4PH1 · Exam technique
The word that decides how you are marked
Every exam question opens with a command word, and it tells you exactly what the mark scheme will pay for. Knowing the biology and answering the wrong kind of question is the most common way to lose marks you could have had.
57.2% of the marks in this course sit behind one word: Explain. If you read nothing else here, read that entry and the one below it — together they carry 72% of every mark available.
Explain
57.2% of the marksSay what happens AND why it happens. The reason is where the marks are.
- A full answer:
- A cause and its consequence, joined up. Expect to write 'because', 'so' or 'this means that' at least once.
- What loses the marks:
- Describing the process and stopping. If your answer would still be true with the word 'because' nowhere in it, you have probably written a Describe answer to an Explain question.
Scores less
Water moves into the root hair cell.
Scores full marks
Water moves into the root hair cell by osmosis, because the soil water is a less concentrated solution than the cell contents.
Describe
15.2% of the marksSay what happens. No reason is needed.
- A full answer:
- The steps or features, in order, in enough detail to be unambiguous.
- What loses the marks:
- Explaining when you were not asked. It costs time you need elsewhere, and it earns nothing.
Give
8.7% of the marksState the fact. Usually one mark, usually a few words.
- A full answer:
- A short phrase. A full sentence is not required and wins nothing extra.
- What loses the marks:
- Writing a paragraph for one mark. Give and State questions are 8.7% and 3.1% of the marks here — answer them fast and spend the time on the Explain questions.
Suggest
5.7% of the marksApply what you know to something unfamiliar. The answer is usually not something you have learned.
- A full answer:
- A sensible biological reason that fits the information you have been given, using the data in the question.
- What loses the marks:
- Waiting to recall the 'right' answer. There often is not one — Suggest questions accept more than one correct response, so use the stem and commit to an answer.
Discuss
4.3% of the marksGive both sides, then say which is stronger.
- A full answer:
- Advantages and disadvantages, or for and against, followed by one sentence of judgement.
- What loses the marks:
- Writing only the side you agree with. An answer that is all advantages cannot reach full marks however many you list.
State
3.1% of the marksGive the fact, with no working and no reason.
- A full answer:
- One line.
- What loses the marks:
- Justifying it. Nothing is awarded for the justification.
Calculate
1.9% of the marksWork out the number.
- A full answer:
- Your working, then the answer, then the unit. Working earns marks even when the final number is wrong.
- What loses the marks:
- Writing the answer alone. If it is wrong you score nothing, where the working would have earned most of the marks.
Compare
1.6% of the marksSay how two things are alike and how they differ.
- A full answer:
- Every point mentioning BOTH things. Use 'whereas' and 'but' — a comparative word such as more, less or faster also works.
- What loses the marks:
- Describing one thing, then the other, in two separate blocks. A point about only one of them is not a comparison.
Name
1.4% of the marksThe name only.
- A full answer:
- One or two words.
- What loses the marks:
- Describing the thing instead of naming it.
Identify
0.4% of the marksPick it out from what you have been given.
- A full answer:
- The label, letter or name — nothing more.
- What loses the marks:
- Explaining your choice when no explanation was asked for.
Devise
0.4% of the marksDesign a method that would work.
- A full answer:
- The steps in order, what you would measure, and what you would keep the same. Enough that someone else could follow it.
- What loses the marks:
- Leaving out the control variables, which are usually worth a mark on their own.
Predict
0.1% of the marksSay what will happen, using what you know.
- A full answer:
- A definite statement about the outcome, not a hedge.
- What loses the marks:
- Writing 'it might change' — commit to a direction.
Complete
0.1% of the marksFill in what is missing.
- A full answer:
- The missing entries, in the table, diagram or equation given.
- What loses the marks:
- Rewriting the whole thing rather than filling the gaps.
Edexcel also uses Determine, Plot, Draw, Label, Define, Evaluate — none of them appear in this question bank yet, so they carry no marks here.
Every question on this site shows its command word above the question, with a one-line reminder of what it asks for. The percentages here are measured from the 0 approved questions in this course, not estimated.
Practise a topic