AS-A Level Curriculum
At FIS, students are given the opportunity to develop deep subject knowledge, conceptual understanding and higher-order thinking skills during their time studying at Advanced-Subsidiary Level (Year 12) and Advanced level (Year 13). The core objective of studying at an advanced level with Cambridge is to develop the skills students need for life and more specifically to help them achieve their potential at school, university and work.
Our school currently offers AS/A Level courses in the following subjects grouped on the right pane.
As/A Level Subjects
Students will cover the following topics at AS/A level:
Financial Accounting
• The accounting cycle
• Accounting for non-current assets
• Reconciliation and verification
• Preparation of financial statements:
o adjustments
o sole traders
o partnerships
o limited companies
• Analysis and communication of accounting information to stakeholders
• Preparation of financial statements:
o manufacturing businesses
o not for profit organisations
o limited companies
o International Accounting
o Standards
o auditing and stewardship of limited companies
• Business purchase and merger
• Consignment and Joint venture accounts
• Computerised accounting systems
• Analysis and communication of accounting information
Cost and Management Accounting
• Costing for materials and labour
• Traditional costing methods:
o absorption costing
o marginal costing
o cost–volume–profit analysis<
• The application of accounting to business planning
• Activity-based costing (ABC)
• Budgeting and budgetary control
• Standard costing
• Investment appraisal
Candidates for Cambridge International AS Level Biology study the following topics:
1 . Cell structure
2. Biological molecules
3. Enzymes
4. Cell membranes and transport
5. The mitotic cell cycle
6 . Nucleic acids and protein synthesis
7 .Transport in plants
8. Transport in mammals
9. Gas exchange
10. Infectious diseases
11. Immunity
Candidates for Cambridge International A Level Biology study the AS topics and the following topics:
12. Energy and respiration
13. Photosynthesis
14. Homeostasis
15. Control and coordination
16. Inheritance
17. Selection and evolution
18. Classification, biodiversity and conservation
Students will cover the following topics at AS/A level:
1 Business and environment
• Enterprise
• Business structure
• Size of business
• Business objectives
• Stakeholders in a business
• Size of business
• External influences on business activity
2 People in organisations
• Management and leadership
• Motivation
• Human resource management
• Organisational structure
• Business communication
3 Marketing
• What is marketing?
• Market research
• The marketing mix
• Marketing planning
• Globalisation and international marketing
4 Operations and project management
• The nature of operations
• Operations planning
• Inventory management
• Capacity utilisation
• Lean production and quality management
• Project management
5 Finance and accounting
• The need for business finance
• Sources of finance
• Costs
• Accounting fundamentals
• Forecasting cash flows and managing working capital
• Costs
• Budgets
• Contents of published accounts
• Analysis of published accounts
• Investment appraisal
6 Strategic management
• Strategic analysis
• Strategic choice
• Strategic implementation
Students will cover the following topics at AS/A level:
Physical chemistry
1 Atomic structure
2 Atoms, molecules and stoichiometry
3 Chemical bonding
4 States of matter
5 Chemical energetics
6 Electrochemistry
7 Equilibria
8 Reaction kinetics
Inorganic chemistry
9 The Periodic Table: chemical periodicity
10 Group 2
11 Group 17
12 Nitrogen and sulfur
Organic chemistry
13 An introduction to AS Level organic chemistry
14 Hydrocarbons
15 Halogen compounds
16 Hydroxy compounds
17 Carbonyl compounds
18 Carboxylic acids and derivatives
19 Nitrogen compounds
20 Polymerisation
21 Organic synthesis
Analysis
22 Analytical techniques
Physical chemistry
23 Chemical energetics
24 Electrochemistry
25 Equilibria
26 Reaction kinetics
Inorganic chemistry
27 Group 2
28 Chemistry of transition elements
Organic chemistry
29 An introduction to A Level organic chemistry
30 Hydrocarbons
31 Halogen compounds
32 Hydroxy compounds
33 Carboxylic acids and derivatives
34 Nitrogen compounds
35 Polymerisation
36 Organic synthesis
Analysis
37 Analytical techniques
Students will cover the following topics at AS/A level:
1. Basic economic ideas and resource allocation
• Scarcity, choice and opportunity cost
• Positive and normative statements
• Factors of production
• Resource allocation in different economic systems and issues of transition
• Production possibility curves
• Money
• Classification of goods and services
• Efficient resource allocation
• Externalities and market failure
• Social costs and benefits; cost-benefit analysis
2 The price system and the micro economy
• Demand and supply curves
• Price elasticity, income elasticity and cross-elasticities of demand
• Price elasticity of supply
• Interaction of demand and supply
• Market equilibrium and disequilibrium
• Consumer and producer surplus
• Law of diminishing marginal utility
• Indifference curves
• Budget lines
• Types of cost, revenue and profit, short-run and long-run production
• Different market structures
• Growth and survival of firms
• Differing objectives of a firm
3 Government microeconomic intervention
• Maximum and minimum prices
• Taxes (direct and indirect)
• Subsidies
• Transfer payments
• Direct provision of goods and services
• Nationalisation and privatization
• Policies to achieve efficient resource allocation and correct market failure
• Equity and policies towards income and wealth redistribution
• Labour market forces and government intervention:
o Demand and supply of labour
o Wage determination in perfect markets
o Wage determination in imperfect markets
• Government failure in the microeconomic intervention
4. The macroeconomy
• Aggregate Demand and Aggregate
• Supply analysis
• Inflation
• Balance of payments
• Exchange rates
• The terms of trade
• Principles of absolute and comparative advantage
• Protectionism
• Economic growth, economic development and sustainability
• National Income statistics
• Classification of countries
• Employment/unemployment
• The circular flow of income
• Money supply (theory)
• Keynesian and Monetarist schools
• The demand for money and interest rate determination
• Policies towards developing economies; policies of trade and aid
5. Government macro intervention
• Types of policy: fiscal, monetary and supply-side policy
• Policies to correct balance of payments disequilibrium
• Policies to correct inflation and Deflation
• Government macro policy aims
• Inter-connectedness of problems
• Effectiveness of policy options to meet all macroeconomic objectives
Reading
Learners are encouraged to read widely throughout their programme of study, continually deepening their appreciation of an increasingly rich array of reading material. They should develop an intimate knowledge and understanding of the conventions and discourses associated with a diverse range of genres, styles and contexts. Furthermore, learners should continue to cultivate their personal relationship with reading, enabling them to respond reflectively, analytically, discursively and creatively, as is appropriate to the task or context.
Writing
Using their reading as inspiration, learners should explore and experiment with a similarly extensive variety of genres, styles and contexts in their writing. In addition to refining their ability to express themselves with precision and clarity of purpose, learners should become increasingly reflective writers, capable of adapting the style of their writing to fit a diverse range of forms, audiences, purposes and contexts.
Language Analysis
Learners should familiarise themselves with a comprehensive set of tools, strategies and conventions for studying the language. This should include the following: developing frameworks for analysing and comparing unseen texts; assimilating a range of appropriate technical terminology; assessing, evaluating and synthesising sources of evidence; carrying out independent research into language concepts; contextualising their views in relation to
theories; and understanding language data presented in the form of transcripts, tables and graphs.
Language Topics
Throughout the syllabus, learners are encouraged to move beyond the practical application of the English language and to engage in a deeper consideration of a number of theoretical issues related to its use. Learners should develop their ability to engage in discussion on how the diverse forms of English that exist across the world interact both with one another and with other languages, and, how language use contributes to the construction and development of the self.
Core Physical Geography
Hydrology and fluvial geomorphology
Atmosphere and weather
Rocks and weathering
Core Human Geography
Population
Migration
Settlement dynamics
Candidates for Cambridge International A Level Geography study the AS Level topics and two options from:
Advanced Physical Geography Options
Tropical environments
Coastal environments
Hazardous environments
Hot arid and semi-arid environments
And two options from
Advanced Human Geography Options
Production, location and change
Environmental management
Global interdependence
Economic transition
Component 1
Liberalism and Nationalism in Italy and Germany, 1815–1871
The Origins of the Civil War, 1846–1861
The Search for International Peace and Security, 1919–1945
Component 2
Modern Europe, 1789–1917
The History of the USA, 1840–1941
International Relations, 1871–1945
Component 3
The Causes and Impact of British Imperialism, c.1850–1939
The Holocaust
The Origins and Development of the Cold War, 1941–1950
Component 4
Europe of the Dictators, 1918–1941
The History of the USA, 1945–1990
International History, 1945–1991
African History, 1945–1991
Southeast Asian History, 1945 – 1990’s
1. Pure Mathematics 1
1.1 Quadratics
1.2 Functions
1.3 Coordinate geometry
1.4 Circular measure
1.5 Trigonometry
1.6 Series
1.7 Differentiation
1.8 Integration
2. Pure Mathematics 2
2.1 Algebra
2.2 Logarithmic and exponential functions
2.3 Trigonometry
2.4 Differentiation
2.5 Integration
2.6 Numerical solution of equations
3. Pure Mathematics 3
3.1 Algebra
3.2 Logarithmic and exponential functions
3.3 Trigonometry
3.4 Differentiation
3.5 Integration
3.6 Numerical solution of equations
3.7 Vectors
3.8 Differential equations
3.9 Complex numbers
4. Mechanics
4.1 Forces and equilibrium
4.2 Kinematics of motion in a straight line
4.3 Momentum
4.4 Newton’s laws of motion
4.5 Energy, work and power
5. Probability & Statistics 1
5.1 Representation of data
5.2 Permutations and combinations
5.3 Probability
5.4 Discrete random variables
5.5 The normal distribution
6. Probability & Statistics 2
6.1 The Poisson distribution
6.2 Linear combinations of random variables
6.3 Continuous random variables
6.4 Sampling and estimation
6.5 Hypothesis tests
Candidates for Cambridge International AS Level Physics study the following topics:
1 Physical quantities and units
2 Kinematics
3 Dynamics
4 Forces, density and pressure
5 Work, energy and power
6 Deformation of solids
7 Waves
8 Superposition
9 Electricity
10 D.C. circuits
11 Particle physics
Candidates for Cambridge International A Level Physics study the AS Level topics and the following topics:
12 Motion in a circle
13 Gravitational fields
14 Temperature
15 Ideal gases
16 Thermodynamics
17 Oscillations
18 Electric fields
19 Capacitance
20 Magnetic fields
21 Alternating currents
22 Quantum physics
23 Nuclear physics
24 Medical physics
25 Astronomy and cosmology
Socialisation, identity and methods of research
Socialisation and the creation of social identity
The process of learning and socialisation
Social control, conformity and resistance
Social identity and change
Methods of research
Types of data, methods and research design
Approaches to sociological research
Research issues
The Family
Theories of the family and social change
Perspectives on the role of the family
Diversity and social change
Family roles and changing relationships
Gender equality and experiences of family life
Age and family life
Education
Education and society
o Theories about the role of education
o Education and social mobility
o Influences on the curriculum
Education and inequality
o Intelligence and educational attainment
o Social class and educational attainment
o Ethnicity and educational attainment
o Gender and educational attainment
Globalisation, Media and Religion
Globalisation
Perspectives on globalisation
Globalisation and identity
Globalisation, power and politics
Contemporary issues
Globalisation, poverty and inequalities
Globalisation and migration
Globalisation and crime
Media
Ownership and control of the media
Traditional media and the new media
Theories of the media and influences on media content
The impact of the new media
Media representation and effects
Media representations of class, gender, ethnicity, and
age groups
Different models of media effects
The impact of the media on behaviour
Religion
Religion and social order
Religion and society
Religion and social order
Religion as a source of social change
The influence of religion
The secularisation debate
Gender, feminism and religion
Religion and post-modernity
Conditions for subject choices;
- Students are expected to select 3 or 4 subjects from the groups below.
- A student is not allowed to choose more than one subject from the same group.
- If a subject is chosen by less than 7/8 students, it will not be offered.
- You must score a minimum of grade ‘C’ for your subject choices
Subject Selection
GROUP-1 | GROUP-2 | GROUP-3 | GROUP-4 | ||||
Physics | ![]() |
Mathematics | ![]() |
Biology
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Chemistry
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English | ![]() |
History | ![]() |
Psychology | ![]() |
Geography | ![]() |
Accounting | ![]() |
Business Studies | ![]() |
Economics | ![]() |
Computer Science | ![]() |
– | Sociology | ![]() |