Elite Scholars

Life Sciences Grade 12

This is every topic in the CAPS Life Sciences curriculum for Grade 12, 12 in total, organised by term, the way the Department sequences the year. It is the same curriculum your school teaches from, and the same one the NSC examines.

Term 1

4 topics
  • DNA: the code of life
  • Meiosis
  • Reproduction in vertebrates
  • Human reproduction

Term 2

2 topics
  • Responding to the environment (humans)
  • Genetics and inheritance

Term 3

4 topics
  • Human endocrine system
  • Homeostasis in humans
  • Responding to the environment (plants)
  • Evolution through natural selection

Term 4

2 topics
  • Human evolution
  • Human impact on the environment (revised from Grade 11)

How it is examined

Papers, durations and mark allocations, as CAPS sets them out.

Paper 1

150 marks · 2.5 hours
  • Meiosis11
  • Reproduction in vertebrates6
  • Human reproduction31
  • Responding to the environment (humans)40
  • Human endocrine system15
  • Homeostasis in humans11
  • Responding to the environment (plants)11
  • Human impact on the environment (Grade 11)25

Paper 2

150 marks · 2.5 hours
  • DNA: the code of life27
  • Meiosis12
  • Genetics and inheritance45
  • Evolution through natural selection23
  • Human evolution43

Knowing the topics is the easy part

The list above is public. It is what your teacher works from. What it does not do is explain a topic you are stuck on, show you a worked example, or tell you which mistakes cost marks in the exam. That is what an Elite Scholars account is for: study notes written against these exact topics, past papers, and tools that show their working.

See how we help

Source: CAPS FET Life Sciences, Grades 10-12, Department of Basic Education, checked on 2026-08-05. Schools sequence topics differently within a year, so treat this as what is examined rather than the order your class will meet it in.

You might also like

All CAPS curricula

Every subject and grade we have mapped, in one place.

Learn more about All CAPS curricula

APS calculator

Work out your admission score for South African universities.

Learn more about APS calculator

Grade 12 exam preparation

How we prepare learners for the NSC examinations.

Learn more about Grade 12 exam preparation