OCR A 5.1.4 · 15 written questions · 27 marks · about 30 minutes · marked as you go
This free quiz has 15 written exam questions on hormonal communication, all taken from OCR A Level Biology A papers (A level, 2018 to 2024, plus OCR practice or sample papers). 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. Fifteen real OCR A Level exam questions on hormonal communication, from endocrine glands and steroid hormones through the adrenal glands and pancreas to blood glucose control and diabetes.
What the quiz covers (OCR A spec 5.1.4)
Endocrine communication (5.1.4(a)): what makes a gland endocrine or exocrine, and where the receptors for steroid hormones are found.
The adrenal glands (5.1.4(b)): identifying the medulla on a diagram, explaining the symptoms of adrenal failure, and why the fight or flight response still works.
Pancreas histology (5.1.4(c)(i)–(ii)): identifying structures on a photomicrograph of pancreatic tissue.
Blood glucose regulation (5.1.4(d)): the target tissues of insulin, and how calcium channels in beta cells control insulin secretion.
Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes (5.1.4(e)): gestational diabetes, managing high blood glucose, and choosing a suitable drug from data.
Potential treatments (5.1.4(f)): using stem cells to treat diabetes mellitus.
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 22-question Neuronal and Hormonal Communication multiple choice quiz first.
Open the Hormonal Communication 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.
Secrete, never excrete: Students describe endocrine glands as 'excreting' hormones, or releasing them inside the cell. OCR does not allow 'excretes'.
✔ Gains credit: An endocrine gland secretes hormones directly into the blood (it is ductless).
Steroid receptors sit inside cells: Some say steroid hormones pass through the membrane, then put the receptor on the membrane anyway, or think being lipid soluble stops them crossing it.
✔ Gains credit: The receptors are in the cytoplasm or nucleus, because steroids can cross the phospholipid bilayer.
Carbohydrate metabolism, not just metabolism: Linking cortisol to 'metabolism' in general isn't precise enough to explain fatigue and weight loss in adrenal failure.
✔ Gains credit: Cortisol (a glucocorticoid) regulates carbohydrate metabolism, e.g. the availability of glucose.
Ions, not salts, for aldosterone: Students link low blood pressure to a lack of aldosterone but stop there, or talk vaguely about 'salts'. Giving cortisol this role isn't allowed.
✔ Gains credit: A lack of aldosterone causes low blood pressure and salt craving because aldosterone regulates Na⁺ and K⁺ ion concentrations.
ACTH only targets the cortex: Students don't explain why someone without ACTH still has a normal response to danger.
✔ Gains credit: ACTH only affects the adrenal cortex; adrenaline comes from the adrenal medulla, which is not affected.
Nerves drive fight or flight too: Answers mention the sympathetic nervous system without saying what it does here. 'Parasympathetic' is not allowed.
✔ Gains credit: The fight or flight response is also brought about by the sympathetic (autonomic) nervous system.
Exocytosis needs calcium ions in: Saying insulin 'vesicles are not secreted' when calcium channels are blocked doesn't gain credit.
✔ Gains credit: Ca²⁺ ions cannot enter the beta cell, so fewer vesicles fuse with the membrane: less exocytosis of insulin.
Beta cells, not B cells: Writing 'B cells' for the insulin-secreting cells isn't allowed: B cells are lymphocytes.
✔ Gains credit: Beta (β) cells in the islets of Langerhans secrete insulin.
Keep practising
Try the Neuronal and Hormonal Communication multiple choice quiz, the Homeostasis and Excretion multiple choice quiz, the Neuronal Communication written quiz or the Plant and Animal Responses 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.