Conkerton Education

The 2026 World Cup has kicked off! This edition's ball has fewer polyurethane panels than previous World Cup balls. Learn more about the ball's materials chemistry in this graphic ⚽ https://wp.me/p4aPLT-8VK

I’ll be running OCR A-level Biology revision sessions from September, designed to support both Year 12 and Year 13 students.

You can choose to attend:
Year 12 sessions
Year 13 sessions
Or a combination of both

💡 Special offer: Pre-book 10 sessions and pay just £12 per session.

All sessions are taught by me, Laura — I bring over 20 years of science teaching experience, including many years as a Head of Science. I also work as an examiner, so I know exactly what students need to succeed.

Get in touch to secure you place.

Today is world blood donor day.
There are eight different blood groups and a lot of really interesting genetics linked to blood type which are covered in various A-level biology courses.
The NHS currently needs 4,300 donations a day to keep up with supply. There are some restrictions on who can donate blood, but if you are over 17 you can check your eligibility by checking online.

If you are thinking of applying to study medicine or dentistry in the UK then you will almost certainly need to sit the UCAT assessment (there are a small number of exceptions and you can check the UCAS website for clarification if you are unsure).
Registration is now open to create an account and upload evidence for access arrangements. Test booking opens on the 23rd July and places in popular test centres can fill up quickly.
UCAT are running two webinars next week with more information on the assessment process.

Really great to see this consultation on a Natural History GCSE finally open. You can have your say by clicking the link in the original post.

In chemistry it’s important you use the right words at the right time.
These terms are often mixed up by students, and it can cause you to lose marks, so make sure you learn them properly.
These definitions make great flash cards for revision.

Follow for more revision tips.

Einstein demonstrated that time is relative, moving more slowly for objects that are moving quickly.
I can therefore only conclude that my washing machine is actually moving round my kitchen at close to the speed of light slowing down time for the machine meaning that this 7 minutes the machine experiences is more like 15 minutes for us mere mortals observing it from a stationary perspective.

Follow along for more science insights!!

I’ll be running AQA GCSE Combined Science revision sessions from September, designed to support both Year 10 and Year 11 students.

You can choose to attend:
Year 10 sessions
Year 11 sessions
Or a combination of both

Special offer: Pre-book 10 sessions and pay just £9 per session.
All sessions are taught by me, Laura — I bring over 20 years of science teaching experience, including many years as a Head of Science. I also work as a GCSE examiner, so I know exactly what students need to succeed.

Contact me for more information.

Sometimes even the big guys have technical challenges.

This was the screen we saw yesterday when we tried to login to Steve Backshall’s live oceans lesson (they have since uploaded the lesson for everyone to enjoy).

Setting up as an online tutor means that I am constantly worrying about technicalities. Using teams, sharing whiteboards, getting students to annotate the screen for me, these are all things that I have trialled and I know they work, but sometimes for no particular reason, the computer says no.

So this message yesterday, whilst disappointing for all the kids who were waiting (including my own), made me feel a little bit better.