GCSE The Sciences
The Sciences (Double Award) asks learners to research and evaluate scientific information, including how the media shapes public views, to write balanced answers on ethical and environmental issues, and to write up two scientific enquiries alone under high control using precise terminology. Its numeracy demand is high across six examinations and Unit 7: equations with SI units, chemical calculations, percentages, significant figures, graphs and gradients, sampling, probability in genetics and decay, and payback costs, with standard form, rearranging equations and y = mx + c at higher tier. The single biggest thing Key Stage 3 should build is fluent, well set out calculation from practical data: correct units, substitution into equations, means and graphs, explained in precise scientific language.
- 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: Biology, Basis of Life: Written examination (tiered), 1 hour 15 minutes, 56 marks, 14.3%
- Unit 2: Chemistry, Chemical Substances and How They Behave: Written examination (tiered), 1 hour 15 minutes, 56 marks, 14.3%
- Unit 3: Physics, Forces, Motion and the Universe: Written examination (tiered), 1 hour 15 minutes, 56 marks, 14.3%
- Unit 4: Biology, Continuity of Life: Written examination (tiered), 1 hour 15 minutes, 64 marks, 15.7%
- Unit 5: Chemistry, Chemical Bonding, Reactions and Resources: Written examination (tiered), 1 hour 15 minutes, 64 marks, 15.7%
- Unit 6: Physics, Waves, Electricity and Energy: Written examination (tiered), 1 hour 15 minutes, 64 marks, 15.7%
- Unit 7: Scientific Enquiry: Two enquiries from a choice of three, each a practical task (1 hour) and a written task (1 hour), 28 marks each (56 marks), externally marked by WJEC, 10%
Skills that use Collaborative talk
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Communicating results and working in groups
Learners should recognise the value of peer review and of communicating results to different audiences, and the qualification promotes collaboration, which 'will not be directly assessed' (page 65). In Unit 7 Task 1 learners work in groups of no more than three (page 64).
Literacy: Clarity and vocabulary, Collaborative talk, Questioning, Listening as part of collaborative talk
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Groups of three take roles for a practical, reader, measurer and recorder, and one pupil explains the group's results to the class in a one-minute summary.
- Year 8
- Groups present their findings on the best insulating material to another group, who ask two questions about how reliable the results are.
- Year 9
- Pupils hold a peer-review session where each group presents a practical poster, answers written questions from other groups, and then revises its conclusion.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Appendix B, Scientific Enquiry Skills Framework, page 74
“recognise the importance of peer review of results and of communicating results to a range of audiences.”
Progression step 3
I can express issues and ideas clearly using area of learning and experience/discipline-specific vocabulary and examples.
I can contribute to group discussion in different roles, taking responsibility for completing the task well.
I can ask and answer questions, building on and developing the ideas of others in group discussions.
Progression step 4
I can speak clearly, selecting and adapting my language appropriately for a range of audiences and purposes, conveying meaning effectively to the audience.
I can undertake a range of responsibilities to structure and develop group talk, including in more formal situations.
I can respond to others' points of view with confidence and sensitivity, summarising and evaluating what I have heard, read or seen.
Progression step 5
I can present ideas and issues to meet the demands of different audiences.
I can use a range of discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary in my own communication.
I can respond with confidence and sensitivity to the ideas of others in different collaborative situations, reflecting on information and ideas and asking relevant questions.
Good to know
- Unit 7 has two enquiries. In each, Task 2 (22 marks) is written alone: 'Learners must work independently in high controlled conditions'. In Task 1 (6 marks) 'Learners may work in groups of no more than three' (page 64).
- Exam aids are provided: 'Unit 3 and Unit 6 will include equations on page 2 of the examination question paper', and Units 2 and 5 include a periodic table on the final page (page 66).
- Higher tier only mathematics is shown in bold in Appendix D (page 78): standard form, changing the subject of an equation, y = mx + c, and the gradient, slope and intercept of a linear graph. Converting grams to moles (page 22), calculating rate from a straight line (page 25), acceleration from the gradient of a speed-time graph (page 30) and reacting masses (page 52) 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 76).
- AO3, 'Analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific information, processes, techniques and procedures', carries 25% of the marks in each unit (page 66).
- 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, the scientific enquiry demands match GCSE Integrated Science, and the climate and sampling work overlaps with Geography.
Source: WJEC GCSE The Sciences (Double Award) specification, teaching from 2026, for award from 2028, © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2025.