OCR A 4.1.1(e)–(n) · 21 written questions · 49 marks · about 60 minutes · marked as you go
This free quiz has 21 written exam questions on the immune system, vaccines and antibiotics, all taken from OCR A Level Biology A papers (AS and A level, 2017 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 specific and non-specific immune responses in OCR A topic 4.1.1, from phagocytes and lymphocytes to antibodies, immunity, vaccination, sources of medicines and antibiotic resistance.
What the quiz covers (OCR A spec 4.1.1(e)–(n))
Phagocytes and blood smears (4.1.1(e)): the roles of phagosomes and lysosomes, the order of the stages of phagocytosis, identifying white blood cells in a micrograph and preparing a blood smear.
Lymphocytes (4.1.1(f)): which features belong to B cells, T cells or both, the roles of T lymphocytes in immunity to a virus, and cell signalling with interleukins.
Primary and secondary responses (4.1.1(g)): how memory cells are produced and why the response to a mutated influenza strain differs from the first infection.
Antibodies (4.1.1(h)–(i)): antibody structure compared with a Fab fragment, and recognising opsonins, agglutinins and anti-toxins from diagrams.
Immunity and autoimmune disease (4.1.1(j)–(k)): the type of immunity a vaccine gives and what the term autoimmune disease means.
Vaccination, medicines and antibiotics (4.1.1(l)–(n)): errors about vaccines, why flu vaccines change, vaccination programmes and epidemics, early polio vaccines, biodiversity and new medicines, personalised medicine, antibiotic resistance and comparing two antibiotics from data.
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 28-question Communicable Diseases and Immunity multiple choice quiz first.
Open the The Immune System, Vaccines and Antibiotics 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.
Lysosome enzymes, not lysozymes: Many students called the digestive enzymes in lysosomes 'lysozymes', which OCR did not allow.
✔ Gains credit: Lysosomes fuse with the phagosome and their enzymes digest the pathogen.
Fusion comes before digestion: Students often had the lysosome fusing directly with the pathogen, or the pathogen being digested before the lysosome joins the phagosome.
✔ Gains credit: The pathogen is enclosed in a phagosome; a lysosome fuses with it to form a phagolysosome; then the enzymes digest the pathogen.
Interleukins, not perforins: T helper cells were said to release perforins to stimulate B cells. Perforins are not the signalling molecules.
✔ Gains credit: T helper cells release interleukins (cytokines), which stimulate B cells to divide (clonal expansion).
Memory cells make plasma cells: Answers on the secondary response were often vague, saying memory cells 'remember' the pathogen and make antibodies themselves.
✔ Gains credit: Memory cells divide to form plasma cells, which rapidly release antibodies that bind to the antigen.
Artificial and active, both words: For the immunity given by a vaccine, many gave only one descriptor, and 'herd immunity' was the most common wrong answer.
✔ Gains credit: Artificial active immunity.
Opsonins and agglutinins are antibodies: Shown diagrams of antibodies at work, students who scored nothing often named types of white blood cell instead of antibodies; opsonin was the least well known.
✔ Gains credit: Opsonin, agglutinin and anti-toxin (phonetic spellings were accepted).
Lymphocytes aren't macrophages: In a blood smear micrograph, many students named a lymphocyte as a macrophage or monocyte.
✔ Gains credit: (T or B) lymphocyte; the cell with a lobed nucleus is a neutrophil.
Infection risk, not 'illness': For a symptom of having no mature B cells, answers using 'illness' or 'disease' were not credited, and some just repeated facts about B cells.
✔ Gains credit: Greater susceptibility to infection, because there are fewer plasma cells and so fewer antibodies.
Keep practising
Try the Communicable Diseases and Immunity multiple choice quiz, the Classification and Evolution multiple choice quiz, the Communicable Diseases, Pathogens and Plant Defences written quiz or the Biodiversity 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.