The examination is 30% of the subject: one 130-minute e-exam of 120 marks, taken on a computer. Section 1 is multiple choice, cut from 15 questions to 10 from 2026, and Section 2 is questions in parts.
The examination
30% of the subject: one 130-minute e-exam, 120 marks
Section 1
Multiple choice: 10 questions from 2026 (15 in 2024 and 2025)
Section 2
Questions in parts, often on data or a science-as-a-human-endeavour context
Provided
Approved calculators allowed; no data booklet
School assessment
70%: investigations folio 30%, skills and applications tasks 40%
What the examination asks
Section 1: multiple-choice questions across the four topics, from recall to problem solving.
Section 2: questions in parts, often built on data from an investigation, a diagram or a science-as-a-human-endeavour context, some drawing on more than one topic.
The e-exam has no autocorrect, so spell biological terms carefully.
Write to the question
Make one clear point for each mark, using the terms of the course.
For explain, give the point, tie it to the organism, cell or data in the question, then say what it causes.
For an investigation, name the variables, say how the method controls them, and judge the conclusion against the data.
Try 2 questions
Question 1
0102030401020304050Concentration outside the cells (mmol L⁻¹)Rate of uptake (arbitrary units)AB
Red blood cells were placed in solutions of two substances, A and B, at different concentrations, and the rate at which each entered the cells was measured. Adding a poison that stops the cells making ATP did not change either rate. The graph shows the results. Which explanation fits the results for substance B?
Question 2
Genotypes of a native grass on Kangaroo Island before and after a drought
Genotype
Plants sampled before the drought
Surviving plants sampled after the drought
DD
20
18
Dd
50
30
dd
30
2
Allele D of a gene in a native grass on Kangaroo Island produces deeper roots. Biologists sampled the grass before a severe drought and sampled the surviving plants after it (table). How did the frequency of allele D change?