Welcome to the Immersive Practical A-Level Physics course at BioGrad. These have been designed by working scientists and A-Level assessors with input from the A-level exam boards to provide the best possible opportunity for students wishing to obtain their practical endorsement.

The courses are held in the working research laboratories within Liverpool Science Park and offer real world laboratory experience that fulfils all requirements for the endorsed practical assessments.

“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

BioGrad is able to partner with any registered examination centre to provide the practical endorsement, as long as the centre agrees to a working partnership with BioGrad.

BioGrad Laboratories have provided laboratory and clinical training for thousands of students from the below 585 institutions throughout the UK, Europe, Africa and Asia:

How long is the course?

The basic 5 day practical endorsement runs from 9.30am – 4pm each day Monday to Friday. There is also an evening social activity programme that students can opt in/out of at their own discretion.

Pre-requisites

Students must be studying A-level Biology with AQA, Edexcel or OCR by distance learning or at a further education centre.

This is an intensive practical course designed for students to ‘fast track’ the A-Level practical assessment. This basic course contains a limited number of opportunities to attempt each of the assessed practical techniques, therefore BioGrad recommend that students without any prior practical laboratory experience consider the 2 week ‘Enhanced Practical Course’ which offers a greater number of opportunities to pass the practical assessment criteria alongside the opportunity to perform in-depth studies that go far beyond the minimum practical requirements. These build a greater understanding of the syllabus and allow students to put the more complicated theory into practice instead of just reading the methods in their textbooks.

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

- - St Gregory’s Catholic School - Kent, England

- - Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School - Buckinghamshire, England

- - Walworth After-school club - London, England

- - University College Isle of Man, UK

0 - Cockermounth School

0 - Furness Academy , England

0 - The Nelson Thomlinson School , England

0 - Samuel Kings School , England

0 - Settlebeck School, England

0 - Solway Community College , England

0 - William Howard School , England

000000 - Smart Ed Uk

000000 - K T Tuition, Cumbria

000000 - Holy Trinity College

000000 - Ark Education Centre - Essex

000000 - K T Tuition - Cumbria

01324 - Bestgrade Education - Essex, England

08237 - Decca Group LTD / ARC Education - Essex

10258 - The Kings School - Cheshire

10488 - Excel Tutors - Greater London, United Kingdom

10687 - Sievemk Gateway - Buckinghamshire

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

11057 - Summit Saturday School, Greater London

13261 - Excel Centre Stratford - London, England

13280 - AEC Tutors - London, UK

13289 - Merit Tutors - London, United Kingdom

14123 - WinA Tutorial College - London, UK

14216 - Apex Education Services

15163 - Sharnbrook Academy - Bedfordshire

16412 - Ace Tuition , United Kingdom

17314 - Top Grades Learning Centre

20134 - Flexible Learning School

20318 - Academic Enrichment Centre , England

22183 - National Extension College - Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

25320 - Alpha Tutorials - Leicestershire

29025 - Bridgenorth Endowed - Shropshire, England

29365 - Thomas Adams School

33151 - Intuition Exam Centre - Cheshire, United Kingdom

34206 - Assess Education - Merseyside, United Kingdom

34732 - BSFC Centre

37357 - Calder High School - West Yorkshire, UK

37601 - Woodhouse Grove School - West Yorkshire, England

41214 - Teesside High School

42233 - The Whitehaven Academy

43304 - Enter CIC - Durham, England

46445 - The Spanish Learning Centre , Lancashire

46906 - Jay Em Studios - Lancashire

47219 - Moorland Private School - Lancashire, UK

52205 - Dr Challoner's Grammar School - Buckinghamshire, UK

52230 - The Exam House

54321 - Teign School - Devon

55153 - Talbot Heath School - Dorset, England

55205 - Dr Challoners Grammar School

56115 - Brighton College - East Sussex, UK

56320 - Beacon Academy - East Sussex, United Kingdom

58116 - Faregos Home Education Group - Hampshire, England

58203 - HSDC Alton - Hampshire, United Kingdom

61961 - Mascalls Academy - Kent

62311 - Cherwell College Oxford - Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

64715 - Glyn School, England

66605 - The Kingsbury Green Academy - Wiltshire, United Kingdom

68239 - Pembrokeshire College , SA61 1SZ

68350 - Monmouth School for Girls

68601 - Interhigh

68803 - Swansea Sixth Form College

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

75751 - Archimedes Training Centre

90241 - The Old School, France

Pending - Liverpool School of English with Premier International Collage - Merseyside

[exam centre number pending] - Liverpool School of English with Premier International College - Merseyside, England

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

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

BioGrad Biology Assessed Practical Duke of Edinburgh

BioGrad is an Approved Activity Provide for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. This course may be used as your Duke of Edinburgh Gold Residential Award, which can be signed off by the course leader on the final day. Please provide your Duke of Edinburgh Award number on your registration form at the time of booking your course. Students using this course for their GOLD residential must stay for at least 4 nights in dormitory accommodation.

UCAS References

Students who wish to use this course as work experience to support university applications may request a reference to be sent directly to their school or college. These references are signed off by the course leader after obtaining feedback from staff teaching during the course. These references help your teachers to create your UCAS reference. Students will also receive a PDF copy of this reference which they may use to support university and job applications.

Photographs

We will happily take photographs of students working in the laboratory which often serve as excellent profile pictures for work related social networking (such as LinkedIn).

Students are asked not to take photographs of other attendees or staff without consent. Students under the age of 18 years old must provide the completed photo/video consent form on the first day of the course (sent to all students in their course registration confirmation) if they wish to have photographs taken for use on professional sites or social media.

Clothing and Equipment

Students are advised to wear comfortable clothes and shoes (ensuring legs and feet are covered when in the laboratory). We advise layered clothing as it can become warm when wearing a lab coat and gloves all day. All personal protective equipment is provided during the course including an AQA approved laboratory notebook for recording results. Students should bring their own stationary and may find a laptop/tablet useful for recording results/data analysis and personal research.

Groups

Schools, colleges, universities, distance learning providers and DofE centres can book a bespoke course for groups of 8-10 students per week. Full board options are available including evening activities. Please contact info@biograd.co.uk for availability.

International groups may take advantage of our collaboration with Liverpool School of English, booking a 2 week course with English tuition, full board home stay, transfers and insurance. Please contact exams@biograd.co.uk for availability.

Food

Students have an hour for lunch each day. There are many places to purchase food and drink within walking distance of the Science Park, including the City of Liverpool College, Subway, Tesco’s, Costa, The EveryMan theatre and many sandwich/coffee shops. Students wishing to bring their own food have access to a fridge and microwave during the course, plus a break room containing vending machines, a pool table and sky TV on-site.

Students who are attending as a residential course can make the most of their evenings by exploring the huge range of restaurants within walking distance of the Art House Hotel.

Further Information

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

Course Fees

All payments are taken securely with PayPal. All major debit and credit cards are accepted so you don’t need a PayPal account.

The Basic 5 day package costs £799 per subject. You can reserve your place on this course with a 25% deposit if you are booking more than 28 days in advance. The remaining balance is due four weeks prior to the course start date.

You can also choose to pay for this course in 6 instalments if you are booking more than 26 weeks in advance, or 12 instalments if you are booking more than 54 weeks in advance.