Fiducia TogetherHealth and disease
Communicable and non-communicable disease, risk factors and lifestyle.
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.
What it is
Communicable diseases are caused by pathogens and can spread. Non-communicable diseases — cardiovascular disease, many cancers, type 2 diabetes — cannot.
Where it applies
GCSE biology and combined science.
How it works
Risk factors are associated with an increased chance, not a certainty, and the correlation and causation distinction is central to the topic.
Diseases interact: one condition can make another more likely, and mental and physical health affect each other.
How to use it in your work
Distinguish risk factor from cause, and say when the evidence supports causation — smoking and lung cancer does; many correlations do not.
For data questions, quote the figures and describe the trend before interpreting.
Where to get help
Your teacher and your board's specification and mark scheme.
Revise this with a song
These are ours. We write revision songs because a lot of people remember a tune when they cannot remember a page, and because revising out loud in the kitchen beats staring at a highlighter.
- The Biology Song The GCSE biology specification, set to music.
Where to read more
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.