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Subjects · Leaving Cert Biology

Leaving Cert Biology: Evolution

How often Evolution comes up on the Biology papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 6 of the last 10 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2026. most years

OL Asked on 5 of the last 10 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2026.

June 2027 is the first exam on the new Biology course. These come from the 2016–2026 papers, so read them as a guide.

Evolution, Higher Level(6 marks)

Quick ones on Evolution.

(a)Scientists who proposed natural selection?
  1. Watson and Crick
  2. Darwin and Wallace
  3. Mendel and Pasteur
(b)Preserved remains or traces of organisms in rock?
  1. Spores
  2. Minerals
  3. Fossils
(c)Moth that became darker in industrial areas?
  1. Peppered moth
  2. Red admiral
  3. Cabbage white
Show the answers

(a) Darwin and Wallace

(b) Fossils

(c) Peppered moth

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Evolution.

Higher Level

Asked on 6 of the last 10 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2026. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026Q13
2025Not asked
2024Q15
2023Not asked
2022Q17
2021Not asked
2019Not asked
2018Q13
2017Q12
2016Q14

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Evolution questions

Evolution, 2 marks

Diagram showing evolutionary relationships from a common ancestor?

  1. Food web
  2. Pyramid of numbers
  3. Phylogenetic tree
Show the answer

Phylogenetic tree

Branch points are common ancestors. Species on neighbouring branches are more closely related than those far apart.

Evolution, 2 marks

Mutation that changes the number or structure of whole chromosomes?

  1. Substitution
  2. Chromosome mutation
  3. Point mutation
Show the answer

Chromosome mutation

Chromosome mutations include deletion, duplication, inversion and translocation of segments, or a change in chromosome number as in Down syndrome.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 5 of the last 10 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2026.

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026Q4
2025Q16
2024Not asked
2023Not asked
2022Q17
2021Not asked
2019Q11
2018Not asked
2017Not asked
2016Q10

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Evolution questions

Evolution, 2 marks

Which scientist proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection?

  1. Gregor Mendel
  2. Robert Hooke
  3. Charles Darwin
Show the answer

Charles Darwin

Darwin gathered his evidence on the voyage of the Beagle, especially from the finches of the Galapagos Islands.

Evolution, 2 marks

Farmers breeding only their best milk cows is an example of?

  1. Genetic engineering
  2. Artificial selection
  3. Natural selection
Show the answer

Artificial selection

In artificial selection humans choose which animals breed. In natural selection the environment decides who survives.

Evolution, 2 marks

In natural selection, which organisms survive and breed?

  1. Those best adapted to their environment
  2. Only the largest organisms in the group
  3. All organisms, equally and at random
Show the answer

Those best adapted to their environment

Better-adapted organisms survive and pass on their genes, so useful features become more common over generations.

Other Biology topics

All of Leaving Cert Biology