Another "Suggest" AQA exam question walk through

Here is another example of a “Suggest” question from a past paper.

Find the main “Suggest” article and first example question here

Example 2: Q3 Paper 2 2023

This next question is more complex, and there are two ‘suggest’ questions.

But first - I always recommend you don’t read the actual questions until you’ve looked at the background information, graph etc. Doing this will help you avoid getting overwhelmed and jumping to mistaken conclusions (which is very common in exam situations!).

So let’s keep the questions for later. First make sense of this:

1. Don’t panic!

This question is going to challenge your working memory by throwing lots of information at you all at once. Tackle it bit by bit to make sense of what’s going on.

2. Use your knowledge to make sense of the background information:

There are tomatoes, a “mycorrhizal species’, and different water conditions.

• You know that mycorrhizae are fungi (3.5.4)

• You know that plants need the correct amount of water in order to grow (GCSE)

• You can understand the experiment – including identifying the independent, dependent, and controlled variables. (8.3)

• You can understand the data – what is the graph is showing? (6.4)

Top tip: Write “IV” and “DV” on the paper to identify the Independent and Dependent variables.

Water availability = IV
Whether mycorrhizae were added to the soil = IV
The mean mass of tomatoes = DV

…. What is the graph showing? 

·       The pair of bars on the left of the graph compare the yield of tomatoes from plants grown in conditions of water shortage.

o   The bar on the far left is for plants grown in soil that did not have mycorrhize added. The other is for plants in soil that did have mycorrhizae added.

o   The results show a significant difference between the yield of tomatoes for these two groups of plants. The plants with mycorrhizae yielded more tomatos.

·       The pair of bars on the right compare plants that did not experience water shortage.

o   Again, the bar on the left is without mycorrhizae, and that on the right is with mycorrhizae.

o   The results show no significant difference between the yield of tomatoes from these two groups of plants.

Got that? Ok now you’re ready to look at the questions. How would you approach these?

3. Answer questions in order:

The first part of the question (not shown) is about phosphorous cycles, so you will already be thinking about content from 3.5.4 (Nutrient Cycles).

4. Check the Command Word:

‘Suggest’.

5. Understand the question:

These questions are quite straightforward.

6. Think about relevant information from the spec

• You know that mycorrhizae facilitate the uptake of water and inorganic ions by plants. (3.5.4)

• You know that there are a variety of living organisms in soil, and that these are in competition (3.7.4)

• ou have identified the fertiliser concentration as a controlled variable (8.3)

7. How many marks are there available?

Each question has two reasons for two marks; one mark per reason. Make them good ones!

8. So, what are your answers?

There are a variety of different ways to get the marks, allowing you to play to your strengths. Give it a go before looking at the makr scheme below.

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Q3 Paper 2 2023 Q3.3 – mark scheme

Did you get the marks?

Paper 2 2023 Q3.3 – example answers

Good answer examples, which would win marks:

✅ to ensure that there are no other fungi growing in the soil

✅ to remove any seeds in the soil so that other plants don’t grow and consume the nutrients and water

✅ to ensure that there are no pathogens in the soil that can infect the tomato plants

Poor answers that would not get the mark – can you identify where they’ve gone wrong?

❌ To remove harmful bacteria

❌ To kill everything living in the soil so it doesn’t interfere with the experiment

❌ to make sure that conditions are ideal for growing tomato plants

 

Q3 Paper 2 2023 Q3.4 - markscheme

Paper 2 2023 Q3.4 – example answers

Good answer examples, which would win marks:

✅ The investigation is on the effect of water shortage so the concentration of fertiliser should be a control variable

✅  The concentration of fertiliser will affect the growth of the plant so the recommended amount should be used to get the best crop

✅  Fertilisers can affect the water potential of the soil which may impact how water is absorbed by the roots

Poor answers that would not get the mark – can you identify where they’ve gone wrong?

❌ Without fertiliser the tomatoes won’t grow

❌ So that the soil doesn’t affect the size of the tomatoes

❌ So that the tomatoes can be compare

Article by Natalie Vlachakis (an ex-teacher who also worked for AQA) & Jenny Shipway

AQA - Possible essays - as forecast by AI.....

How I suggested some the POSSIBLE 2025 AQA A-Level Biology Essay Titles

One of the most challenging aspects of A-Level Biology Paper 3 is preparing for the 25-mark synoptic essay. With so many potential topics across the full specification, students often feel overwhelmed. That’s why I’ve taken a systematic approach to identify four high-probability essay titles that could appear in the 2025 exam.

Here’s how I did it:

1. Analysing Past Essay Titles

I reviewed a complete set of past essay questions and their mark schemes, identifying which themes have come up repeatedly and which have been underused in recent cycles. This helped rule out repeats and spot patterns in the kinds of synoptic themes the exam board favours.

2. Cross-Referencing the AQA Specification

Using the official AQA Biology specification, I matched every past title to its relevant topic codes. I then looked for specification areas that:

• Are heavily weighted in content but haven't been examined recently

• Offer rich synoptic potential (e.g. enzymes, feedback, biological molecules)

• Align with the mark scheme’s focus on integration and application

3. Designing Original Titles

To avoid duplicating previous questions, I crafted entirely new titles that:

• Require a synoptic approach using at least four topics

• Encourage explanation, analysis, and application across biological scales

• Are rooted in specification content but phrased in fresh and exam-appropriate language

How to Approach A level Biology Graph and Table Questions: Tips and Exam Question Pack

Get top marks when analysing figures, tables and images by avoiding common mistakes that students make

This article contains key vocabulary, a strategy for how to approach questions for success, a multichoice quiz with answers, and a big pack of past paper exam questions

Don’t panic, it’s only a graph

The single best exam tip for graphs and tables exam questions is to start by looking at the graph or chart itself. DO NOT LOOK AT THE QUESTIONS FIRST! This single thing will help you avoid the most common mistakes that students make.

But you also need to know what you’re doing. Which means you’ll need to be confident with these terms:

Background Knowledge / Vocabulary:

• Independent Variable: The variable that you purposefully set to different values during the experiment

• Dependent Variable: The variable that you measure during the experiment, which is unknown until it is measured

• Replicate: Experimental data is often replicated - the same data point is recorded multiple times for the same conditions

• Accuracy / Precision: Accuracy is how close the replicated values are to the correct value, and precision is how close they are to each other. If there is an unknown problem with the experiment, results can be very precise but have very low accuracy.

• Range / Standard Deviation: The amount of variation in the data. A large range or standard deviation means that the replicated data had a broad range of results. A small range or standard deviation means they were much more similar in value. Range / Standard deviation is therefore a measure of precision.

• Trend: What is the general relationship between the dependent and independent variables? When the experimenter increased the independent variable, what happened to the dependent variable? What shape is the graph?
  

How to Approach the Question:

1. Look at the graph or chart first!
Too many students look at the question first, get confused or panicky about what it is asking, and form preconceptions about what data they need. This then means they are then unable to look at the data clearly, and miss the information they actually need. Looking at the graph or chart first both makes the data easier to understand, and makes it easier to work out what the question is asking.

Trust me, this is a major factor in student success. If you only take away one thing from this article, always look at the graph or chart first.

2. Don’t panic if it’s about something totally unfamiliar
Students can get very thrown if the question is about an organism or molecule that they have never heard of before (the exam boards do this a lot). This sudden panic makes it hard to think clearly.

Remember - if you have covered all the course material, even if the question is about something weird and new then all the information you need will be in the data. The things that look scary are just surface details. If the question was “Fred gave James two apples, how many apples does James have” you wouldn’t need to know who these people were to answer the question.

But don’t just dive in to the details of the data …

What’s going on here?

3. Understand the format
Don’t waste time looking at the actual dots or numbers until you understand how the data has been presented. Check every aspect methodically. It’s too easy to make assumptions based on previous graph/table formats you have seen - this one might be different!

• Look at the headings / axis labels and units. What is the data showing?

• Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable. If possible, it’s helpful to label them “IV” and “DV”.

• What type of data is shown? Is it averages? Does it include a Range or Standard Deviation?

• Graphs: Check the axis labels. Have they plotted rate or time, mass/volume or concentration? Often students assume enzyme graphs have rate on the y axis - but sometimes they don’t!

• Tables: Check: is the Independent Variable in the first column? Is the data in each row consistent?
  
  

4. Look at the data
Now you understand its context, look at the actual dots or lines or numbers. Check:

• Does the Range overwhelm differences in values: Do the range bars or standard deviation bars overlap? If they do, then there is significant overlap between the populations of replicated results that were used to calculated the average values.

• Unspecified Ranges: If there are replicates but no range bars or standard deviation has been calculated, how broad does the range look when you compare the replicated data values to their mean?

• Trends: What trends can you observe? Then think about what principle of biology is being shown by the the trends.

Now think about what it all actually means:

• Values: How would you explain the highest value, the lowest value, the point at which the line crosses the x axis,

• Range: How would you explain the largest range? How would you change the method to reduce the spread in the data?
  
  

5. Ok - NOW look at the actual questions
Try to see past the detail. How does this data/question relate to things you have studied?

Your working memory can easily get overloaded with details, making it hard to think. If the examiners have introduced a new organism, its name won’t be important. What might be important is the environment in which it lives, or its interactions with other organisms. You know what data you have, and what the questions are, so pick out what actually matters here. Is this a question about enyme reaction rates? Or about surface area to volume ratio?

This is why it’s useful to look at the data first - you will be able to look at it with a clear eye, making it easier to pick out how it’s relevant to the material you have studied.

6. Give the required information
Avoid the common mistakes that lose students marks:

• If they say you should use the data, you must either quote it, or show how you have used in in a calculation

• Refer to the axis/data labels wherever possible. Don’t say “the graph goes up”, do say “the saturation of haemoglobin increases”

A-Level Biology Past Paper Graphs and Charts Exam Questions:

Got all that? Ok! Here are some questions for you to practice.

And remember - don’t read the questions until after you have made sense of the graph or chart.

If this post has been helpful, please like ❤️ below and share with your friends. 

This article was written by Dr Jenny Shipway with guidance and editing from Tom. Tom has over 26 years experience specialising in A level Biology teaching and tuition, and has helped many students achieve top grades in the subject.