Trends
NDA Biology, 2017 to 2026: 190 questions, only 4 of them HARD
The most important pattern in NDA Biology trends is the ABSENCE of one — UNLIKE Physics (which hardened 22× per question), Biology has stayed remarkably stable. Only 4 HARDs across 199 q over 10 years. Chapter mix has shifted (Cell Biology grew, Microbiology faded), but the paper's recall-heavy character is the same. Drill all 10 years equally.
- years analysed
- 10
- papers
- 18
- questions tagged
- 190
- chapters tracked
- 9
The headline: %HARD by year (no trend)
Each year’s HARD share, with the paper-set size for context. 2020 had only NDA-1 (COVID), 2026 has only NDA-1 so far. Notice the oscillation — 2021 had 2 HARDs (9% — the peak); 7 of 10 years had ZERO HARDs. No upward trend.
| Year | Questions | HARD count | % HARD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 20 | 0 | 0% |
| 2018 | 23 | 1 | 4% |
| 2019 | 19 | 0 | 0% |
| 2020 | 13 | 0 | 0% |
| 2021 | 22 | 2 | 9% |
| 2022 | 20 | 0 | 0% |
| 2023 | 22 | 1 | 5% |
| 2024 | 21 | 0 | 0% |
| 2025 | 19 | 0 | 0% |
| 2026 | 20 | 0 | 0% |
Per-question, the 2026 paper is no harder than the 2017 paper. Translation: don’t over-weight recent papers. Drill 2017 papers as seriously as 2024 papers; the difficulty floor is stable. The Recall + Apply + Verify strands are tested in roughly the same proportions year-to-year.
The 4 biggest shifts
%HARD is flat, but chapter mix isn’t. These four shifts come on top of the stable difficulty — drill the called-out cohorts.
- The headline: paper has NOT hardened — drill all 10 years equally
The most important pattern in NDA Biology trends is the absence of a pattern. %HARD oscillates 0% (2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026) to 9% (2021, 2 HARDs) with no trajectory. Average across 10 years: 2.6%. Only 4 HARDs across the entire 199-q bank. Contrast NDA Physics (2% → 37% over the same window) and even Chemistry (which oscillates 0–14%). Translation: drill 2017 papers as seriously as 2024 papers. The 2026 paper is no harder per question than the 2017 paper. Biology's near-pure recall character keeps the difficulty floor stable.
- Cell Biology grew dramatically 2022–2024
Through 2017–2021 the Cell Biology chapter held 2–5 q/year (avg ~3.4). 2022 jumped to 8, 2023 was 6, 2024 hit 10 (the chapter's all-time high). Then 2025 dropped to 2 and 2026 to 3 across both papers. The growth concentrated in Cell Organelles + Functions (17 of 44 chapter q overall). If your prep is from a coaching-class syllabus that pre-dates 2022, you're under-investing in this chapter — it's now the SECOND largest after Human Physiology.
- Microbiology and Disease faded after 2019 — still tested, less frequently
2017–19 carried 7 + 2 + 5 = 14 of the chapter's 21 q. Since 2020 it's been 0–3 q/yr (7 total across 7 years). 2024 carried ZERO, and so did BOTH 2026 papers. Don't drop the chapter — when it appears, every question is named-fact recall (disease↔pathogen), zero HARD, easy marks. But adjust expectations: it's no longer the steady 2–3 q/paper it was pre-2020.
- Reproduction 2023 spike (7 q) then silence
2023 carried 7 of the chapter's 13 q in a single year — the chapter's all-time high. 2024 + 2025 each carried ZERO and 2026 NDA-1 only 1 — then NDA-2 2026 brought 3, for a 2026 total of 4. That settles a question the previous version of this page left open: the chapter does come back, and it came back in the very next sitting. Pattern is genuinely noisy. Drill the 2023 cohort for the lever practice (pollination types, double fertilisation, oestrus cycle); don't expect 7 q again in any single year.
Year-by-year drift
Counts per year (NDA-1 + NDA-2 combined; 2020 NDA-2 COVID-cancelled, 2026 is now complete (NDA-2 written 2026-09-14) — so only 2020 holds ~half a normal year). Cells are tinted by row magnitude.
| Chapter | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human Physiology | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
| Cell Biology | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 3 |
| Plant Biology | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Microbiology and Disease | 7 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Reproduction | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Ecology and Environment | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Biodiversity and Classification | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Genetics and Evolution | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Biochemistry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Recommendation: drill across ALL 10 years
UNLIKE Physics, NDA Biology doesn’t reward a ‘recent-only’ drill plan. Old papers test the same recall-heavy material at the same difficulty. The one exception: Cell Biology grew dramatically in 2022–2024 — drill that cohort with extra weight if your prep predates 2022.