Three days left. Paper 2 covers the nervous system, hormones, genetics and ecology, and it's the paper where required practicals on reaction time and field sampling quietly cost marks. Here's where to spend your time.
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.
The nervous system is consistently one of the most heavily examined topics on this paper. Reflex arc diagrams, synapse function and reaction time questions come up together in multi-part questions.
The reaction time practical is examined almost every year, usually asking students to identify variables, explain sources of error, or interpret a results table.
When plant hormones appear on the paper they tend to carry large marks in a single extended question, covering phototropism, gravitropism and the auxin/seedling growth required practical together.
Insulin and glucagon control of blood glucose, plus the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, is a reliable source of multi-mark questions on this paper.
Understanding hormones as chemical messengers, the role of glands, and how the endocrine system differs from the nervous system underpins several other questions on this paper.
Genetic diagrams are a guaranteed calculation-style question. Practise them until predicting genotype and phenotype ratios is automatic, including inherited disorders.
Almost always tested using an unfamiliar example organism. You need to apply Darwin's theory to new information, not just recite the definition.
Quadrat and transect sampling technique, plus redrawing the carbon and water cycles from memory, are dependable sources of marks that are easy to lose through vague answers.
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.
The reflex arc, the carbon cycle and the water cycle are all diagram-based topics that reward students who can redraw them unprompted, with every arrow and label correct. It's not enough to just recognise a completed version. Practise from a blank page, not by reading over a finished diagram.
Even when the question only asks for a ratio, draw the full cross. It's faster than trying to work it out in your head, and if your final ratio is wrong you can still pick up method marks for a correctly set-up diagram.
Expect questions that link the nervous system with reaction time, 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 both the reaction time and quadrat/transect practicals, be ready to name a variable that should be controlled, explain why, and suggest how repeating readings improves reliability.
The errors examiners see most on this paper. Each one is an easy mark you already know how to keep.
Mixing up gene, allele and chromosome → A chromosome is made of DNA and carries many genes. A gene is a section of DNA that codes for a characteristic. An allele is a different version of that gene. Know all three definitions cold. Examiners test them directly.
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.
Describing natural selection without applying it to the example given → If the question gives you a specific organism, your answer must reference that organism's variation, survival advantage and reproduction. A generic definition of natural selection alone won't get full marks.
Forgetting that a quadrat only samples part of the area → To estimate a population across a whole habitat, you must multiply the mean count per quadrat by the total number of quadrats that would fit in the area. It's a common calculation students skip or get backwards.
Confusing tropism direction: auxin doesn't always promote growth in the same place → In shoots, auxin accumulates 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. Don't assume they work the same way.
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.
Get started with your personalised revision