At the end of Y11, students are required to sit 6 science exams in total. This
article explains how the exams are broken down. Topics can be found at the
bottom of the article.
There is a slight difference in exams depending on if the students have
progressed through the combined curricula (sometimes called double science) or
separate science curricula (sometimes called triple science).
Combined science: Students have the choice of studying combined or separate
sciences. Students that study combined science, study the three sciences and
get a combined grade of 2 GCSEs. Students progressing through the combined
curricula will sit 6 exams in total. Each exam is 1 hour and 15 min long and has a
maximum of 70 marks. You can find a link to my blog where I explain how to
download past papers HERE. Students may sit foundation or a higher paper
depending on the teacher’s judgment of how the student has done over the last
year and mocks. Teachers may think it is best for the student to sit a foundation
paper. The highest score a student can achieve is a level 5 on a foundation paper. A foundation paper
is still 1 hour and 15 min (same as higher). However, if the teacher thinks you
can achieve 5 or higher, they may enter the student for a higher paper. A
student that sits higher paper can achieve a level 5-9. However, there is a risk
in taking the higher paper as you can fail this paper if you receive a 4 or lower grade.
If the students fail, they walk away with no grade in science. Teachers will
never gamble with students’ futures and prefer to enter students for a foundation paper
if they think students cannot achieve 5 or higher.
Students that sit higher, will be tested for the most part the same topics.
However, there are some additional topics in the higher paper and the questions
are of higher demand compared to the foundation paper (more extended writing in the
higher and more multiple choice in the foundation paper).
Separate science: Students progressing through the separate science curricula
will also sit 6 exams in total. Two papers for each subject. Each paper is worth
50% of a GCSE (eg Biology paper 1 is worth 50% of the Biology GCSE and
paper 2 is worth the other 50%)
Separate science students study everything in the combined curricula and in
addition study a few more topics on top of that. Therefore they will sit a longer exam
which will last 1 hour and 45 min. The paper has a maximum of 100 marks. There
is a higher and a foundation paper for separate sciences. However, students
that have chosen separate sciences usually sit higher paper. If students' grade slip,
it is advised that they sit combined science higher paper, rather than a
foundation paper in separate sciences. This is because some colleges prefer 2
good grades in combined science than 3 ok grades in separate sciences.
Feel free to contact us if you would like to join our classes or would like some
tutoring sessions. You can contact us HERE.
Here is the breakdown of the exams:
Separate science 1 hour and 45 min
Combined science 1 hour 15 min
- Biology paper 1 and Paper 2
- Chemistry paper 1 and 2
- Physics paper 1 and 2
You can find AQAs breakdown HERE
Please find the topics below for Biology, Chemistry and Physics (combined
and separate)
Biology paper 1
Cell Biology
- Animal and plant cells
- Eukaryotes and prokaryotes
- Cell specialisation and differentiation
- Microscopy
- Cell culture (Separate science only: binary fission, aseptic technique)
- Cell division
- Transport in cells
Organisation
- Organisation principles
- The human digestive system
- The heart and blood vessels
- Non-communicable disease (heart disease)
- Health issues
- Lifestyle effects of some non-communicable diseases
- Cancer
- Plant tissues
- Organ system of plants
Infection and response
- Communicable (infectious) diseases
- Viral diseases
- Bacterial diseases
- Fungal diseases
- Protist diseases
- Human defense systems
- Vaccination
- Antibiotics and painkillers
- Discovery and development of drugs
- Monoclonal antibodies (separate science only)
- Plant disease (separate science only)
Bioenergetics
- Photosynthesis reaction
- Rate of photosynthesis
- Glucose use from photosynthesis
- Aerobic and anaerobic respiration
- Response to exercise
- Metabolism
Biology paper 2
Homeostasis and response
- Structure and function of the human nervous system
- The brain
- The eye
- Body temperature control
- Hormonal coordination in humans
- Maintaining water and nitrogen balance in the body
- Hormones in human reproduction
- Contraception
- Infertility
- Plant hormones (Separate science only
Inheritance, variation, and evolution
- Sexual and asexual reproduction (a mixture or separate and combine
science)
- Meiosis cell division
- DNA structure and genome definition (a mixture or separate and
combine science)
- Genetic inheritance
- Inherited disorders
- Sex determination
- Variation and evolution (a mixture or separate and combine science)
- Selective breeding
- Genetic engineering
- Cloning
- Understanding genetics
- Fossils
- Extinction
- Resistant bacteria
- Living organism classification
Ecology
- Communities within ecosystems
- Changes in ecosystems
- Ecosystem adaptations
- Organisation within ecosystems (a mixture or separate and
combine science)
- How materials are cycled
- Decomposition (science separate only)
- Impact of environmental change
- Biodiversity
- Waste management
- Land use
- Deforestation
- Global warming
- Maintaining biodiversity
- Pyramids of biomass (science separate only)
- Food security (science separate only)
- Farming techniques
- Sustainable fisheries
- Biotechnology
Chemistry Paper 1
Atomic Structure and The Periodic Table Topics
Atoms, elements, and compounds
Mixtures
The model of the atom
Electrical charges of particles
Size and mass of atoms
Atomic mass
Electronic structure
The periodic table and its groups
Metals and non-metals
Properties of elements
Properties of transition metals (Separate science only)
Bonding, Structure, and the Properties of Matter Topics
Chemical bonds
Ionic bonding
Covalent bonding
Metallic bonding
The three states of matter and their symbols
Properties of ionic compounds
Properties of small molecules
Polymers
Giant covalent structures
Properties of metals and alloys
Metals as conductors
Structure and bonding of carbon
Sizes of particles and their properties
Uses of nanoparticles
Bulk and surface properties of matter including nanoparticles
(separate only)
Quantitative Chemistry Topics
Conservation of mass and balanced chemical equations
Relative formula mass
Mass changes
Chemical measurements and amounts
Limiting reactants
Concentration of solutions (separate only)
Yield and atom economy of chemical reactions (separate only)
Use of amount of substance in relation to volumes of gases (separate
only)
Chemical Changes Topics
Reactivity of metals
Extraction of metals and reduction
Oxidation and reduction in terms of electrons
Reactions of acids with metals
Neutralisation of acids and salt production
Soluble salts
The pH scale and neutralisation
Titrations
Strong and weak acids
Electrolysis
Chemistry Paper 2
Energy Changes Topics
Exothermic and endothermic reactions
Reaction profiles
The energy change of reactions
Chemical cells and fuel cells (separate only)
The Rate and Extent of Chemical Change Topics
Calculating rates of reactions
Factors that affect the rates of chemical reactions
Collision theory and activation energy
Catalysts
Reversible reactions and dynamic equilibrium
Organic Chemistry Topics
Crude oil, hydrocarbons, and alkanes
Fractional distillation
Properties of hydrocarbons
Cracking and alkenes
Structure and formulae of alkenes
Reactions of alkenes (separate only)
Alcohols (separate only)
Carboxylic acids
Synthetic and naturally occurring polymers
Chemical Analysis Topics
Pure substances
Formulations
Chromatography
Identification of common gases
Identification of ions (separate only)
Chemistry of the Atmosphere Topics
The composition and evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere
Greenhouse gases and global climate change
Carbon footprint
Atmospheric pollutants
Using Resources
Sustainable development
Potable water
Wastewater treatment
Life cycle assessment
Using materials (separate only)
Recycling
The Haber process (separate only)
Physics Paper 1
Energy
Energy changes in a system, and the ways energy is stored before and
after such changes
Conservation and dissipation of energy
National and global energy resources
Electricity
Current, potential difference, and resistance
Series and parallel circuits
Domestic uses and safety
Energy transfers
Static electricity (separate only)
Particle model of matter
Changes of state and the particle model
internal energy and energy transfers
Particle model and pressure (mixture of separate and combined)
Atomic structure
Atoms and isotopes
Atoms and nuclear radiation
Hazards and uses of radioactive emissions and of background
radiation (separate only)
Physics paper 2
Forces
Forces and their interactions
Work done and energy
Forces and elasticity
Moments, levers, and gears (separate only)
Pressure and pressure differences in fluid (separate only)
Forces and motion (mixture of separate and combined)
Momentum (mixture of separate and combined)
Waves
Waves in air, fluids, and solids (mixture of separate and combined)
Electromagnetic waves (mixture of separate and combined)
Magnetism and electromagnetism
Permanent and induced magnetism, magnetic forces, and fields
The motor effect (mixture of separate and combined)
Induced potential, transformers, and the National Grid (a mixture of
separate and combined)
Space physics (separate only)
solar system; stability of orbital motions; satellites
Red-shift