In September 2002, Salter's Nuffield Advanced Biology ("SNAB") began a three year pilot phase in schools, representing the first major innovation in UK biology education since the 1970s. One part of the AS level coursework was a report on an "Issue of Biological Interest". This could be based on an actual visit outside school or on a literature and internet search. This article shows how once teachers gained the confidence to try out the new approach, the number and variety of visits to places of biological interest outside the classroom increased considerably. In addition, although the marks for these Visit/Issue reports improved throughout the three years of the pilot, this increase was due to increased attention to syllabus detail rather than an obvious change in practice. Teachers and students still seemed to find it difficult to deal with genuine discussion of biological ideas and speculation rather than established knowledge. This was despite recent research showing that students actually wanted more discussion and more controversial issues of ethical interest. (Contains 3 figures.)