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Eighteen students who had recently completed A-levels participated in online focus groups in summer 2021, including reflections on preparation for university. Findings show varied experiences across centres and subjects, a widespread gap in manipulative (hands-on) skills, partial compensation via scientific enquiry and soft skills, and generally positive attitudes toward transition to higher education. Recommendations target institutions and teachers to support smooth onboarding and rebuild confidence.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/covid-19-impact-on-a-level-practical-science-skills-are-all-students-really-in-the-same-boat/620816/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/covid-19-impact-on-a-level-practical-science-skills-are-all-students-really-in-the-same-boat/620816.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Alex Sinclair","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-10-20",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How was the study conducted and who participated?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"In summer 2021, 18 students who had recently completed their A-levels took part in online focus groups. The sessions explored their practical science experiences and readiness for university.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What did the findings suggest about students’ manipulative (hands-on) skills?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Most students reported a gap in manipulative skills after Covid-19 disruption. Some felt they had no real opportunity to practise those skills at home.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Did lockdown affect students’ transition to higher education and career choices?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Students generally felt positive about transitioning to higher education and working independently. The report notes that lack of practical work did not seem to strongly impact career choices for most participants.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},620816,1792883319,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":19,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":52},1099523882182,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Covid-19 impact on A-level practical science skills: are all students really‘in the same boat’?  \nIntroducing our study  \nAs part of a wider collaborative project with Durham University, we set out to explore A-level students’ experiences of practical science at home and school during the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.  \nMethod and participants  \nIn summer 2021, we invited 18 students who had recently completed their A-levels to share their experiences with us in a series of online focus groups. This included exploring how prepared they felt to embark on their university studies.  \nOur findings  \nWhile some of the young people we spoke to  \nWe found that...  \n1 Students had a variety of different experiences of practical science, varying across centres and subjects.  \n2 Most students felt they had a gap in their manipulative skills.  \n3 Some students felt that their scientific enquiry and soft skills had been developed through lockdown learning.  \n4 Students remained positive about their transition to higher education.  \nfelt that all students were‘in the same boat’when it came to their experiences, our findings suggest that this is unlikely to be the case.  \nNext steps  \n• Enable higher education institutions to design measures to ensure a smooth transition for incoming students.  \n• Support teachers to rebuild students’confidence around key knowledge and skills areas.  \nWhat did the students say?  \nFinding 1: Different student experiences  \nStudents across different centres and subjects reported a range of educational experiences during the pandemic. Social distancing varied between classrooms and schools, which meant that some students were more affected than others. Some participants felt they were restricted by  \nboth the space and time available to complete practical science work. The restrictions also meant many students were not able to interact with equipment and instead had to observe practicals carried out by teachers.  \n2 © 2021 AQA  \nOurs wasn’t really that changed … I would say that lessons were the same as if they were a normal year, so we didn’t really suffer from anything like that I don’t think.  \nWhen we went back to school, I don't think we did much in the way of practicals ... I think we were shown a few atthe front but for a lot of them, there just wasn't the equipment or space.  \nI think that our practicals were quite rushed because we had to fit them in. By the time we got back, we were basically doing exams.  \nFinding 2: A gap in manipulative skills  \nOverall, students felt that it was their ‘hands-on’ manipulative skills that had suffered the most during Covid-19, and some felt a particular lack of confidence in this area of practical science.  \nSome participants felt they did not have the opportunity to engage with manipulative skills at all during home learning. However, others were offered digital replacements such as YouTube videos, Zoom calls or simulations, albeit with limited amounts of success in emulating hands-on skills.  \nWhen we were at home over lockdown we mostly just watched videos to understand what was going on.  \nI’d say in terms of manual dexterity I was lacking a bit. I haven’t really been that strong with setting up equipment.  \nZoom calls are not the same, especially when it comes to practicals because it’s very hands on.  \nFinding 3: Scientific enquiry and soft skills  \nMost students felt that lockdown had allowed them to compensate for the gap in manipulative skills with other kinds of skills, such as referencing, sourcing information and using software. The majority were also fairly confident in their evaluation and analysis skills.  \nI think sourcing and referencing was a big benefit. I don’t think I would have been as confident with sourcing the websites that I used and making sure that I referred to them in my analysis, which I think are key transferable skills.  \nI really got to develop my evaluating and analysing skills with my practical work.  \n© 2021 AQA 3 ","cbCaiuhG02YlCEM6","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuhG02YlCEM6","pdf",386749,"English","# Introducing our study\n# Method and participants\n# Our findings\n## Different student experiences\n## A gap in manipulative skills\n## Scientific enquiry and soft skills\n## Transition to higher education\n# Next steps\n# What did the students say?","[{\"question\":\"How was the study conducted and who participated?\",\"answer\":\"In summer 2021, 18 students who had recently completed their A-levels took part in online focus groups. The sessions explored their practical science experiences and readiness for university.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the findings suggest about students’ manipulative (hands-on) skills?\",\"answer\":\"Most students reported a gap in manipulative skills after Covid-19 disruption. Some felt they had no real opportunity to practise those skills at home.\"},{\"question\":\"Did lockdown affect students’ transition to higher education and career choices?\",\"answer\":\"Students generally felt positive about transitioning to higher education and working independently. The report notes that lack of practical work did not seem to strongly impact career choices for most participants.\"}]","Covid-19 impact on A-level practical science skills - are all students really-in the same boat? | PDF",1792464637]