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 Strategic competence
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Weighing, measuring and key temperatures
Learners must weigh and measure ingredients accurately, both listed as techniques in Appendix A, and know the key temperatures for food safety, storage, cooking and reheating.
Numeracy: Measurement, Strategic competence, Conceptual understanding, Communicating with symbols
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils weigh flour on digital and dial scales and measure milk in a jug for scones, recording each amount with the correct unit.
- Year 8
- Pupils use a food probe to check the core temperature of a cooked dish and record fridge and freezer readings, including negative numbers.
- Year 9
- Pupils convert a recipe given in cups and ounces into grams and millilitres, then weigh it out accurately to within 5 g.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, 1.5.1 and 1.5.2, page 16; Appendix A, pages 31 to 32
“key temperatures for food safety, storage and cooking”
Progression step 3
I can read and interpret scales or divisions on a range of measuring instruments.
I can record measurements in different ways, e.g. 1.3kg = 1kg 300g, 4.2cm = 4cm 2mm.
I can measure and record temperatures involving positive and negative readings.
Progression step 4
I can read and interpret scales on a range of measuring instruments.
I can use the common units of measure, convert between related units of the metric system and carry out calculations.
I can use rough metric equivalents of imperial units in daily use.
Progression step 5
I can identify, measure or obtain required information to complete the task.
I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.
I can use appropriate notation, symbols and units of measurement, including compound measures.
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Scaling and adapting recipe quantities
Learners must select and adapt recipes for a single outcome or a number of outcomes, change ingredient quantities to meet an audience's needs, and treat quantities as a variable in experiments.
Numeracy: Calculation, Relationships within the number system, Strategic competence, Conceptual understanding
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils halve a recipe for four muffins to make two, and double it to make eight, writing the new quantities in a table.
- Year 8
- Pupils scale a soup recipe for four people up to serve a class of 30 using ratio, and round the quantities sensibly for weighing.
- Year 9
- Pupils reduce the sugar in a cake recipe by 25% and the fat by 20% using multipliers, then bake and compare the result with the original.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, 2.2.2, page 20; Unit 3, 3.3.1 and 3.3.3, page 24
“suggest changes to ingredients and quantities to meet the needs of the audience”
Progression step 3
I can use ratio and proportion to calculate quantities.
I can halve 3-digit numbers in the context of number, money and measures.
I can use understanding of simple fraction, decimal and percentage equivalences, e.g. find 25% of 60cm and know that this is equivalent to ¼ of 60cm.
Progression step 4
I can use ratio and proportion including map scales.
I can calculate a percentage increase or decrease.
I can use efficient methods for multiplication and division of whole numbers and decimals, including decimals such as 0.6 or 0.06.
Progression step 5
I can use multipliers as an efficient method when working with percentages, e.g. multiply by 1.2 to increase an amount by 20%.
I can recognise, model and apply the underlying mathematical structures and ideas within problems, in order to formulate and solve them.
I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.
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Calculating energy and nutritional values
Unit 1 learners should know how to calculate energy and nutritional values in food. In Unit 3 learners explore the nutritional value of their dish and suggest changes to quantities to meet the audience's needs.
Numeracy: Calculation, Measurement, Strategic competence, Fluency, Conceptual understanding
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read the per 100 g column on two cereal packets and work out which gives more sugar in a 30 g bowl.
- Year 8
- Pupils add up the energy in kilocalories of each ingredient in their pasta salad from a nutrition table and divide by the number of portions.
- Year 9
- Pupils calculate the energy, fat and sugar per portion of their dish, express each as a percentage of a teenager's reference intake, and adapt the recipe to lower one value.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, 1.2.3, page 13; Unit 3, 3.3.3, page 24
“Learners should know how to calculate energy and nutritional values in food.”
Progression step 3
I can calculate a percentage, fraction and decimal of any quantity with a calculator where appropriate.
I can multiply numbers and decimals by a multiple of 10, e.g. 15 x 30, 1.4cm x 20.
I can add and subtract numbers using whole numbers and decimals.
Progression step 4
I can express one quantity as a percentage of another.
I can use efficient methods for multiplication and division of whole numbers and decimals, including decimals such as 0.6 or 0.06.
I can represent and use compound measures, using standard units.
Progression step 5
I can recognise, model and apply the underlying mathematical structures and ideas within problems, in order to formulate and solve them.
I can use a scientific calculator effectively and efficiently to carry out calculations using the available range of function keys.
I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.
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Timing a plan of work
Learners must produce a timed order of work for a single food outcome and for a number of outcomes, including sequencing, timings and contingency plans, and later evaluate their time management.
Numeracy: Measurement, Strategic competence, Logical reasoning
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils write a simple time plan for a 50 minute practical with a clock time for each step, including washing up.
- Year 8
- Pupils plan pasta and a sauce cooked at the same time, using a time plan in 5 minute steps that shows when to start each part.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a dovetailed time plan for two dishes in a 90 minute lesson, including a contingency, then record actual times and calculate how far they drifted.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 3, 3.2.1, page 23; Unit 3, 3.3.4, page 25
“Learners should be able to produce a timed order of work to”
Progression step 3
I can use and interpret calendars, timetables and schedules to plan events and activities, and make calculations as part of the planning journey.
I can carry out practical activities involving timed events and explain which unit of time is the most appropriate.
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
Progression step 4
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
I can select, trial and evaluate a variety of possible approaches and break complex problems into a series of tasks.
I can justify my procedures, predictions and conjectures.
Progression step 5
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
I can select, trial and evaluate a variety of possible approaches and break complex problems into a series of tasks.
I can justify my procedures, predictions and conjectures.
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).