Foundation The Sciences
Foundation The Sciences is an Entry Level and Level 1 qualification for learners in Years 10 and 11 who need a practical, accessible science course built around scientific enquiry. Literacy sits in reading test questions and secondary sources, using scientific words, planning an enquiry in simple words, and writing short conclusions, evaluations and reasoned decisions in the Unit 2 and Unit 3 tasks. Numeracy is integrated throughout, as Appendix C sets out: careful measuring, tables and bar charts, plotting two variables, means, decimals and percentages, sampling, and simple calculations such as BMI, energy efficiency and payback time. The biggest thing Key Stage 3 can build is a secure routine of measuring, recording in a table, graphing and then writing one clear sentence about what the results show.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level and Level 1
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- Medium
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Science in Everyday Life: Two topic tests of 30 minutes each, 30%, 60 marks (2 × 30), set and marked by WJEC; tiered (Foundation tier Entry 1 to Entry 3, Higher tier Entry 3 to Level 1); centres choose on-screen or paper tests within a four-week window
- Unit 2: Caring for the Planet: Non-examination assessment, four enquiry tasks of 30 minutes each plus up to one additional hour per task for data collection or data presentation, 40%, 60 marks (4 × 15); centres choose one WJEC set task for each of the four contexts; marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 3: Me and My Health: Non-examination assessment, two tasks with up to 20 hours in total, 30%, 60 marks; set by WJEC, centres can tailor the practical elements; marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
Skills that use The number system
-
Working with decimals, fractions, percentages and means
Appendix C lists using decimals, fractions and percentages, finding arithmetic means and making order of magnitude calculations. Unit 1 test data is displayed to 1 decimal place on the foundation tier and up to 2 decimal places on the higher tier, where learners may have to write out a calculation for up to 3 marks.
Numeracy: Relationships within the number system, Interpreting data, The number system, Calculation
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils find the mean of three repeat readings for a dissolving time and round it to one decimal place.
- Year 8
- Pupils work out what percentage of a class's lunch waste could be recycled and write it as a fraction too.
- Year 9
- Pupils calculate means to 2 decimal places from repeat readings, express the change between two conditions as a percentage, and check the answer with an estimate.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Appendix C, page 42; Section 3.2, Unit 1 overview, page 26; Unit 2, Analyse data, page 18
“Recognise and use expressions in decimal form”
Progression step 3
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.
I can use mean to interpret a simple data set.
I can estimate by rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000 or whole number.
Progression step 4
I can express one quantity as a percentage of another.
I can present answers to a given number of decimal places or significant figures.
I can use rounding to estimate and check answers.
Good to know
- Mathematical skills must be taught within the science, not separately: they "must be integrated into the teaching of subject content rather than taught in isolation" (Section 2, page 9, and Appendix C, page 42).
- Calculation demand rises with tier in the Unit 1 topic tests: foundation tier calculations carry "1 mark maximum" and data is shown to 1dp, while higher tier calculations carry "Up to 3 marks available" with "Data displayed up to 2dp" (Section 3.2, page 26).
- Unit 2 allows extra time for numeracy work: learners "may have up to an additional one hour for any data collection or data presentation linked to the task(s)" (Section 3.2, page 27).
- In the internally marked units, "Written evidence must be annotated to show how it meets the marking criteria" and spoken work such as presentations is recorded on observation records (Section 3.3, page 28).
- Appendix A maps listening, reading, speaking and writing, and all four numeracy strands, to all three units (pages 34 and 35), and Appendix C lists the mathematical skills: handling data and graphs (page 42).
- Unit 1 topic tests are taken "under invigilated examination conditions" and can be on screen or on paper (Section 3.2, page 27; Summary of assessment, page 5).
Links with other qualifications
Foundation The Sciences prepares learners for GCSE The Sciences (Double Award) and GCSE Integrated Science (Single Award), which use the same enquiry writing and data skills but add longer evaluations, chemical calculations, rearranging equations and gradients. The Appendix C data and graph skills overlap with Foundation Mathematics and Numeracy, the reasoned decisions about waste, energy and pollution link with Geography and Humanities, and the BMI, diet and exercise work links with Physical Education and Health.
Source: WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation The Sciences specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).