Core Subject

Nov 19, 2009 by R Champeney
Who should you contact for further details? Miss Ryans or Miss Hurst

The Science Department has developed five courses to best suit the individual 
students’ learning and qualification needs.  We operate a system of guided 
choice as Science is not an option and must be studied by all students.  
Students are invited to study for a particular course and suite of qualifications 
based upon their examination performance, teacher assessment and career 
aspirations.

There are five possible routes from Year 10 to the end of Year 11 in Science each 
yielding a suite of qualifications:

Programme 1 - Double Award (Academic)
    AQA Science A (4461) Core Science – Year 10
    AQA Additional Science (4463) – Year 11
This will lead to the awarding of two grades for Science.

Programme 2 - Double Award (Applied)
In Year 11 some students will be invited to study Additional Applied Science (4863)
instead of Additional Science providing a more vocational route for those requiring 
GCSEs for future courses and covering topics such as food science, forensics and sport.
    AQA Science A (4461) Core Science – Year 10
    AQA Additional Applied Science (4863) – Year 11
This will lead to the awarding of two grades for Science.

Programme 3 - Triple Award (Academic)
Selected students identified as Gifted and Talented, will be offered the opportunity 
to study a triple award of:
    AQA Biology (4411)
    AQA Chemistry (4421)
    AQA Physics (4451)
This will lead to the awarding of three grades for Science.
Each course consists of a combination of examinations and coursework.
Coursework content contributes between 25% and 40% of the final mark depending 
on the programme followed.
External examinations contribute between 40% and 75% of the final mark depending on 
the programme followed.

Programme 4 - BTEC (Vocational)
For students who work best with project and coursework based assessment and need a 
Science qualification for Level 3 qualifications at college.
    Edexcel BTEC First Certificate – Year 10
    Edexcel BTEC First Diploma – Year 11
This programme will be 100% coursework assessed.  This will lead to the award of at least 
two grades for Science.

Programme 5 – BTEC (Vocational)
For a minority of students following a specific programme the single award will be offered.
    AQA Science A (4461) Core Science – Year 10
    AQA Entry Level Certificate – Year 10
    Edexcel BTEC First Certificate – Year 11 
This will lead to the award of one grade for Science.