Unit AS 1
Experimental Techniques
- EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES
CCEA AS Life and Health Sciences, memorised in year one.
Everything the AS examines and nothing from the second year. Drill the 6 topics you are actually sitting in Northern Ireland this summer.
- AS of 0008
- 6 topics
- 50 subtopics
CCEA AS-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
What CCEA AS Life and Health Sciences covers, and what it leaves out
CCEA AS Life and Health Sciences is the first year of the 0008 course and a qualification in its own right, examined in 6 units, AS 1, AS 2, AS 3, AS 4, AS 5 and AS 6. This page holds only what the AS examines: 6 topics across 50 subtopics, 808 active recall questions, starting with Experimental Techniques, Human Body Systems and Physical Chemistry in Industrial Processes. The 10 topics kept back for the second year are not shown, so nothing here is content you have not been taught yet.
Starting the second year? The full CCEA A-Level Life and Health Sciences page adds the A2 topics on top of everything here.
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
The full specification
6 topics, 50 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
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 AS-Level Life and Health Sciences. Tap any to open it.
What is on CCEA AS Life and Health Sciences?
6 topics across 50 subtopics, examined in AS 1, AS 2, AS 3, AS 4, AS 5 and AS 6. They are all listed on this page, and each one opens to the subtopics inside it. The full topic list is Experimental Techniques, Human Body Systems, Physical Chemistry in Industrial Processes, Brain Science, Material Science, Medicine, Drugs and Clinical Trials.
Does AS Life and Health Sciences count towards the full A level?
Yes. In Northern Ireland the AS units are marked as a standalone AS qualification and also carry forward into the full CCEA A level, which is why the first year matters more here than it does in England. Check the current weighting on the 0008 specification, as it is set by the board rather than by us.
What is the difference between AS and A level Life and Health Sciences?
AS is the first-year units only. The A level adds 10 further topics, among them Scientific Method, Investigation, Analysis and Evaluation, Organic Chemistry, Medical Physics, and expects you to connect them back to the AS material. Work the AS content here, then move up to the full A level page when you start the second year.
When do you sit CCEA AS Life and Health Sciences?
Normally at the end of Year 12, in the summer series. That gives you one year to memorise 808 questions' worth of material, which is roughly 4 questions a day across an academic year if you start in September.
How should you revise for AS Life and Health Sciences?
By retrieval, not rereading. Cover the answer, pull it from memory, then check. Levo runs that loop across all 6 AS topics and brings each question back on a spaced schedule, so what you learn in September is still there in June.
Is it worth revising AS content again for the A level?
Yes, and it is the mistake most students make. The second-year papers assume the first year, and in Northern Ireland the AS marks usually count towards the final grade as well. Keeping the AS material on a spaced schedule through Year 13 costs far less time than relearning it.
How many questions are there for CCEA AS Life and Health Sciences?
808, written from the 0008 subject content and grouped into 50 subtopics so you can work one small area at a time rather than a whole topic at once.
Can you use Levo for just the AS year?
Yes. Pick your subject, choose the AS topics on the topic screen, and every mode — the 3-step method, Cram, Blank Blitz, Build It and Test It — works only that material. Add the second-year topics when you get to them.
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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