AQA A-Level Biology Maths Worked Solutions
AQA A-Level Biology Maths Worked Solutions
Complete, step-by-step worked solutions to every maths question in the AQA A-Level Biology (7401/7402) past papers – written as clear teaching scripts by a Chartered Biologist and experienced A-Level examiner. The perfect companion for mastering the calculation questions that students most often drop marks on.
At least 10% of the marks in AQA A-Level Biology come from mathematical skills, yet these are the questions students drop most often – not because the biology is hard, but because the method is never shown in full. Mark schemes give the answer and a couple of terse marking points; they rarely show you how to get there. This pack closes that gap.
Every calculation question from the AQA (7401/7402) past papers is worked through as a teaching script: the reasoning, the units, the rounding, and the exact point at which each mark is earned. It covers the full spread of AQA’s examinable maths – magnification and scale bars, percentage change, rates and Q10, logarithmic (log10) scales for microbial and cell counts, statistical tests (the Student’s t-test, the chi-squared test, Spearman’s rank and Mann-Whitney U), Hardy-Weinberg, Simpson’s index of diversity and more.
What’s inside
- Step-by-step worked solutions to every maths question in the AQA A-Level Biology (7401/7402) past papers
- Each solution written as a teaching script – not just the final answer, but how to get there
- Partial-credit notes showing exactly where each mark is earned
- Common-mistake warnings flagging the errors examiners see most
- Full coverage of AQA maths skills: magnification & scale bars, percentage change, rates, Q10, log scales, statistical tests, Hardy-Weinberg and Simpson’s index
- Guidance on choosing the right statistical test and stating a valid conclusion against the critical value
- Instant PDF download – print it or use it on screen
A worked solution, in full
Here is the kind of question students most often lose marks on – reading a value off a logarithmic axis – worked exactly as it appears in the pack.
Q. A bacterial population was plotted on a log10 scale. At 8 hours the graph reads log10(number of cells) = 2.85. Calculate the number of cells. (2 marks)
10x key, not xy): 102.85 = 707.9…Examiner note: mark 1 is for identifying 102.85; mark 2 is for the correct value. The commonest error is calculating 2.85 × 10 or 10 × 2.85 – both score zero. The pack flags this trap on every log-scale question.
How to use it
Work each past-paper calculation yourself first, then check your method – not just your answer – against the worked script. Because every step is shown, you can see precisely where your method broke down: a missed unit conversion, the wrong denominator in a percentage change, or the wrong statistical test for the data. Used across a full set of papers, the same handful of maths skills come up again and again, so a few hours with this pack removes a predictable, repeated source of lost marks before the exam.
Who it’s for
AQA A-Level Biology students (Year 12 and Year 13) preparing for Papers 1, 2 and 3, and tutors or teachers who want ready-made, mark-scheme-accurate model solutions to set or teach from. It pairs naturally with our free AQA maths skills page, which explains each technique before you drill it on the papers here.
Frequently asked questions
Which specification and papers does this cover?
Is this just the answers, or the full method?
What format is it and how do I get it?
Do I need a particular calculator?
10x / log key and statistical functions is enough. The solutions note which keys to use for log-scale and statistics questions.