WAEC Areas Of Concentration Biology For 2025/2026


The WAEC Areas Of Concentration for Biology 2025/2026 examination is developed from the curricula of West African Examinations Council member countries, is intended to complement the respective teaching syllabi in each candidate’s country. It is structured into three sections: Section A, which is applicable to all candidates, Section B, specifically for candidates in Ghana, and Section C, for candidates in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Liberia. This division ensures that the syllabus addresses the unique educational contexts of each participating country.

The examination comprises three papers: Papers 1, 2, and 3, which all candidates must complete. Paper 1 consists of fifty multiple-choice questions drawn from Section A, carrying 50 marks and lasting 50 minutes. Paper 2 is divided into three sections: Section A contains four essay questions from Section A of the syllabus; Section B includes short-structured questions specific to Ghana; and Section C offers short-structured questions for candidates from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Liberia. Candidates must answer two questions from Section A and all questions from either Section B or Section C, totaling 70 marks and lasting 1 hour 40 minutes.

Paper 3 consists of a practical test for school candidates or a test of practical work for private candidates, lasting 2 hours. It is divided into three sections: Section A features two compulsory questions from Section A of the syllabus, each worth 25 marks; Section B is for Ghanaian candidates, with one question worth 30 marks; and Section C is for candidates from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Liberia, also containing one question worth 30 marks. Candidates must answer all questions in Section A and one question from either Section B or C, with Paper 3 totaling 80 marks.

WAEC Areas Of Concentration For Biology 2025/2026


SECTION A

  1. Concept of Living
    • Classification
    • Living and non-living things
    • Classification of living things into Kingdoms: Monera, Protoctista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia
    • Differences between plants and animals
  2. Organization of Life
    • Levels of organization
    • Cell (single-celled organisms): Amoeba, Euglena, Paramecium
    • Tissue: Hydra
    • Organ: bulb, rhizome, heart
    • System/Organ System: reproductive, excretory systems in mammals and flowering plants
    • Complexity of organization in higher organisms: advantages and disadvantages
  3. Forms in Which Living Cells Exist
    • Single and free-living: Amoeba, Paramecium, Euglena, Chlamydomonas
    • Colony: Volvox
    • Filament: Spirogyra
    • Part of a living organism: Cheek cells, onion root tip cells, epidermis of fleshy leaves
  4. Cell Structure and Functions of Cell Components
    • Similarities and differences between plant and animal cells
  5. The Cell and Its Environment
    • Physical and biophysical processes: diffusion, osmosis, active transport
  6. Properties and Functions of the Living Cell
    • Nutrition: Autotrophic (photosynthesis), Heterotrophic (holozoic)
    • Cellular respiration: aerobic and anaerobic respiration
    • Excretion: mechanisms in single-celled organisms
    • Growth: cell division, growth hormones, tropisms
    • Movement: organelles for movement, cyclosis
    • Reproduction: asexual and sexual methods
  7. Tissues and Supporting Systems
    • Biological significance of skeletal materials: bone, cartilage, chitin
    • Types of skeleton: exoskeleton, endoskeleton, hydrostatic skeleton
    • Functions of skeleton in animals and supporting tissues in plants
  8. Transport System
    • Need for transport: surface area/volume ratio
    • Structure and function of the heart, arteries, veins, capillaries
    • Transport in plants: uptake, movement of water and minerals
  9. Respiratory System
    • Body surface: cutaneous, gills, lungs
    • Mechanisms of gaseous exchange
  10. Excretory Systems and Mechanisms
    • Types of excretory systems: kidney, stomata, lenticels
  11. Regulation of Internal Environment (Homeostasis)
    • Structure and functions of the kidney, liver, skin
  12. Hormonal Coordination
    • Animal and plant hormones: site of secretion, functions
  13. Nervous Coordination
    • Central nervous system: parts of the brain and their functions
    • Structure and function of the spinal cord, peripheral nervous system
  14. Sense Organs
    • Structure and function of eye and ear
  15. Reproductive System of Mammals
    • Structure and function of male and female reproductive systems
    • Fertilization, development, birth control, metamorphosis in insects
  16. Plant and Animal Nutrition
    • Photosynthesis: process and chemical equation
    • Mineral requirement of plants
    • Animal nutrition: food substances, balanced diet, digestive enzymes
  17. Basic Ecological Concepts
    • Components of the ecosystem, ecological factors, food webs, energy relationships
  18. Ecological Management
    • Types of associations: parasitism, symbiosis, commensalism
  19. Pollution of the Atmosphere
    • Sources and effects of pollutants
  20. Ecology of Population
    • Factors affecting population size, ecological succession
  21. Microorganisms: Man and Health
    • Beneficial and harmful effects, diseases caused by microorganisms
  22. Public Health
    • Importance of refuse disposal, immunization, vaccination
  23. Conservation of Natural Resources
    • Resources to be conserved and ways to ensure conservation
  24. Variation in Population
    • Morphological and physiological variations
  25. Biology of Heredity (Genetics)
    • Genetic terminologies, Mendel’s work, chromosomes, hereditary characters
  26. Adaptation for Survival and Evolution
    • Evidence of evolution, theories of evolution

SECTION B (For Candidates in Ghana Only)

  1. Introducing Biology
    • Biology as a science of life, procedure for biological work, importance of biology
    • Body symmetry, sectioning, orientation, and microscope usage
    • Biological drawings
  2. Cell Biology
    • Movement of substances: endocytosis, exocytosis
    • Nucleic acids: DNA structure and replication, RNA transcription
    • Protein synthesis, cell cycle
  3. Life Processes in Living Things
    • Organisms: Amoeba, Paramecium, Euglena, Spirogyra, Rhizopus, mosses, ferns
  4. Diversity of Living Things
    • Characteristics of Class Insecta, identification using biological keys
  5. Interactions in Nature
    • Soil
  6. Mammalian Anatomy and Physiology
    • Dissection of small mammals, transport systems, cellular respiration, movement, reproduction
  7. Plant Structure and Physiology
    • Morphology of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants, guttation, floral formula
  8. Humans and Their Environment
    • Integrated water resources management, health and hygiene, drug abuse, community health, first aid
  9. Evolution
    • Recombinant DNA technology
  10. Biology and Industry
    • Water industry: contamination and treatment, fishing industry, food industry, agriculture, biotechnology, biological fuel generation

SECTION C (For Candidates in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Liberia)

  1. Concept of Living
    • Cell theory, irritability, types of responses, environmental factors
  2. Excretory Systems
    • Diseases of the kidney and liver: effects and remedies
  3. Sense Organs
    • Nose, tongue, skin
  4. Reproduction
    • Courtship behavior, metamorphosis, adaptive features in developing animals
  5. Plant and Animal Nutrition
    • Nitrogen cycle, modes of nutrition, alimentary systems, feeding habits
  6. Basic Ecological Concepts
    • Ecological components, population studies, energy transformation, nutrient cycling
  7. Ecological Management
    • Habitats, aquatic and terrestrial characteristics, balance in nature
  8. Relevance of Biology to Agriculture
    • Effects of agricultural practices on ecology
  9. Microorganisms: Man and His Health
    • Microorganisms around us, public health, food hygiene
  10. Application of Variations
    • Crime detection, blood transfusion, determination of paternity
  11. Evolution
    • Adaptation for survival, competition, structural adaptation

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