What Are Required Practicals?
Required practicals are a set of experiments that every GCSE Science student must carry out during their course. They were introduced to ensure all students get hands-on laboratory experience — and they're examined in your written papers.
On AQA GCSE Science, required practicals make up around 15% of your exam marks, so it's well worth knowing them inside out.
How Are Required Practicals Examined?
You won't be asked to carry out the experiment in the exam — instead, you'll be given questions about:
- The method and equipment used
- Independent, dependent, and control variables
- How to record and analyse results
- Sources of error and how to improve the experiment
- Interpreting graphs and data
This means you need to understand why each step of the method is done, not just memorise it.
AQA GCSE Biology Required Practicals
- Microscopy — observing cells
- Osmosis — potato cylinders in different concentrations
- Food tests — Benedict's, iodine, biuret
- Photosynthesis — effect of light intensity
- Respiration — using a respirometer
- Reaction time — ruler drop test
- Ecology — sampling with quadrats and transects
- Microbiology — growing bacteria on agar plates
AQA GCSE Chemistry Required Practicals
- Making salts — neutralisation and titration
- Electrolysis — of aqueous solutions
- Temperature changes — exothermic and endothermic reactions
- Rates of reaction — marble chips and HCl
- Chromatography — separating dyes
- Water purification — distillation
- Identifying ions — flame tests and precipitates
- Titration — finding the concentration of an acid
AQA GCSE Physics Required Practicals
- Specific heat capacity — measuring energy changes
- Thermal insulation — investigating heat loss
- Resistance — of a wire
- IV characteristics — of resistors, bulbs and diodes
- Density — of regular and irregular objects
- Hooke's Law — force and extension
- Speed of sound — using an oscilloscope
- Reflection and refraction — of light
- Radiation — absorption and emission
- Acceleration — on a ramp
How to Revise Required Practicals
The most effective way to revise required practicals is to work through exam-style questions for each one — not just re-read the method. You need to practise applying your knowledge to unfamiliar contexts.
Our AQA GCSE Required Practical worksheets cover every practical listed above, with step-by-step methods, exam-style questions, and full mark schemes. They're available individually or as subject bundles.
Start with the practicals you found trickiest in class — those are the ones most likely to catch you out in the exam.
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