OCR A-Level Biology B (Advancing Biology) Active Recall Guide (H422)
OCR · A-Level
OCR A-Level Biology B (Advancing Biology) Active Recall Guide
Every topic of specification H422 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 2,895 questions across 35 topics and 189 subtopics, covering all five teaching modules and the practical skills examined on all three papers.
- OCR
- A-Level
- Specification H422
- 2,895 questions
Guide overview All 35 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
OCR A-Level Biology B, Advancing Biology, teaches biology through applied and medical contexts: blood smears and haemocytometers, monitoring heart function, assisted reproduction, diabetes management, dialysis. It is three written papers plus a separately reported practical endorsement. Fundamentals of Biology carries 41 per cent, Scientific Literacy in Biology 37 per cent and Practical Skills in Biology 22 per cent.
All three papers can draw on any of the five teaching modules, so nothing is examined once and finished with, and no topic can be set aside after a paper is sat.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Component 01 Fundamentals of biology |
The Developing Cell: Cell Division and Cell Differentiation The Developing Individual: Meiosis, Growth and Development The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification Cells and Microscopy Water and Its Importance in Plants and Animals Proteins and Enzymes Nucleic Acids Patterns of Inheritance Population Genetics and Epigenetics Gene Technologies The Principles and Importance of Homeostasis The Hormonal Control of Blood Glucose and the Management of Diabetes Kidney Functions and Malfunctions The Cellular Basis of Cancer and Treatment Respiratory Diseases and Treatment Cellular Respiration Metabolism and Exercise Pathogenic Microorganisms The Immune System Controlling Communicable Diseases Photosynthesis, Food Production and Management of the Environment The Impact of Population Increase Planning and Implementing Practical Work Analysing and Evaluating Practical Results Practical Skills, Apparatus and Techniques Fertility and Assisted Reproduction The Effects of Ageing on the Reproductive System Plant Reproduction The Nervous System and the Identification and Consequences of Damage Monitoring Visual Function The Effect of Ageing on the Nervous System The Heart and Monitoring Heart Function Transport Systems in Mammals Gas Exchange in Mammals and Plants Transport Systems in Plants |
2 hours 15 minutes | 110 marks | 41% |
|
Component 02 Scientific literacy in biology |
The Developing Cell: Cell Division and Cell Differentiation The Developing Individual: Meiosis, Growth and Development The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification Cells and Microscopy Water and Its Importance in Plants and Animals Proteins and Enzymes Nucleic Acids Patterns of Inheritance Population Genetics and Epigenetics Gene Technologies The Principles and Importance of Homeostasis The Hormonal Control of Blood Glucose and the Management of Diabetes Kidney Functions and Malfunctions The Cellular Basis of Cancer and Treatment Respiratory Diseases and Treatment Cellular Respiration Metabolism and Exercise Pathogenic Microorganisms The Immune System Controlling Communicable Diseases Photosynthesis, Food Production and Management of the Environment The Impact of Population Increase Planning and Implementing Practical Work Analysing and Evaluating Practical Results Practical Skills, Apparatus and Techniques Fertility and Assisted Reproduction The Effects of Ageing on the Reproductive System Plant Reproduction The Nervous System and the Identification and Consequences of Damage Monitoring Visual Function The Effect of Ageing on the Nervous System The Heart and Monitoring Heart Function Transport Systems in Mammals Gas Exchange in Mammals and Plants Transport Systems in Plants |
2 hours 15 minutes | 100 marks | 37% |
|
Component 03 Practical skills in biology |
The Developing Cell: Cell Division and Cell Differentiation The Developing Individual: Meiosis, Growth and Development The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification Cells and Microscopy Water and Its Importance in Plants and Animals Proteins and Enzymes Nucleic Acids Patterns of Inheritance Population Genetics and Epigenetics Gene Technologies The Principles and Importance of Homeostasis The Hormonal Control of Blood Glucose and the Management of Diabetes Kidney Functions and Malfunctions The Cellular Basis of Cancer and Treatment Respiratory Diseases and Treatment Cellular Respiration Metabolism and Exercise Pathogenic Microorganisms The Immune System Controlling Communicable Diseases Photosynthesis, Food Production and Management of the Environment The Impact of Population Increase Planning and Implementing Practical Work Analysing and Evaluating Practical Results Practical Skills, Apparatus and Techniques Fertility and Assisted Reproduction The Effects of Ageing on the Reproductive System Plant Reproduction The Nervous System and the Identification and Consequences of Damage Monitoring Visual Function The Effect of Ageing on the Nervous System The Heart and Monitoring Heart Function Transport Systems in Mammals Gas Exchange in Mammals and Plants Transport Systems in Plants |
1 hour 30 minutes | 60 marks | 22% |
What is in the guide
All 35 topics
Every topic has its own page with its subtopics, what it covers and sample questions.
Sample questions
Taken from the guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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The cell cycle and mitosis
What happens to the chromosomes and to the nuclear envelope during prophase?
Show the answer
The chromosomes condense and become visible as two chromatids joined at a centromere, while the nuclear envelope and the nucleolus break down. -
Meiosis, haploid gametes and genetic variation
How does the outcome of meiosis in a human female differ from that in a human male?
Show the answer
In the female the cytoplasm divides unequally, so one large functional egg cell is produced together with small polar bodies that degenerate, whereas in the male all four products mature into functional sperm. -
Classification and the species concept
Give the binomial name of modern humans and explain what each part identifies.
Show the answer
Modern humans are Homo sapiens, where Homo names the genus to which the species belongs and sapiens identifies the particular species within that genus. -
Microscopy and the cell theory
What sets the limit of resolution of a light microscope at roughly 200 nm?
Show the answer
The wavelength of visible light, since two points closer together than about half a wavelength of the light used cannot be resolved. -
The properties of water
Why does water have a high latent heat of vaporisation?
Show the answer
A great deal of energy is needed to break all the hydrogen bonds holding a molecule to its neighbours before it can escape as vapour. -
Amino acids, peptide bonds and chromatography
Describe how a chromatogram of an amino acid mixture is prepared and run.
Show the answer
A pencil origin line is drawn near one end of the paper, a small concentrated spot of the mixture is applied and dried, and the paper is suspended in a covered tank with the solvent just below the origin line so that the solvent rises by capillary action until it nears the top, when the solvent front is marked. -
Nucleotides, ADP and ATP
Which base occurs in DNA but not RNA, and which occurs in RNA but not DNA?
Show the answer
Thymine occurs only in DNA and uracil only in RNA. -
Monogenic inheritance and genetic terminology
What does it mean to say an organism is homozygous for a gene?
Show the answer
It carries two identical alleles of that gene, one at the same locus on each of its two homologous chromosomes.
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Look inside
Questions for a subtopic print together and the answers for that section print after them.
- The Developing Cell: Cell Division and Cell Differentiation47
- The Developing Individual: Meiosis, Growth and Development80
- The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification87
- Cells and Microscopy170
- Water and Its Importance in Plants and Animals86
- Proteins and Enzymes99
- Nucleic Acids71
- Patterns of Inheritance78
- Population Genetics and Epigenetics59
- Gene Technologies81
- The Principles and Importance of Homeostasis54
- The Hormonal Control of Blood Glucose and the Management of Diabetes64
- and 23 more
- Define meiosis.
- What is meant by a haploid cell?
- What is a homologous pair of chromosomes?
- State the number of chromosomes in a human gamete and in a human zygote.
- Explain why meiosis is essential if the chromosome number is to stay the same from one generation to the next.
- In which organs does meiosis take place in humans?
- How does the outcome of meiosis in a human female differ from that in a human male?
- Where does meiosis occur in a flowering plant?
- Define fertilisation.
- Meiosis is a form of nuclear division in which one diploid cell gives rise to four haploid nuclei, each with half the chromosome number of the parent cell.
- A haploid cell contains a single set of chromosomes, one of each homologous pair, and is written as n.
- A homologous pair is two chromosomes of the same size carrying the same genes at the same loci, one inherited from each parent, though the alleles they carry may differ.
- A human gamete has 23 chromosomes and a human zygote has 46.
- Fertilisation combines two nuclei and so doubles the chromosome number, and meiosis halves it beforehand, so the zygote receives the normal diploid number rather than twice it.
- It takes place in the seminiferous tubules of the testes in males and in the ovaries in females.
- In the female the cytoplasm divides unequally, so one large functional egg cell is produced together with small polar bodies that degenerate, whereas in the male all four products mature into functional sperm.
- It occurs in the anthers, where it leads to the formation of pollen grains, and in the ovules, where it leads to the female gamete.
- Fertilisation is the fusion of the nuclei of a male and a female haploid gamete to form a diploid zygote.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
Is this the right specification? I have seen H420 mentioned.
This guide is Biology B, Advancing Biology, H422. The other OCR specification is Biology A, H420, which is organised into six modules by topic rather than by applied context.
They are different courses. If your code is H420 you need the Biology A guide.
I have heard H422 is being withdrawn. Does that affect me?
It does not affect the exam you sit. OCR is withdrawing H422: the last first teaching was September 2026 and the final assessment is summer 2028, with no resit opportunity after that.
If you are sitting your A-Level in 2027 or 2028 you are on H422 and this is your guide. If you are starting the course after September 2026, check with your school which specification they are entering you for.
Which topics are on which paper?
All of them, on all three. OCR states that each component can draw on any of the five teaching modules. The papers differ in style rather than in content: Component 01 is fundamentals, Component 02 is scientific literacy and Component 03 is practical skills.
Is the Practical Endorsement in it?
The endorsement itself is marked by your teacher and reported separately, so it is not examined and not in the guide.
Practical skills are also examined, and Component 03 is 22 per cent of the grade. That content is in the guide as three topics totalling 312 questions.
OCR A-Level Biology B (Advancing Biology) Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.