OCR A 4.2.2 · 22 written questions · 42 marks · about 50 minutes · marked as you go
This free quiz has 22 written exam questions on classification and evolution, all taken from OCR A Level Biology A papers (AS and A level, 2018 to 2025). Short answers mark themselves. For longer answers you write your answer, then tick off the OCR mark-scheme points you made, so you see exactly where the marks are. This quiz covers the whole of OCR A 4.2.2: how organisms are classified and named, the five kingdoms and three domains, how classification links to phylogeny, the evidence for evolution, types of variation and adaptation, and how natural selection leads to resistance.
What the quiz covers (OCR A spec 4.2.2)
Classification and binomial names (4.2.2(a)(b)): the taxonomic hierarchy, writing genus names correctly and the advantages of the binomial system.
Kingdoms and domains (4.2.2(c)(i)(ii)): features of plants, fungi and animals, the three domains, and how molecular evidence changed classification.
Classification and phylogeny (4.2.2(d)): how classification is based on evolutionary relationships, and reading relationships from a classification table.
Evidence for evolution (4.2.2(e)): fossils, molecular evidence from DNA and protein sequences, and the contribution of Darwin and Wallace.
Variation (4.2.2(f)): intraspecific variation, continuous variation and environmental causes of variation.
Adaptation and natural selection (4.2.2(g)(h)): physiological adaptations, convergent evolution, the peppered moth and predators as a selection pressure.
Implications for humans (4.2.2(i)): antibiotic resistance in bacteria and insecticide resistance in insects.
How to use it
Write every answer in full, as you would in the exam: the mark for each question is shown, so you know how much to write. When you self-mark, only tick a point if your answer clearly makes it, then read the examiner's tip under each question. Your progress is saved on your device, so you can do it in two sittings, and at the end you can retry just the questions where you dropped marks.
Prefer multiple choice? Try the 27-question Classification and Evolution multiple choice quiz first.
Open the Classification and Evolution quiz in a new tab (easier on a phone)
Where students lose marks (from OCR examiners' reports and mark schemes)
Each point below is followed by wording that gained marks.
Alleles, not genes: Students write that 'genes are passed on' in natural selection. Every member of a species has the same genes; what changes is which version of the gene is passed on.
✔ Gains credit: 'Better adapted individuals are more likely to reproduce and pass on the beneficial alleles to the next generation.'
Capital letter for the genus: When asked for a genus, students write it all in lower case, misspell it, or add the species name. OCR wants the genus alone, with a capital first letter.
✔ Gains credit: 'Felis': one word, capital F, spelled exactly as in the question.
Explain what 'universal' means: Asked for an advantage of the binomial system, many students just write 'it is universal', or say it is used to identify the organism.
✔ Gains credit: 'Scientists in different countries, with different languages, all use the same name, which avoids confusion from local common names.'
Pick out the steps, don't copy the text: In long natural selection questions, students copy chunks of the introductory text instead of picking out how selection actually works.
✔ Gains credit: 'The dark colour is due to a different allele; in polluted areas dark moths are less likely to be eaten, so more of them reproduce and the frequency of the dark allele increases.'
Unrelated but similar: convergent evolution: Students describe the similar features of two organisms but don't say they are not closely related, or don't back either point with evidence from the figure.
✔ Gains credit: 'They are in different families and live on different continents, so they evolved separately, but both have modified forelimbs for burrowing in soil.'
Answer how it is evidence: Asked how antibiotic resistance is evidence for evolution, students explain how resistance develops but never say why that counts as evidence.
✔ Gains credit: 'The antibiotic is a selection pressure, and because bacteria reproduce so quickly we can observe evolution happening in a short time.'
Say 'harder to treat', not 'doesn't work': On the implications of antibiotic resistance, vague answers such as 'antibiotics stop working' or 'bacterial infections can't be killed' are not credited, and nor is 'bacteria are immune'.
✔ Gains credit: 'Bacterial infections become harder to treat, so more people die and new antibiotics are needed.'
Dates aren't classification features: When comparing the five kingdom and three domain systems, students say the domain system is more recent. A date is not a feature of the classification system.
✔ Gains credit: 'The three domain system has six kingdoms and is based on similarities in molecules such as rRNA.'
Keep practising
Try the Classification and Evolution multiple choice quiz, the Genetics and Evolution multiple choice quiz, the Biodiversity written quiz or the Homeostasis and Excretion written quiz, or browse all our OCR A Level Biology quizzes. Our OCR A masterclasses (Year 12 on Wednesdays at 5.15pm, Year 13 on Tuesdays at 6.30pm) work through real exam questions on one topic each week.
Questions, mark schemes and examiners' report extracts © OCR.