LNF Cymru Literacy and numeracy for Wales

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GCSE Integrated Science

Integrated Science (Single Award) asks learners to read a pre-release Resource Folder worth a third of the Unit 1 paper, judge how reliable health and climate information is, write balanced evaluations, and write up a scientific enquiry alone under high control using precise scientific terms. Its numeracy load is heavy: Appendix D lists units, percentages, significant figures, substituting into equations, plotting graphs and, at higher tier, standard form, rearranging equations and gradients, all applied to energy costs, efficiency, density, motion and practical data. The single biggest thing Key Stage 3 should build is routine, confident handling of practical data: measuring with units, calculating means and values from equations, and plotting and explaining graphs.

First taught
September 2026
Amount of literacy work
Medium
Amount of numeracy work
High
Specification
Open the WJEC specification (PDF)
How this GCSE is assessed
  • Unit 1: Living on Earth: Written examination (tiered), 1 hour 30 minutes, 72 marks, includes pre-release Resource Folder, 45%
  • Unit 2: Science in a Changing World: Written examination (tiered), 1 hour 30 minutes, 72 marks, 45%
  • Unit 3: Scientific Enquiry: One enquiry from a choice of two: practical task (1 hour) and written task (1 hour), 28 marks, externally marked by WJEC, 10%

Skills that use Fluency

  1. Percentages, efficiency and significant figures

    Assessed: In the exam

    Learners calculate efficiency from Sankey diagrams, energy transfer between trophic levels, Rf values and carbon footprints, and use ratios, fractions, percentages and a sensible number of significant figures. Standard form is higher tier only (Appendix D, page 46).

    Numeracy: Calculation, The number system, Relationships within the number system, Fluency, Conceptual understanding

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils use a calculator to work out what percentage of the energy in a packet of crisps comes from fat, and round the answer to the nearest whole number.
    Year 8
    Pupils draw a Sankey diagram for a filament bulb from given energy values and calculate its efficiency as a percentage.
    Year 9
    Pupils calculate the percentage of energy passed along a food chain from given data, round to 2 significant figures, and write the largest energy values in standard form.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, Section 1.3.2a, page 23

    “determine the efficiency of a device or process from a Sankey diagram.”
    Progression step 3

    • I can calculate a percentage, fraction and decimal of any quantity with a calculator where appropriate.

    • I can estimate by rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000 or whole number.

    • 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 express one quantity as a percentage of another.

    • I can use and interpret numbers in standard form within calculations.

    • I can present answers to a given number of decimal places or significant figures.

    Progression step 5

    • I can select and apply appropriate checking strategies.

    • 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.

Good to know

Links with other GCSEs

The Appendix D mathematics overlaps closely with GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy, and the carbon footprint, air quality and energy cost work overlaps with Geography.

Source: WJEC GCSE Integrated Science (Single Award) specification, teaching from 2026, for award from 2028, © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2025.