In the GCSE system in England and Wales, science at

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

level is studied through

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Double Award

Combined Science results in two GCSEs. Those with GCSEs in Combined Science can progress to

A Levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

in all of the three natural science subjects. Prior to this, around 1996, Combined Science GCSEs were available as an alternative to three separate Sciences for many exam boards. Combined Science consists of either Higher Tier (HT) or Foundation Tier (FT) papers AQA offer two different specifications entitled ''Synergy'' and ''Trilogy''.

Triple Award

Triple Award Science, commonly referred to as Triple Science, results in three separate

s in Biology, Chemistry and Physics and provide the broadest coverage of the main three science subjects. The qualifications are offered by the five main awarding bodies in England;

AQA AQA Education, trading as AQA (formerly the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance), is an awarding body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds Test (assessment), examinations in various subjects at Genera ...

Edexcel Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board in the United Kingdom. It ...

, OCR, CIE and Eduqas.

History

In August 2018,

Ofqual The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is a non-ministerial government department that regulates qualifications, exams and tests in England. Colloquially and publicly, Ofqual is often referred to as the exam "watchdog ...

announced that it had intervened to adjust the GCSE Science grade boundaries for students who had taken the "higher tier" paper in its new double award science exams and performed poorly, due to an excessive number of students in danger of receiving a grade of "U" or "unclassified".

Criticisms

In 2020,

Teach First Teach First (also Teach First Cymru) is a social enterprise registered as a charity which aims to address educational disadvantage in England and Wales. Teach First coordinates an employment-based teaching training programme whereby participa ...

published a report stating that only two female scientists, chemist and crystallographer

Rosalind Franklin Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 192016 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer. Her work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal ...

and paleoanthropologist

Mary Leakey Mary Douglas Leakey, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (née Nicol, 6 February 1913 – 9 December 1996) was a British paleoanthropologist who discovered the first fossilised ''Proconsul (mammal), Proconsul'' skull, an extinct ape which is now ...

, were included in the GCSE Science curriculum, versus 40 male scientists who were named. The report argued that the lack of female role models in the science curriculum was perpetuating gender biases in the profession.

References

{{reflist Educational qualifications in the United Kingdom Science education in the United Kingdom