NCERT Books Class 11 Biology: Chapter-wise PDF Links

Looking for the official NCERT Books Class 11 Biology textbook, verified and ready to open chapter by chapter? Every one of the 19 chapter PDFs listed on this page was checked directly against ncert.nic.in on 11 July 2026, and each link returned a working page for the 2026-27 academic session.

This check matters more than it sounds. A biology PDF picked up from a random website can carry an old chapter number, a chapter NCERT has since dropped during rationalisation, or a scan with pages missing. Working from the verified table below means you get the exact chapter your CBSE class is using this year.

About the NCERT Books Class 11 Biology Textbook

The prescribed textbook for CBSE Class 11 Biology is titled Biology, published by NCERT in English medium. Unlike Physics or Chemistry at this level, it is a single-part book with all 19 chapters under one cover — there is no separate Part 1 and Part 2 to track.

During verification, four chapters needed their printed chapter number recovered from the file itself rather than read off a clean cover page: Morphology of Flowering Plants (Chapter 5), Cell: The Unit of Life (Chapter 8), Photosynthesis in Higher Plants (Chapter 11), and Breathing and Exchange of Gases (Chapter 14). This is exactly why some older downloaded copies circulating online show a different, inconsistent chapter number for these four chapters.

If you are working from a file saved months ago rather than a fresh download, match the chapter title against this table, not just the printed number. The official copies for all 19 chapters can be confirmed directly on ncert.nic.in, the source used for this verification.

Chapter-wise Summary: What Each of the 19 Chapters Covers

CBSE groups these 19 chapters into five units for the theory exam. Reading them in unit order, rather than strictly 1 to 19, makes revision match how questions are actually set.

Unit I: Diversity of Living Organisms (Chapters 1-4)

• Chapter 1, The Living World: sets out the criteria used to define what counts as living, and how organisms get a scientific name through binomial nomenclature.
• Chapter 2, Biological Classification: explains the five kingdom classification and the features that separate Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia.
• Chapter 3, Plant Kingdom: traces plant diversity from algae and bryophytes through pteridophytes and gymnosperms to angiosperms, comparing their life cycles.
• Chapter 4, Animal Kingdom: classifies animals by body plan, symmetry, and features such as coelom and segmentation across the major phyla.

Unit II: Structural Organisation in Plants and Animals (Chapters 5-7)

• Chapter 5, Morphology of Flowering Plants: describes the external structure of the root, stem, leaf, flower and fruit and how these parts differ between plant families.
• Chapter 6, Anatomy of Flowering Plants: looks inside plant organs at the tissue systems — epidermal, vascular and ground tissue — that support growth.
• Chapter 7, Structural Organisation in Animals: uses the earthworm, cockroach and frog to show how tissues form organs and organ systems.

Unit III: Cell: Structure and Function (Chapters 8-10)

• Chapter 8, Cell: The Unit of Life: presents the cell theory and compares prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, including their organelles.
• Chapter 9, Biomolecules: introduces the chemical building blocks of life — carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids — and basic enzyme action.
• Chapter 10, Cell Cycle and Cell Division: explains the stages of the cell cycle and distinguishes mitosis from meiosis.

Unit IV: Plant Physiology (Chapters 11-15)

• Chapter 11, Photosynthesis in Higher Plants: covers the light and dark reactions of photosynthesis and the factors that affect its rate.
• Chapter 12, Respiration in Plants: follows glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain that release energy from glucose.
• Chapter 13, Plant Growth and Development: explains the major plant hormones and the phases of growth from germination to differentiation.
• Chapter 14, Breathing and Exchange of Gases: describes the human respiratory system, gas exchange, and lung volumes and capacities.
• Chapter 15, Body Fluids and Circulation: explains blood composition, the cardiac cycle, and double circulation in the human heart.

Unit V: Human Physiology (Chapters 16-19)

• Chapter 16, Excretory Products and their Elimination: explains nephron structure and how urine is formed in the human excretory system.
• Chapter 17, Locomotion and Movement: covers the skeletal system, joints and muscle contraction that make movement possible.
• Chapter 18, Neural Control and Coordination: describes the neuron and reflex arc, and how the nervous system is organised.
• Chapter 19, Chemical Coordination and Integration: introduces the major endocrine glands and hormones that work alongside the nervous system to regulate the body.

CBSE Unit-wise Weightage for Class 11 Biology

The theory paper for Class 11 Biology carries 70 marks, with 30 marks reserved for internal assessment. Here is how the current CBSE curriculum splits those 70 marks across the five units.

Add the 30 internal assessment marks and the paper totals 100. Unit V, Human Physiology, carries the highest share at 18 marks from just four chapters, which is worth remembering when you decide what to revise first.

How to Use This Book for Board Exam Preparation

A verified PDF is only useful if you read it in the right order. Follow this sequence instead of simply starting at Chapter 1 and reading straight through:

1. Download the full 19-chapter book once at the start of the term so you are not searching for individual chapter files later.
2. Read one CBSE unit’s chapters together — Unit I’s four chapters, for instance — since exam questions are set unit-wise, not strictly chapter-wise.
3. Before printing a chapter, check its page count against the verified table: Photosynthesis in Higher Plants runs 22 pages, the longest chapter in the book, which is a sign it needs more revision time than a quick read.
4. Use the diagrams inside each NCERT chapter for labelling-based questions — these figures are drawn directly from the prescribed textbook, so labelling them correctly matters in the exam.
5. Revisit Unit V, Human Physiology, in your final week of revision. At 18 marks it is the highest-weighted unit, so it should be fresh in your mind closest to the exam date.

One mistake trips up students every year: judging a chapter by how many pages it has. Structural Organisation in Animals is only 6 pages long, the shortest chapter in the book, but it still carries the same unit marks as any longer chapter in Unit II. Skipping it because it looks short is a common way to lose easy marks.

Related NCERT Resources for Class 11 Biology

Once you have the verified textbook open, pair it with our Class 11 Biology notes for a chapter-wise summary of the same content in a shorter form. If you are revising another subject alongside Biology, the full set of Class 11 CBSE notes covers every subject prescribed for this class.

For a wider view across classes and subjects, the CBSE notes hub links out to every class we cover. Students continuing Biology next year can also look up the NCERT Class 12 Biology book once that chapter table is published, for the same kind of verified, official chapter links.

Frequently Asked Questions on NCERT Class 11 Biology Book

How many chapters are in the NCERT Class 11 Biology textbook for the current session?

There are 19 chapters, all verified as available on ncert.nic.in for the current session, listed in the table above with their page counts.

Is the NCERT Class 11 Biology book split into two parts like some other subjects?

No. Biology is a single-part book with all 19 chapters in one textbook, unlike Physics or Chemistry at this level which are split into two parts.

Which unit carries the highest marks in the Class 11 Biology CBSE exam?

Unit V, Human Physiology, covering Chapters 16 to 19, carries 18 marks — the highest of the five units in the 70-mark theory paper.

How can I check if the NCERT Biology PDF I downloaded is the latest verified edition?

Match the chapter title and page count against the verified table on this page. Every entry was checked against ncert.nic.in and confirmed to return a working page on the stated date.

Are all 19 chapters of Class 11 Biology still part of the rationalised NCERT syllabus?

Yes. All 19 chapters listed in the registry were confirmed available on ncert.nic.in during verification, with no chapter missing.

Why do some chapter numbers differ between older and newer copies of the NCERT Biology book?

Four chapters — Morphology of Flowering Plants, Cell: The Unit of Life, Photosynthesis in Higher Plants, and Breathing and Exchange of Gases — needed their printed chapter number recovered during verification, which is why some older saved copies show a different number for these chapters.

Reference: NCERT Class 11 Biology textbook, official edition on ncert.nic.in.