Summer Tasks & Required Book List 2025
Please use the expander sections below to find the summer tasks for your chosen subjects and their required book lists.
Not all subjects have a required textbook but we have tried to provide you with as much information as possible.
If you encounter any issues with the documents or tasks please do not hesitate to contact the Sixth Form Office.
The summer tasks MUST be completed in time for your first lesson in September. They will be vitally important in getting you prepared for the increased intensity of A Levels. This still applies even if you make any changes to your subject choices. Any student that is still unsure about which subject they would like to take at A Level should consider completing summer tasks for each subject they are interested in.
Summer Task
A Level Biology Preparation Work 1
***You will be assessed on this task in September.***
Required Books
This textbook is recommended but not compulsory.
Salters-Nuffield AS and A level Biology 2015 (SNAB)
Summer Task
***This task will be used as part of your first grade assessment in Term 1***
Required Books
Pearson Edexcel A Level Chemistry (Year 1 and Year 2) by Andrew Hunt, Graham Curtis and Graham Hill - amazon link.
This book is available from the Chemistry office to browse before committing to a purchase. Please be aware that it is approximately £20 cheaper to buy the combined textbook than separate books for Years 1 and 2.
Summer Task
It is important to stay on top of your coding skills. Work on at least one project in Python to hand in during the first week of term. This will be used to help understand your current programming ability and determine what you may want to work on next. You may choose to develop your own project, or you may work on the Tic-Tac-Toe project from the taster session:
2024 - Documents/Sixth-Form/Summer-Tasks-2024/Tic-Tac-Toe.pdf
Required books
The Computer Science textbook is made available in digital form on Google Classroom for all students. Whilst there is no requirement to purchase a paper copy, some may wish to do so. Contact Mr Thornhill for more information - mat@queenelizabeths.kent.sch.uk.
Summer Task
2024 - Documents/Sixth-Form/Summer-Tasks-2024/English-Language-Induction-.pdf
Required Books
Students are given free access to Cambridge Elevate A Level English Language which can be accessed via a desktop or iPad. Students may wish to purchase a hard copy:
Summer Task
2024 - Documents/Sixth-Form/Summer-Tasks-2024/English-Literature-Induction-.pdf
Required Books
The following texts will not be required by everyone however it is useful to have them all to widen your reading. You may wish to search through Amazon for new versions or second hand versions.
- Poems of the Decade
- Streetcar Named Desire
- Dorian Gray
- Beloved
- Thousand Splendid Suns
- Tess of the D'Urbervilles
- Antony and Cleopatra
- Othello
Summer Task
1. Write a 300 word essay on how a main character changes in one of your favourite films, or a recent film you have watched.
2. Watch a film released between 1940 and 1965. How do you feel it is different from more contemporary films? Write 300 words or more.
Required Books
N/A
Summer Task
French - Year 11 to 12 Transition Summer 2025
Required books
For Year 12
AQA Year 1 French Textbook (OUP)
(Online subscription will be provided, but you can buy a paper copy if you prefer this method of working)
Grammar workbook
Later in the year: DVD: Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement)
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ----------------------------
For Year 13
Essential:
AQA Year 2 French Textbook (OUP)
(Online subscription will be provided, but you can buy a paper copy if you prefer this method of working)
Book: No et moi
If desired
Summer Task
Try the attached task below on simultaneous equations and inequalities, which are used all the time in both pure and applied further maths.
After that, we'd like you to look at a new system for measuring angles, which is particularly useful for further maths topics. Please see the separate assignments for that below.
Assignment 1
Please start by watching the video. (I recorded this video in the first lockdown before I got better at it - please be kind!)
Make your own notes to refer to later.
Then, do Q1, 2, 3 and 4 from Radians Worksheet 1.
The answers are on Page 3 so you can mark your own.
Please do every part - I know this seems like a slog, but repetition will lead to increased familiarity and fluency.
Assignment 2
This is a more challenging lesson, so hopefully you're not feeling too rusty :-)
Please watch the Corbett Maths video first, to re-familiarise yourself with finding exact trig values without a calculator. This video is in degrees, but we are going to use the same facts with the angles measured in radians.
https://corbettmaths.com/2013/04/20/exact-trigonometric-values/
Next , watch the MathsGenie (youtube) video on solving trigonometric equations, BUT ONLY UP TO 9:21. This video includes some examples in radians, which is useful.
https://youtu.be/5lu4a_fXq0E?si=gbv2PSFvDXtLqclM
Next, watch my video B) Exact Trig Values in Radians.
Finally, do the worksheet on the Google Doc. You can check your answers using a calculator.
Summer Tasks
Summer Task
Required Books
Year 12
Essentials of UK Politics and Government: Pearson Edexcel
ISBN: 1352012308
ISBN- 1398345067
Summer Task
Required Books
1. For the American side of the course.
Alan Farmer, America: Civil War and Westward Expansion (the 4th, 5th and 6th editions are all suitable but the 5th and 6th are best. The 4th has a slightly different title).
This can prove tricky to get hold of online, especially for a reasonable price, and so don't panic if you don't arrive with it in September.
ISBN 13: 9781471839061
2. For the British Empire side of the course.
Sally Waller (ed), Oxford AQA History: The British Empire c1857-1967 (2nd edition).
ISBN 13: 978-1382023177
*** Other recommended books on America - for wider reading (with NO obligation to buy):
David Reynolds, America: Empire of Liberty
James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom
John Keegan, The American Civil War
Hugh Brogan, The Penguin History of the USA
James W. Davidson, A Little History of the United States
David H. Donald, Why the North Won the Civil War
Susan-Mary Grant, A Concise History of the United States of America
Doris K. Goodwin, Team of Rivals
Podcasts that American history students have found useful are:
The Rest is History: Episodes 199-203
American History Hit
The Last Best Hope?
Threads from the National Tapestry
Professor David Blight's lecture series on YouTube
The Civil War and Reconstruction (lectures 2-25)
Can it happen here again? (lectures 9-23)
*** Other recommended books on the British empire - for wider reading (but which there is NO obligation to buy) are:
Ashley Jackson, The British Empire: A Very Short Introduction
Nigel Dalziel, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the British Empire
Sathnam Sanghera, Empireland
John Darwin, Unfinished Empire
Summer Tasks
There are 20 tasks below, plus extra worksheets and a link. For each of the individual tasks you have a downloadable PDF and a Youtube Link.
Simplifying Expressions - Youtube Link
Simplifying Fractions - Youtube Link
Expanding Double Brackets - Youtube Link
Expanding Trinomials - Youtube Link
Factorising Quadratics - Youtube Link
Simplifying Indices - Youtube Link
Fractional Indices - Youtube Link
Indices - Problem Solving - Youtube Link
Simplifying Surds - Youtube Link
Expanding Brackets & Surds - Youtube Link
Rationalising the Denominator - Youtube Link
Solving Quadratic Equations - Youtube Link
The Quadratic Formula - Youtube Link
Completing the Square - Youtube Link
More Complex Completing the Square - Youtube Link
Solving by Completing the Square - Youtube Link (Mistake in the answer to Q1b - the correct answer is plus or minus the fourth root of 0.5)
Solving Quadratic Equations - Youtube Link (quite tricky!)
Substituting into Functions - Youtube Link
Finding Roots using Functions - PDF 1 and PDF 2 - Youtube Link 1 and Youtube Link 2
Sketching Quadratics - PDF 1 and PDF 2 - Youtube Link 1 and Youtube Link 2
Extra Practice Worksheets and the Answers
More topics?! Chapters 3-11 from this link.
Required Books
Year 12
Edexcel AS and A level Mathematics Pure Mathematics Year 1/AS Textbook
Edexcel AS and A level Mathematics Statistics & Mechanics Year 1/AS Textbook
Year 13
Edexcel A level Mathematics Pure Mathematics Year 2 Textbook
Edexcel A level Mathematics Statistics & Mechanics Year 2 Textbook
Summer Task
Please be aware that external applicants may not have direct access to the film on the last slide of the above presentation. It can be viewed on YouTube or Amazon but unfortunately not for free.
Required Books
N/A
Summer Task
1. Play as much Sport as possible.
2. Watch as much sport as possible e.g. athletics, cricket, rugby, football swimming etc
3. Make notes on any sporting controversies there may be over this summer period in Global Games. Women's Euros, England v India cricket, Club Football World Cup...
Required Books
AQA A level PE (Years 1 and 2) - Hodder Education. ISBN: 978 1 5104 7330 0
Summer Task
Documents/Sixth-Form/Summer-Tasks-2024/A-level-physics-summer-tasks-2025.pdf
Required Books
Summer Task
Required Books
Edexcel AS/A level Psychology by Karren Smith
ISBN: 978-1-4479-8246-3
Optional Revision Books:
"Edexcel Psychology for A-level Year 1 & AS Revision Guide" by Flanagan, Liddle, Russell, Wood
IBSN: 9781912 820061
"Edexcel Psychology for A-level Year 2 Revision Guide" by Flanagan, Liddle, Russell, Wood
ISBN: 9781912 820078
Summer Task