Which WACE Biology past paper do students score lowest on?

The 2023 Exam, averaging 61.2% across 387 marked attempts on AusGrader. The 2025 Exam is the highest on 77.6%.

Which WACE Biology dot points give the best return on revision time?

4.4.4 (1.7 marks at risk per 100), 3.4.6 (1.6 marks at risk per 100) and 4.3.2 (1.6 marks at risk per 100). Marks at risk combines a dot point's share of paper marks with the marks students drop on it, so it ranks by recoverable marks and not by score alone.

How many attempts is each WACE Biology figure based on?

54,290 marked attempts overall, with the per-row count shown in every table. Any cut below 50 attempts is withheld instead of published.

Do these averages show how the SCSA cohort performed?

No. They are AusGrader users' marked attempts, a self-selected group practising when they chose to and often without exam timing. They corroborate what SCSA publishes about this subject and do not replace it.

WACE Biology hardest topics

Across 54,290 marked attempts on AusGrader, WACE Biology students average 71.5% on questions taken from board external papers. The lowest average of any command verb is define on 58.6%, and the verb that costs the most marks is explain, which carries 37.3% of the paper against 2.0% for define. These are self-selected users practising when they chose to, not the SCSA cohort under exam conditions.

How to read these numbers

The figures are AusGrader users' marked attempts, not SCSA results. They corroborate what the board publishes about this subject and do not stand in for it.
Any cut with fewer than 50 attempts is withheld, which on this page is 4 dot points, 1 question type and 16 verbs. Every figure shown carries its attempt count.
Scores cover questions mapped to the WACE Biology syllabus from any board's external papers, which is why the sample is larger than the 6 SCSA papers alone. The paper table below is the exception and uses SCSA papers only.
Internal assessment and school-uploaded exams are excluded throughout, so these averages differ from the ones on WACE Biology performance stats, which count every attempt.

Score by past paper

Year	Exam	Average	Attempts
2025	Exam	77.6%	480
2024	Exam	69.6%	625
2023	Exam	61.2%	387
2022	Exam	70.2%	428
2021	Exam	68.4%	426
2020	Exam	70.2%	516

The lowest average belongs to the 2023 Exam on 61.2% from 387 attempts, and the highest to the 2025 Exam on 77.6% from 480 attempts. A paper's average reflects both how hard it was and who chose to sit it, so treat the spread as a guide to which papers make demanding practice.

Score by question type

Question type	Average	Attempts
Short answer	69.6%	8,572
Multiple choice	72.6%	45,695

Score by unit

Unit	Average	Attempts
Unit 4: Surviving in a changing environment	71.5%	17,877
Unit 3: Continuity of species	71.6%	38,040

An attempt counts once per unit, so a question assessed across two units appears in both rows and the column adds to slightly more than 54,290.

The priority list: heavy topics with low scores

Topic	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
Heredity	21.7%	70.5%	20,498	6.4
Continuity of life on Earth	21.8%	70.8%	13,531	6.4
Homeostasis	21.5%	71.4%	566	6.2
Infectious disease	19.5%	71.7%	7,304	5.5
Science Inquiry Skills (Unit 4)	6.0%	70.8%	11,231	1.8
Science as a Human Endeavour (Unit 3)	4.7%	77.0%	3,139	1.1
Science Inquiry Skills (Unit 3)	3.9%	75.5%	7,498	1.0
Science as a Human Endeavour (Unit 4)	1.0%	84.0%	615	0.2

The topic list is close: 6.4 against 6.4 marks at risk separates first from second, so topic choice alone will not order revision. The dot-point list below spreads further.

The same cut at dot-point level

Dot point	Content	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
4.4.4	diseases caused by these major pathogen groups include tuberculosis, crown gall of plants; chytridiomycosis (amphibian chytrid fungus disease); malaria, Phytophthora dieback (jarrah dieback)*; influenza, Ross River virus, viral diseases of honeybees	5.1%	66.0%	114	1.7
3.4.6	gene pools are dynamic, with changes in allele frequency caused by mutations; differing selection pressures; random genetic drift, including the founder effect; changes in gene flow between adjoining groups	4.1%	60.4%	1,921	1.6
4.3.2	thermoregulatory mechanisms include structural features, behavioural responses and physiological mechanisms to control heat exchange and metabolic activity; animals can be endothermic or ectothermic	7.0%	77.4%	212	1.6
4.4.10	management strategies are used to control the spread of infectious diseases, including quarantine; immunisation – herd immunity; disruption of pathogen life cycle (including antibiotics and antivirals); physical preventative measures	5.1%	71.0%	4,737	1.5
4.3.5	to maintain water balance and allow for gas exchange, xerophytes and halophytes have a variety of structural and physiological adaptations	4.8%	69.8%	205	1.4
4.1.4	represent data in meaningful and useful ways, including the use of mean, median, range and probability; organise and analyse data to identify trends, patterns and relationships; discuss the ways in which measurement error, instrumental accuracy, the nature of the procedure and sample size may influence limitations in data; and select, synthesise and use evidence to make and justify conclusions	3.7%	69.1%	6,819	1.1
3.4.2	evidence for the theory of evolution includes comparative genomics (molecular evidence); comparative studies of proteins (amino acid sequences); the fossil record; comparative anatomy and embryology	4.1%	72.4%	5,002	1.1
3.3.10	frequencies of genotypes and phenotypes of offspring can be predicted using Punnett squares and are determined by patterns of inheritance, including dominance (dominant/recessive, co-dominance, incomplete dominance), autosomal and sex-linked alleles, multiple alleles and polygenes	3.2%	65.6%	839	1.1
4.4.5	the life cycle of a pathogen and its associated diseases, including the method of invading the host, the impact on the host, and the mode of transmission, determines its success for survival	3.1%	68.3%	868	1.0
3.3.5	protein synthesis involves transcription of a gene into messenger RNA in the nucleus, and translation into an amino acid sequence at the ribosome	2.9%	67.2%	3,964	0.9
3.4.5	natural selection occurs when selection pressures in the environment confer a selective advantage on a specific phenotype to enhance its survival and reproduction; this results in changes in allele frequency in the gene pool of a population	2.2%	67.0%	1,187	0.7
3.4.9	differing selection pressures between geographically isolated populations may lead to allopatric speciation	2.1%	66.6%	615	0.7
3.3.1	continuity of life requires the replication of genetic material and its transfer to the next generation through processes, including binary fission, mitosis, meiosis and fertilisation	2.6%	73.3%	1,399	0.7
4.3.1	homeostasis is the process by which the body maintains a relatively constant internal environment; it can involve a stimulus-response model in which change in external or internal environmental conditions is commonly detected and appropriate responses occur via negative feedback	2.1%	67.4%	193	0.7
3.3.3	the structural properties of the DNA molecule, including nucleotide composition and pairing and the hydrogen bonds between strands of DNA, allow for replication	2.7%	76.1%	1,656	0.7
3.4.1	life has existed on Earth for approximately 3.5 billion years and has changed and diversified over time	2.0%	68.1%	978	0.6
3.3.4	the genetic code is a base triplet code; genes include ‘coding’ and ‘non-coding’ DNA, and many genes contain information for protein production	1.6%	62.6%	2,790	0.6
4.4.3	the major groups of organisms that cause disease are bacteria, fungi, protists and viruses; each group can be distinguished by its structural characteristics	2.9%	80.8%	781	0.6

Which command verbs cost the most marks

Verb	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
explain	37.3%	66.1%	2,109	12.6
describe	13.5%	67.3%	1,268	4.4
discuss	7.1%	69.9%	116	2.1
outline	7.6%	72.2%	646	2.1
state	7.0%	69.8%	520	2.1
justify	3.7%	69.0%	712	1.1
define	2.0%	58.6%	194	0.8
identify	2.5%	70.0%	1,344	0.8

Define has the lowest average on the page at 58.6%, and it is not where the marks go. Explain averages 66.1% but carries 37.3% of the paper against 2.0%, so it puts 12.6 marks per 100 at risk against 0.8. Each verb above is practised in the WACE Biology question bank, where the marking criteria show what SCSA expects the answer to do.

What this does not measure

Where to practise

Work the priority list from the top: Heredity and Continuity of life on Earth first, then the dot points above. Each topic page holds real SCSA questions with marking criteria attached. For what the papers actually cover, read WACE Biology most tested topics.

Syllabus and assessment material referenced in this guide is used under licence, © School Curriculum and Standards Authority. See our SCSA licensing notice. The School Curriculum and Standards Authority does not endorse this publication or product.