Reaction to 2025 Leaving Certificate Biology (Higher Level) by Wesley Hammond, Biology teacher at The Institute of Education.
- Students really needed to focus on the granular details of each chapter and the questions interrogated a broad span of details.
Students who were diligent in their past papers and didn’t cut corners when revising chapters will be happy with this paper. Many of the areas that students consider as ‘bankers’ for their marks were nicely represented. Unit 1’s Scientific method, Food and, Ecology comprised 32.5% of the questions, while the 8 chapters of Human Biology made up 50%. Typically, less popular topics like Plant Biology were present but in a smaller role allowing students to minimize their weaknesses when choosing questions.
Section A’s short questions won’t have thrown anyone. There were no surprises and if you had put in the time to work through past papers you will recognise much of it. While all questions might not suit everyone (Q2’s longitudinal section of the root may challenge those less confident in plant biology), there were plenty of viable alternatives to let them demonstrate their efforts over the last two years.
Everyone will be happy with Section B’s selection of experiments, but the formulation of some questions will push them to really know the specifics. Like last year, the questions on method offers no scaffolding or leading questions to prompt the weaker student along. If students knew the experiments thoroughly this wouldn’t be an issue but they needed that command and confidence to make the most of it. Thankfully Q9 and Q10 allow students the option of adding a diagram which will give some the chance to cross the line and get a few more marks.
Turning to Section C, some might be surprised to see Q11 and Q12 covering Plant Reproduction and Genetics respectively. Many students avoid these chapters as they are often the most challenging parts of the course, but if a student had put in the dedicated effort to rise to that challenge, these were good questions. For those looking for alternatives, reading on gave them a wealth of options to navigate. Each question balanced the accessible aspects of the chapters with the more granular details, really tested the span of students’ grasps. For example, Q13 was very specific in asking “energized particles” and later “enzyme immobilisation”; the latter is normally part of Section B’s experiments. Similarly Q16 asked on sexual reproduction in Rhizopus in part (a) and exhalation from human breathing in part (b), both of which would push the extent of a student’s grasp of the whole chapter. This is balanced with the likes of Q14 which saw the awaited appearance of the eye and ear and the definition heavy Q15. The whole paper was best summarised by Q17, which placed the nicest and hardest questions on the papers side by side. But with so much internal choice anyone would have the chance to find questions that suited them.
Students who spent the time going back and working through past papers will feel rewarded and leave the exam satisfied that their efforts will have really paid off.