CCEA GCSE Biology Higher Tier: how the 265 marks split across Units 1, 2 and the two Practical Skills booklets, the unit conversion and comparison habits examiners report losing marks on every year, and legal on-the-fly calculator techniques for the data questions.
読了時間 3 分更新日: 2026年9月3日
試験の概要
試験数
4
満点
265
制限時間
5時間 45分
出題形式
12
試験
時間
配点
問題数
配点比率
出題形式
Unit 1
1時間 15分
75
9
35%
Short answer / fill-in equations and tables, Structured data analysis and explanation, Graph percentage calculation, 6-mark quality of written communication
Unit 2
1時間 30分
90
10
40%
Recall and anatomical identification, Mechanism and physiological explanation, Genetic crosses and Punnett squares, Data calculation, 6-mark quality of written communication
Practical Skills, Booklet A
2時間
30
2
8%
Experimental observation and data recording, Full grid line graph construction, Practical rate calculation, Experimental theory and control evaluation
Practical Skills, Booklet B
1時間
70
7
17%
Data tables, tallies and food test tables, Mathematical calculations (rate, energy, mass change), Investigative variables and apparatus evaluation, 6-mark quality of written communication
評価段階
A*ABC*CDEFGU
電卓の規定
Scientific calculators are permitted throughout all four papers, including the practical skills booklets, for rate, percentage, magnification and mean calculations. The standard JCQ rule applies: a calculator must not carry a computer algebra or symbolic manipulation function, must not communicate with another device, and must not have any retrievable information stored in it, including formulae, notes or programs. Clear your calculator's memory before the exam, or activate its exam mode if it has one; a manual reset button alone does not clear stored data.
AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, and scientific techniques and procedures. (40%)
AO2: Apply knowledge and understanding of, and develop skills in, scientific ideas, and scientific enquiry, techniques and procedures. (40%)
AO3: Analyse scientific information and ideas to interpret and evaluate, make judgements and draw conclusions, and develop and improve experimental procedures. (20%)
目的: Get an accurate percentage change, increase or decrease, in one calculator entry, keeping the correct sign instead of losing it by rounding an intermediate step.
使う場面: Any question asking for a percentage increase or decrease between two given values, for example a change in root nodule number or a population count.
手順
Enter the calculation as one continuous chain using the bracket keys: open bracket, new value, minus, old value, close bracket, divide by old value, multiply by 100, equals. Read the sign directly off the display and write it into your answer as a decrease or an increase.
試験での注意: This is a live calculation performed during the exam on the calculator's ordinary arithmetic keys. CCEA and JCQ rules do not allow any formula, note or program to be stored in a calculator before the exam. If your calculator has an exam mode, activate it; a manual reset button does not clear stored data.
Converting units before you divide
Casio fx-83/85 series (scientific)
目的: Avoid the factor-of-a-thousand error that comes from dividing before converting millimetres to micrometres.
使う場面: Magnification questions that give a measured length in millimetres or centimetres and ask for an actual size in micrometres, or the reverse.
手順
Multiply the measured length by 1000 to convert millimetres to micrometres first, then divide that result by the magnification, all within the same working line before pressing equals.
試験での注意: Perform the conversion on the fly with the calculator's standard functions. Do not store a conversion formula, unit table or any other note in the calculator's memory; CCEA and JCQ rules ban any retrievable stored information.
Memory keys for repeated practical readings
Casio fx-83/85 series (scientific)
目的: Total a set of repeated practical readings accurately without adding a column of numbers by hand.
使う場面: Practical skills questions in Booklet A or B where several repeated readings feed into a mean, once any anomalous reading has been excluded.
手順
Key each valid reading into the calculator and press M+ to add it to memory as you record it. Once all readings are entered, press memory recall to retrieve the running total, then divide by the number of readings to get the mean.
試験での注意: M+ and memory recall are standard, permitted arithmetic functions used live during the exam. They must not be used to retrieve anything stored before the exam started; calculators must be cleared of all stored data beforehand.
よくあるミス
1high影響する配点: 1Data analysis and calculation
A percentage change calculation, for example a decrease in root nodule number, is given without its negative sign or the word decrease, so the direction of change is lost even though the arithmetic is right.
回避方法: State the direction in words as well as the number: a decrease of 71 percent, not just 71 percent. If you calculate a negative value, keep the sign in your written answer.
2high影響する配点: 1Data interpretation
Comparing two data sets or two structures, such as an artery and a vein, is done as two separate statements rather than a direct comparison, so the comparative marking point is missed.
回避方法: Write comparisons as a single sentence using a comparative word: the artery has a thicker wall and a smaller lumen than the vein, not two disconnected descriptions.
3medium影響する配点: 1Practical skills
In risk assessment or safety questions, a hazard is named without being linked to the specific practical step that causes it, or vice versa.
回避方法: Pair every hazard with the exact step and the exact precaution in one sentence: because the ethanol is flammable, heat it in a water bath rather than over an open flame, not the two ideas stated separately.
4medium影響する配点: 2Graph construction
Graphs are plotted with an uneven axis scale, missing units on the axis labels, or joined with a freehand curve instead of straight point-to-point lines when the question specifies them.
回避方法: Choose a scale that uses at least half the grid before you plot a single point, label both axes with units, and use a ruler for point-to-point lines unless a smooth curve is explicitly asked for.
5high影響する配点: 1Data analysis
A trend description gives only the general direction across a graph, for example an increase, without stating the values at the start and end of the range described.
回避方法: Quote the actual starting and finishing figures from the axes when you describe a trend, and mention any point where the trend changes, such as a plateau.
6medium影響する配点: 2Calculations
Magnification calculations divide the measured length by the magnification before converting millimetres to micrometres, giving an answer that is out by a factor of a thousand.
回避方法: Convert to micrometres first, multiplying millimetres by 1000, in the same calculator entry as the division, so the conversion cannot be skipped or done in the wrong order.
7medium影響する配点: 2Cell physiology
Active transport is described as movement without mentioning that it requires energy from respiration and moves substances against the concentration gradient, which confuses it with diffusion.
回避方法: Always name the two features that separate active transport from diffusion: energy from respiration, and movement against the concentration gradient. Both must appear for full credit.
8medium影響する配点: 1Exam technique
A question asking for one named structure or one correct term is answered with two possibilities, one right and one wrong, which under the listing rule means no mark is given at all.
回避方法: Give exactly the number of answers the question asks for. If you are not sure which of two terms is correct, choose the one you are more confident about rather than writing both.