OCR GCSE · Analysis & Prediction

2025 OCR GCSE Twenty First Century Science - Biology B - J257 Past Paper: Analysis & Answers

June 2025 Foundation Tier Biology B (J257/01 Breadth and J257/02 Depth, 90 marks each, 1h45 each). Accessible, highly structured papers dominated by tick-box, matching, ordering and 'complete using words from the list' items, with data handling, calculations and practical skills worth roughly a quarter of the marks and two 6-mark levels-of-response questions in the Depth paper.

Updated: 11 Nov 2026

Analysis Sample paper

Difficulty 2.2/5

Total marks

180

Duration

210 mins

Most tested

Data handling and drawing conclusions from data

Paper breakdown

J257/01 Breadth in Biology (Foundation): 90 marks · 105 minsJ257/02 Depth in Biology (Foundation): 90 marks · 105 mins

Top chapters

What conclusions can we make from data? · 18 marksHow are organisms in an ecosystem interdependent? · 12 marksHow do producers get the substances they need? · 12 marks

Difficulty verdict

Taken together, the two Foundation papers (180 marks, 3h30 in total) are accessible. Many marks come from recall in closed formats: ticking, matching, ordering steps and completing sentences from a word list. The genuinely demanding marks are the two 6-mark levels-of-response questions (a risk/benefit judgement and a water-cycle explanation), the 'explain why the student is correct' item on a data trend, and the multi-step reading of health data.

Where the marks are

Data, graphs and 'What conclusions can we make from data?' is the single largest block (about 18 marks): calculating means, plotting and drawing curves of best fit, reading charts and drawing conclusions.
Practical and enquiry skills (variables, controls, repeatability, aseptic technique, microscopy) add about 20 more marks across both papers.
Ecosystems, producers, health and lifestyle, and reproduction/cell division each carry 11-12 marks.
Cell structures and the microscope, the nervous system and transport in the body are the next tier.

Common pitfalls to avoid

Calculation questions give the method mark even if the final answer is wrong, so always show working. Also follow rounding instructions such as 'nearest whole number' or '2 decimal places'.
Ordering and matching questions are marked in pairs or per line. Never draw two lines from one box.
The mark scheme repeatedly ignores vague answers such as 'repeat it' or 'keep it a fair test'. Say what is repeated or controlled.
Variables questions: the dependent variable is what you measure, the independent variable is what you change. Do not name the control as the independent variable.
For 'explain' questions, link cause to effect, for example a recessive genotype to the disease, or high BMI from muscle to low health risk.

Strategy

Aim for roughly one minute per mark. Bank the closed marks first, then give the 6-mark questions a short plan: why, how, and a knock-on effect. For levels questions, cover both halves of the question (benefits and risks, or why and how) because answering only one half caps you at Level 1.

Looking ahead

Topics that were light or missing this series but have appeared before are good bets: stem cells, hormones in human reproduction, plant growth control, photosynthesis in detail and the development of evolutionary theory. Practical skills, data analysis and ecosystems are near-certain every year, so they are the safest revision investment.

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Charts

Marks by chapter

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Question type mix

Compare the mark share of each paper section and question type.

Closed / selection (tick, match, order, complete from list)85 marks · 62 questions
Short open response67 marks · 42 questions
Calculation14 marks · 7 questions
Graph plotting / drawing2 marks · 2 questions
Extended level-of-response (6 marks)12 marks · 2 questions

Mark accessibility

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79%within easy or medium reach

easy: 70 marksmedium: 72 markshard: 38 marks

Difficulty trend

Compare difficulty across recent years.

Command word frequency

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Skill weighting

Shows the skill mix this paper tested most heavily.

Study ROI

Higher bubbles carry more marks; bubbles further left are easier. Start with the topics that sit high and to the left.

Data handling, graphs and calculations

18 marks · Difficulty 2.5

Ecosystems, food webs and bioaccumulation

12 marks · Difficulty 2.2

Producers: stomata, water and transport in plants

12 marks · Difficulty 2.4

Lifestyle, obesity and health measures (BMI, waist-to-height)

12 marks · Difficulty 2.5

Meiosis, mitosis, selection and reproduction

11 marks · Difficulty 2.3

Cell structures and microscopy

11 marks · Difficulty 2

Nervous system and reflexes

10 marks · Difficulty 2

Practical skills: variables, repeatability, aseptic technique

8 marks · Difficulty 2.6

Inheritance and Punnett squares

6 marks · Difficulty 2.3

Time vs marks

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marksmins

Next-year prediction

Topics worth watching next year, and why. These are informed guesses from past papers, not a forecast.

What conclusions can we make from data?

Core skill and the largest mark block in 2025; appears essentially every series.

What role do hormones play in human reproduction?

Tested 10 and 12 marks in 2023 and 2024 but not at all in 2025, so likely to return.

How is biodiversity threatened and how can we protect it?

12 marks in 2023 and 5 in 2025; conservation and ecosystem applied contexts are favoured.

What happens during photosynthesis?

Recurring every series but declining in marks (17, 10, 6, then 3); could rebound.

Should we use stem cells to treat damage and disease?

Absent in 2025 and only 4 marks in 2024; short-gap recurrence across earlier series makes a return likely.

How can and should gene technology be used?

Appeared at 8 and 19 marks in earlier series with a small 3-mark showing in 2025.

How are populations affected by conditions in an ecosystem?

16 marks in 2024 but only 1 in 2025, so a larger share is plausible next.

How is plant growth controlled?

Only seen in 2022 (4 marks); long absence.

Cumulative marks ladder

The line is your running mark total question by question; dashed lines are the estimated grade boundaries, taken from the table below when this year's are known. See which question the line crosses your target grade at, so you know how far you must answer cleanly and which questions decide a band.

Topic-year heatmap

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Jun 2022

Jun 2023

Jun 2024

June 2025 — Foundation

How do substances get into, out of and around our bodies?

How does the nervous system help us respond to changes?

How do sexual and asexual reproduction affect evolution?

What needs to be considered when investigating a phenomenon scientifically?

How are organisms in an ecosystem interdependent?

How do producers get the substances they need?

What happens during photosynthesis?

How do organisms protect themselves against pathogens?

How can we treat disease?

How can and should gene technology be used?

Examiner insights

AI-inferred

Common pitfalls

Vague practical answers such as 'repeat it' or 'keep it a fair test' are ignored; the mark scheme requires a specific action (e.g. repeat on other plants, name a control variable).
Drawing more than one line from a single box in matching questions, or ticking two boxes in single-answer questions, scores zero for that item.
Not showing working in calculations: the mark scheme awards method marks and error-carried-forward credit only when working is visible.
Giving unqualified answers such as 'be more healthy', 'sterilise' or 'spray disinfectant' which are explicitly ignored; specific actions are required.
Answering only one half of a two-part levels question (benefits only or risks only; why only or how only), which caps the answer at Level 1.

Misconceptions

Confusing the dependent variable (measured) with the independent variable (changed) and with control variables.
Treating a high BMI as always unhealthy, ignoring muscle mass and waist-to-height ratio.
Believing 'only pathogens cause disease' or that an unhealthy person always shows symptoms.
Thinking resistant trees or individuals 'become' resistant, rather than resistant variants already present being selected and passed on.
Mixing up how the diploid and haploid numbers of chromosomes change during meiosis and fertilisation.

Where marks are lost

Extended 6-mark questions on benefits/risks and the water cycle in a closed system, where the second half (knock-on effects, condensation and return of water) is often omitted.
Explaining a data pattern or prediction, where the underlying reason and a reference to the trend are both needed.
Suggesting improvements to practical technique (aseptic method, safer measurement), where specific named actions are required.
Drawing a smooth curve of best fit and plotting accurately within half a square.

Estimated grade boundary

Updated: 11 Nov 2026

Source: OCR

Grade	Mark	Percentage
5	116/180	64%
4	101/180	56%
3	80/180	44%
2	59/180	33%
1	39/180	22%

Official grade boundaries published by OCR.

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