Biology (ATAR): should I choose it?

What will I learn?

How will I be assessed?

Progression and companion subjects

No complete companion or exclusion review is attached to this profile. Check the official course-entry conditions, language eligibility and your school’s sequence before enrolling. Links between resource hubs show related learning; they do not establish a compulsory prerequisite.

Will I find it hard?

Difficulty depends on your experience, interests, teaching and assessment. These are our reflection prompts, not an official difficulty rating.

• Look at how much data, calculation and graph interpretation appear in the sample for this particular science.
• Can you explain the ideas in your own words as well as recall the terminology?
• Do investigations and evaluating evidence interest you? Check the course’s practical requirements.

Does it scale up or down?

Biology, 2025. TISC’s mean scaled scores summarise all students with a scaled score in the published course. The mean describes a cohort and gives no individual raw-to-scaled conversion. A scaled mean alone cannot establish whether this subject scaled up or down. Historical cohort data cannot predict your result or a future scaling direction.

Scaling is not a measure of difficulty or a guaranteed bonus. Prioritise content you can engage with and required subjects for courses you are considering.

Try a little of the subject

Describing biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variety of living systems. Genetic diversity describes differences in inherited information among individuals and populations of a species. Species diversity includes species richness, the number of species, and evenness, how evenly individuals are distributed among those species. Ecosystem diversity concerns the variety of interacting communities and physical environments across a region. Counting many individuals does not necessarily demonstrate high diversity. A plantation containing thousands of nearly identical trees can have lower genetic and species diversity than a smaller native woodland. Comparisons require consistent identification and comparable sampling effort. Surveying a place in different seasons may produce different lists because flowering, migration and detectability change. Compare the same season, area and method before interpreting a change as a biological loss. Classification makes such comparisons possible by attaching stable meanings to names. Organisms are arranged in nested groups: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. Each narrower group belongs within a broader group. Scientific species names combine a capitalised genus with a lower-case specific epithet, usually printed in italics. International naming conventions allow researchers speaking different languages to discuss the same organism. Classification hypotheses use morphology, reproduction and molecular sequences. Similar DNA sequences can support shared ancestry, but comparisons must use corresponding sequences and enough evidence. Shared inherited structures are generally more useful than superficial resemblance caused by similar environments. A branching relationship diagram represents hypotheses of common ancestry: a recent shared bran

Original practice question: Which comparison isolates species evenness?

This is ATARMAxxing’s original sample learning material. It is not an official assessment task or a prediction of your school’s workload.

Explore the resources

Open the Biology (ATAR) subject hub and free preview (opens in a new tab)

• Biology — WACE Year 12 ATAR (opens in a new tab)

Core subject information and planning are free. Full study resources are optional.