In short
Edexcel International GCSE Biology (4BI1) has two written papers. Paper 1 (4BI1/1B) lasts 2 hours, is worth 110 marks (61.1%) and tests only content that is not in bold. Paper 2 (4BI1/2B) lasts 1 hour 15 minutes, is worth 70 marks (38.9%) and tests all the content, including the bold 'B' statements. Double Award students sit Paper 1 only.
Edexcel International GCSE Biology (4BI1) is two written exams. Paper 1 (4BI1/1B) lasts 2 hours, is worth 110 marks and counts for 61.1% of the grade. Paper 2 (4BI1/2B) lasts 1 hour 15 minutes, is worth 70 marks and counts for 38.9%. The key difference is content: Paper 1 tests only the statements that are not in bold, while Paper 2 can test everything, including the bold statements with a 'B' after the number. If you take Science (Double Award), you sit the same Paper 1 and never see Paper 2.
Everything here comes from the official Pearson specifications: International GCSE Biology (4BI1), Issue 3, and International GCSE Science (Double Award) (4SD0), Issue 4. Our free notes, questions and tests for the whole course are on the Edexcel IGCSE Biology course page.
Edexcel IGCSE Biology Paper 1 vs Paper 2 at a glance
| Paper 1 (4BI1/1B) | Paper 2 (4BI1/2B) | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | 2 hours | 1 hour 15 minutes |
| Marks | 110 | 70 |
| Weighting | 61.1% | 38.9% |
| Content assessed | Core content that is not in bold and has no 'B' reference | All the content, including the bold 'B' statements |
| Topics | Questions may come from any topic area | Questions may come from any topic area |
| Question styles | Multiple-choice, short-answer, calculations and extended open-response | Multiple-choice, short-answer, calculations and extended open-response |
| Calculator | Allowed | Allowed |
| Also sat by Double Award students? | Yes (as 4SD0/1B) | No |
The course is linear and untiered: everyone sits the same two papers, and both must be taken in the same exam series at the end of the course. Exams are available in June and November. The specification says the total is 180 marks, made by adding Paper 1 (out of 110) to Paper 2 (out of 70), and "the marks for the papers are not scaled". You get one grade from 9 (highest) to 1, based on that total. There is no practical exam or coursework: experimental skills are tested inside both written papers.
The time per mark is almost the same on both papers: 120 minutes for 110 marks on Paper 1, and 75 minutes for 70 marks on Paper 2. That works out at just over a minute per mark either way, so neither paper gives you extra thinking time.
What 'bold' and 'B' mean in the 4BI1 specification
Some statements in the 4BI1 content are printed in bold and numbered with a 'B', such as 2.74B. The specification says these "relate to content that is only in the International GCSE in Biology and is not found in the International GCSE in Science (Double Award)". It also says the bold statements "cover some sub-topics in greater depth". By our count, 42 of the 176 numbered statements are B statements.
So 'Paper 2 only', 'Biology only' and 'not in Double Award' all describe the same set of statements. We checked this statement by statement against both specifications. On our site these are labelled Biology only, and the specification checklist lets you tick them off separately.
Paper 2 is not a 'bold content only' paper. It assesses all the content, so a Paper 2 question can mix a non-bold idea, such as the structure of the heart, with a bold one. Revise the whole course for Paper 2.
4BI1 Paper 2 topics: the bold content
These are the areas where the B statements sit. Anything in this table can come up on Paper 2 but not on Paper 1, and is not in the Double Award.
| Spec points | What the bold content covers | Revise it here |
|---|---|---|
| 2.5B, 2.6B | Cell differentiation and specialised cells; advantages and disadvantages of stem cells in medicine | Stem cells in medicine |
| 2.40B to 2.45B | Gas exchange in flowering plants: diffusion, the leaf and stomata, net gas exchange by day and night, and the hydrogen-carbonate indicator practical | Gas exchange in flowering plants |
| 2.55B to 2.58B | Water uptake by root hair cells, transpiration and the factors that affect its rate, with the leafy shoot practical | Transport in plants |
| 2.63B, 2.64B | Vaccination and memory cells; platelets and blood clotting | Vaccination |
| 2.72B to 2.79B | The kidney: urinary system, nephron, ultrafiltration, reabsorption of water and glucose, ADH and the contents of urine | Excretion |
| 2.95B, 3.10B | The sources, roles and effects of ADH, FSH and LH, and the roles of FSH and LH in the menstrual cycle | FSH and LH |
| 3.16B to 3.18B | DNA structure and base pairing, RNA, and protein synthesis (transcription and translation, mRNA, tRNA, codons and anticodons) | DNA, genes and protein synthesis |
| 3.21B | Codominance | Codominance |
| 3.35B to 3.37B | How a change in DNA can affect the phenotype, how much mutations affect the phenotype, and mutagens | Mutations |
| 4.3B, 4.4B | Biodiversity, and the quadrat practical on distribution and biodiversity | Biodiversity |
| 4.11B | The nitrogen cycle and the roles of its bacteria | Nitrogen cycle |
| 4.18B | The effects of deforestation | Deforestation |
| 5.9B | Fish farming | Fish farming |
| 5.17B to 5.20B | Cloning: micropropagation, cloned mammals (Dolly the sheep) and cloned transgenic animals | Cloning |
| 2.14B, 2.33B | Two practicals: pH and enzyme activity, and the energy content of food | pH and enzymes and energy in food |
Five of the 14 practicals in the specification are B statements: 2.14B, 2.33B, 2.45B, 2.58B and 4.4B. Our sheets for them are pH and enzyme activity, energy content of food, light and net gas exchange, transpiration with a potometer and distribution and biodiversity. All 14 are on the Edexcel IGCSE practicals page.
What is examined where
| Content | 4BI1 Paper 1 (also Double Award biology) | 4BI1 Paper 2 | Double Award (4SD0) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-bold statements, all five topics | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bold 'B' statements | No | Yes | No |
| Non-bold practicals (for example 2.9 food tests, 2.12 temperature and enzymes, 2.17 diffusion and osmosis) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| B practicals (2.14B, 2.33B, 2.45B, 2.58B, 4.4B) | No | Yes | No |
Both papers can ask about any of the five topics: the nature and variety of living organisms, structure and functions in living organisms, reproduction and inheritance, ecology and the environment, and use of biological resources. There is no split where one paper covers the first half of the course and the other covers the second.
Double Award biology paper 1 (4SD0)
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Science (Double Award), 4SD0, has three papers: Biology Paper 1, Chemistry Paper 1 and Physics Paper 1. The biology paper is the same paper that Biology students sit as Paper 1. The specification gives it the codes 4BI1/1B and 4SD0/1B.
| International GCSE Biology (4BI1) | Science Double Award (4SD0) | |
|---|---|---|
| Biology papers | Paper 1 (4BI1/1B) and Paper 2 (4BI1/2B) | Biology Paper 1 only (4SD0/1B, the same paper as 4BI1/1B) |
| Biology exam time | 3 hours 15 minutes | 2 hours |
| Biology marks | 180 (110 + 70) | 110, out of 330 for the whole Double Award |
| Weighting of the biology paper | 61.1% (Paper 1) and 38.9% (Paper 2) | 33.3% of the Double Award |
| Bold 'B' content | Examined on Paper 2 | Not in the course and not examined |
| Grade | 9 to 1 | 9-9 to 1-1, from the total of all three papers; individual papers are not graded |
In practice, Double Award biology is the 4BI1 content with the 42 bold statements taken out. The Double Award specification keeps the 4BI1 numbering, so its list jumps over the missing points (2.4 is followed by 2.7, for example). A few shared statements have small wording changes, but none changes what you need to know. Our Edexcel IGCSE Double Award course hides the Biology-only content for you, and it has its own Double Award specification checklist.
Question types on both papers
The specification says each paper has "a mixture of different question styles, including multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions, calculations and extended open-response questions". The assessment objectives are the same on both papers, in the same proportions:
| Assessment objective | Whole qualification | Paper 1 | Paper 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AO1: knowledge and understanding | 38–42% | 23.2–25.7% | 14.8–16.3% |
| AO2: application, analysis and evaluation | 38–42% | 23.2–25.7% | 14.8–16.3% |
| AO3: experimental skills, and analysis and evaluation of data and methods | 19–21% | 11.6–12.8% | 7.4–8.2% |
So roughly a fifth of the marks on each paper are for experimental skills, even though there is no practical exam. Practise questions on variables, controls, results tables, graphs and improving a method, using the 14 specification practicals as your starting point. For how answers are marked point by point, read our guide to how IGCSE Biology is marked.
A revision plan for Paper 1 and Paper 2
- Print or open the 4BI1 specification checklist and mark which statements are Biology only. Double Award students use the Double Award checklist instead.
- Learn the non-bold content first, topic by topic, using the Edexcel IGCSE Biology revision notes. It is on both papers, so it is worth the most.
- Test yourself with the flashcards and link ideas together with the mind maps.
- Once a topic is secure, add its bold content. The biggest blocks are the kidney (2.72B to 2.79B), plant gas exchange (2.40B to 2.45B), transpiration (2.55B to 2.58B), protein synthesis (3.16B to 3.18B) and cloning (5.17B to 5.20B).
- Go through all 14 practicals on the practicals page. For each one, say the independent variable, the dependent variable, two controlled variables and how you would improve it.
- Practise questions by subtopic in the Edexcel IGCSE exam questions, for example excretion and DNA and protein synthesis for Paper 2 content.
- Check yourself with the topic tests and learn the key words in the glossary.
- Finish with real papers under timed conditions: 2 hours for Paper 1 and 1 hour 15 minutes for Paper 2. Our Edexcel IGCSE past papers page explains where to find them on Pearson's site.
Pearson publishes past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports on its past papers search and on the International GCSE Biology course materials page. Double Award papers are on the Science (Double Award) course materials page, and our Double Award past papers page points to them. The most recent papers may be locked for teachers, so ask your school if a series is missing.
Common mistakes
- Treating Paper 2 as a 'bold only' paper. It assesses all the content, so non-bold topics are fair game on Paper 2 too.
- Leaving the B content until the end. It is 42 statements, including whole subtopics such as the nephron and protein synthesis. Plan time for it.
- Skipping the B practicals. pH and enzymes, energy in food, net gas exchange, transpiration and the biodiversity quadrat practical can all be asked about on Paper 2.
- Double Award students revising bold content. It is not in the Double Award and is not examined on Biology Paper 1. Use the Double Award pages, which leave it out.
- Thinking Paper 1 covers only some topics. Questions may come from any topic area across the specification, on both papers.
- Mixing up the two Paper 1s. The Double Award biology paper is the same 2-hour, 110-mark paper as 4BI1 Paper 1, so 4BI1/1B past papers are the right practice for Double Award biology.
- Forgetting the experimental skills. About a fifth of the marks test them, so practise graphs, tables, variables and evaluation, not just recall.
If you are comparing boards, see Cambridge vs Edexcel IGCSE Biology. If you want help preparing for Paper 1 or Paper 2, we offer 1-to-1 biology tutoring online and in Dubai.
Sources: Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Biology (4BI1) specification, Issue 3 and Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Science (Double Award) (4SD0) specification, Issue 4/2017/specification-and-sample-assessments/international-gcse-science-double-award-2017-specification1.pdf).