see the differences between the morphology and growth rates of different cells for myself. I also had the opportunity to try a number of different techniques which gave me confidence to apply for PhD's requiring cell culture experience."

Gail (PhD researcher) - Introduction to mammalian cell culture