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Pearson Edexcel
From the tiniest microscopic cell to vast, complex ecosystems – studying biology enables you to explore and understand life on Earth, in all its forms.
By exploring our natural world, you’ll begin to consider some of the big challenges we face. From preventing and curing disease to sustaining a healthy planet for future generations, biologists have a crucial role to play!
Supported by an expert personal tutor, you’ll explore topics using our online resources and through practical experiments you can do at home. As you progress, key connections that exist in our natural world will be revealed and you’ll consider the impact biology has on our everyday lives.
What is DNA? How do plants reproduce? How does the human heart work? How are humans impacting biodiversity? Through our IGCSE Biology online course you’ll build knowledge of key biological concepts and put theory into practice using 11 core practicals which are suitable for home study.
Studying IGCSE Biology online opens up exciting future choices. Perhaps you’ll continue to study this fascinating subject at A level and beyond – gaining the qualifications you need to secure your dream career?
Our Biology IGCSE course is ideal if you:
Future opportunities
Section 1: The nature and variety of living things
Section 2: Structure in living organisms
Section 3: Nutrition, respiration and gas exchange
Section 4: Transport in living things
Section 5: Excretion
Section 6: Coordination and response
Section 7: Reproduction
Section 8: Inheritance
Section 9: Ecology and the environment
Section 10: Using biological resources
Study IGCSE Biology with us and benefit from:
learn@nec
Choose when and where you access your course, using learn@nec our 24/7 learning platform.
This easy-to-use learning platform includes interactive checkpoints, quizzes and activities to help you evaluate your progress.
You’ll have access to support from a personal tutor. All NEC tutors are subject experts, with experience of supporting online learners.
Meet Donal who is just one of our first-class biology tutors:
“My lifelong fascination with biology has led to a varied and interesting career. I worked at the Natural History Museum on insect taxonomy and the Commonwealth Institute for Biological Control where I studied the control of insect and plant pests using natural enemies. I also worked in government fisheries laboratories in England and Ireland and for ADAS on insects in field margins. In addition to teaching for the NEC I am an associate lecturer at the Open University, mainly in ecology and evolution. Previously, I was a teaching fellow for the OU developing new courses, and subsequently a staff tutor in Cambridge and Birmingham.”
Exam board
Format
Hours
*The specification suggests that 150 hours is needed. You’ll also need time to complete assignments and prepare yourself for exams and some courses like English literature involve a lot of reading. Everyone is different so it’s impossible to say with certainty how long a course will take you, but you should expect to spend longer than 150 hours. Taken across the length of time we recommend, this equates to approximately 4 hours per week. This will increase if you choose to take it over a shorter time frame or may be less if you are retaking a subject and have covered a lot of of the course content.
Assignments
Resources
Requirements
Our course fees are clear and transparent to help you plan for any additional costs.
Your course fee includes:
Your course fee does not cover:
If you need more support, you can purchase:
For further information on additional/optional support you can purchase, please visit our additional services page.
Exams (two):
There is no non-exam assessment (NEA) for this course
We know that our younger students often need an extra helping hand with their studies. In our experience, learning online works best when the parents are involved, so when you enrol your child with NEC, you’ll have a unique set of services to help you to support your child.
This includes:
Read more about how we work with young students who are studying at home or through a school.
It’s your choice: you can pay in full at the point of enrolment, or you can spread the cost over monthly instalments with our finance offer. We offer a choice of six or 12 month repayment plans, with 0% APR as standard.
To pay in instalments you will need to enrol by telephone.
Representative example:
Course fee: £495
Deposit: £49.50
Amount of credit: £445.50
Monthly payment: £74.25
Duration of agreement: 6 months
Total repayable: £495
Rate of interest: 0% (fixed)
0% APR representative.
The National Extension College (NEC) work with finance company Deko. For more information on our relationship with Deko and repayment plans click here.
learn@nec is our virtual learning environment, the gateway to your course and the NEC community. All the resources you need to study are here and you have the flexibility to access them wherever you want, whenever you want
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