Book recommendation to help with revision of end-of-topic quizzes, end-of-term exams, or end-of-year exams
I am a science teacher and a tutor. Many parents ask me which book they should buy for their children, so I thought I would make a list of books that I like and explain why I like them. The books are aimed at students that will take GCSEs at the end of Y11 with the AQA exam board.
I should point out that I am not affiliated with any publisher. I don’t necessarily think you need to buy all or even any of the books if you don’t think you will not use them. I also don’t think you need to buy new books either. There are loads of books in the second-hand market. Buying second-hand books are both cheaper and better for the environment. Just make sure you don’t buy too old books that cover the old curriculum. The recommendations below are only recommendations of my personal choice. Many schools will provide revision material and suggestions.
AQA Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. Publisher: Oxford
These are the most recommended books by schools. The books have a good layout of information and are good reference books. Many teachers use the below books to plan their lesson as it follows the curricula very closely. I particularly like the below books because you can easily see which chapter is for combined science and what additional information is needed for the higher paper. You can also easily see which chapters are the additional chapters that cover separate science as well. They have questions after each topic and end-of-chapter questions. However, the major drawback with the below books is that the answers are not included in the book. Some schools subscribe to the online version of the books (it’s called Kerboodle) and with the subscription, you can find the answers.
CGP AQA Chemistry, Biology, and Physics
I personally like the CGP books. This is also a good reference book if you want an alternative to the book above. The concepts are described in a succinct manner and are easier to understand compared to the Oxford AQA books. I particularly like this book because they have questions at the end of each chapter and the answers are included. However, although the higher and separate science is included in this book, the explanation for the higher content is not as detailed as in the Oxford AQA book.
Workbooks
Here are a few workbooks that I like. The below books are really good to work on when revising for end-of-topic exams or end-of-year exams.
Here are workbooks for combined science. Below is a workbook for students who study combined science and will sit the foundation paper.
CGP GCSE Combined Science for AQA (Grade 9-1) Foundation Level This has a mixture of different types of low-demand questions. CGP also has an exam-style practice book as well. Make sure you get the version with the answers in the back of the book.
Workbook for combined science higher paper
CGP GCSE Combined Science for AQA (Grade 9-1) Higher Level. This book is suitable for students revising for combined science higher paper. The book contains a mixture of low and higher-demand questions. Just remember to pick a book with the answers in the back of the book.
Workbooks for students that study separate science
Here are workbooks for separate science focusing on Chemistry. CGP has the same versions for Biology and for Physics. The first book is a mixture of low and high-demand questions whereas the second book has only trickier questions. The bottom book only contains multiple-choice questions. This book is quite nice to do some snap questions on the bus or when have a spare moment.
CGP GCSE Chemistry For AQA (Grade 9-1) The Workbook Higher Level
CGP GCSE AQA Chemistry Grade 8-9 Targeted Exam Practise Workbook
CGP GCSE Chemistry For AQA (Grade 9-1) 10-Minute Tests
CGP revision cards
Below are nice revision cards from CGP. They are a nice supplement to the workbooks above if you want to mix up the type of revision every now and then. The cards can be used for both combined and separate science students. I have used these cards to play games in the revision club. Students find them fun to use. The questions are short recall questions. CGP also have them in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics all for combined science. Please note the cards cover loads of topics but not separate science topics.
CGP GCSE Combined Science Chemistry Revision Question Cards
CGP GCSE Combined Science Biology Revision Question Cards
CGP GCSE Combined Science Physics Revision Question Cards
