A level Biology self-study

[roadsidetree]

This is my first post so please go easy.

DD did triple Science in her GCSE and got 5s in Biology and Chemistry. She loves Biology and was expecting a minimum of 6 and was very disappointed.

Ideally wanted to study Biology and Psychology at her A levels but because of her score, ended up choosing an alternate subject but still keen to study Biology privately.

What are her options for taking A-level Biology in private, please?

The difficulty about taking Science A levels as a private candidate is meeting the practical requirements. You can take the exams without the practicals but there are questions on the practical work. Taking the practicals privately can be expensive, so what's your budget?
The first thing that you need to do is find an exam centre near you that accepts private candidates and then choose the exam board e.g. AQA that they do. Otherwise you may have to travel some way to find an exam centre.
You could also look into whether any local FE colleges (or similar) would let her study the subject at an evening class as a part-time student. (Search under part time courses).

I need to add that there is a level 3 BTEC in Applied Human Biology that may suit your dd if you can find a sixth form local to you that offers this subject.
The link to the course is here qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/btec-nationals/applied-human-biology.html
This is available as a one A level equivalent certificate. A 2 A level equivalent Extended Certificate is also possible.

Biology A level is hard! A huge amount of content, lots of chemistry and maths. The step up from GCSE is significant. I would question whether that might be too much with only a grade 5.

Firstly, she won't be able to pass the practical component and will find the practical questions difficult if she hasn't done them herself.
Secondly, how did she do in chemistry and maths? At least 10% is maths questions and biochemistry features heavily.
I would not recommend it for self study, will she have a tutor at least?

This is not my subject but I would agree with others, surely the practical element would be very difficult to arrange.

Also there is a reason students need higher grades in their A level choices. I would be most unwilling to support a student who gained a 5 to do an A level in my subject (MFL) unless I knew there was a very good reason for the 5 (disastrously missed out half a paper for some reason for instance). I would imagine someone gaining a 5 in biology (a perfectly good GCSE grade of course) would really struggle with the content and application at A level.

DS2 got a 9 in biology, loved the A level but he found it very challenging as well.

What subjects is she taking OP? Four A levels is a lot for anyone, taking one separately and externally piles on the pressure.