Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610/12 is the May/June 2026 Paper 1 (Core Multiple Choice), variant 2. It has 40 questions worth one mark each, lasts 45 minutes and is sat by every Core candidate. There is no negative marking, so leave no question blank. Ecology was the biggest area, with seven questions, and three questions needed a calculation. This guide gives the answer and topic for every question and explains the reasoning behind the keyed answers. The paper and its mark scheme are free on the Tutopiya Learning Portal.

For an overview of all six 0610 papers from this series, see IGCSE Biology 0610 May/June 2026 past papers: what came up and how it was marked.

0610/12 at a glance

Syllabus area	Questions	Number of questions
Characteristics and classification of living organisms	1–3	3
Cells and diffusion	4–6	3
Biological molecules and enzymes	7–9	3
Plant nutrition and transport in plants	10, 12, 15	3
Human nutrition, gas exchange, respiration and excretion	13, 14, 20, 21, 22	5
Transport in animals, disease and immunity, drugs	16–19, 27	5
Coordination and response	23–26	4
Reproduction	11, 28, 29	3
Inheritance and variation	30–32	3
Organisms, their environment and human influences	33–39	7
Biotechnology and genetic modification	40	1
Total		40

Answer key and topic for every question

Question	What it tested	Answer
1	Which life characteristics phototropism shows	B
2	What the binomial system involves	A
3	Features shared by all mammals	A
4	Naming an organelle on a plant cell diagram	B
5	Magnification from drawing size and actual size	D
6	Features of diffusion: direction, membrane, energy	A
7	The smaller molecules that make cellulose	C
8	Test reagent and positive result for protein	D
9	Correct statement about enzymes as catalysts	B
10	Gas changes in test-tubes at different light intensities	C
11	Function of nectar	A
12	Labelling four structures on a leaf section	B
13	Comparing two milks from a nutrient table	B
14	Where in the gut starch is digested	A
15	Which tissue a red stain travels up in celery	D
16	Three vessels that all carry oxygenated blood	B
17	Blood component that carries out phagocytosis	D
18	Good personal hygiene in the kitchen	D
19	What the body itself makes against pathogens	B
20	Path of oxygen from air into blood	C
21	Features of aerobic respiration of glucose	A
22	Naming a structure in the excretory system	A
23	Which structures make up the CNS	D
24	Function of a labelled part of the eye	B
25	Matching an endocrine gland to its hormone	A
26	Root and shoot responses of a plant grown in the dark	A
27	Why antibiotics treat only some infections	C
28	The two parts of a stamen	A
29	Sperm cells compared with egg cells	D
30	Definition of phenotype	D
31	Genetic diagram for inheritance of sex	C
32	Definition of continuous variation	D
33	Secondary consumer in a food chain	C
34	Counting organisms at trophic level four in a food web	B
35	Naming two processes in the carbon cycle	D
36	Definition of a community	C
37	Where birth rate exceeds death rate on a population graph	C
38	Highest biodiversity from four pie charts	B
39	Total methane saved by a feed additive for 90 cows	C
40	Inserting herbicide-resistance genes into crops	B

What the paper tested, topic by topic

Characteristics and classification (Questions 1–3)

• Q1: phototropism is a growth response to light, so it shows growth and sensitivity (B). Movement and nutrition are other characteristics of life but are not what a tropism demonstrates.
• Q2: the binomial system gives every organism a genus and a species name (A). Option D describes a dichotomous key, which is a different tool.
• Q3: all mammals produce milk, have hair and have vertebrae, so the row with three ticks (A) is correct.

Cells and diffusion (Questions 4–6)

• Q4: a plant cell diagram with organelle X labelled; the key is mitochondrion (B).
• Q5 (calculation): magnification = drawing size ÷ actual size = 36 mm ÷ 0.60 mm = ×60 (D). The distractors come from the usual slips: 0.60 ÷ 36 gives 0.017 (A), and 36 × 0.60 gives 21.6 (C).
• Q6: diffusion is net movement from high to low concentration, does not have to cross a membrane and needs no energy from respiration (A). Moving against a gradient or needing energy describes active transport.

Biological molecules and enzymes (Questions 7–9)

• Q7: cellulose is made from glucose (C). Amino acids make proteins; fatty acids and glycerol make fats.
• Q8: protein is tested with biuret, which turns purple (D). Benedict’s and brick-red belong to the reducing sugar test, so any row that mixes the two pairs is wrong.
• Q9: enzymes are catalysts that keep the reactions needed for life going at a fast enough rate (B). They are not changed by the reaction (A), they are denatured at high, not low, temperatures (C), and they occur in all living cells, not just plants and animals (D).

Plant nutrition and transport in plants (Questions 10, 12 and 15)

• Q10 (data reading): three test-tubes of pond water with an aquatic plant: one under low-intensity light, one wrapped in a black plastic bag, one under high-intensity light. In the dark the plant only respires, so carbon dioxide rises (tube 2). Bright light gives the largest oxygen increase (tube 3) and dim light a small one (tube 1). That is row C.
• Q12: a leaf section labelled P to S: cuticle, xylem, chloroplast, stoma (B).
• Q15: the red stain moves up the celery stem in the xylem (D), the tissue that carries water and dissolved ions.

Human nutrition, gas exchange, respiration and excretion (Questions 13, 14, 20–22)

• Q13 (calculation from a table): milk R has 16.5 g of protein per 100 g and milk S has 3.3 g. The difference is 13.2 g, and 13.2 ÷ 3.3 = 4, so R has 400% more protein (B). Option A fails because 17.0 g of fat against 8.5 g is 100% more, not 50%. Options C and D fail because R is higher in protein and in carbohydrate and fat, so S cannot provide more amino acids or more energy.
• Q14: starch is digested by amylase in the mouth and the duodenum (A). The stomach and ileum are the distractors.
• Q20: oxygen passes larynx → bronchiole → alveolus wall → capillary (C).
• Q21: aerobic respiration of glucose produces carbon dioxide and water, needs oxygen and is controlled by enzymes, so all four columns are ticked (A).
• Q22: a diagram of the excretory system with X labelled; the key is the bladder (A).

Transport in animals, disease and immunity, drugs (Questions 16–19 and 27)

• Q16: the aorta, pulmonary vein and renal artery all carry oxygenated blood (B). The trap is the pulmonary artery, which carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs.
• Q17: phagocytosis is carried out by white blood cells (D).
• Q18: washing hands before preparing food (D) is personal hygiene. The other options are food hygiene or waste disposal, not personal habits.
• Q19: the body makes mucus against pathogens, but not antibiotics, and red blood cells have no defence role (B).
• Q27: antibiotics kill bacteria but not resistant bacteria or viruses (C).

Coordination and response (Questions 23–26)

• Q23: the CNS is the brain and spinal cord (D).
• Q24: W points to the lens, which focuses light onto the retina (B). Option D describes the iris and pupil, and A describes the optic nerve.
• Q25: X is the pancreas, which secretes insulin (A). On the diagram Z labels the adrenal glands and Y the ovaries, so B, C and D each pair the wrong name with a letter.
• Q26: a bean plant grown in the dark has no light to respond to, so both root and shoot show gravitropism (A).

Reproduction (Questions 11, 28 and 29)

• Q11: nectar attracts insects for pollination (A).
• Q28: the stamen is the anther and filament (A). The stigma and style belong to the carpel, the female part.
• Q29: sperm are smaller, more motile and far more numerous than egg cells (D).

Inheritance and variation (Questions 30–32)

• Q30: phenotype is the observable features of an organism (D). “The genetic make-up” and “the combination of alleles” describe the genotype.
• Q31: the correct diagram has an XY father and an XX mother, giving XX girls and XY boys (C). The other diagrams give the mother a Y chromosome or the father two X chromosomes.
• Q32: continuous variation is a range of phenotypes between two extremes (D). A limited number of phenotypes with no intermediates is discontinuous variation.

Organisms, their environment and human influences (Questions 33–39)

• Q33: in the chain grass → rabbit → fox → flea, the secondary consumer is the fox (C).
• Q34 (food web): tracing the feeding links, the owl, snake and hawk each feed on something at level three (for example, the hawk eats the mouse, which eats the ant), so three organisms sit at trophic level four (B).
• Q35: X is carbon dioxide being taken up by green plants, photosynthesis; Y is the release of carbon dioxide from dead material, decomposition (D).
• Q36: a community is all the populations of different species in an ecosystem (C). A describes a population, B an ecosystem and D species richness.
• Q37 (graph): birth rate is greater than death rate only while the population is rising, section 1 (C). In section 2 the numbers are level, so the two rates are equal; in section 3 numbers fall.
• Q38 (pie charts): biodiversity is highest in the area with the most species, the chart split into the most segments (B).
• Q39 (calculation): 35% of 50 kg = 17.5 kg saved per cow; 17.5 × 90 = 1575 kg (C). Option A is the saving for one cow, and D is the total methane from 90 cows before any reduction (50 × 90).

Biotechnology and genetic modification (Question 40)

• Q40: putting genes into crops to make them herbicide-resistant is genetic modification (B), not selective breeding, which only crosses existing plants.

Where the marks are on 0610/12

• Ecology and human influences carried 7 of the 40 marks (Questions 33–39), the largest single block. Food webs, the carbon cycle and population graphs are worth secure revision.
• Human physiology across nutrition, transport, gas exchange, respiration, excretion and disease carried 10 marks.
• Three questions needed a calculation: magnification (Q5), a percentage comparison from a table (Q13) and the methane reduction (Q39). In each, the wrong options matched a common slip, such as dividing the wrong way round or stopping after one step.
• About a dozen questions depended on reading a diagram, table, graph or chart, including the leaf section, the eye, the endocrine glands, the food web, the carbon cycle, the population graph and the pie charts.
• Definitions decided many marks: binomial system, phenotype, continuous variation and community were each tested directly.

How to self-mark 0610/12

1. Mark against the key. The mark scheme is a single list of 40 letters. One mark per correct letter, no marks taken off for wrong answers.
2. Tag each wrong answer by topic using the at-a-glance table above, so you can see whether your losses cluster (for example, in ecology or coordination).
3. Tag each wrong answer by reason: missing knowledge (for example, not knowing the pulmonary vein carries oxygenated blood), misreading (missing the word “all” in Q16 or “personal” in Q18) or a calculation slip (dividing the wrong way in Q5).
4. Rework every calculation you got wrong on paper, writing the formula first.
5. Revise knowledge gaps first, then practise reading the question stem twice for the misreads.

Sit 0610/12 as a timed mock

You have 45 minutes for 40 questions, a little over one minute each. Use two passes: answer everything you are sure of first, mark the rest, then come back.

Block	Questions	Time
First pass	1–10	9 minutes
First pass	11–20	9 minutes
First pass	21–30	9 minutes
First pass	31–40	10 minutes
Second pass on flagged questions and calculations	–	5 minutes
Check every question has one answer	–	3 minutes

Never leave a question blank. A wrong answer costs nothing.

Other May/June 2026 0610 papers

• 0610 Paper 22 (Extended Multiple Choice)
• 0610 Paper 32 (Core Theory)
• 0610 Paper 42 (Extended Theory)
• 0610 Paper 52 (Practical Test)
• 0610 Paper 62 (Alternative to Practical)

Practise and download

• Download 0610/12 and its mark scheme on the Learning Portal →
• All 0610 May/June 2026 papers: overview and marking patterns
• Try a free IGCSE Biology quiz

Need help with a 0610 topic? Book a free trial lesson with an IGCSE Biology tutor →

Frequently asked questions

What topics were on 0610 Paper 12 May/June 2026? +

All 40 questions spread across the syllabus. Ecology carried the most: seven questions on food chains and webs, the carbon cycle, communities, population growth, biodiversity and cutting methane from cattle. Coordination and response had four, and every other area had between one and five.

How many marks is 0610/12 and how long is it? +

It has 40 multiple-choice questions, one mark each, for a total of 40 marks. You have 45 minutes.

What was the answer to the cow methane question on 0610/12? +

C, 1575 kg. Each cow makes 50 kg of methane a year and the additive cuts that by 35%, so one cow saves 50 × 0.35 = 17.5 kg. For 90 cows that is 17.5 × 90 = 1575 kg.

What was the magnification answer on 0610/12 2026? +

D, ×60. The drawing of the vascular bundle was 36 mm across and the real bundle was 0.60 mm, so magnification = 36 ÷ 0.60 = 60.

Is 0610/12 the Core or Extended paper? +

Core. Paper 1 is the Core multiple-choice paper, sat alongside Paper 3 (Core Theory) and either Paper 5 or Paper 6. Extended candidates sit Paper 2 instead.

Where can I download 0610/12 May/June 2026 and its mark scheme? +

Both are free to download and print on the Tutopiya Learning Portal, on the Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610 past papers page.

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