Unit AS 1
Experimental Techniques
- EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES
CCEA A-Level Life and Health Sciences, memorised fast.
Long notes are boring. Brain-hack the whole 0008 specification with active recall and actually remember it.
- Spec 0008
- 16 topics
- 138 subtopics
CCEA A-Level Life and Health Sciences 0008
Experimental Techniques
Human Body Systems
Topic overviewBlood vessels, the heart and cardiac outputHeart sounds, ECG traces, pulse and blood pressureBody fluids, haemoglobin and the Bohr effectThe respiratory system, gas exchange and lung diseaseMonitoring breathing and lung volumesCellular respiration and ATPHomeostasis, blood glucose and thyroxineSodium, blood pH and oxygen saturationA balanced diet and nutritional needs through lifeCholesterol, minerals, vitamins, alcohol and exercise
Physical Chemistry in Industrial Processes
Topic overviewMoles, reacting masses and percentage yieldTitration types, indicators and standard solutionsTitration calculations and molarityEnthalpy changes and calorimetryHess's law and average bond enthalpiesCollision theory, rates and the Maxwell–Boltzmann distributionCatalysts, chemisorption and catalytic convertersReversible reactions, the Haber process and the Contact processScale-up, costs and siting a chemical plant
Brain ScienceDouble Award
Topic overviewBrain structure and frontal lobe damageNeurones, synapses and the endocrine systemAlzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and stem cell therapySchizophrenia and mental health awareness in Northern IrelandThe biology of aggression and methods of studying the brainStress, the stress response and stress managementMemory models, forgetting and eyewitness testimonyAbnormality, phobias, depression and OCDExperiments, observations, self-report and research designHypotheses, sampling, ethics and descriptive statistics
Material ScienceDouble Award
Topic overviewMaterial properties and selectionStress, strain and the Young modulusStress–strain graphs, creep and fatigueDensity, hardness and conductivity testingMetals, ceramics, glasses, polymers and compositesAtomic and microscopic structure of materialsAlloys, annealing and biomaterialsSmart materialsNanomaterials and semiconductors
Medicine, Drugs and Clinical TrialsDouble Award
Topic overviewCategories of medicine and routes to drug discoveryMedicines from natural sources, drug names and the ATC systemDrug development, preclinical testing and the therapeutic indexPhases of clinical trials and trial designLicensing, UK regulators, Yellow Card and trial ethicsFormulations, routes of administration and drug absorptionDistribution, metabolism, elimination and sites of drug actionQuantitative analysis of medicines and antibacterial bioassays
Scientific Method, Investigation, Analysis and Evaluation
Topic overviewThe scientific method, literature reviews and Harvard referencingDescriptive statistics and the normal distributionNull hypotheses, significance and choosing a statistical testInvestigation design, Design of Experiments and project plansGood Laboratory Practice, risk assessment and COSHHExperimental error, scientific writing and evaluation
Organic Chemistry
Topic overviewOrganic formulae, homologous series and functional groupsIUPAC naming and types of organic reactionStructural isomerism and E/Z isomerismAlkanes from crude oil, combustion and halogenationVehicle pollutants, catalytic converters and biofuelsAlkenes, pi bonds and electrophilic additionClassifying alcohols, making ethanol and its effects as a drugOxidation of alcohols, IR spectroscopy and mass spectrometryAddition polymers, plastic waste and nylonPreparing and purifying aspirin
Medical PhysicsA2 option
Topic overviewBody temperature and clinical thermometersBlood pressure readings and the sphygmomanometerHeart activity experiments and EEG tracesX-ray tubes, radiographs and CT scansFlexible endoscopes, optical fibres and lasersUltrasound A-scans, B-scans and acoustic impedanceMRI scanning and gamma camera imagingAlpha, beta and gamma radiation and half-lifeRadiopharmaceuticals, radiotherapy and radiation protection
Sound and LightA2 option
Topic overviewTransverse and longitudinal waves and wave graphsPhase difference and the electromagnetic spectrumOuter, middle and inner earSound intensity and the decibel scaleStanding waves, harmonics and resonance tubesHearing response, phons and equal loudness curvesStructure of the eye, rods and conesAccommodation, lens power and correcting long sightTotal internal reflection and fibre-optic communicationDipole antennas, wireless networks and radarAttenuation of radio waves and the Doppler effect
Genetics, Stem Cell Research and CloningA2 option
Topic overviewDNA structure and the evidence for the double helixRNA, genes and the triplet codeGenotype, phenotype and monohybrid inheritanceDihybrid crosses, epistasis and the chi-squared testDNA replication and the Meselson–Stahl experimentMeiosis and genetic variationInsulin, factor VIII and chymosin from genetically modified microbesRecombinant DNA technology and gene cloningGenetic engineering, food supply and ethicsGene therapy and cystic fibrosisGenetic disease, screening and counsellingGenetic fingerprinting and gel electrophoresisStem cells, therapeutic cloning and their ethics
MicrobiologyDouble Award
Topic overviewBacteria, fungi and protozoaViruses, viroids and prionsClassifying bacteria, fungi and virusesLight and electron microscopyLaboratory safety, biocontainment and quality assuranceAseptic technique, growth media and inoculationCounting and measuring microbial growthGrowth requirements and growth inhibitionAntibiotics, PCR, gene therapy and pharmaceutical microbiologyThe gut microbiome in health and disease
Oral Health and DentistryDouble Award
Histology and PathologyDouble Award
Topic overviewSpecimen processing, data protection and safety lawClinical biochemistry tests and electrophoresisBlood smears and identifying blood cellsBlood grouping, cross-matching and transfusionDiagnostic and surveillance work in hospital microbiologyPreparing and staining tissue sectionsRecognising tissues, atheroma and emphysema on slides
Analytical Chemistry TechniquesDouble Award
Topic overviewVolumetric analysis in industry and healthcareApplied titrations of vinegar, indigestion tablets and bleachRedox titration of iron tablets and evaluating titrationsPrinciples of colorimetryColorimetric analysis of copper ore, aspirin and ironThin-layer chromatography and its usesVisualising chromatograms and identifying painkillers and pigmentsCalorimetry and combustionMolar enthalpy and bond energy calculationsQualitative tests for cations and gases
Enabling TechnologyDouble Award
Topic overviewECG and EEG machines in patient monitoringUltrasound and IVF equipment in fertility treatmentProsthetic limbs, hearing aids and cochlear implantsWorkflow and equipment in a medical laboratoryOngoing monitoring of a long-term conditionHealth data collection, databases and data protection
What CCEA A-Level Life and Health Sciences covers
CCEA A-Level Life and Health Sciences (subject code 0008), Single Award (qualification number 603/0499/6) and Double Award (603/0497/2), is the Northern Ireland board's applied science specification, first taught from September 2016. Every student takes experimental techniques, human body systems and physical chemistry at AS, and scientific method and organic chemistry at A2, with one of medical physics, sound and light, or genetics. Double Award students add brain science, material science and medicine at AS, a second of those three A2 options, and two of microbiology, oral health, histology, analytical chemistry and enabling technology.
CCEA GCE Life and Health Sciences (Single and Double Award), subject code 0008, qualification numbers 603/0499/6 (Single Award A level) and 603/0497/2 (Double Award A level), first teaching September 2016, Version 3 of 26 April 2024. Read the CCEA specification ↗
How it is assessed
Unit AS 2
Human Body Systems
- HUMAN BODY SYSTEMS
Unit AS 3
Aspects of Physical Chemistry in Industrial Processes
- PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY IN INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES
Unit AS 4
Brain Science
- BRAIN SCIENCE
Unit AS 5
Material Science
- MATERIAL SCIENCE
Unit AS 6
Medicine, Drugs and Clinical Trials
- MEDICINE, DRUGS AND CLINICAL TRIALS
Unit A2 1
Scientific Method, Investigation, Analysis and Evaluation
- SCIENTIFIC METHOD, INVESTIGATION, ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
Unit A2 2
Organic Chemistry
- ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Unit A2 3
Medical Physics
- MEDICAL PHYSICS
Unit A2 4
Sound and Light
- SOUND AND LIGHT
Unit A2 5
Genetics, Stem Cell Research and Cloning
- GENETICS, STEM CELL RESEARCH AND CLONING
Unit A2 6
Microbiology
- MICROBIOLOGY
Unit A2 7
Oral Health and Dentistry
- ORAL HEALTH AND DENTISTRY
Unit A2 8
Histology and Pathology
- HISTOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY
Unit A2 9
Analytical Chemistry Techniques
- ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY TECHNIQUES
Unit A2 10
Enabling Technology
- ENABLING TECHNOLOGY
The full specification
16 topics, 138 subtopics. Open any topic to see what is inside it.
01Experimental Techniques4 subtopicsOpen topic
02Human Body Systems10 subtopicsOpen topic
- Blood vessels, the heart and cardiac output
- Heart sounds, ECG traces, pulse and blood pressure
- Body fluids, haemoglobin and the Bohr effect
- The respiratory system, gas exchange and lung disease
- Monitoring breathing and lung volumes
- Cellular respiration and ATP
- Homeostasis, blood glucose and thyroxine
- Sodium, blood pH and oxygen saturation
- A balanced diet and nutritional needs through life
- Cholesterol, minerals, vitamins, alcohol and exercise
03Physical Chemistry in Industrial Processes9 subtopicsOpen topic
- Moles, reacting masses and percentage yield
- Titration types, indicators and standard solutions
- Titration calculations and molarity
- Enthalpy changes and calorimetry
- Hess's law and average bond enthalpies
- Collision theory, rates and the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution
- Catalysts, chemisorption and catalytic converters
- Reversible reactions, the Haber process and the Contact process
- Scale-up, costs and siting a chemical plant
04Brain ScienceDouble Award10 subtopicsOpen topic
- Brain structure and frontal lobe damage
- Neurones, synapses and the endocrine system
- Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and stem cell therapy
- Schizophrenia and mental health awareness in Northern Ireland
- The biology of aggression and methods of studying the brain
- Stress, the stress response and stress management
- Memory models, forgetting and eyewitness testimony
- Abnormality, phobias, depression and OCD
- Experiments, observations, self-report and research design
- Hypotheses, sampling, ethics and descriptive statistics
05Material ScienceDouble Award9 subtopicsOpen topic
- Material properties and selection
- Stress, strain and the Young modulus
- Stress–strain graphs, creep and fatigue
- Density, hardness and conductivity testing
- Metals, ceramics, glasses, polymers and composites
- Atomic and microscopic structure of materials
- Alloys, annealing and biomaterials
- Smart materials
- Nanomaterials and semiconductors
06Medicine, Drugs and Clinical TrialsDouble Award8 subtopicsOpen topic
- Categories of medicine and routes to drug discovery
- Medicines from natural sources, drug names and the ATC system
- Drug development, preclinical testing and the therapeutic index
- Phases of clinical trials and trial design
- Licensing, UK regulators, Yellow Card and trial ethics
- Formulations, routes of administration and drug absorption
- Distribution, metabolism, elimination and sites of drug action
- Quantitative analysis of medicines and antibacterial bioassays
07Scientific Method, Investigation, Analysis and Evaluation6 subtopicsOpen topic
- The scientific method, literature reviews and Harvard referencing
- Descriptive statistics and the normal distribution
- Null hypotheses, significance and choosing a statistical test
- Investigation design, Design of Experiments and project plans
- Good Laboratory Practice, risk assessment and COSHH
- Experimental error, scientific writing and evaluation
08Organic Chemistry10 subtopicsOpen topic
- Organic formulae, homologous series and functional groups
- IUPAC naming and types of organic reaction
- Structural isomerism and E/Z isomerism
- Alkanes from crude oil, combustion and halogenation
- Vehicle pollutants, catalytic converters and biofuels
- Alkenes, pi bonds and electrophilic addition
- Classifying alcohols, making ethanol and its effects as a drug
- Oxidation of alcohols, IR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry
- Addition polymers, plastic waste and nylon
- Preparing and purifying aspirin
09Medical PhysicsA2 option9 subtopicsOpen topic
- Body temperature and clinical thermometers
- Blood pressure readings and the sphygmomanometer
- Heart activity experiments and EEG traces
- X-ray tubes, radiographs and CT scans
- Flexible endoscopes, optical fibres and lasers
- Ultrasound A-scans, B-scans and acoustic impedance
- MRI scanning and gamma camera imaging
- Alpha, beta and gamma radiation and half-life
- Radiopharmaceuticals, radiotherapy and radiation protection
10Sound and LightA2 option11 subtopicsOpen topic
- Transverse and longitudinal waves and wave graphs
- Phase difference and the electromagnetic spectrum
- Outer, middle and inner ear
- Sound intensity and the decibel scale
- Standing waves, harmonics and resonance tubes
- Hearing response, phons and equal loudness curves
- Structure of the eye, rods and cones
- Accommodation, lens power and correcting long sight
- Total internal reflection and fibre-optic communication
- Dipole antennas, wireless networks and radar
- Attenuation of radio waves and the Doppler effect
11Genetics, Stem Cell Research and CloningA2 option13 subtopicsOpen topic
- DNA structure and the evidence for the double helix
- RNA, genes and the triplet code
- Genotype, phenotype and monohybrid inheritance
- Dihybrid crosses, epistasis and the chi-squared test
- DNA replication and the Meselson–Stahl experiment
- Meiosis and genetic variation
- Insulin, factor VIII and chymosin from genetically modified microbes
- Recombinant DNA technology and gene cloning
- Genetic engineering, food supply and ethics
- Gene therapy and cystic fibrosis
- Genetic disease, screening and counselling
- Genetic fingerprinting and gel electrophoresis
- Stem cells, therapeutic cloning and their ethics
12MicrobiologyDouble Award10 subtopicsOpen topic
- Bacteria, fungi and protozoa
- Viruses, viroids and prions
- Classifying bacteria, fungi and viruses
- Light and electron microscopy
- Laboratory safety, biocontainment and quality assurance
- Aseptic technique, growth media and inoculation
- Counting and measuring microbial growth
- Growth requirements and growth inhibition
- Antibiotics, PCR, gene therapy and pharmaceutical microbiology
- The gut microbiome in health and disease
13Oral Health and DentistryDouble Award6 subtopicsOpen topic
14Histology and PathologyDouble Award7 subtopicsOpen topic
- Specimen processing, data protection and safety law
- Clinical biochemistry tests and electrophoresis
- Blood smears and identifying blood cells
- Blood grouping, cross-matching and transfusion
- Diagnostic and surveillance work in hospital microbiology
- Preparing and staining tissue sections
- Recognising tissues, atheroma and emphysema on slides
15Analytical Chemistry TechniquesDouble Award10 subtopicsOpen topic
- Volumetric analysis in industry and healthcare
- Applied titrations of vinegar, indigestion tablets and bleach
- Redox titration of iron tablets and evaluating titrations
- Principles of colorimetry
- Colorimetric analysis of copper ore, aspirin and iron
- Thin-layer chromatography and its uses
- Visualising chromatograms and identifying painkillers and pigments
- Calorimetry and combustion
- Molar enthalpy and bond energy calculations
- Qualitative tests for cations and gases
16Enabling TechnologyDouble Award6 subtopicsOpen topic
How you work through it
Pick the mode that fits the time you have.
Try three questions
No account needed. Answer from memory first.
Your recallNot started
Key term
What is a calibration curve, and how is one produced for glucose using a colorimeter?
Key term
Which flame colours do lithium, sodium, potassium, calcium and copper ions give, and how are halide ions identified?
Key term
How can the rate of a reaction be measured?
Spaced Repetition Schedule
How reviews are timed
Levo will automatically distribute all of your progress into a spaced repetition calendar. Once you’ve answered, it’s scheduled for you on the next day in the spaced repetition schedule. Over time, the gaps between your recall get bigger, from a day to three years, reinforcing memorisation over a long period of time.
Interval sequence
- 1 day
- 3 days
- 7 days
- 14 days
- 30 days
- 60 days
- 4 months
- 8 months
- 1 year
- 2 years
- 3 years
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material
Life and Health Sciences revision questions
Common questions about revising CCEA A-Level Life and Health Sciences. Tap any to open it.
How do you memorise CCEA A-Level Life and Health Sciences?
By testing yourself, not rereading. Active recall, pulling each answer from memory then checking it, builds far stronger memory than highlighting notes. Levo runs the method for you across all 16 Life and Health Sciences topics and brings each one back on a spaced schedule so it stays memorised.
What is the fastest way to revise Life and Health Sciences for CCEA?
Skip the long notes and go straight to retrieval. Levo turns the 0008 specification into short questions you drill with rapid recall, cram whole papers in one sitting, and a readiness score tells you exactly what is left to learn.
What topics are on CCEA A-Level Life and Health Sciences (0008)?
There are 16 topics, split across 138 subtopics, from Experimental Techniques, Human Body Systems, Physical Chemistry in Industrial Processes and more. Every topic is listed above, and each one opens to the subtopics inside it.
What do you get inside Levo for Life and Health Sciences?
Six ways to work the same material. The 3-step method for learning a set, Cram for sorting a whole paper into what you know and what you do not, Blank Blitz for making key facts automatic, Build It for assembling full-mark answers, Test It for catching misconceptions, and Brain Breaks between sessions. A readiness score tracks how much of the subject you have memorised.
Is active recall better than rereading your notes for Life and Health Sciences?
Consistently, yes. Rereading feels productive but fades quickly. Retrieving an answer from memory, the way Levo tests you, is what actually forms durable memory, and it shows you honestly what you do and do not know.
Does Levo cover the whole CCEA Life and Health Sciences specification?
Every topic on the 0008 specification is covered, written from the published subject content. The full list is above, and each topic opens to its subtopics so you can see exactly what is there before you subscribe.
How can you encourage your teenager to revise?
Make it short, structured and low-pressure. Levo gives a clear daily plan, quick sessions rather than marathon ones, streaks that reward showing up, and an honest readiness score, so revision feels like progress instead of a chore. Parents can add an account and follow along.
Can you revise Life and Health Sciences the night before an exam?
Yes. Cram mode is built for exactly that: fly through a whole paper, sort every topic into red, amber and green, then drill just the reds and ambers you do not know yet. It is the honest version of a last-minute session.
Every question in Life and Health Sciences, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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