KS4 Science
KS4 Sciences Years 9, 10 and 11
GCSE SCIENCES
At the start of Year 9 students begin the GCSE courses in the Sciences. All students study the course leading to triple award Science GCSE, a separate GCSE in each of the three Sciences. The students are taught in mixed ability groups by specialist teachers for each scientific discipline. The specification followed is the OCR Gateway GCSE.
Practical Work at GCSE
Science lessons will regularly incorporate experimental tasks to develop students’ investigative and practical skills. The exam board has identified eight practical assessment groups which cover the skills they are expected to acquire over the GCSE course. Students will work in small groups or pairs on tasks in class to achieve this and their understanding of practical skills will be assessed in the examination questions.
Year 9 Topics
| Biology | Chemistry | Phyiscs |
|---|---|---|
|
B1: Cell Level Systems B2: Scaling Up |
C1: Particles C2: Elements, Compounds and Mixtures |
P1: Matter P2: Forces |
Year 10 Topics
| Biology | Chemistry | Physics |
|---|---|---|
|
B3: Organism Level Systems B4: Community Level Systems B5: Genetics and Evolution (Intro) |
C3: Chemical reactions C4: Predicting and Identifying Reactions and Products |
P2: Forces P3: Electricity P4: Magnetism P5: Waves |
Year 11 Topics
| Biology | Chemistry | Phyiscs |
|---|---|---|
|
B5: Genetics and Evolution B6: Global Challengess |
C5: Monitoring and Controlling Chemical Reactions C6: Global Challenges |
P6: Radioactivity P7: Energy P8: Global Challenges |
Assessment
There are two examinations in each Science. These will be taken in the summer of Year 11.
| Assessment | Biology | Chemistry | Physics | Proportion of marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Exam 1 (1 hour 45 minutes) |
Assesses content from B1-B3 |
Assesses content from C1-C3 |
Assesses content from P1-P4. |
50% |
|
Exam 2 (1 hour 45 minutes) |
Assesses content from B4-B6, with assumed knowledge of B1-B3 | Assesses content from C4-C6, with assumed knowledge of C1-C3 | Assesses content from P5-P8, with assumed knowledge of P1-P4. | 50% |