Student resources to revise for SQA exams: National 5 and Higher Biology and Human Biology

As the SQA exams fast approach we have spoken to teachers in all of our departments at Saturday School and asked them what free online resources are out there to help students prepare for their National 5 and Higher Biology and Human Biology exams. Here’s our top choices:

1. First up, there’s the obvious ones. BBC Bitesize is so useful for all subjects and levels of the Scottish curriculum, and their free Nat 5, Higher and Advanced Higher study materials and recourses are superb. They were produced by the BBC in partnership with real teachers so the material is a perfect match to each course. A really nice user-friendly layout, revise sections, glossary and short check tests make this is a super resources for all SQA Biology courses.

2. Oronsay is another great revision website for N5 and Higher Biology students. Mr D’s Revision Materials contain a full list of presentations, crosswords, matching exercises, revision tests and lots more. This website may not have the slick design of some of the big national organisations, but we think Mr D has done an amazing job collating and producing a website that is packed with excellent materials to help you master your Knowledge and Understanding in Biology before your SQA exam

3. The Biology Coach is a superb free online revision resource created by Dr Annie McRobbie. She has used a flipped classroom approach here and has created something pretty special via a website and YouTube cannel that work perfectly together to cover all aspects of Higher Human and Advanced Higher Biology. Each course is broken into its three main units and then further split by key area which makes the user journey and flow of her content ideal for any learner. The USP for this resource is that you feel like you are actually in a biology class at times and her approach is not just to put up a range of materials for independent learning or self-study, she is actually teaching you!

4. The BrightRED DIGITAL ZONE is a fully interactive online resource for all National 5 and Higher SQA subjects. All Digital Zone material is completely free to use and, although it integrates entirely with their popular study guides, it works very well as a standalone free student revision resource.

5. Collins are a huge publisher of educational resources for SQA courses and whilst most of their products and textbooks are paid for items, they do have a handy free resources section for Biology. Much of this is really just the answer files for their textbooks but most schools do have these workbooks so this is still a useful resource. The best resource on here is a brilliant set of Higher Biology Grade Booster Flashcards.

If you need support in National 5 or Higher subjects you can book classes here.