plumiWhat are the causes of disease?: OCR GCSE Biology B questions
Every OCR GCSE Biology B exam question on B2.1 What are the causes of disease?, 2018–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.
Paper
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Calculations
Q1(a)
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Q1(c)
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The whole paper ↗Q9(c)(i)
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Q6(c)(i)
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Q1(c)(i)
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Q7(d)
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Q6(a)
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Q7(a)
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Q1(c)
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Q9(b)
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The whole paper ↗Q9(c)(iii)
The whole paper ↗Q3(a)
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Q3(b)
The whole paper ↗Q3(d)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q3(a)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)
The whole paper ↗Q3(b)
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Q3(c)(i)
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All 39 questions on What are the causes of disease?, as a list
- June 2025, Paper 1 Foundation, Q1(a) (3 marks): Which statements about health and disease are true and which are false? Tick (✓) one box in each row. True False A healthy person has good mental and physical h
- June 2025, Paper 1 Foundation, Q1(c) (2 marks): Which two of these diseases are communicable? Tick (✓) two boxes. Cardiovascular disease HIV Salmonella Type 1 diabetes [2]
- June 2025, Paper 1 Foundation, Q1(d)(i) (3 marks): Complete the sentences to describe the cause and transmission of malaria. Use words from the list. bacteria blood mosquito protist urine virus Malaria is caused
- June 2025, Paper 1 Foundation, Q9(c)(i) (1 mark): Suggest why the scientists may be concerned about this bacterium. [1]
- June 2025, Paper 2 Foundation, Q6(c)(i) (2 marks): Tick (3) one box in each table to identify the pathogen that causes ash dieback and how it spreads between plants. Bacterium Fungus Protist Virus Pathogen that
- June 2025, Paper 3 Higher, Q1(c)(i) (1 mark): Suggest why the scientists may be concerned about this bacterium. [1]
- June 2025, Paper 3 Higher, Q7(d) (1 mark): Cancer is described as a non-communicable disease. Explain why. [1]
- June 2025, Paper 4 Higher, Q6(a) (1 mark): What type of pathogen causes crown gall disease? [1]
- June 2024, Paper 1 Foundation, Q7(a) (1 mark): Name another type of organism that causes disease. [1]
- June 2024, Paper 2 Foundation, Q1(c) (1 mark): Which of these infections is caused by bacteria? Tick (✓) one box. Athlete’s foot Influenza Malaria Salmonella food poisoning [1]
- June 2024, Paper 3 Higher, Q9(b) (3 marks): Draw a line to connect each disease to the type of pathogen that causes the disease. Disease Pathogen Athletes foot Bacteria HIV Fungus Influenza Protist Malari
- June 2024, Paper 3 Higher, Q9(c)(i) (1 mark): Which region had the highest estimated number of new HIV infections in 2022? [1]
- June 2024, Paper 3 Higher, Q9(c)(iii) (2 marks): The data provided by the United Nations is an estimation and is not the actual number of new HIV infections. Explain why the data is only an estimation. [2]
- June 2023, Paper 1 Foundation, Q3(a) (1 mark): Complete the sentence. A horse is most likely to develop laminitis in the month of [1]
- June 2023, Paper 1 Foundation, Q3(b) (1 mark): How many cases of laminitis were there in February? Number of cases = [1]
- June 2023, Paper 1 Foundation, Q3(d)(ii) (1 mark): Which type of pathogen causes ash dieback? Tick (3) one box. Bacterium Fungus Virus [1]
- June 2023, Paper 3 Higher, Q3(a) (2 marks): Describe the relationship between health and disease. [2]
- June 2023, Paper 3 Higher, Q3(c) (1 mark): Cholera is a disease caused by a bacterium. Diarrhoea is a symptom of cholera. People with cholera can lose up to 1 litre of water per hour. Why is this a conce
- June 2023, Paper 4 Higher, Q3(b) (2 marks): Ash dieback and tobacco mosaic disease are communicable diseases in plants. Complete Table 3.2 by describing these plant diseases. Table 3.2 Disease Pathogen th
- June 2023, Paper 4 Higher, Q3(c)(i) (1 mark): The farmer counts the lumps on five trees. Table 3.3 shows the results. Table 3.3 Tree Number of crown gall lumps 1 10 2 6 3 11 4 5 5 8 Calculate the mean numbe
- June 2023, Paper 4 Higher, Q3(c)(ii) (1 mark): There are 200 trees on the farm. 80 of the trees have crown gall disease. Calculate the probability that any individual tree on the farm has crown gall disease.
- June 2022, Paper 1 Foundation, Q11(d)(i) (1 mark): Sepsis affects 30 million people worldwide each year. Put a ring around the number that shows 30 million in standard form. 3.0 × 107 30 × 106 30 × 107 30 000 00
- June 2022, Paper 1 Foundation, Q11(d)(ii) (2 marks): Of the 30 million people affected by sepsis each year, 1.2 million are children. Calculate the percentage of people affected by sepsis each year who are childre
- June 2022, Paper 2 Foundation, Q5(a) (1 mark): Which type of pathogen causes malaria? Put a ring around the correct answer. Bacterium Fungus Protist Virus [1]
- June 2022, Paper 3 Higher, Q4(a) (3 marks): Explain what is meant by communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases. Give examples of both types of disease in your answer. Communicable diseases Non-c
- June 2022, Paper 3 Higher, Q4(c)(ii) (1 mark): Different types of disease can interact. Explain what this statement means. [1]
- November 2021, Paper 1 Foundation, Q7(c)(ii) (2 marks): Devil Facial Tumour is a form of cancer. It is spread from one Tasmanian devil to another when they bite each other. How is the Devil Facial Tumour cancer diffe
- November 2021, Paper 2 Foundation, Q1(a) (3 marks): Draw lines to connect each disease with the correct type of pathogen that causes it. Disease Pathogen Bacteria Athlete’s foot Fungus Influenza Protist Malaria V
- November 2021, Paper 2 Foundation, Q1(b) (1 mark): Tuberculosis is a disease in humans. It is caused by the same type of pathogen that causes Salmonella food poisoning. Suggest what type of pathogen causes tuber
- November 2021, Paper 2 Foundation, Q1(d) (3 marks): Human diseases can be spread by coughs and sneezes. Identify three other ways in which diseases can be spread in humans. 1 2 3 [3]
- November 2021, Paper 3 Higher, Q7(b) (2 marks): The decrease in population is because of a disease called Devil Facial Tumour disease. Devil Facial Tumour is a form of cancer. It is spread from one Tasmanian
- November 2021, Paper 4 Higher, Q2(a) (3 marks): Complete the table to show which type of pathogen causes each plant disease. Tick (3) one box in each row. Type of pathogen that causes the disease Plant diseas
- November 2020, Paper 1 Foundation, Q7(c) (2 marks): Cancer is a non-communicable disease. Explain the difference between cancer and a communicable disease such as HIV/AIDS. [2]
- November 2020, Paper 2 Foundation, Q4(a) (3 marks): Complete the sentences to describe the relationship between health and disease. Use words from the list. Each word can be used once, more than once, or not at a
- November 2020, Paper 2 Foundation, Q4(b) (4 marks): Complete the table to describe common human diseases. Type of microorganism How the microorganism Disease that causes the disease is spread HIV/AIDS Malaria Pro
- November 2020, Paper 2 Foundation, Q4(c) (6 marks): Human health can be affected by disease. (c)* Jane has been infected with influenza. Explain how she could have become infected with the influenza virus and how
- June 2019, Paper 1 Foundation, Q11(d)(iii) (1 mark): Which of the following diseases is also caused by bacteria? Tick (3) one box. Athlete’s foot HIV Malaria Salmonella food poisoning [1]
- June 2019, Paper 3 Higher, Q2(d)(iii) (1 mark): Which of the following diseases is also caused by bacteria? Tick (3) one box. Athlete’s foot HIV Malaria Salmonella food poisoning [1]
- June 2018, Paper 2 Foundation, Q3(a) (2 marks): Different types of pathogens cause different diseases in plants. Draw lines to join each type of pathogen with the correct disease it causes. Type of pathogen D
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