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.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2026
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- High
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification 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 The number system
-
Measuring accurately and working with SI units
Learners measure mass and volume, including by displacement for irregular objects, to find density, and must recognise and use SI units, prefixes and unit conversions (Appendix D, page 46). Appendix C expects them to understand the resolution of measuring instruments.
Numeracy: Measurement, Shape and space, The number system, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read thermometers, measuring cylinders and top-pan balances at practical stations, record each reading with its unit and say what the smallest division is.
- Year 8
- Pupils find the volume of irregular stones by displacement in a measuring cylinder, and convert between cm³ and ml and between g and kg.
- Year 9
- Pupils find the density of regular blocks by measuring and calculating their volume and of irregular objects by displacement, and state the resolution of each instrument.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, Section 2.3.1c, page 32
“carry out experiments to determine the density of both regular and irregular shaped objects to identify the material they are made from.”
Progression step 3
I can read and interpret scales or divisions on a range of measuring instruments.
I can convert metric units of length to smaller units, e.g. cm to mm, m to cm, km to m.
I can find volumes by counting and other practical methods.
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 apply the formulae for the volume of simple prisms.
Progression step 5
I can recognise and define limitations on accuracy of measurements, e.g. upper and lower bounds.
I can understand and use a variety of compound measures.
I can identify, measure or obtain required information to complete the task.
-
Percentages, efficiency and significant figures
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
- Unit 1 includes a pre-release Resource Folder released one month before the examination: '24 marks will be allocated to questions linked to the pre-release material', and candidates receive a clean copy of the folder with the question paper (page 11).
- Unit 3 Task 2 (22 marks) is written alone: 'Learners must work independently in high controlled conditions' (page 33). In Task 1 (6 marks) learners 'may work in groups of no more than three' (page 33).
- Higher tier only mathematics is shown in bold in Appendix D (page 46): standard form, changing the subject of an equation, and determining and interpreting the gradient, slope and intercept of a linear graph. Calculating acceleration from the gradient of a speed-time graph (page 13) and calculating rate from a straight line (page 20) are also higher tier content.
- The uncertainty formula is provided: 'There is a formula to calculate this which you will be given in an exam' (Appendix C, page 44).
- AO3, 'Analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific information, processes, techniques and procedures', carries 25% of the qualification (page 35).
- The specification awards no separate marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar and makes no statement about calculator use.
Links with other qualifications
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.