On the Ofqual register · 8464From £39.99/mo paying todayAQA 8464 Combined Science: Trilogy (601/8758/X) is the double award science GCSE, worth two GCSE grades, covering biology, chemistry and physics. You study online with a named UK tutor and sit six 1 hour 15 minute papers in one May/June series at a Tutors & Exams centre, at Foundation or Higher tier, usually over 12 to 24 months.
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| Qualification | GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy |
|---|---|
| Level | Level 1/2, grades 9 to 1 |
| Awarding body | AQA |
| Qualification number | 601/8758/X |
| Exams | Exam entry and seat booking are through Tutors & Exams, and only on the +Exams plan. |
| Price | £359.99 a year or £39.99 a month when you pay today: pay for 9 months, get 3 free, price fixed for life. Prefer to try it first? Free for 7 days, then £44.99 a month or £458.99 a year. |
| Typical duration | 12 to 24 months, or faster if you study more each week |
| Age | Open to anyone aged 14 or over. Under 18s enrol with a parent or guardian's permission and support. |
| Who it suits | You need two science GCSE grades at 4 or above for nursing, teaching, an apprenticeship or a college course, and want all three sciences in one qualification. |
Pay today, pay for 9 months and get 3 free, with your price fixed for life. Pay monthly and start today for £5 a month less than after a trial. Prefer to try it first? Start for £0 today on the 7-day free trial.
| Study | +Exams | |
|---|---|---|
| Pay today, yearlyBest value3 months free, fixed for life | £359.99 a yearthat is £30.00 a month | £809.99 a yearthat is £67.50 a month |
| Pay today, monthly£5 a month less than after a trial | £39.99 a month | £89.99 a month |
| 7-day free trial first£0 today, first payment on day 8 | £44.99 a monthor £458.99 a year | £99.99 a monthor £1,019.99 a year |
+Exams paid monthly has an expected term of 9 months, as exam fees are built in: cancel any time with no exit fee, but unused exam credit is lost. No term applies if you pay yearly.
Oxbridge Home Learning and Open Study College charge £449 to £495 for the course, paid in full or in instalments. With Lift College you can start for £0 today, and a full year of Study is £359.99 when you pay today.
| Provider | Course fee | How you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Lift College Lowest cost to start | £359.99for 12 months, Study, paid today | £0 today on the 7-day free trial. Monthly or yearly, no contract, no credit check, cancel any time |
| Oxbridge Home Learning | £495 | Course fee |
| Open Study College | £449 | In full, 3 payments with Klarna or PayPal, or monthly Direct Debit |
None of these fees includes exams, and nor does our Study plan. Our guide to the best online GCSE Combined Science courses in the UK sets Lift College alongside the other main providers.
Start today with your named UK tutor from day one. 14-day money-back guarantee, or try it free.
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There is no course fee to find, no finance agreement to sign and no debt to worry about. Your first 7 days are free, then you pay for the month you are in, and every payment is covered by the 14-day money back guarantee. Prefer to pay today? Skip the trial and save up to 17%, with your price fixed for life, with the same 14-day guarantee.
+Exams on Monthly: Monthly comes with a 9-month expected term because exam fees are built in. Cancel any time, no exit fee; exam credit you have not used is forfeited and unbooked exams are void. Pay annually and no term applies.
You never sign a credit agreement with us, so there is no debt and nothing for anyone to chase. If you stop paying, you simply stop studying. No finance company, no loan and no letters.
The hardest part of studying a GCSE outside school has always been the exam. Lift College and Tutors & Exams remove it: you study online with us, and you sit the same AQA papers as any school candidate at a professional Tutors & Exams centre, with your entry, venue and invigilation arranged through the partnership.
Runs from May to June. The one series each year; all papers are sat in the same series.
On +Exams we enter you before AQA's deadline for the series you choose.
Start your free trial, meet your named UK tutor and work through the AQA specification at your own pace.
On +Exams, Lift College submits your AQA entry and books your place at the Tutors & Exams centre you choose, before the entry deadline.
Trained invigilators, a room built for formal assessment, and an AQA certificate identical to a school candidate's.
There is no minimum study time. Most learners spend 8 to 12 hours a week and finish in 12 to 24 months, or faster if you study more each week. Assignments are for feedback and do not count towards your grade; the qualification is 100% examined.
Every family studying with us can have its own parent portal. See how your child is getting on week by week, agree a study plan together and get a short summary in your inbox, without ever having to ask "have you done any work?".
The AQA 8464 specification covers biology, chemistry and physics in 24 topics, examined in six papers at your chosen tier. It is a double award, so you receive two GCSE grades. Higher tier adds the content marked Higher. Open each content area to see what it covers.
Six equally weighted papers, 1 hour 15 minutes and 70 marks each
Foundation covers 5-5 to 1-1. Higher covers 9-9 to 4-4, with 4-3 allowed. All six papers are sat at the same tier and you do not have to decide until entry.
Each practical is taught with a video demonstration, a method sheet and real data, then examined through marked questions in the style of the papers.
On +Exams your entry and your seat at a Tutors & Exams centre are booked for you and the fees are included.
Six written papers of 1 hour 15 minutes, each 70 marks and worth 16.7%, sat at the same tier in the same May/June series: two each in biology, chemistry and physics. Each paper contains multiple choice, structured, closed short answer and open response questions. 21 required practicals are built into the specification and examined in the written papers. There is no separate practical exam and no coursework; questions on the practicals account for at least 15% of your written marks. You learn each practical through video demonstrations, method sheets and real data, then answer questions on method, apparatus, errors and results. Grades are awarded on a 17 point double award scale from 1-1 up to 9-9. Foundation tier awards 1-1 up to 5-5; Higher tier awards 4-4 up to 9-9 with an allowed grade 4-3.
| Paper | Length | Marks | Weighting | Content |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biology Paper 1 | 1 hour 15 minutes | 70 marks | 16.7% | Biology topics 1 to 4. |
| Biology Paper 2 | 1 hour 15 minutes | 70 marks | 16.7% | Biology topics 5 to 7. |
| Chemistry Paper 1 | 1 hour 15 minutes | 70 marks | 16.7% | Chemistry topics 8 to 12. |
| Chemistry Paper 2 | 1 hour 15 minutes | 70 marks | 16.7% | Chemistry topics 13 to 17. |
| Physics Paper 1 | 1 hour 15 minutes | 70 marks | 16.7% | Physics topics 18 to 21. |
| Physics Paper 2 | 1 hour 15 minutes | 70 marks | 16.7% | Physics topics 22 to 24. |
The same qualified UK subject expert supports you from enrolment through to your exam series.
Exam style tasks with individual written feedback within 5 to 7 working days.
Unit scores and topic strengths on your dashboard, which your tutor uses to tailor feedback.
A timed mock paper and a written summary of what to focus on before you are entered.
Learner reviews
Six of our latest reviews, as posted on Trustpilot.
Lift College is very flexible, allowing me to study GCSE Biology while working full time. The course is straightforward and include helpful tips for passing the exams.
I have just enrolled with Lift College today on a free trial. So far so good, I have accessed my course (GCSE Maths) on my platform and everything looks great. Also met my tutor who is very friendly and helpful too. Will update the reviews when I am further down the line.
Read more on TrustpilotI have enrolled on this on line course and the support/response to queries that I have received to date have been timely and effective. The college also provides a learning plan to comlete the course and mock exams, together with helpful reminders of allocated study days (you self select them and they send you a reminder to keep you on track). The modules are clear and easy to understand and a broken down into sections including question and answer sections and model answers and where applicable worked out calculations. There is a need to take notes from the online materials as there are no PDF work books to download. The assigments are completed in a text box and marked accordingly and saved into your records. Once you get used to using the learning portal (which is not too difficult) it is a fairly straightforward learning process. It is worth paying the money for this course and the level of support provided by the college.
Read more on TrustpilotI have been studying with Lift College for the past month, and so far, my experience has been positive. The team provides excellent support, and assignments are marked with helpful feedback, usually within three working days. This quick turnaround is particularly valuable as it helps me manage my studies alongside my workplace commitments.
Read more on TrustpilotExcellent customer service and the enrolment process was very smooth. Started my course three weeks ago and I’m loving it.
I recently started the CMI Level 5 course through Lift College. I was attracted to this provider due to the clean and modern design of their website. I asked the support staff a few questions before enrolling, and their responses were fast and informative. When I started the course, I was impressed by how well organised the material was and how the lessons were structured. I have taken many online courses before, including postgraduate courses from UK universities. What I expected was a few videos made using a webcam, plus several dozen PDF files that had to be read. However, the materials provided by Lift College are of excellent quality, well designed, and purpose-made. As a teacher myself with 20 years' experience, I recognised clear and deliberate efforts to help students learn more effectively. Lift College isn't just giving you a load of reading material and letting you get on with it. They have designed prompts, revision boxes, spot quizzes, and other features to ensure that learning is actively facilitated.
Read more on TrustpilotGCSE Combined Science: Trilogy counts as two GCSEs and you receive two grades on a 17-point scale, for example 5-5 or 6-5. It covers biology, chemistry and physics in less depth than the three separate sciences, and it is the science GCSE most UK schools enter.
Open to anyone aged 14 or over. Under 18s enrol with a parent or guardian's permission and support. There are no formal entry qualifications.
Two papers in each of biology, chemistry and physics, 1 hour 15 minutes and 70 marks each, so six papers in all, each worth 16.7% of the qualification. All six are sat in the same May/June series at the same tier.
You need to understand them, because at least 15% of the marks in each paper test practical knowledge, and the papers ask about the required practicals directly. There is no practical exam and no practical endorsement at GCSE, so nothing is assessed in a laboratory. The course walks through every required practical with method, results and evaluation.
Foundation tier covers grades 1-1 to 5-5 and Higher tier grades 4-4 to 9-9. All six papers are sat at the same tier, and you choose it with your tutor once your mock results show where you are. On +Exams we enter you at the tier you and your tutor agree.
Every GCSE on this page apart from English Language and Mathematics is examined once a year, in the May/June series. All papers are sat in the same series. On +Exams we enter you and book your seat at a Tutors & Exams centre for the series you are ready for; on Study you can arrange your own entry as a private candidate.
At one of the ten Tutors & Exams centres across England: Birmingham, Bolton, Coventry, Doncaster, High Wycombe, Mitcham, Newcastle, Romford, St Neots and Taunton. Use the centre finder on this page to see your nearest. Exams are always sat in person at an approved centre; no GCSE can be sat online.
You pay monthly by subscription, or annually up front at the price shown in the plan card, which saves 15% against paying monthly. You can pay today, saving up to 17% with your price fixed for life, or start on a 7-day free trial; there is no contract and no credit agreement, and you can cancel from your account at any time. Every payment is covered by 14-day money back. On +Exams the AQA or Eduqas entry fee and the Tutors & Exams centre fee are included in the price.
A UK adviser calls you back within 2 working hours, Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm. No sales script.
