AQA GCSE Biology Biology Paper 1 (Higher), 2024: Question 1

✅ Correct answer

Arteries

The coronary arteries supply the heart muscle.

💡 Key knowledge

• Coronary heart disease affects the coronary arteries.
• These arteries can become narrowed by fatty deposits.
• Reduced blood flow means less oxygen reaches the heart muscle.

🧠 Exam technique

For a 1-mark multiple choice question, the examiner wants the single correct option. Tick arteries, not capillaries or veins.

❌ Common errors

• Choosing veins because they carry blood back to the heart.
• Choosing capillaries because they are the smallest vessels.
• Forgetting this is about the vessels supplying the heart itself.

✅ Correct answer

Putting pressure on the heart pushes / moves blood so that it can get oxygen around the body.

2 marks: one for moving blood, one for oxygen delivery.

💡 Key knowledge

• When the heart is compressed, blood is forced out of the heart.
• This keeps oxygenated blood circulating to organs and tissues.
• Accept: blood being pushed through blood vessels.

🧠 Exam technique

To get both marks, include two ideas:

1. It moves/pushes blood.
2. This helps oxygen reach the body or a named organ.

Short answers can still gain full marks if they include both points clearly.

❌ Common errors

• Saying it helps the person by restarting the heart only — this was ignored by the mark scheme.
• Talking only about the pacemaker.
• Saying oxygen goes to the lungs instead of the body.

✅ Correct answer

It provides oxygen for respiration.

1 mark: clear mention of oxygen or respiration.

💡 Key knowledge

• Lungs take in oxygen from the air.
• Oxygen is needed for aerobic respiration in body cells.
• Carbon dioxide is removed from the body during breathing.

🧠 Exam technique

Keep it simple: mention oxygen and either respiration or body cells.

❌ Common errors

• Saying it helps the lungs “start working” without mentioning oxygen.
• Talking only about carbon dioxide removal.
• Giving a long explanation but missing the key word oxygen.

✅ Correct answer

Statins

“Statin” or a named statin is acceptable.

💡 Key knowledge

• Statins lower blood cholesterol.
• Lower cholesterol means less fatty material can build up in arteries.

🧠 Exam technique

For a 1-mark recall question, the exact drug class is enough. No explanation needed.

❌ Common errors

• Writing “painkillers” or “antibiotics”.
• Giving a process instead of a drug name.
• Spelling is not usually the issue if the drug is clearly recognisable.

✅ Correct answer

A stent opens / widens a blocked blood vessel so that more blood can flow to the heart.

2 marks: 1 for opening/widening the vessel, 1 for increased blood flow or more oxygen/glucose to the heart.

💡 Key knowledge

• A stent is used when a coronary artery is narrowed.
• It keeps the artery open.
• This restores blood supply to heart muscle cells.

🧠 Exam technique

To get full marks, describe the effect of the stent and the result:

1. Opens/widens the vessel.
2. Allows more blood to reach the heart.

You can also say more oxygen or glucose reaches the heart muscle.

❌ Common errors

• Saying it “unblocks the blood vessel” only — too vague unless you explain it opens/widens it.
• Not linking the stent to more blood flow.
• Not mentioning the heart at all.

✅ Correct answers

• Smoking increases the risk of all types of cardiovascular disease.
• Smoking increases the risk of disease H more than any other type.
• Smoking increases the risk of disease E less than any other type.

Any two valid conclusions = 2 marks.

💡 Key knowledge

• Table values: E = 14%, F = 20%, G = 29%, H = 70%.
• Higher percentage means a greater increase in risk compared with people who have never smoked.

🧠 Exam technique

Use comparisons in your answer. Good examples:

• “Smoking increases the risk of all cardiovascular diseases.”
• “Disease H has the greatest increase in risk.”
• “Disease E has the smallest increase in risk.”

The examiner accepted clear comparisons between any two diseases.

❌ Common errors

• Only repeating one data value with no conclusion.
• Saying “smoking causes disease” instead of referring to risk.
• Not comparing the data.

✅ Correct answer

You should:

1. Label the y-axis: Percentage / % increase in risk (compared to people who have never smoked)
2. Use a correct scale of 1 cm = 5% on the y-axis.
3. Plot all bars correctly for E = 14%, F = 20%, G = 29%, H = 70%.
4. Label each bar with the correct disease letter.

4 marks total: axis label, scale, plotting, and labels.

📐 How to plot the bars

1. Use the given x-axis categories: E, F, G, H.
2. Choose a y-axis scale where 5% is 1 cm.
3. Convert each percentage into a height:
   • E = 14%
   • F = 20%
   • G = 29%
   • H = 70%
4. Draw each bar to the correct height.
5. Write the label under each bar.

🧠 Exam technique

For graph questions, always check:

• Axis label includes the quantity and often the unit.
• The scale is even and sensible.
• Bars are the right height and correctly labelled.

If one bar is already drawn, make sure the rest match the same scale.

❌ Common errors

• Forgetting the full y-axis label.
• Using a scale that does not match 5% per 1 cm.
• Plotting bars to the wrong height.
• Not labelling each bar.

✅ Correct answers

Any one of these:

• Poor diet
• Lack of exercise
• High alcohol intake
• Other acceptable lifestyle factors, such as having a stressful job

💡 Key knowledge

• Poor diet can mean a diet high in saturated fat or cholesterol.
• Lack of exercise is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
• These factors can increase the chance of artery narrowing and heart problems.

🧠 Exam technique

For 1 mark, one clear lifestyle factor is enough. If you choose “poor diet”, you can improve your answer by adding “high in saturated fat” or “high cholesterol”.

❌ Common errors

• Writing obesity — not accepted here as the lifestyle factor itself.
• Giving a non-lifestyle factor.
• Using too much detail but not naming the factor clearly.