We counted every question in our own A Level Biology 9700 question bank — 312 questions worth 2,696 marks, 2023 to 2026 — and sorted them into the 8 chapters of the syllabus. Inheritance carries the most marks.
Every chapter, heaviest first
| Chapter | Questions | Marks | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inheritance | 52 | 413 | 15.3% | |
| Homeostasis | 38 | 368 | 13.6% | |
| Genetic Technology | 38 | 356 | 13.2% | |
| Control and Coordination | 44 | 347 | 12.9% | |
| Selection and Evolution | 44 | 337 | 12.5% | |
| Classification, Biodiversity and | 36 | 320 | 11.9% | |
| Energy and Respiration | 33 | 293 | 10.9% | |
| Photosynthesis | 27 | 262 | 9.7% |
The top 4 of 8 chapters hold half the marks in the bank. The three heaviest are Inheritance, Homeostasis, Genetic Technology. The lightest is Photosynthesis, at 9.7% of the marks.
Inside the chapters
| Sub-topic | Chapter | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultrafiltration and selective reabsorption | Homeostasis | 8 | 84 |
| Osmoregulation and ADH | Homeostasis | 8 | 78 |
| Meiosis | Inheritance | 11 | 71 |
| Stomata, guard cells and abscisic acid | Homeostasis | 8 | 71 |
| Chloroplast pigments and spectra | Photosynthesis | 7 | 69 |
| The light-dependent stage | Photosynthesis | 6 | 69 |
| PCR | Genetic Technology | 6 | 66 |
| Kingdoms of the Eukarya | Classification, Biodiversity and | 8 | 64 |
| Genetic engineering tools | Genetic Technology | 6 | 61 |
| Speciation and isolating mechanisms | Selection and Evolution | 9 | 60 |
How to use this
Revise the heaviest chapters first. A chapter worth 15% of the marks deserves more than one worth 9.7%.
Use it to decide what to practise, not what to skip. A light chapter can still be the difference between two grades, and Cambridge can set anything on the syllabus.
Check yourself chapter by chapter rather than by whole papers, so a weak topic shows up while there is still time to fix it.
These are ExamYard’s own figures: the questions in our A Level Biology 9700 question bank, grouped into the chapter of the syllabus each one tests, and added up by the marks each carries. No question text, mark scheme or examiner report is reproduced on this page. The printed book and the online bank are counted separately, so the totals on this page need not match the book’s own page.