GCSE Food and Nutrition
Learners type objective, short and extended answers in an on-screen examination worth 40%, then complete two written assessments: a food science investigation built around a hypothesis, and a researched, planned and evaluated cooking task, both needing analysis, justification and precise sensory description. Numeracy is applied throughout: weighing and measuring, key temperatures, scaling and adapting recipe quantities, calculating energy and nutritional values, timing a plan of work, and presenting results in tables and charts. The single biggest thing Key Stage 3 should build is the fair-test habit: change one variable, measure and record the results in a table or chart, and write a conclusion that uses the evidence.
- First taught
- September 2025
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Medium
- Specification
- Open the WJEC specification (PDF)
How this GCSE is assessed
- Unit 1: Principles of Food and Nutrition: Digital examination 1 hour 30 minutes, 40%, 80 marks
- Unit 2: Food Investigation: Non-examination assessment, 8 hours, 20%, 40 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 3: Food and Nutrition in Action: Non-examination assessment, 12 hours, 40%, 80 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
Skills that use Clarity and vocabulary
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Sensory descriptors and food science vocabulary
Learners must apply sensory descriptors appropriately when testing and evaluating food, and use technical terms such as gelatinisation, coagulation, emulsification and the Maillard reaction.
Literacy: Vocabulary, spelling, grammar, Understanding, response and analysis, Clarity and vocabulary
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils taste three biscuits and describe each with words from a sensory descriptor bank, such as crumbly, crisp and chewy, spelling them correctly.
- Year 8
- Pupils label photographs of their practical work with technical terms such as gelatinisation and coagulation and write one sentence explaining each change.
- Year 9
- Pupils run a blind tasting panel and write up the results using at least five precise sensory descriptors and three food science terms.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, 2.1.3 and 2.2.3, pages 19 to 20; Unit 3, 3.3.4, page 25
“Learners should be aware of how to apply sensory descriptors appropriately.”
Progression step 3
I can use varied, appropriate and precise vocabulary including area of learning and experience/discipline-specific words for different purposes.
I can use strategies to correctly spell polysyllabic, complex and irregular words in the context of each area of learning and experience.
I can read to build my vocabulary and develop sentence structures, and use these in my own communication.
Progression step 4
I have experienced a range of area of learning and experience/discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary, and can use them in my own communication.
I can use a variety of strategies and resources to spell familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary and area of learning and experience/discipline-specific words correctly.
I have experienced a range of area of learning and experience/discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary, and can use them in my own communication.
Progression step 5
I can use a range of discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary accurately and precisely.
I can use strategies to spell discipline-specific and general academic words in appropriate contexts.
I can use a range of discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary in my own communication.
Good to know
- Unit 1 is typed on screen, not handwritten: "Digital examination: 1 hour 30 minutes" (Summary of assessment, page 5) and "Assessment type: Digital Examination" (Unit 1, page 11).
- The specification does not mention marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar, and states no calculator rule for the examination: "The Assessment Pack will include all detailed information relating to assessment." (Assessment, page 27).
- AO3, analyse and evaluate, is 20% of the qualification, with 10% in the Unit 1 examination, 5% in Unit 2 and 5% in Unit 3 (Assessment objectives, page 27).
- Nutritional calculation carries different weight by unit: Unit 1 learners "should know how to calculate energy and nutritional values in food" (1.2.3, page 13), but in Unit 3 learners need only be aware of "how to calculate the nutritional value in a food outcome" (3.3.3, page 24).
- Both written assessments are time limited: Unit 2 "will take 8 hours to complete" and Unit 3 "will take 12 hours to complete", and each "could be completed in several sittings" (Arrangements for non-examination assessment, page 28). No word limits are stated.
- Costing and budgeting are not named in the specification. Money appears only through "socio-economic influences" on food choice (1.3.3, page 14; 3.1.1, page 22).
- Charts and star diagrams are listed with "such as", which the specification says "indicates that the specified content is for guidance only" (How to read the amplification, page 11).
Links with other GCSEs
Food investigations use the same fair-test, variables and results-table skills as The Sciences, and recipe scaling and percentage of reference intake overlap with Mathematics and Numeracy.
Source: WJEC GCSE Food and Nutrition specification, Version 2, February 2025, teaching from 2025, for award from 2027 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd. 2024).