Required practicals are the experiments every student must carry out during the course. They are not assessed in the lab. They are assessed in the written papers, which is why they can be revised at the kitchen table. Here is the full AQA list for Biology, Chemistry and Physics, the Combined Science version, and a method for revising them at home.
What are the AQA biology required practicals?
AQA GCSE Biology has ten required practicals: microscopy, microbiology, osmosis, food tests, enzymes, photosynthesis, reaction time, plant responses, field investigations and decay, as listed in the AQA Biology specification. Combined Science: Trilogy students do seven of the ten, because AQA marks microbiology (practical 2), plant responses (practical 8) and decay (practical 10) as Biology-only.
Each practical belongs to a topic, and the topics are split across two papers. Broadly, the first six (microscopy through to photosynthesis) sit in the Paper 1 topics of cells, organisation, infection and bioenergetics, and the last four sit in the Paper 2 topics of homeostasis and ecology. If your child’s first mock covers Paper 1 content only, as many do, that tells you which practicals to prioritise. The paper split is in Paper 1 vs Paper 2.
What are the AQA chemistry required practicals?
AQA GCSE Chemistry has eight required practicals: making a pure, dry sample of a soluble salt, titration, electrolysis, temperature changes in reacting solutions, rates of reaction, paper chromatography, identifying ions, and analysis and purification of water, as listed in the AQA Chemistry specification. Combined Science students do six, because titration (practical 2) and identifying ions (practical 7) are Chemistry-only.
Titration and identifying ions both have long, fiddly method sequences, so both reward a written-from-memory method card.
What are the AQA GCSE physics required practicals?
AQA GCSE Physics has ten required practicals: specific heat capacity, thermal insulation, resistance, I–V characteristics, density, force and extension of a spring, force and acceleration, waves, reflection and refraction of light, and infrared radiation, as listed in the AQA Physics specification. Combined Science students do eight, because thermal insulation (practical 2) and light (practical 9) are Physics-only, which gives Combined Science: Trilogy 21 required practicals in total against 28 across the three separate sciences.
| Subject | No. | Required practical | Combined Science? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biology | 1 | Microscopy: observe, draw and label plant and animal cells | Yes |
| Biology | 2 | Microbiology: effect of antiseptics or antibiotics on bacterial growth | Biology only |
| Biology | 3 | Osmosis: effect of salt or sugar solutions on the mass of plant tissue | Yes |
| Biology | 4 | Food tests: reagents for carbohydrates, lipids and proteins | Yes |
| Biology | 5 | Enzymes: effect of pH on the rate of amylase | Yes |
| Biology | 6 | Photosynthesis: effect of light intensity on pondweed | Yes |
| Biology | 7 | Reaction time: effect of a factor on human reaction time | Yes |
| Biology | 8 | Plant responses: effect of light or gravity on seedlings | Biology only |
| Biology | 9 | Field investigations: population size of a species in a habitat | Yes |
| Biology | 10 | Decay: effect of temperature on the decay of milk, measured by pH | Biology only |
| Chemistry | 1 | Making a pure, dry sample of a soluble salt | Yes |
| Chemistry | 2 | Titration: reacting volumes of a strong acid and a strong alkali | Chemistry only |
| Chemistry | 3 | Electrolysis of aqueous solutions with inert electrodes | Yes |
| Chemistry | 4 | Temperature changes in reacting solutions | Yes |
| Chemistry | 5 | Rates of reaction: effect of concentration | Yes |
| Chemistry | 6 | Paper chromatography of coloured substances | Yes |
| Chemistry | 7 | Identifying ions in unknown single ionic compounds | Chemistry only |
| Chemistry | 8 | Analysis and purification of water samples | Yes |
| Physics | 1 | Specific heat capacity of materials | Yes |
| Physics | 2 | Thermal insulation | Physics only |
| Physics | 3 | Factors affecting resistance in circuits | Yes |
| Physics | 4 | I–V characteristics of circuit elements | Yes |
| Physics | 5 | Densities of solids and liquids | Yes |
| Physics | 6 | Force and extension of a spring | Yes |
| Physics | 7 | Force, mass and acceleration | Yes |
| Physics | 8 | Waves: speed, frequency and wavelength in a ripple tank and a solid | Yes |
| Physics | 9 | Reflection and refraction of light | Physics only |
| Physics | 10 | Infrared absorption and radiation by surfaces | Yes |
How are required practicals examined at GCSE?
Required practicals are examined through questions in the written papers; there is no practical exam and no coursework mark in AQA GCSE science. AQA states that questions drawing on the required practicals “will count for at least 15% of the overall marks for the qualification”, and the wording is the same in the Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Combined Science: Trilogy specifications.
AQA also says that many of these questions focus on investigative skills and on applying knowledge to practical situations, often in unfamiliar contexts. In plain terms, a question may describe an experiment your child has never seen, built on a practical they have. The school sends AQA a statement confirming that each student completed the practicals and kept a record; that is a condition of the qualification, not a source of marks.
Question types found in AQA papers and mark schemes include: name the independent, dependent and control variables; explain why a step in the method is there; identify a hazard and the precaution; plot or read a graph and describe the pattern; calculate a mean, a rate or a gradient; spot an anomalous result and say what to do with it; and write a full method for six marks. Every one of those can be practised without touching a test tube.
How do you revise required practicals without a lab?
Required practicals can be revised without a lab because the exam tests understanding of the method, the variables and the results, not the handling of equipment. The method this guide recommends is one card per practical, written from memory and then checked against the textbook, under six fixed headings: aim, variables, method, safety, expected result, evaluation.
The order matters. Writing first and checking second is retrieval practice, and the EEF’s review of cognitive science in the classroom summarises the evidence as showing that testing learning is often a better strategy than restudying or recapping the same information. Copying the card from the revision guide is recapping. Writing it blind, then correcting it in a different colour, is testing.
Add three things to each card. First, a labelled drawing of the apparatus, done from memory. Second, a sketch of the expected graph with both axes labelled and the shape drawn, because the graph is the result the examiner wants described. Third, two past-paper questions on that practical, found by searching the mark schemes for the practical’s name.
A parent can run the check without knowing any science. Ask five questions: What were you changing? What were you measuring? What did you keep the same? What did the graph look like? What would you do differently next time? If the answers come quickly, the card is done; if not, the card goes back in the pile for next week.
Some practicals have safe kitchen versions. Osmosis works with potato chips in salt water and a set of scales. Reaction time works with a dropped ruler. Chromatography works with felt-tip dots on kitchen roll dipped in water. Density works with kitchen scales and a measuring jug. Leave anything involving heat, chemicals or mains electricity to the school lab.
Subject-specific methods are in how to revise GCSE biology, chemistry and physics, with the overall approach in how to revise for GCSE science.
What can a parent do this week?
A parent can do this week’s job in two 25-minute sittings. In the first, ask your child to pick one practical from the table above and write the six-heading card from memory, then check it against the textbook in a different colour. In the second, a few days later, ask the five questions above and see whether the answers come back without the card.
Then open the revision timetable tool and give practicals two 25-minute slots a week. At two a week, a Combined Science student covers all 21 in about eleven weeks and a separate-science student covers all 28 in about fourteen, so starting in the autumn term leaves time for a second pass before the exams. The month-by-month picture is in when to start GCSE revision and the mock timing in how to prepare for Year 11 mocks. More guides are on the revision hub.
If you want a qualified science teacher to run this with your child, book a free call.
