WACE Biology: the course and the exam

Unit 3 covers heredity and the continuity of life on Earth; Unit 4 covers homeostasis and infectious disease. The ATAR examination is one paper of ten minutes reading and three hours working, in three sections.

Weeks before your biology exam

Hours a week for biology

Topic 1: DNA, genes and protein synthesis

Topic 2: Inheritance

Topic 3: DNA technologies

Topic 4: Evolution and speciation

Topic 5: Homeostasis

Topic 6: Infectious disease

26 weeks, 104 hours in all

Start with Topic 1

DNA, genes and protein synthesis: 16 of your hours. It is 5 of the 30 questions on our timed multiple-choice checks, 17%.

Hours per topic
Topic	Your hours	Share of the checks
Topic 1: DNA, genes and protein synthesis	16	17%
Topic 2: Inheritance	16	17%
Topic 3: DNA technologies	16	17%
Topic 4: Evolution and speciation	16	17%
Topic 5: Homeostasis	16	17%
Topic 6: Infectious disease	16	17%

Week by week

Week 1Topic 1: DNA, genes and protein synthesis
Week 2Topic 1: DNA, genes and protein synthesis
Week 3Topic 1: DNA, genes and protein synthesis
Week 4Topic 1: DNA, genes and protein synthesis
Week 5Topic 2: Inheritance
Week 6Topic 2: Inheritance
Week 7Topic 2: Inheritance
Week 8Topic 2: Inheritance
Week 9Topic 3: DNA technologies
Week 10Topic 3: DNA technologies
Week 11Topic 3: DNA technologies
Week 12Topic 3: DNA technologies
Week 13Topic 4: Evolution and speciation
Week 14Topic 4: Evolution and speciation
Week 15Topic 4: Evolution and speciation
Week 16Topic 4: Evolution and speciation
Week 17Topic 5: Homeostasis
Week 18Topic 5: Homeostasis
Week 19Topic 5: Homeostasis
Week 20Topic 5: Homeostasis
Week 21Topic 6: Infectious disease
Week 22Topic 6: Infectious disease
Week 23Topic 6: Infectious disease
Week 24Topic 6: Infectious disease
Week 25A timed multiple-choice check and a set of short answer questions, then review every lost mark
Week 26A timed multiple-choice check and a set of short answer questions, then review every lost mark

Check your topics with the free test

The examination	One paper on Units 3 and 4: ten minutes reading, three hours working
Section One	30 multiple-choice questions, 30%, about 40 minutes
Section Two	4 to 6 short answer questions, 50%, about 90 minutes
Section Three	Extended answer: one Unit 3 and one Unit 4 question, each chosen from two, 20%, about 50 minutes
Allowed	Up to three non-programmable calculators; no data booklet

The six topics

Unit 3, Continuity of species, has two areas: heredity, and the continuity of life on Earth. Unit 4, Surviving in a changing environment, has homeostasis and infectious disease. The course splits heredity into DNA, genes and protein synthesis; inheritance; and DNA technologies, which gives six topics. Year 11 content is assumed knowledge.

The ATAR examination

Section One: 30 multiple-choice questions, worth 30% of the examination, with about 40 minutes suggested. Some refer to diagrams, tables or graphs.
Section Two: four to six short answer questions, worth 50%, with about 90 minutes suggested. Each question is in parts that typically get harder, often built on diagrams, second-hand data or recent research.
Section Three: extended answer, worth 20%, with about 50 minutes suggested. You answer one Unit 3 question, chosen from two, and one Unit 4 question, chosen from two, with labelled diagrams and notes, linked points, tables, graphs or flow diagrams.

Try 2 questions

Question 1

Offspring of a test cross between a grey, long-winged fruit fly and an ebony, vestigial-winged fly
Body colour	Wings	Number of offspring
grey	long	118
grey	vestigial	124
ebony	long	115
ebony	vestigial	123

In fruit flies, grey body (E) is dominant to ebony (e) and long wings (V) are dominant to vestigial wings (v); the genes are on different chromosomes. A grey, long-winged female was crossed with an ebony, vestigial-winged male. Based on the table of offspring, what was the female's genotype?

Question 2

Which statement best describes homeostasis?

Next step

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Questions people ask

What is in the ATAR examination?

A representative sample of Units 3 and 4: heredity, the continuity of life on Earth, homeostasis and infectious disease, with science inquiry and science as a human endeavour.

Are Units 1 and 2 in the exam?

The exam is set on Units 3 and 4, and Year 11 content is assumed knowledge, so cells, ecosystems and classification can appear inside questions on Units 3 and 4.

Is the immune system in the WACE Biology exam?

The Year 12 infectious disease content is about pathogens, how disease spreads and how it is controlled, including immunisation and herd immunity. The detail of the immune response is not in the Units 3 and 4 dot points.