Three days left. Paper 2 covers ecosystems, hormones and homeostasis, and the heart, lungs and plant transport systems together. It's a broad paper, so knowing where to spend your remaining hours matters more than usual.
One focus per day, building to a timed run. Work it in order.
Ranked from analysed past papers. Start at the top: if you run out of time, you will have covered the most-tested ground.
Quadrat and transect method questions, plus redrawing the carbon and water cycles, are dependable sources of marks that are easy to lose through vague or incomplete answers.
Insulin and glucagon control of blood glucose, plus interpreting a glucose concentration graph, is one of the most reliable sources of multi-mark questions on this paper.
Thermoregulation and the kidney's role in water balance are both consistently tested, usually through a mechanism-based explain question rather than simple recall.
Labelling the heart and explaining the double circulatory system is one of the most consistently tested organisation topics. Know the direction of blood flow, not just the chamber names.
'Explain how alveoli are adapted for gas exchange' is a classic multi-mark question. You need all the adaptations (large surface area, thin walls, good blood supply) for full marks, not just one.
Limiting factors of photosynthesis and the roles of xylem and phloem come up together often, testing both recall and graph interpretation in the same question.
When plant hormones appear, they tend to carry large marks in a single extended question covering phototropism, gravitropism and the practical investigation together.
Hormonal and non-hormonal contraception, plus the use of FSH and LH in fertility treatment, is a reliable source of an evaluate-style question on this paper.
PrepWise has a one-page Knowledge Organiser for every topic above. In your final 3 days, use them the same way each time: cover the page, try to recall everything from memory, uncover and check what you missed, then repeat that topic again tomorrow.
Rules specific to Paper 2. On this paper, structure earns as many marks as knowledge.
It's not enough to recognise a completed diagram. Practise drawing both cycles from memory with every arrow labelled correctly, since Edexcel frequently asks you to complete or annotate a partially blank version.
Blood glucose graphs and hormone-level graphs appear regularly on this paper. Read the axes carefully, identify what triggers each change, and use exact figures from the graph in your answer where marks are available for data use.
Expect questions that connect the nervous system with hormonal control, or plant hormones with the seedling growth practical. Structure your answer to move logically between the two linked ideas rather than answering them as separate blocks.
For sampling, transpiration or plant hormone investigations, expect questions asking you to identify a control variable, explain why it's controlled, or suggest an improvement to reliability. Revise the actual steps, not just the underlying biology.
The errors examiners see most on this paper. Each one is an easy mark you already know how to keep.
Forgetting that a quadrat only samples part of the area → To estimate a population across a whole habitat, multiply the mean count per quadrat by the total number of quadrats that would fit in the area. This calculation step is often skipped or done backwards.
Saying insulin 'makes' glucose or 'creates' glycogen → Insulin causes the liver to convert glucose into glycogen for storage. It doesn't create the glucose itself. Be precise about what the hormone actually does to blood glucose levels.
Confusing tropism direction: auxin doesn't always promote growth in the same place → In shoots, auxin builds up on the shaded side and promotes elongation there, bending the shoot towards light. In roots, higher auxin concentration inhibits growth, bending the root away from light. Learn both directions separately.
Only giving one adaptation when a structure has several → Questions on alveoli or root hair cells usually want more than one adaptation for full marks. Check the mark allocation: if it's worth 3 marks, you likely need three separate points.
Writing 'the enzyme dies' or describing hormone action as 'killing' something → Hormones and enzymes are not alive, so neither can die. Use precise biological language: an enzyme is denatured, a hormone binds to a receptor and triggers a response.
The 60 minutes before you walk in. Review what you know and settle your nerves.
Reading this plan is not the same as being able to do it. Answer exam-style Biology questions in PrepWise, get them marked in seconds, and find the gaps while you still have time to fix them.
Open the Biology Knowledge Organisers, quiz every priority topic and walk in ready. Free during alpha.
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