GCSE Science Courses in Years 9, 10 and 11

We start our GCSE Science courses in Year 9 with 3 periods a week and the material taught is common to all. However, when students enter Year 10 there is a choice between two courses: Science and Additional Science (counts as 2 GCSEs), or Biology, Physics and Chemistry taken as 3 separate GCSE subjects. All courses are part of OCR's 21st Century Science specification.

OCR J630 21st Century Science - SCIENCE & ADDITIONAL SCIENCE

The Aims and Objectives of Core GCSE Science are:

· To help students to recognise the impact of science and technology on everyday life
· To enable students to take informed personal decisions about issues that involve science
· To develop the necessary skills to access scientific information in media reports and evaluate information from a variety of sources

The aims and objectives of GCSE Additional Science are:

· To meet the needs of students seeking a deeper understanding of scientific concepts
· To enable students to relate basic scientific concepts to applications
· To use scientific explanations and models to enable students to gain an insight into how scientists work to gain a greater understanding of the world

All students will study both of these courses.

September 2006 marked a radical change to the structure and delivery of Science at GCSE.
Pupils study Science for 6 periods every week, two lessons each with specialist teachers in the fields of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The main difference from the old Double Award Science is that different grades may now be awarded for the two qualifications.

The emphasis in the Core Science GCSE is on scientific literacy, while the Additional Science GCSE will deliver the rigorous study of scientific concepts that will enable students to progress to A level courses in any of the sciences.

Both GCSE courses consist of a number of teaching modules. Topics such as ‘You and your genes’, ‘Air quality’ and ‘Radiation and life’ are represented in the Science GCSE. ‘Growth and development’, ‘Chemical patterns’ and ‘Electric circuits’ are three examples of topics in the Additional Science GCSE.

The GCSE courses will be assessed through a variety of methods:

· Unit tests – 3 externally marked examinations per GCSE that incorporate objective questions on each module (each contributing 16.7% of the overall GCSE mark)

· Ideas in Context – an externally marked examination that is based on material made available for students to study in school beforehand (contributing a further 16.7% of the overall GCSE mark)

· Internally marked skills assessment activities – for core Science GCSE this consists of a data analysis task and a case study (contributing 13% and 20% of the overall GCSE mark respectively) and for Additional Science GCSE it consists of a practical investigation (contributing 33% of the overall GCSE mark)

OCR J630 Separate Sciences BIOLOGY/CHEMISTRY /PHYSICS

Choosing this option will enable you to:

· Study extra topics in each science subject

· Spend more time on practical work and skills development (important for A level)

· Spend more time gaining ideas about the way in which scientists work

· Gain a broader understanding of the applications of Science in the Twenty First Century

· Gain three Science GCSEs

· Gain different grades in each Science

Separate Science pupils will spend nine periods each week studying science – three lessons each of Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

In addition to topics studied by everyone taking Science GCSE and Additional Science GCSE, students will gain a broader insight into further interesting areas that engage professional scientists.

The additional topics are examined in the same way as those for Additional Science GCSE.

Students who have a deep interest in Science and those who wish to pursue science subjects beyond GCSE will benefit from the additional breadth, deeper understanding and extra skills development that Separate Science GCSEs afford.

Because the three GCSEs are independent it is possible to be entered for a combination of Higher and Foundation tiers, so if you are stronger in Biology than Physics, your final grade in one need not be affected by your final grade in the other.