The article deals with the problem of forming students ' research competence in extracurricular activities in biology. The school has a new task-the education of a citizen of modern society, a person for whom education is a constant and natural process throughout his life, which is the setting of new goals and the implementation of their achievements in their activities. The student's activity is recognized as the basis for achieving developmental learning goals-knowledge is not transmitted in a ready-made form but is built by the students themselves in the process of cognitive and research activities. Teaching is no longer seen as a simple transfer of knowledge from the teacher to the students, but as a collaboration – the joint work of the teacher and students in the course of learning and solving problems. Due to the fact that currently the most successful people are those who can create a unique product or service in a limited time, rebuild and master new methods of work, offer an extraordinary way out of a problematic situation, the use of techniques and methods in training that form the ability to independently extract new knowledge, collect the necessary information, put forward hypotheses, draw conclusions and conclusions becomes more and more relevant in the educational process. During the formation of research competence, there is a conscious assimilation of the material, a clearer identification of the features of the main concepts, an expansion of the volume of knowledge, the formation of various skills, and ensuring continuity with other academic disciplines.