EDEXCEL IGCSE BIOLOGY
Higher Tier — Practice Paper 1: MARK SCHEME
Topics 1–3 | Total: 62 marks
Q Acceptable answers / marking Marks
points
1(a) • Any three of: Movement / 3
Respiration / Sensitivity / Growth /
Reproduction / Excretion / Nutrition
• 1 mark each, max 3
1(b) • Removal from organisms of the 2
waste products of metabolism (1)
• toxic materials / substances in
excess of requirements (1)
2 • Nucleus: Yes / Yes 4
• Cell wall: No / Yes
• Chloroplast: No / Yes
• Mitochondria: Yes / Yes
• 1 mark per correct pair of
answers (4 boxes to complete)
3(a) • Class (1) 2
• Family (1)
3(b) • A group of organisms (1) 2
• that can interbreed / breed
together to produce fertile offspring
(1)
4(a) • The net movement of water 2
molecules (1)
• from a region of higher water
potential to a region of lower water
potential, through a partially
permeable membrane (1)
4(b) • Mineral ion concentration is often 3
lower in the soil than inside the
root hair cell (1)
• so ions cannot move in by
diffusion, as this would be against
the concentration gradient (1)
• active transport uses energy
(from respiration) to move ions
against the gradient (1)
5 • Large surface area (due to 6
millions of alveoli) — increases the
rate of diffusion (1 description + 1
explanation)
• Thin walls (one cell thick) — short
diffusion distance/pathway (1 + 1)
• Good blood supply / dense
Higher Tier — Practice Paper 1: MARK SCHEME
Topics 1–3 | Total: 62 marks
Q Acceptable answers / marking Marks
points
1(a) • Any three of: Movement / 3
Respiration / Sensitivity / Growth /
Reproduction / Excretion / Nutrition
• 1 mark each, max 3
1(b) • Removal from organisms of the 2
waste products of metabolism (1)
• toxic materials / substances in
excess of requirements (1)
2 • Nucleus: Yes / Yes 4
• Cell wall: No / Yes
• Chloroplast: No / Yes
• Mitochondria: Yes / Yes
• 1 mark per correct pair of
answers (4 boxes to complete)
3(a) • Class (1) 2
• Family (1)
3(b) • A group of organisms (1) 2
• that can interbreed / breed
together to produce fertile offspring
(1)
4(a) • The net movement of water 2
molecules (1)
• from a region of higher water
potential to a region of lower water
potential, through a partially
permeable membrane (1)
4(b) • Mineral ion concentration is often 3
lower in the soil than inside the
root hair cell (1)
• so ions cannot move in by
diffusion, as this would be against
the concentration gradient (1)
• active transport uses energy
(from respiration) to move ions
against the gradient (1)
5 • Large surface area (due to 6
millions of alveoli) — increases the
rate of diffusion (1 description + 1
explanation)
• Thin walls (one cell thick) — short
diffusion distance/pathway (1 + 1)
• Good blood supply / dense
