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AQA A-level Biology required practicals: all 12

AQA sets twelve required practicals for A-level Biology, and the first six are also the AS ones. Here they are by number, in AQA’s wording, each linked to the lesson section that teaches its method.

From the AQA specification, version 1.6 (July 2026).

The written papers can ask about any of the twelve and the skills each one uses, so learn the method even if your own results in the lab went wrong.

Number	Required practical, in AQA’s words	Where the method is taught
RP1	Investigation into the effect of a named variable on the rate of an enzyme-controlled reaction	Required practical 1: enzyme rate with trypsin and milk, the full practical guide Measure the rate of an enzyme-controlled reaction, in the lesson Factors affecting enzyme rate: temperature, pH and concentration
RP2	Preparation of stained squashes of cells from plant root tips; set-up and use of an optical microscope to identify the stages of mitosis in these stained squashes and calculation of a mitotic index	Required practical 2: root tip squash and mitotic index, the full practical guide Prepare a stained root tip squash and calculate a mitotic index, in the lesson The cell cycle and mitosis
RP3	Production of a dilution series of a solute to produce a calibration curve with which to identify the water potential of plant tissue	Required practical 3: water potential of potato tissue, the full practical guide Find the water potential of potato tissue from a dilution series, in the lesson Diffusion and osmosis
RP4	Investigation into the effect of a named variable on the permeability of cell-surface membranes	Required practical 4: beetroot membranes and temperature, the full practical guide Measure membrane permeability with beetroot and a colorimeter, in the lesson Membrane structure and the fluid mosaic model
RP5	Dissection of animal or plant gas exchange or mass transport system or of organ within such a system	Required practical 5: dissecting an insect and a fish gill, the full practical guide Dissect an insect's tracheal system and a fish gill, and draw them, in the lesson Gas exchange in insects, fish and plants
RP6	Use of aseptic techniques to investigate the effect of antimicrobial substances on microbial growth	Required practical 6: aseptic technique and antibiotic discs, the full practical guide Test plant extracts against bacteria on agar, aseptically, in the lesson Industrial biotechnology and fermentation Compare antibiotics by their zones of inhibition, in the lesson Evidence for evolution, resistance and genetic drift Both use the same aseptic method: plant extracts on paper discs in the first, antibiotic discs in the second.
RP7	Use of chromatography to investigate the pigments isolated from leaves of different plants, eg leaves from shade-tolerant and shade-intolerant plants or leaves of different colours	Required practical 7: chromatography of leaf pigments, the full practical guide Separate photosynthetic pigments by chromatography and find Rf values, in the lesson Chloroplast structure and the light-dependent reactions The section separates the pigments of one leaf extract and calculates Rf values. Comparing leaves of different plants side by side is not written up.
RP8	Investigation into the effect of a named factor on the rate of dehydrogenase activity in extracts of chloroplasts	Required practical 8: the Hill reaction in isolated chloroplasts, the full practical guide Isolate chloroplasts and time the reduction of DCPIP, in the lesson Chloroplast structure and the light-dependent reactions
RP9	Investigation into the effect of a named variable on the rate of respiration of cultures of single-celled organisms	Required practical 9: respiration rate in yeast, the full practical guide Measure the rate of respiration in yeast with methylene blue, in the lesson Anaerobic respiration and the respiratory quotient Yeast is the single-celled organism here, with temperature or glucose concentration as the named variable.
RP10	Investigation into the effect of an environmental variable on the movement of an animal using either a choice chamber or a maze	Required practical 10: woodlice in a choice chamber, the full practical guide Investigate an animal's response to light or humidity in a choice chamber, in the lesson Receptors: transduction and the reflex arc
RP11	Production of a dilution series of a glucose solution and use of colorimetric techniques to produce a calibration curve with which to identify the concentration of glucose in an unknown ‘urine’ sample	Required practical 11: glucose concentration by colorimetry, the full practical guide Find a glucose concentration from a colorimeter calibration curve, in the lesson Carbohydrate structure and function The section reads an unknown off a Benedict’s calibration curve. The unknown is not set up as a ‘urine’ sample.
RP12	Investigation into the effect of a named environmental factor on the distribution of a given species	Required practical 12: a belt transect and species distribution, the full practical guide Sample with quadrats and transects and relate distribution to an abiotic factor, in the lesson Succession and environmental change Light and the cover of one species along a belt transect is the worked example, with Spearman’s rank.

To see the same methods by technique, with their calculations and the errors to avoid, go to A-level Biology practicals.

To find the lessons that teach each numbered statement of this specification, use the AQA route map.

AQA’s specification and practical handbook decide how each required practical is run and how the Practical Endorsement is assessed.

List checked against the specification on 23 October 2026.