GCSE Biology₈₄₆₁

Find past papers and mark schemes, and specimen papers for new courses, on our website at aqa.org.uk/pastpapers

This specification is designed to be taken over two years.

This is a linear qualification. In order to achieve the award, students must complete all assessments at the end of the course and in the same series.

GCSE exams and certification for this specification are available for the first time in May/June 2018 and then every May/June for the life of the specification.

All materials are available in English only.

Our GCSE exams in Biology include questions that allow students to demonstrate:

• their knowledge and understanding of the content developed in one section or topic, including the associated mathematical and practical skills or
• their ability to apply mathematical and practical skills to areas of content they are not normally developed in or
• their ability to draw together different areas of knowledge and understanding within one answer.

A range of question types will be used, including multiple choice, short answer and those that require extended responses. Extended response questions will be of sufficient length to allow students to demonstrate their ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning which is coherent, relevant, substantiated and logically structured. Extended responses may be prose, extended calculations, or a combination of both, as appropriate to the question.

5.1 Aims and learning outcomes

Biology should be taught in progressively greater depth over the course of Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. GCSE outcomes may reflect or build upon subject content which is typically taught at Key Stage 3. There is no expectation that teaching of such content should be repeated during the GCSE course where it has already been covered at an earlier stage.

• the use of conceptual models and theories to make sense of the observed diversity of natural phenomena
• the assumption that every effect has one or more cause
• that change is driven by differences between different objects and systems when they interact
• that many such interactions occur over a distance without direct contact
• that science progresses through a cycle of hypothesis, practical experimentation, observation, theory development and review
• that quantitative analysis is a central element both of many theories and of scientific methods of inquiry.

These key ideas are relevant in different ways and with different emphases in biology, chemistry and physics. Examples of their relevance to biology are given below.

The GCSE specification in biology should enable students to:

• develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding of biology
• develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of biology through different types of scientific enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
• develop and learn to apply observational, practical, modelling, enquiry and problem-solving skills, both in the laboratory, in the field and in other learning environments
• develop their ability to evaluate claims based on biology through critical analysis of the methodology, evidence and conclusions, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Biology should be studied in ways that help students to develop curiosity about the natural world, insight into how science works, and appreciation of its relevance to their everyday lives. The scope and nature of such study should be broad, coherent, practical and satisfying, and thereby encourage students to be inspired, motivated and challenged by the subject and its achievements.

5.2 Assessment objectives

Assessment objectives (AOs) are set by Ofqual and are the same across all GCSE Biology specifications and all exam boards.

The exams will measure how students have achieved the following assessment objectives.

• AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: scientific ideas; scientific techniques and procedures.
• AO2: Apply knowledge and understanding of: scientific ideas; scientific enquiry, techniques and procedures.
• AO3: Analyse information and ideas to: interpret and evaluate; make judgements and draw conclusions; develop and improve experimental procedures.

5.2.1 Assessment objective weightings for GCSE Biology

5.3 Assessment weightings

The marks awarded on the papers will be scaled to meet the weighting of the components. Students’ final marks will be calculated by adding together the scaled marks for each component. Grade boundaries will be set using this total scaled mark. The scaling and total scaled marks are shown in the table below.