Until 1982, achievement in A-level biology in Kenya was measured by an examination which consisted of four papers, three measuring theory work and one measuring practical skills. In 1982, a three paper examination was developed, the first two papers measuring theory and the third paper measuring practical skills. Based on the change in the test format (and also on the concern for the Kenya National Examination Council's great emphasis on the practical examination in determining the overall grade of candidates), this study: (1) determined the degree of correlation between biology papers I and II, between biology papers I and III, and between biology papers I, II, and III for all schools, national schools, non-national schools, girls' schools, and boys' schools in 1982; (2) repeated the above correlations for 1981 biology papers I, II, III, and IV; and (3) investigated some of the reasons and causes for the correlations obtained. Results indicate low correlation coefficients between the theory papers and between theory and practical papers for both 1981 and 1982. In addition, lack of coverage of the A-level biology syllabus was found to be a major factor contributing to the low correlations. Recommendations based on these and other findings are included. (JN)