Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610/32 is the May/June 2026 Paper 3 (Core Theory), variant 2. It lasts 1 hour 15 minutes, is worth 80 marks and is sat by every Core candidate. It had seven compulsory questions, mostly short answers, and the biggest, on biodiversity and habitat destruction, carried 15 marks. This guide goes through the paper question by question and shows what the official mark scheme gave marks for. 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.

0610/32 at a glance

Question	Topic	Marks	Main command word
1	Enzymes: pectinase, temperature and activity, biotechnology	12	Complete, state
2	Diet: scurvy and rickets, percentage increase, teeth and physical digestion	14	State, complete, calculate
3	Transport in plants: phloem, a root cross-section, circumference, water pathway	10	State, calculate, describe
4	The nervous system, reflex arc and synapse	8	Draw lines, state
5	Female reproductive system, menstrual cycle, the egg cell	14	State, describe
6	Biodiversity, a cormorant food chain, plastic in nests, habitat destruction	15	State, suggest, describe
7	Insulin, a bacterial cell, herbicides and insecticides	7	Complete, state
	Total	80

Question-by-question walkthrough

Question 1: pectinase and enzymes (12 marks)

• What enzymes are made of (1 mark): circle protein.
• Another carbohydrate in plant cell walls (1 mark): cellulose.
• Sentences from the enzyme activity graph (6 marks, one per gap): enzymes are biological catalysts; activity at 0 °C is 10 arbitrary units; the optimum is 50 °C; at the optimum the active site is complementary to the shape of pectin; and at 70 °C the enzymes have all denatured. A description of denaturing was accepted for the last gap.
• Why pectinase is used to make fruit juice (2 marks): it increases the yield of juice and makes the juice clearer. Other valid points were credited, for example making the juice sweeter.
• Why bacteria are useful in biotechnology (2 marks): they reproduce quickly and can make complex molecules. Valid alternatives included having no ethical concerns, having plasmids, and being cheaper to produce than using animals.

Question 2: diet and teeth (14 marks)

• Matching diseases to nutrients (2 marks): rickets to calcium, scurvy to vitamin C. Each extra line drawn was penalised.
• A source of vitamin D (1 mark): oily fish, egg yolk, red meat, liver, mushrooms or fortified milk, cereal or juice.
• Two other parts of a balanced diet (2 marks): carbohydrates, fats (oils or lipids), water, and fibre (roughage). Named examples rather than the nutrient group were ignored.
• Percentage increase in rickets (2 marks): cases rose from 3 in 1990 to 30 in 2010. The difference is 27 (one mark), and 27 ÷ 3 × 100 = 900% (second mark). 900 with no working scored both.
• The white outer layer of a tooth (1 mark): enamel.
• Table of teeth (4 marks): tooth B is an incisor, used for biting or cutting food; the molar is A or D, used for chewing, grinding or crushing food. A function written in terms of breaking down molecules or nutrients was rejected, because that is chemical digestion, not what teeth do.
• Adult teeth against a child’s 20 (1 mark): the drawing shows 16 teeth in the lower jaw, so an adult has 32 and the difference is 12.
• Digestion involving teeth (1 mark): physical digestion; “mechanical” was accepted.

Question 3: transport in plants (10 marks)

• Two molecules the phloem carries that the xylem does not (2 marks): sucrose and amino acids. Auxin or another named hormone was accepted. Minerals or water were rejected (the xylem carries those), and “hormones” or “nutrients” alone were ignored.
• The phloem in the root photograph (1 mark): letter F.
• A structure in palisade mesophyll cells but not in root cells (1 mark): chloroplast. “Chlorophyll” was ignored, because it is a pigment rather than a cell structure.
• Radius and circumference (3 marks): the diameter is 2.40 mm, so the radius is 1.20 mm. Circumference = 2 × 3.14 × 1.20 = 7.536, which is 7.54 mm to two decimal places. The three marks are for the radius, the calculation and the rounding, with error carried forward.
• Water’s path from soil to leaf (3 marks): into the root hair (epidermal) cell, across the cortex, then up the xylem.

Question 4: the nervous system (8 marks)

• Three sentence endings (3 marks): the nervous system coordinates a response to stimuli, regulates body functions and uses electrical impulses. The other three endings (chemicals carried in the blood, a slow response, long-term effects) describe hormones. Extra lines were penalised.
• The two parts of the CNS (2 marks): the brain and the spinal cord. “Spine” was rejected.
• Order of a reflex arc (2 marks): receptor, sensory neurone, relay neurone, motor neurone, effector: C E D B A. One mark for C first and A last, one for E, D, B in the middle.
• The junction between neurones (1 mark): a synapse (“synaptic gap” accepted).

Question 5: female reproduction (14 marks)

• Letters on the diagram (4 marks): where sperm is deposited (the vagina, M or L), the structure that secretes oestrogen (the ovary, J), where fertilisation normally happens (the oviduct, N) and where an embryo implants (the uterus, K). Only the letters were marked; names were ignored.
• Day of ovulation (1 mark): day 14, with any day from 11 to 17 accepted.
• Probability of XX offspring (1 mark): 0.5; 50% or ½ was accepted.
• Changes to the uterus lining (3 marks): the lining breaks down and is lost (menstruation, and “period” was accepted), then builds up and thickens again, and its thickness is then maintained.
• Labelling the egg cell (3 marks): nucleus, cytoplasm and jelly coat.
• Why the egg has a large energy store (2 marks): to provide nutrients or energy for the zygote or embryo until it implants, so that its cells can divide. General references to growth or development were ignored.

Question 6: biodiversity and the great cormorant (15 marks)

• Biodiversity (2 marks): the number of different species, living in an area.
• Genus of Phalacrocorax carbo (1 mark): Phalacrocorax.
• A feature only birds have (1 mark): feathers.
• Effects of overharvesting herring (2 marks): in the chain phytoplankton → krill → herring → Atlantic salmon → great cormorant, fewer herring means fewer salmon and fewer cormorants, more krill, and so less phytoplankton. Statements about the herring itself, or about extinction, were ignored.
• A producer (1 mark): phytoplankton. A secondary consumer (1 mark): herring.
• Two correct conclusions from the bar chart (2 marks): species C had a higher percentage of nests with plastic than species A, and the percentage was below 80% for every species. Every extra tick was penalised. The distractors fail on the data: species E, not B, had the lowest bar, and D, not E, the highest.
• Disadvantages of plastic in nests (2 marks): chicks or adults get tangled in it or eat it. Other credited points included qualified injury, poorer insulation, plastic breaking the eggs, loss of camouflage and toxins.
• Causes of habitat destruction other than plastic (3 marks): building homes, roads or other urban development; growing crops or biofuels; livestock; deforestation; extracting named natural resources; named pollution (acid rain accepted); and climate change, including effects such as rising sea levels. “Farming” scored once in place of the crop and livestock points. Natural disasters and tourism were valid extras.

Question 7: insulin and bacteria (7 marks)

• The effect of insulin (1 mark): it decreases blood glucose concentration.
• Bacterial cell table (4 marks): C is a plasmid; the cell membrane is letter F and its function is to control what enters and leaves the cell; G is a ribosome.
• Why farmers use herbicides (1 mark): to kill weeds and reduce their competition with the crop, or to increase yield.
• Why farmers use insecticides (1 mark): to kill insect pests so they do not eat the crop, or to increase yield.

Where the marks are on 0610/32

• “State” questions carried 30 of the 80 marks. These are one-word or one-phrase recall answers, such as enamel, synapse, cellulose and feathers. Secure vocabulary is the foundation of a good Core score.
• Completing sentences, tables and labels carried 17 marks: the enzyme sentences in 1(b), the teeth table, the egg cell labels and the bacterial cell table.
• Selection tasks carried 10 marks: circling, drawing lines, ticking and ordering the reflex arc. Each extra line or tick costs a mark, so draw only as many as asked.
• “Describe” carried 11 marks (3(c), 5(d), 6(a), 6(e)), “suggest” 4 marks, calculations 6 marks and “explain” just 2 marks.
• Question 6 is the biggest at 15 marks. Ecology runs through it from classification to data analysis, so it rewards broad revision of that topic.

How to self-mark 0610/32 with the mark scheme

1. Learn the abbreviations first. A semicolon separates marking points, a slash shows alternatives for the same point, A means accept, R means reject, I means ignore, ecf means error carried forward and AVP means any other valid point.
2. Check your lines and ticks. In 2(a)(i), 4(a)(i) and 6(d)(i), every extra line or tick loses a mark, even if the right ones are there.
3. Mark calculations step by step. In 3(b)(iii) the radius, the calculation and the rounding each score separately, so a wrong radius can still earn the later marks through ecf.
4. Read the ignore notes. “Chlorophyll” for chloroplast and “hormones” without a name for phloem transport score nothing, and they are easy to give yourself by mistake.
5. Apply the list rule. For a “state two” question, mark only your first two answers. A wrong answer still uses up a place.
6. Log each lost mark as missing knowledge, a misread question or a careless slip, and revise in that order.

Sit 0610/32 as a timed mock

The paper allows 75 minutes for 80 marks, a little under one minute per mark. A workable plan:

Block	Marks	Time
Question 1	12	11 minutes
Question 2	14	13 minutes
Question 3	10	9 minutes
Question 4	8	6 minutes
Question 5	14	13 minutes
Question 6	15	14 minutes
Question 7	7	6 minutes
Check, especially calculations, lines and ticks	–	3 minutes

Short recall parts go quickly, so bank the spare time for the three calculations and the describe questions.

Other May/June 2026 0610 papers

• 0610 Paper 12 (Core Multiple Choice)
• 0610 Paper 22 (Extended Multiple Choice)
• 0610 Paper 42 (Extended Theory)
• 0610 Paper 52 (Practical Test)
• 0610 Paper 62 (Alternative to Practical)

Practise and download

• Download 0610/32 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 32 May/June 2026? +

Seven questions: pectinase and enzyme activity; scurvy, rickets, a balanced diet and teeth; xylem, phloem and a root cross-section; the nervous system and reflex arcs; the female reproductive system and menstrual cycle; biodiversity, a cormorant food chain and plastic in birds' nests; and insulin, a bacterial cell and genetically modified crops.

How many marks is 0610/32 and how long is it? +

It is out of 80 marks and lasts 1 hour 15 minutes. Question 6, on biodiversity and habitat destruction, is the biggest at 15 marks.

What was the answer to the rickets percentage increase on 0610/32? +

The number of children rose from 3 to 30. The increase is 27, and 27 ÷ 3 × 100 = 900%. It was worth two marks, and 900 with no working still scored both.

How do you work out the root circumference on 0610/32 2026? +

The diameter is 2.40 mm, so the radius is 1.20 mm. Circumference = 2 × 3.14 × 1.20 = 7.536 mm, which is 7.54 mm to two decimal places. One mark each for the radius, the calculation and the rounding.

Is 0610/32 the Core or Extended paper? +

Core. Paper 3 is the Core theory paper, sat alongside Paper 1 (Core multiple choice) and either Paper 5 or Paper 6. Extended candidates sit Paper 4 instead.

Where can I download 0610/32 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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