Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Biology (4BI1)

Overview

• First Teaching: September 2017
• First Examination: June 2019
• Issue 3

About Pearson

• World's leading learning company.
• Provides content, assessment, and digital services globally.
• Focus on enhancing employability and adapting to changes in the workforce.

Specification Overview

• Linear qualification: Two written examinations at the end of the course.
• Content is relevant, engaging, and of an equivalent standard to Pearson's regulated GCSE.
• Untiered assessment, accessible to students of all abilities.
• Prepares students for AS and Advanced GCE level or equivalent.
• Written examinations assess core biology theory and practical skills.

Course Components

• Paper Overview:
  • Biology Paper 1 (61.1%) and Biology Paper 2 (38.9%).
  • Includes multiple-choice, short-answer, calculations, and extended open-response questions.

Biology Content

1. The Nature and Variety of Living Organisms

• Characteristics shared by living organisms: nutrition, respiration, excretion, response, movement, reproduction, growth, and development.
• Features of eukaryotic organisms (e.g., plants, animals, fungi, and protoctists).
• Features of prokaryotic organisms (e.g., bacteria).
• Understanding pathogens and viruses.

2. Structure and Functions in Living Organisms

• Levels of organization: organelles, cells, tissues, organs, systems.
• Cell structure and function.
• Biological molecules and enzyme activity.
• Processes such as diffusion, osmosis, and active transport.
• Photosynthesis and human nutrition.

3. Respiration and Gas Exchange

• Differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration.
• Gas exchange mechanisms in plants and humans.

4. Transport in Organisms

• Transport systems in plants and humans.
• Composition and function of blood.
• Heart structure and function.

5. Excretion

• Processes in plants and humans.
• Urinary system structure and function.

6. Coordination and Response

• Nervous and hormonal control systems in humans.
• Plant responses to stimuli.

7. Reproduction and Inheritance

• Sexual and asexual reproduction.
• Genetic inheritance mechanisms.

8. Ecology and the Environment

• Population, community, and ecosystem dynamics.
• Human impacts on the environment.

9. Use of Biological Resources

• Food production, selective breeding, genetic engineering, and cloning.

Assessment Information

• Papers consist of a variety of question styles.
• Total marks: 180 (Paper 1B: 110 marks, Paper 2B: 70 marks).
• Grades range from 9 to 1, with 9 as the highest.

Appendices

• Appendix 1: Codes for qualification and papers.
• Appendix 2: World Class Qualification design principles.
• Appendix 3: Transferable skills.
• Appendix 4: Mathematical skills.
• Appendix 5: Command word taxonomy.
• Appendix 6: Suggested practical investigations.
• Appendix 7: Glossary of terms.