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SK277
Human Biology
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U ni v e r s i ty S c o r e S ca l e
Examination performance information
This page provides information on how students generally performed on the
Examination. We hope you find it helpful in seeing how you performed
relative to the student population as a whole. All percentages are rounded to
the nearest whole number.
View comments from the Examination and Assessment Board
Print this page if you want to keep a copy.
All students overall task performance
This table shows the distribution of overall scores of students who
attempted the Examination.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
Total
No. of students
13
156
307
218
76
22
3
795
% of students
2%
20%
39%
27%
10%
3%
0%
All students individual item performance
This table shows the distribution of item scores for all students.
Part 1 Summary
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
No. of
students
University Score Scale (as shown in the table on the right)
Pt 1, Sec A
54
7%
207
26%
151
19%
239
30%
83
10%
45
6%
16
2%
795
Pt 1, Sec B
52
7%
237
30%
120
15%
204
26%
68
9%
53
7%
60
8%
794
Pt 1, Sec C
24
3%
86
11%
63
8%
157
20%
85
11%
103
13%
272
34%
790
Pt 1, Sec D
32
4%
108
14%
96
12%
331
42%
142
18%
62
8%
23
3%
794
F
G
11
1%
7
1%
Part II
A
B
C
D
E
No. of
students
University Score Scale (as shown in the table on the right)
Qn 09
90
11%
404
51%
188
24%
76
10%
19
2%
795
Part III
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
29
5%
8
2%
No. of
students
University Score Scale (as shown in the table on the right)
Qn 10
92
17%
156
29%
113
21%
103
19%
32
6%
533
Value
Description
A
85-100%
B
70-84%
C
55-69%
D
40-54%
E
30-39%
F
15-29%
G
0-14%
Page 2 of
10%
19%
10%
19%
12%
21%
10%
Qn 12
3
5%
7
13%
14
25%
9
16%
5
9%
12
22%
5
9%
55
Qn 13
6
4%
27
18%
32
21%
43
28%
27
18%
15
10%
2
1%
152
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Examination and Assessment Board comments
Thank you for studying SK277. We hope you found the course interesting and beneficial.
Below, we have identified the major points arising from the examination. We hope you find this
feedback helpful.
PART I
Section A
Most students answered this well although, in Q1, a substantial minority failed to identify any
physiological reason why it might be difficult to bring about weight reduction in the overweight
child but gave both a psychological and a sociological reason instead. Although a few students
confused the thrifty genotype with the thrifty phenotype hypothesis in Q2, the principle of the
programming hypothesis was generally well explained.
Section B
Q3 asked you to explain the inter-relationships of the sympathetic and parasympathetic
nervous system. The best answers to this were couched in terms of homeostatic principles. In
Q4, the description of venous return as a function of muscle activity was often sketchy. The
best answers had diagrams to show how the muscle encircled the vein.
Section C
This was the section in Part I that students generally found the most challenging. In Q5, many
students described the structure of the kidney when the question asked about the structure of
the filtration membrane. And in Q6 there were numerous accounts of adaptive immunity
whereas the question was about innate immunity. As there had been a TMA question based on
the immunology chapter it was disappointing that this was a common mistake.
Section D
Q7 was again a question with the same focus as a TMA question so it was a disappointment
that the details of IVF treatment were poorly recalled. Q8 demonstrated that the signs and
symptoms of chronic stress were well known! Where students used flow diagrams to explain
the relationship between stress and the secretion of corticosteroids, they usually established
the principle effectively even if details were missing or inaccurate.
PART II
Question 9
The data-handling question was well answered with most students correctly noting that as
exercise levels increase so do the rate of breathing and the tidal volume (c). Rather fewer
made the observation that men were, in general, larger than women, hence their greater lung
capacity (b). Nearly everyone gained marks for labelling the axes of their graphs and some
students took the precaution of annotating their sketch to ensure the examiner knew what they
were trying to represent, although the graph itself was usually quite clear.
PART III
Question 10
A popular question.
Many excellent accounts.
Question 11
Many accounts concentrated on describing the processes involved in the growth of bones but
spent too little time on factors that affect growth.
Question 12
A few excellent accounts but others barely mentioned homeostasis or the kidney’s homeostatic
role. A description of kidney anatomy was not relevant for this question.
Question 13
Some excellent information contained in many answers to this question. Sadly much of it was
not directed at supporting or refuting the theories about the function of sleep.
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