OCR-A A-Level Biology Predicted Papers! 🧬📘

Jen - Primrose Kitten

Get ready to boost your confidence with our OCR-A A-Level Biology Predicted Papers! 🧬📘 

These are designed to help you sharpen your exam skills with A* example answers and expert analysis in a free video walkthrough, showing you exactly how to interpret questions and structure your answers for top marks 🧠📝.

They're brilliant for practice – but don’t forget, they’re just predictions, so make sure you revise everything! 📚💡 

And above all, look after your mental health – you're working hard, and that absolutely counts 💛🌿.

Table of Contents

Any Paper

These predicted topics that can appear across any paper (including Paper 3!) – perfect for making sure your core understanding is rock solid 🧬💪


Cell Structure of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells

🔬

  • Eukaryotes: membrane-bound organelles (e.g., nucleus, mitochondria, rough ER).

  • Prokaryotes: no nucleus, smaller ribosomes (70S), circular DNA, plasmids, cell wall (not cellulose).

  • Be able to compare structures clearly in table or diagram form.


Microscopy

🔍

  • Know the differences between Confocal laser, TEM, and SEM: magnification, resolution, 3D image ertc.

  • Calculate magnification using the equation, and make sure you can convert between units.

  • Revise how to prepare and stain slides (PAG 1), and focus on calibration using eyepiece graticules.


Membranes and PAG 8 (Osmosis)

💧

  • Structure = fluid mosaic model: phospholipid bilayer, proteins, cholesterol, glycoproteins and glycolipids.

  • Osmosis = diffusion of water from high to low water potential through a semi-permeable membrane.

  • IFor PAG 8, remember: plant tissue in different concentrated solutions or artificial cells made with Visking tubing, measure % change in mass, plot a graph to find isotonic point.


Meiosis and Life Cycles

🔁

  • Meiosis = two divisions producing 4 genetically unique haploid cells.

  • Key stages: crossing over (prophase I), independent assortment (metaphase I).

  • Understand how meiosis introduces genetic variation and links to gamete formation and fertilisation.


Carbohydrates

🍞

  • Monosaccharides: glucose, fructose, galactose

  • Disaccharides: maltose, sucrose, lactose

  • Polysaccharides: starch (amylose + amylopectin), glycogen, cellulose

  • Know bonding (glycosidic bonds via condensation) and tests (e.g., Benedict’s for reducing sugars).


Enzymes and Rates of Reaction (PAG 4)

⚗️

  • Enzymes = biological catalysts. Affected by temp, pH, substrate/enzyme conc.

  • Know lock and key vs induced fit models.

  • PAG 4: Measure rate using colour change (e.g., starch + amylase), gas produced, or pH change over a set amount of time. Graphs can be used to calculate rate including with a tangent to a curve.

  • Use a line graph to display rate over time.


Protein Structure

🧬

  • Primary = amino acid sequence

  • Secondary = alpha-helix or beta-pleated sheet (H bonds)

  • Tertiary = 3D folding (H bonds, ionic, disulfide bridges, hydrophobic interactions)

  • Quaternary = multiple polypeptide chains (e.g., haemoglobin)

  • Link structure to function (e.g., enzymes, antibodies, hormones).


Mutations

🧬⚠️

  • Gene (point) mutations: substitution, deletion, insertion

  • Silent, missense, nonsense – be able to explain outcomes on proteins

  • Can be caused by mutagens (e.g., radiation, chemicals)

  • Link to cancer, genetic variation, and evolution.


OCR-A A-Level Biology Paper 1

Biological Processes

📘

What it covers:

  • Module 1: Development of Practical Skills

  • Module 2: Foundations in Biology

  • Module 3: Exchange and Transport

  • Module 5: Communication, Homeostasis and Energy

Total marks: 100
Exam duration: 2 hours 15 minutes
Weighting: 37% of the full A-Level


Types of Questions

  1. Multiple choice (around 15–20 marks)

    • 1 mark each

    • Usually at the beginning of the paper

    • 🔍 Focus on definitions, core concepts, and practical knowledge

  2. Short answer and structured questions

    • Typically 2–4 marks per question

    • Cover processes, calculations, and data analysis

    • Include diagrams, graphs, and application questions

    • 📝 Use precise scientific terminology and show working for calculations

  3. Extended response questions (5-6 marks)

    • Require a detailed description, explanation or comparison

    • ✨ Structure your answers clearly in a logical order and use correctly spelt terminology

  4. Levelled questions (6 marks+)

    • Marked using levelled criteria (not just right/wrong)

    • Often include application to unfamiliar contexts

    • Assess depth, scientific understanding, and application. Often evaluate

    • 🌟 Structure your answers clearly with logical points and evidence to support arguments, make your conclusion clear


Time Management Tips

🕰️ Total time: 135 minutes

  • Spend 15 minutes on multiple choice

  • Allocate 1 minute per mark for structured/longer questions

  • Leave 10–15 minutes at the end for checking and improving longer responses


Top Tips:

✅ Use clear scientific terms
✅ Include units and show your working in calculations
✅ Label diagrams if you draw them
✅ Link answers to the question and context given
✅ Don’t panic on application questions – use what you do know!


Mixed MCQs from across the spec

❓✅

  • These will test a range of modules (especially 2, 3, and 5).

  • Revise core definitions, practical skills, enzyme action, and graph interpretation.

  • Time tip: aim to spend no more than 15–20 minutes on these at the start!


Heart, Blood Vessels, The Cardiac Cycle and Heart Rate

❤️🩸

  • Know the structure of arteries, veins, capillaries and how they relate to function.

  • Understand the cardiac cycle, including systole and diastole.

  • Be able to explain how nervous and hormonal control regulates heart rate (e.g., adrenaline, medulla oblongata).


PAG 5 and PAG 9, Benedict’s Test and Kidney Function

🔬👩‍🔬

  • PAG 5 is using a Colourimeter or Potometer

  • PAG 9 is Qualitative Testing

  • Benedict’s test for reducing and non-reducing sugars

  • Kidney: Understand ultrafiltration, selective reabsorption, and roles of ADH in osmoregulation.


Respiration, Exercise and Muscles

🏃‍♂️💥

  • Aerobic vs anaerobic respiration: location, inputs, outputs (ATP yield!)

  • Muscle structure: actin, myosin, sarcomeres

  • Sliding filament theory – be ready to explain how muscles contract using ATP, Ca²⁺, and troponin/tropomyosin.


Gas Exchange (focus on insects)

🪲💨

  • Insects use a tracheal system: spiracles → tracheae → tracheoles → cells.

  • Ventilation via abdominal movement and oxygen diffuses directly to cells.

  • Know adaptations of the structures for diffusion and be able to compare to mammal and fish systems.


Classification

🔬📚

  • Revise the three domains (Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya) and five kingdoms.

  • Understand phylogenetics, and how evidence from molecular biology can be used to update classifications based on evolutionary relationships

  • Know the binomial naming system and why classification systems change over time.


Haemoglobin + Bohr Shift

🩸🧪

  • Haemoglobin structure: 4 subunits, each binds 1 O₂ molecule.

  • Oxygen dissociation curve: S-shape due to cooperative binding.

  • Bohr shift: High CO₂ = lower affinity = O₂ released to tissues. Key in active tissues!


Transport in Plants (focus on phloem)

🌿🍬

  • Phloem: translocation of sucrose via companion cells and sieve tube elements.

  • Mass flow hypothesis: active loading at source, unloading at sink.

  • Compare with xylem (transpiration stream, cohesion-tension theory).


Respiration and ATP Synthesis

🔋⚡

  • Stages of aerobic respiration: glycolysis → link reaction → Krebs → oxidative phosphorylation.

  • Know the inputs and outputs at each stage (including CO₂ and NADH/FADH₂).

  • ATP synthesis via chemiosmosis: H⁺ gradient + ATP synthase = energy magic!


Synapses and Neuromuscular Junctions

🧠➡️💪

  • Synapse: presynaptic vesicles release neurotransmitters (e.g., ACh), bind to receptors, trigger AP.

  • Neuromuscular junction: ACh causes Ca²⁺ influx and contraction – always excitatory.

  • Understand summation, inhibition, and drug effects on transmission.


OCR-A A-Level Biology Paper 2

Biological Diversity

🌿🦠

What it covers:

  • Module 1: Development of Practical Skills

  • Module 2: Foundations in Biology

  • Module 4: Biodiversity, Evolution and Disease

  • Module 6: Genetics, Evolution and Ecosystems

Total marks: 100
Exam duration: 2 hours 15 minutes
Weighting: 37% of the full A-Level


Types of Questions

  1. Multiple Choice

    • Usually 15–20 questions at the start

    • Each worth 1 mark

    • 🧠 Focus on precise knowledge and quick recall

  2. Short Answer and Structured Questions

    • 2 to 6 marks

    • Test your understanding of key processes and terminology

    • Often include graphs, data interpretation, and experimental design

    • ✍️ Use specific language and labelled diagrams when needed

  3. Extended Response Questions

    • 6 marks or more

    • Require detailed explanations, often in unfamiliar or applied contexts

    • 🌟 Include examples, logical structure, and a clear conclusion

  4. Levelled Questions (6–9 marks)

    • Marked using level descriptors

    • Focus on scientific understanding, application, and depth

    • 🔍 Show off your reasoning, knowledge, and ability to link ideas


Time Management Tips

🕰️ Total time: 135 minutes

  • Multiple choice: ~15 minutes

  • Structured and extended answers: ~1 minute per mark

  • Reserve final 10–15 minutes for review, checking calculations, and adding detail to longer answers


Top Tips:

✅ Use correct biological terms – definitions matter!
✅ Show full working in calculations
✅ Annotate graphs and diagrams clearly
✅ Make sure your explanations match what the question asks
✅ Don’t let applied questions throw you – think it through step-by-step


Mixed MCQs from across the spec

❓📚

  • Expect questions from Modules 2, 4, and 6.

  • Revise key definitions, enzyme pathways, immunity, and genetic terms.

  • Watch for data interpretation and experimental context questions!


Biodiversity Including Human Impact and Measuring

🌱📉

  • Biodiversity: species richness, genetic diversity, ecosystem diversity.

  • Human impacts: habitat destruction, pollution, climate change.

  • Measuring: Simpson’s Index of Diversity, quadrats, transects.

  • Sampling strategies: random vs systematic, repeat for reliability.


Plant and Human Defences Against Disease

🦠🌿🧍‍♀️

  • Plants: physical barriers (waxy cuticle), chemical defences (antimicrobial compounds).

  • Humans: skin, lysozymes, blood clotting, inflammation, phagocytosis.

  • Understand primary vs secondary immune response.


Carrying Capacity and Factors Affecting Population Size

📈🌍

  • Carrying capacity: maximum sustainable population in an environment.

  • Biotic factors: predation, disease, competition.

  • Abiotic factors: temperature, pH, water.

  • Use of population graphs and lag, log, stationary, death phases.


Types of Immunity, Antibodies, and Vaccination

💉🛡️

  • Active vs passive immunity; natural vs artificial.

  • Structure and function of antibodies (Y-shaped, specificity).

  • Vaccines: stimulate memory cell production.

  • Herd immunity and booster doses.


Hardy-Weinberg and Allele Frequencies in Populations

🔢🧬

  • Formula: p² + 2pq + q² = 1 and p + q = 1.

  • Used to calculate genotype and allele frequencies.

  • Assumptions: no mutation, random mating, large population, no selection/migration.


Aseptic Technique, Bacterial Resistance, PAG 7

🧫🧼

  • Aseptic technique: sterilisation, flaming tools, avoiding contamination.

  • PAG 7: culturing microorganisms, antibiotic disc testing.

  • Understand zones of inhibition, resistant strains (e.g., MRSA), and mutation spread.


Transcription Factors and Cellular Control

🧠💡

  • Transcription factors bind to DNA to activate/inhibit transcription.

  • In eukaryotes: complex regulation of gene expression.

  • Cellular control includes the secondary messenger model, homeobox genes, apoptosis, and development.


Animal Cloning

🐑🧪

  • Natural cloning: identical twins, budding.

  • Artificial cloning: embryo splitting, somatic cell nuclear transfer (e.g., Dolly the sheep).

  • Pros and cons: conservation, research, ethics.


Genetic Fingerprinting

🔬🧬

  • Based on short tandem repeats (STRs) in non-coding DNA.

  • Use gel electrophoresis to compare DNA samples.

  • Applications: paternity tests, forensic science, genetic relationships.


Genetic Diversity

🌍🧫

  • Arises from mutations, meiosis (crossing over, independent assortment), random fertilisation.

  • Low diversity = higher extinction risk.

  • Measured using number of alleles and heterozygosity.


Conservation

🌳🦉

  • In situ (natural habitat) vs ex situ (zoos, seed banks).

  • Focus on maintaining biodiversity, gene pools, and ecosystems.

  • Link to sustainable development and species protection strategies.

  • International and National agreements to help conserve Biodiversity e.g CITES, RCB and CSS


OCR-A A-Level Biology Paper 3

Unified Biology

🔄🌿

What it covers:

  • All six modules (Modules 1–6)

  • This paper focuses on linking concepts from across the course and applying them in unfamiliar contexts.

  • Great for testing your understanding, connections, and scientific thinking.

Total marks: 70
Exam duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Weighting: 26% of the full A-Level


Types of Questions

  1. Short Answer and Structured Questions

    • Usually 2–6 marks

    • Often data-based or applied questions (graphs, tables, unfamiliar scenarios)

    • 🔍 You’ll need to analyse, interpret and draw conclusions

  2. Extended Response Questions

    • 6–9 marks

    • Require detailed, logical explanations using information from across different modules

    • 🌟 High marks come from using precise terminology and linking concepts

  3. Data Handling and Analysis

    • Often linked to practical skills and real-world science

    • May involve drawing conclusions, identifying variables, or designing experiments

    • 📊 Know your stats tests (Chi-squared, Spearman’s Rank, etc.)


Time Management Tips

🕰️ Total time: 90 minutes

  • Use 1 minute per mark as a guide

  • Spend around 60 minutes on the main questions

  • Leave 10–15 minutes to check calculations and tidy up longer answers

  • Always allow time for the extended questions – they’re high-mark opportunities!


Top Tips:

✅ Be ready to apply knowledge, not just recall facts
✅ Read all data and graphs carefully – underline or annotate
✅ Use clear reasoning when explaining experimental design
✅ Don’t be afraid of unfamiliar contexts – use what you know and think logically
✅ Link ideas across topics: e.g. respiration + ecosystems, immunity + evolution


For OCR-A A-Level Biology Paper 3 (Unified Biology), you’re spot on – any topic from the entire A-level course (Modules 1–6) can be assessed, and it’s all about linking ideas together, applying them in new contexts, and showing a big-picture understanding. 🧬🔄

All the predictions from Paper 1 and Paper 2 are still very relevant, and here’s how you can focus your revision for Paper 3:


🔄 Revise Broadly – Think Connections!

Instead of just revising in topic blocks, try to link ideas, such as:

  • How gas exchange relates to respiration and ATP synthesis

  • How immune response connects to genetic diversity and evolution

  • How plant transport supports ecosystem productivity

  • How Hardy-Weinberg ties in with selection pressures and biodiversity


📊 Expect Data-Heavy Questions

Paper 3 is very data-focused, so:

  • Be ready to analyse unfamiliar experiments

  • Apply knowledge to new scenarios

  • Use graph interpretation, data tables, and sometimes statistics (e.g., Chi-squared, Spearman's Rank)


🔬 Practical Skills are Key

Revise PAGs, especially:

• 4 – Enzyme reactions

• 5 – Using a colorimeter

• 7 – Microbial techniques

• 8 – Transport across cells

• 9 – Qualitative Testin


🕰️ Timing Tip

Paper 3 = 1 hour 30 minutes, 70 marks
🧠 That’s about 1.25 minutes per mark
Leave 10 minutes at the end to check the longer, levelled questions


Top 3 Focus Areas for Paper 3

  1. Application – how does what you’ve learned apply in new contexts?

  2. Analysis – can you evaluate data and experimental design?

  3. Synthesis – can you combine ideas from multiple topics into a coherent answer?

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