Quick answer
[IB Biology HL Paper 2](/ib/past-papers/biology-hl/paper-2) has 71 sittings from 1991 to 2024, question paper beside the mark scheme. The newest year on the site is 2024. In the November 2026 session, Biology Paper 2 is on Wednesday 28 October.
What Paper 2 is
On the current course, Paper 2 is the written paper: data-based questions, short answers, and extended response. HL has more time and more additional-higher-level depth than SL. The point-per-mark habit is in [how to write Biology Paper 2 answers](/blog/ib-biology-paper-2-guide). This page is the stack of real sittings.
Paper 1, the multiple-choice paper, is a different index: Biology HL Paper 1. For November 2026 that paper is on Tuesday 27 October. SL has its own list at Biology SL Paper 2.
Which sitting to open
For the IB Diploma Programme, start at the newest session and move back only after you have marked it.
| Start here | Why |
|---|---|
| May 2024 | Newest May session on the site, with timezone variants kept separate |
| 2024, all papers | Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3 from that year on one page |
| All Paper 2 sittings | Every Paper 2 from 1991 to 2024, newest first |
Biology in this archive runs 1983 to 2024 (848 documents across HL and SL). There is no 2025 Biology set on the site yet. Do not hunt for one. A 2024 Paper 2, marked properly, teaches more than an unmarked newer PDF from somewhere else.
Timezone matters. May Paper 2 TZ1 and TZ2 are different papers. Open the one your school uses, then the other only as a second timed drill.
How to sit one Paper 2
For the IB Diploma Programme, hL Paper 2 in the November 2026 schedule is 2 hours 30 minutes. SL is 1 hour 30 minutes. Use that clock.
- Open the question paper only.
- On data questions, quote a number from the graph before you explain it.
- On extended answers, write one distinct point per mark. Restating the same idea does not earn the next mark.
- Stop when the clock stops, including unfinished parts.
- Open the mark scheme and mark what is on your page, not what you meant.
Then write three lines: the command term you missed, the topic you could not retrieve, and where the clock ran out. Repair those before the next Paper 2.
The first sitting stays open without an account. A second, different sitting asks you to sign in.
What not to spend the week on
The wider subject plan is the [Biology HL past papers guide](/blog/ib-biology-hl-past-papers-guide). The week-by-week order for every subject is the [November 2026 past paper plan](/blog/ib-november-2026-past-paper-plan).
- SL papers as a full HL mock. Use SL only to drill a shared core topic.
- Paper 3 option questions if you have not confirmed you still sit an option. The current course is not the old option paper. Check your subject guide with your teacher before you revise an option from a 2016 paper.
- Ten papers you never mark. Six marked Paper 2s will move a grade. Twenty glanced-at papers will not.
Frequently asked questions
On the same page as the question paper. Open a sitting from [Biology HL Paper 2](/ib/past-papers/biology-hl/paper-2) and switch to the mark scheme after you have written the paper.
Where is the Biology HL Paper 2 mark scheme?
How many Biology HL Paper 2 papers are there?
71 sittings from 1991 to 2024, including separate timezone papers. That is Paper 2 only, not the whole Biology archive.
Is there a 2025 Biology paper?
Not in this archive. Biology documents here stop at 2024. Physics and Chemistry do include later sessions, which is why their year pages go further. See IB 2025 past papers by subject.