Admissions Test Preparation · Practice Set 16
ESAT Biology Mock Module 2 of 3
27 a full 27-question module, the same length and shape as one sitting of the real test. Cells and transport, division and inheritance, DNA and protein synthesis, biotechnology and selection, enzymes, physiology, ecology and plants. Every question states the specification sub-topic it was written against.
How to use this set
Every question carries a target time, and no question needs a calculator. Attempt each one against the clock with the solution collapsed. If you are still setting up algebra when the target time passes, stop and open the solution: the shortcut is what the question is testing, and the arithmetic is not.
Read the Key Idea before the full breakdown. If the key idea alone lets you redo the question in under a minute, the method has landed and you can move on. If it does not, work the step-by-step breakdown and then return to the question a day later.
The Common Mistake section on each question is the slower route that still reaches the right answer. Under exam conditions that route is usually the difference between finishing the module and running out of time.
Modules in this set
Select a module below to view the questions and their step-by-step worked solutions:
Biology
27 questions, 40 minutes in the real test. Cells and transport, division and inheritance, DNA and protein synthesis, biotechnology and selection, enzymes, physiology, ecology and plants. 27 worked solutions.
Shortcut index
Use this as a revision checklist. If you can state the shortcut before opening the question, you already have the mark.
Biology
| # | Topic | Shortcut rehearsed |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Aerobic against anaerobic respiration | No oxygen means less energy and a different waste product |
| Q2 | Levels of organisation in an ecosystem | Each level adds one thing: numbers, then species, then surroundings |
| Q3 | What happens in interphase | The DNA is copied before division, not during it |
| Q4 | Matching organelle to function | The job named in the question names the organelle |
| Q5 | Why bacteria are used in genetic engineering | Plasmids to carry the gene, and fast division to multiply it |
| Q6 | The structure of DNA | Two strands, sugar-phosphate outside, bases paired inside |
| Q7 | The reflex arc | Receptor, sensory, relay, motor, effector — in that order |
| Q8 | The carbon cycle | Only photosynthesis takes carbon dioxide out of the air |
| Q9 | The advantage of sexual reproduction | Variation is the currency of survival when conditions change |
| Q10 | Where proteins are made | Ribosomes build protein, wherever they sit |
| Q11 | Evidence for evolution | Fossils show change over time; the record is incomplete for a reason |
| Q12 | Where each stage of protein synthesis happens | Instructions are copied in the nucleus and carried out at the ribosome |
| Q13 | Negative feedback and blood glucose | The response always opposes the change |
| Q14 | Estimating a population with quadrats | Scale the mean per unit area up to the whole area |
| Q15 | What a carrier is | A carrier is heterozygous for a recessive allele |
| Q16 | Identifying an organ system | An organ system is several organs with one shared job |
| Q17 | ADH and water balance | Low water means more ADH and more reabsorption |
| Q18 | Limiting factors in photosynthesis | The rate is set by whichever factor is in shortest supply |
| Q19 | A cross with a homozygous recessive parent | Heterozygous crossed with homozygous recessive gives one to one |
| Q20 | Diffusion in gas exchange | Substances diffuse down their own concentration gradient |
| Q21 | How vaccination works | A vaccine trains the immune system without the disease |
| Q22 | Xylem and phloem | Xylem carries water up; phloem carries sugars both ways |
| Q23 | Enzymes at low temperature | Cold slows an enzyme; heat destroys it |
| Q24 | Energy transfer along a food chain | About a tenth passes to the next level |
| Q25 | The equation for aerobic respiration | It is photosynthesis run backwards |
| Q26 | The equation for photosynthesis | Carbon dioxide and water in, glucose and oxygen out |
| Q27 | How an impulse crosses a synapse | A chemical carries the signal across the gap |
Where to go from here
Everything on this page is free and stays free. These are the three things worth doing next.
- Take the 15-question ESAT diagnostic - Twenty minutes, scored instantly, with a worked solution for every question you miss
- Follow the dated preparation plan - Every ESAT page on this site, sequenced backwards from the October sitting
- Sitting another admissions test as well? - TMUA, PAT, MAT and STEP each have their own preparation page and free practice
- Join the ESAT preparation list - One email a week from June to October, and nothing else
- Enquire about one-to-one preparation - For candidates who want the gap closed rather than mapped
One-to-one places are limited and taken by application, not by the hour.