GCSE Biology Practice Test 1 – 60 Questions with Answers (AQA 8461)
Work through all 60 GCSE questions, checking each answer as you go to build confidence for your AQA Biology exam.
Cell biology
Q1. Which organelle controls the activities of a cell?
- (A) Nucleus
- (B) Ribosome
- (C) Mitochondrion
- (D) Vacuole
Show Answer
Answer: A – The nucleus contains genetic material that controls cell activities.
Q2. Which structure is the site of aerobic respiration in a cell?
- (A) Mitochondrion
- (B) Cell membrane
- (C) Golgi body
- (D) Chloroplast
Show Answer
Answer: A – Mitochondria release energy from glucose using oxygen.
Q3. What is the function of ribosomes?
- (A) To control entry of substances
- (B) To carry out photosynthesis
- (C) To make proteins
- (D) To store water
Show Answer
Answer: C – Ribosomes synthesise proteins from amino acids.
Q4. Which feature is found in plant cells but not in animal cells?
- (A) Mitochondria
- (B) A nucleus
- (C) A cell membrane
- (D) A large permanent vacuole
Show Answer
Answer: D – Plant cells usually have a large permanent vacuole filled with cell sap.
Q5. What does the cell membrane do?
- (A) Controls what enters and leaves the cell
- (B) Stores genetic information
- (C) Produces energy
- (D) Makes glucose
Show Answer
Answer: A – The partially permeable membrane regulates substances entering and leaving.
Q6. A cell is viewed with a microscope. The image is 12 mm wide and the real cell is 0.02 mm wide. What is the magnification?
- (A) 60x
- (B) 600x
- (C) 6000x
- (D) 60,000x
Show Answer
Answer: B – Magnification = image size / real size = 12 / 0.02 = 600.
Q7. If a drawing is magnified 400x and the real object is 0.05 mm long, how long is the image?
- (A) 2 mm
- (B) 20 mm
- (C) 200 mm
- (D) 0.2 mm
Show Answer
Answer: B – Image size = 400 x 0.05 mm = 20 mm.
Q8. Which term describes a cell that can divide to form other types of cell?
- (A) A red blood cell
- (B) A stem cell
- (C) A muscle cell
- (D) A nerve cell
Show Answer
Answer: B – Stem cells are undifferentiated and can develop into specialised cells.
Q9. Where are adult stem cells found in humans?
- (A) The lungs only
- (B) The stomach lining only
- (C) Bone marrow
- (D) The brain only
Show Answer
Answer: C – Bone marrow contains stem cells that make blood cells.
Organisation
Q10. Which organ produces bile?
- (A) Liver
- (B) Stomach
- (C) Gall bladder
- (D) Pancreas
Show Answer
Answer: A – The liver makes bile, which is stored in the gall bladder.
Q11. What does bile do in digestion?
- (A) Neutralises enzymes
- (B) Breaks down protein
- (C) Emulsifies fats into small droplets
- (D) Digests starch
Show Answer
Answer: C – Emulsification increases fat surface area for lipase action.
Q12. Which enzyme breaks down starch?
- (A) Protease
- (B) Amylase
- (C) Pepsin
- (D) Lipase
Show Answer
Answer: B – Amylase breaks starch into sugars.
Q13. Where is amylase produced?
- (A) Stomach only
- (B) Salivary glands and pancreas
- (C) Liver only
- (D) Small intestine only
Show Answer
Answer: B – Amylase is made in the salivary glands and the pancreas.
Q14. Which enzyme breaks down proteins into amino acids?
- (A) Amylase
- (B) Lipase
- (C) Protease
- (D) Cellulase
Show Answer
Answer: C – Proteases digest proteins to amino acids.
Q15. What does lipase break down?
- (A) Proteins to amino acids
- (B) Lipids to fatty acids and glycerol
- (C) Fibre to glucose
- (D) Starch to glucose
Show Answer
Answer: B – Lipase digests lipids into fatty acids and glycerol.
Q16. Why does the stomach produce hydrochloric acid?
- (A) To absorb glucose
- (B) To digest fats
- (C) To kill bacteria and give pepsin its optimum pH
- (D) To emulsify fats
Show Answer
Answer: C – Acid kills pathogens and provides the low pH protease needs.
Q17. Where does most digestion and absorption of food occur?
- (A) Large intestine
- (B) Small intestine
- (C) Oesophagus
- (D) Stomach
Show Answer
Answer: B – The small intestine is where enzymes act and nutrients are absorbed.
Q18. Which adaptation of the small intestine increases absorption?
- (A) A low pH
- (B) Few blood capillaries
- (C) Thick walls
- (D) Villi giving a large surface area
Show Answer
Answer: D – Villi greatly increase surface area and have a rich blood supply.
Infection and response
Q19. Which type of pathogen causes influenza?
- (A) Virus
- (B) Fungus
- (C) Protist
- (D) Bacterium
Show Answer
Answer: A – Influenza is caused by a virus.
Q20. Which disease is caused by a bacterium?
- (A) Athlete’s foot
- (B) Measles
- (C) Malaria
- (D) Salmonella food poisoning
Show Answer
Answer: D – Salmonella bacteria cause food poisoning.
Q21. Which organism spreads malaria between people?
- (A) A housefly
- (B) A flea
- (C) A tick
- (D) A female Anopheles mosquito
Show Answer
Answer: D – Female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit Plasmodium when they bite an infected person and then bite someone else.
Q22. Which disease is caused by a fungus?
- (A) HIV
- (B) Tuberculosis
- (C) Rose black spot
- (D) Cholera
Show Answer
Answer: C – Rose black spot is a fungal disease of plants.
Q23. How do viruses reproduce?
- (A) By forming spores
- (B) By budding in soil
- (C) By binary fission
- (D) By taking over a host cell to make copies
Show Answer
Answer: D – Viruses must infect a host cell and use its machinery.
Q24. Which is a symptom of measles?
- (A) Coughing blood
- (B) Red rash and fever
- (C) Diarrhoea
- (D) Yellow leaves
Show Answer
Answer: B – Measles causes a red rash, fever and cold-like symptoms.
Q25. How is measles spread?
- (A) By droplets in the air
- (B) By insect bites
- (C) By sexual contact
- (D) By contaminated water
Show Answer
Answer: A – Measles spreads through airborne droplets from coughs and sneezes.
Q26. After a second infection by the same pathogen, why is the immune response faster than the first time?
- (A) The pathogen is weaker the second time
- (B) Memory cells divide rapidly and produce antibodies quickly
- (C) The skin becomes thicker after the first infection
- (D) Antibiotics remain in the blood from the first infection
Show Answer
Answer: B – Memory lymphocytes formed during the first infection recognise the pathogen and mount a rapid antibody response.
Q27. What is an antibody?
- (A) A protein that binds to a specific antigen
- (B) A type of antibiotic
- (C) A hormone
- (D) A chemical that kills all cells
Show Answer
Answer: A – Antibodies are specific proteins made by white blood cells.
Bioenergetics
Q28. In photosynthesis, which pair of substances is produced?
- (A) Carbon dioxide and water
- (B) Glucose and carbon dioxide
- (C) Oxygen and water only
- (D) Glucose and oxygen
Show Answer
Answer: D – Photosynthesis uses light energy to make glucose, and oxygen is released as a by-product.
Q29. Which pigment absorbs light for photosynthesis?
- (A) Haemoglobin
- (B) Chlorophyll
- (C) Melanin
- (D) Carotene only
Show Answer
Answer: B – Chlorophyll in chloroplasts traps light energy.
Q30. Which factor does NOT affect the rate of photosynthesis?
- (A) Temperature
- (B) Soil pH directly
- (C) Light intensity
- (D) Carbon dioxide concentration
Show Answer
Answer: B – Light, carbon dioxide and temperature are the main limiting factors.
Q31. At low light intensity, which factor limits photosynthesis?
- (A) Temperature
- (B) Carbon dioxide
- (C) Light intensity
- (D) Water supply
Show Answer
Answer: C – When light is scarce, more light increases the rate.
Q32. What is a limiting factor?
- (A) A factor in shortest supply that limits the rate
- (B) A factor that is always abundant
- (C) A harmful chemical
- (D) A factor that stops all reactions
Show Answer
Answer: A – The rate is set by whichever needed factor is scarcest.
Q33. How is glucose used in a plant after photosynthesis?
- (A) Only stored as starch
- (B) Only to make chlorophyll
- (C) Only for respiration
- (D) For respiration, making cellulose, starch, proteins and oils
Show Answer
Answer: D – Glucose is a versatile building material and energy source.
Q34. In which form do plants store glucose?
- (A) Starch
- (B) Cellulose
- (C) Sucrose only
- (D) Glycogen
Show Answer
Answer: A – Plants convert glucose to insoluble starch for storage.
Q35. Which substance is needed to make plant proteins?
- (A) Potassium ions
- (B) Magnesium ions
- (C) Nitrate ions
- (D) Phosphate ions
Show Answer
Answer: C – Nitrate provides nitrogen for amino acids and proteins.
Q36. During photosynthesis, where does the energy for making glucose come from?
- (A) Light energy
- (B) Heat from the soil
- (C) Energy stored in water
- (D) Energy stored in carbon dioxide
Show Answer
Answer: A – Light energy is transferred to chemical energy stored in glucose.
Homeostasis and response
Q37. When body temperature rises above normal, what happens to help cool the body?
- (A) Shivering starts
- (B) Hairs stand up on the skin
- (C) Sweating increases and blood vessels in the skin dilate
- (D) Metabolic rate rises sharply
Show Answer
Answer: C – Sweating loses heat by evaporation and dilated vessels bring more warm blood to the skin surface.
Q38. Which structure detects a change in the environment?
- (A) Hormone
- (B) Effector
- (C) Receptor
- (D) Motor neurone
Show Answer
Answer: C – Receptors detect stimuli such as light, sound or temperature.
Q39. Which is the correct order in a reflex arc?
- (A) CNS -> receptor -> sensory neurone -> effector
- (B) Effector -> sensory neurone -> CNS -> motor neurone -> receptor
- (C) Receptor -> sensory neurone -> CNS -> motor neurone -> effector
- (D) Receptor -> motor neurone -> CNS -> sensory neurone -> effector
Show Answer
Answer: C – The impulse travels from receptor to effector via the CNS.
Q40. Why are reflex actions fast?
- (A) They bypass conscious parts of the brain, using a short pathway
- (B) They use hormones
- (C) They use larger nerves
- (D) They involve conscious thought
Show Answer
Answer: A – Reflexes avoid slow conscious processing, protecting the body quickly.
Q41. Which part of the nervous system coordinates a reflex?
- (A) Effector only
- (B) Receptor only
- (C) Brain only
- (D) Spinal cord or brain (CNS)
Show Answer
Answer: D – The CNS coordinates the reflex response.
Q42. Which neurone carries impulses from a receptor to the CNS?
- (A) Effector neurone
- (B) Motor neurone
- (C) Sensory neurone
- (D) Relay neurone
Show Answer
Answer: C – Sensory neurones carry impulses towards the CNS.
Q43. Which neurone carries impulses from the CNS to an effector?
- (A) Receptor neurone
- (B) Sensory neurone
- (C) Relay neurone
- (D) Motor neurone
Show Answer
Answer: D – Motor neurones carry impulses to muscles or glands.
Q44. What is an effector?
- (A) A receptor
- (B) A nerve cell
- (C) A sense organ
- (D) A muscle or gland that carries out a response
Show Answer
Answer: D – Effectors are muscles or glands that respond.
Inheritance, variation and evolution
Q45. Where in a cell are genes found?
- (A) In ribosomes
- (B) On chromosomes in the nucleus
- (C) In mitochondria only
- (D) In the cell membrane
Show Answer
Answer: B – Genes are sections of DNA carried on chromosomes inside the nucleus.
Q46. Where is DNA found in a eukaryotic cell?
- (A) In the cytoplasm only
- (B) In ribosomes only
- (C) In the nucleus (and mitochondria)
- (D) In the cell membrane
Show Answer
Answer: C – Most DNA is in the nucleus, with small amounts in mitochondria.
Q47. What are the four bases in DNA?
- (A) C, G, T, U
- (B) A, C, G, U
- (C) A, T, C, G
- (D) A, G, P, T
Show Answer
Answer: C – DNA bases are adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine.
Q48. Which base pairs with adenine in DNA?
- (A) Guanine
- (B) Thymine
- (C) Uracil
- (D) Cytosine
Show Answer
Answer: B – Adenine pairs with thymine; cytosine pairs with guanine.
Q49. What is a chromosome?
- (A) A protein
- (B) A gamete
- (C) A single gene
- (D) A long DNA molecule coiled with proteins
Show Answer
Answer: D – Chromosomes are packaged DNA molecules.
Q50. How many chromosomes are in a normal human body cell?
- (A) 23
- (B) 46
- (C) 92
- (D) 22
Show Answer
Answer: B – Humans have 23 pairs, 46 chromosomes in body cells.
Q51. How many chromosomes are in a human gamete?
- (A) 23
- (B) 92
- (C) 12
- (D) 46
Show Answer
Answer: A – Gametes are haploid, with one set of 23 chromosomes.
Q52. Two pea plants have different alleles for seed shape. What does this mean?
- (A) They have different numbers of chromosomes
- (B) They are different species
- (C) They carry their seed-shape genes on different chromosomes
- (D) They carry different versions of the seed-shape gene
Show Answer
Answer: D – Alleles are alternative forms of the same gene, so the plants carry different versions of that gene.
Ecology
Q53. What is a habitat?
- (A) All species on Earth
- (B) The place where an organism lives
- (C) A food chain
- (D) A population
Show Answer
Answer: B – A habitat is the place and conditions where an organism lives.
Q54. In a woodland, all the oak trees together form which ecological term?
- (A) A community
- (B) An ecosystem
- (C) A population
- (D) A habitat
Show Answer
Answer: C – A population is all the members of one species living in a particular area.
Q55. A pond contains frogs, algae, fish and bacteria living together. Together these organisms form which term?
- (A) A community
- (B) An abiotic factor
- (C) A population
- (D) A food chain
Show Answer
Answer: A – A community is all the populations of different species living together in a habitat.
Q56. Which of these is an ecosystem?
- (A) A rock pool with its seaweed, crabs and seawater interacting
- (B) A single crab
- (C) All the crabs on a shore
- (D) Seawater alone
Show Answer
Answer: A – An ecosystem is a community plus its non-living environment interacting together.
Q57. Which is an abiotic factor?
- (A) Competitors
- (B) Disease
- (C) Predators
- (D) Temperature
Show Answer
Answer: D – Abiotic factors are non-living, such as temperature and light.
Q58. Which is a biotic factor?
- (A) Wind
- (B) Soil pH
- (C) Rainfall
- (D) Competition for food
Show Answer
Answer: D – Biotic factors involve living organisms.
Q59. What is a producer?
- (A) An organism that makes its own food, usually by photosynthesis
- (B) A decomposer
- (C) A predator
- (D) An animal that eats plants
Show Answer
Answer: A – Producers form the base of food chains.
Q60. What is a primary consumer?
- (A) An organism that eats other consumers
- (B) A decomposer
- (C) A producer
- (D) An organism that eats producers
Show Answer
Answer: D – Primary consumers are herbivores eating plants.
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