GET FULL MARKS ON LONG ANSWER AND EXTENDED RESPONSE QUESTIONS: A-LEVEL BIOLOGY TIPS

When it comes to preparing for your first A-Level Biology paper, a smart way to revise is to look at your specification, and see what and where you’ll be getting graded. One area you’ll be graded on, as laid out on the specification is Long Answer Questions. Long answer questions can be based on any skill, they could be testing your knowledge, getting you to apply your knowledge, or even testing your critical analysis. Most long answer questions, however, are knowledge based questions.  

LONG ANSWERS: AN OVERVIEW

Long answer is usually worth about 15 marks, so either three 5 mark questions, or a 4 mark, 6 mark, and a 5 mark question. They usually include command words such as “Define”, “Describe”, “Explain”, “Compare” and “Contrast”. If you’re a little foggy on what’s what, here’s a refresher on what those command words actually mean: 

DEFINE – SPECIFY THE MEANING

DESCRIBE – GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF

EXPLAIN – GIVE REASON 

COMPARE – IDENTIFY SIMILARITIES AND/OR DIFFERENCES

CONTRAST – IDENTIFY DIFFERENCES

Click here to go to the AQA website for more examples and explanations on different command words you could come in contact with throughout your paper.

Here are some examples of possible long answer questions that have been on past AQA A-level exams:

1. Define ‘gene mutation’ and explain how a gene mutation can have: 1) no effect on an individual and 2) a positive effect on an individual (4 marks)

2. Describe how a polypeptide is formed by translation of mRNA (6 marks)

3. Describe how mRNA is formed by transcription in eukaryotes (5 marks)

4. Explain five properties that make water important for organisms (5 marks)

5. Describe the biochemical tests you would use to confirm the presence of lipid, non-reducing sugar and amylase in a sample. (5 marks)

6. Describe the chemical reactions involved in the conversion of polymers to monomers and monomers to polymers. Give two named examples of polymers and their associated monomers to illustrate your answer (5 marks)

7. Describe the gross structure of the human gas exchange system and how we breathe in and out. (6 marks)

8. Mucus produced by epithelial cells in the human gas exchange system contains triglycerides and phospholipids.Compare and contrast the structure and properties of triglycerides and phospholipids (5 marks)

9. Mucus also contains glycoproteins. One of these glycoproteins is a polypeptide with the sugar, lactose, attached. Describe how lactose is formed and where in the cell it would be attached to a polypeptide to form a glycoprotein. (4 marks) 

HOW TO ANSWER EXTENDED RESPONSE QUESTIONS

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure how to answer some of these questions, here are my top 5 tips to help you answer extended response questions.

1. START AT THE BACK!

Go straight to the 15 mark long response questions. Assuming you have revised appropriately, you should have the knowledge to be able to get nearly full marks or full marks on those questions. On Paper 1, students often find the timing challenging, as they spend extra time on other questions reading through information, analysing graphs, and applying their knowledge. However, if you go straight to the back, you don’t run the risk of running out of time and missing 15 marks that you could have quite reasonably achieved.

2. BULLET POINT OR DRAW A TABLE.

You don’t have to write continuous prose or long paragraphs. Make it easier on yourself and the examiner by bullet-pointing your answer or creating a table.

3. HIGHLIGHT KEY WORD/MARKING POINT IN EACH BULLET POINT.

Now, you aren’t allowed to actually put a highlighter on your test, but you can highlight a keyword by either writing in all capitals or underlining. This helps the marker of your test easily identify your key word/marking point.

4. IF 5 MARKS WRITE 6 POINTS FOR INSURANCE.

Write an extra point if you know one! This is just in case one of your other points wasn’t actually on the mark scheme.

5. COMPLETE ALL THE EXTENDED QUESTIONS FROM AS AND A-LEVEL PAPERS TO SPOT PATTERNS IN THE MARK SCHEME.

You’ll get much quicker at the bullet pointing and key words, you’ll become more time efficient, it’s also just a good revision of the knowledge. By completing all the extended response questions, you get to the point where you can spot patterns in the mark scheme. For example, the marking usually has a question for Enzymes where the answer can link back to Enzyme Substrate complexes. 

EXAM QUESTION EXAMPLE

Let’s do an example together shall we?

QUESTION:

Contrast how an optical microscope and a transmission electron microscope and contrast the limitations of their use when studying cells. (6 marks)

The first thing I’ve done is separate the answers out into two headings so I know I’m answering both parts of the question. Because we’ve been asked to contrast, we need to point out the differences. When asked to contrast, your answer should all be in one sentence, with WHEREAS in the middle.

ANSWER:

How they work:

• A beam of light is condensed to create the image for an optical microscope WHEREAS A beam of electrons is condensed to create the image for an electron microscope
• The beam of light in an optical microscope is focused using a glass lens WHEREAS the beam of electrons in an electron microscope is focuses using electromagnets.

Limitations:

•  An optical microscope has a poorer resolution due to light having a longer wavelength WHEREAS an electron microscope has a higher resolving power as electrons have a shorter wavelength.
• Optical microscopes have a LOWER magnification than electron microscopes
• Optical microscopes can produce colour images WHEREAS electron microscopes can only produce black and white images
• Optical microscopes can examine living samples WHEREAS electron microscopes have to be dead samples.

If you don’t like bullet points, then absolutely feel free to do a structured table instead!

I’ve got the comparative points directly next to each other on the same row, which is indicating that those are the contrasting features. I’ve bolded my key words, and provided an extra answer for insurance.

If you’re looking for more practice questions to practice yourself at home, you can check out my different exam resources here.

Hope this helps – remember you got this!

– Miss Estruch 

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