Edexcel GCSE Combined Science Tutors Online

Edexcel GCSE Combined Science is code 1SC0, with a qualification number of 601/8612/4, written for first teaching from September 2016 and first certification from June 2018. The specification prints no discount code and refers centres to the GOV.UK website. This page works from Issue 6, ISBN 978 1 446 95834 6, which is the current version.

This is the double award. It is graded on a 17-grade scale from 9-9 to 1-1, with 9-9 the highest, and it is graded on the total subject mark rather than paper by paper. At foundation tier the grades available run from 1-1 to 5-5, and at higher tier from 4-4 to 9-9, although a grade of 4-3 may be awarded if the mark falls a small number of marks below the 4-4 boundary. That double grade is the clearest difference between this qualification and the three separate sciences.

The qualification has six externally examined papers, two in each science. Paper 1 and Paper 2 are Biology 1 and Biology 2, Paper 3 and Paper 4 are Chemistry 1 and Chemistry 2, and Paper 5 and Paper 6 are Physics 1 and Physics 2. Every paper is identical in weight and length: 1 hour and 10 minutes, 16.67% of the qualification, and 60 marks. The weighting is the same six times over, so no single science can carry the grade and none can be neglected.

Each paper has the same internal rules too. Every paper consists of six questions and students must answer all of them. Every paper includes multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, calculations and extended open-response questions. Calculators may be used throughout. Each paper is offered at foundation and higher tier, the foundation paper targets grades 1-5, the higher paper targets grades 4-9, and 16 marks of the paper are overlap questions that appear in both the foundation and higher tier papers.

Tier choice is not made paper by paper. Students must complete all assessments for this qualification in the same tier, so a student is entered once and sits all six papers at that level. All assessment is taken in May and June in a single year, and there is no November series.

The content is organised so that the first topic of each science is examined twice. Key concepts in biology appears in both Paper 1 and Paper 2, key concepts in chemistry in both Paper 3 and Paper 4, and key concepts of physics in both Paper 5 and Paper 6. The specification groups these as topics common to each pair, which means the opening content of each science carries double the opportunity and double the risk.

Practical work is compulsory and separately recorded. The content includes 18 mandatory core practicals, and students must carry out all 18. Centres must confirm that each student has completed them, students must record the work they have undertaken, and the practical record must include the knowledge, skills and understanding gained from the practical activities. The centre then submits a Practical Science Statement to Pearson by 15 April in the year the students sit their examinations, and failure to provide it is treated as malpractice or maladministration. The 18 core practicals are described as the minimum number of practicals that should be taken during the course, with suggested additional practicals given alongside them.

The assessment objectives are weighted identically on all six papers. AO1 is 40% for knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, techniques and procedures. AO2 is 40% for applying that knowledge, including scientific enquiry. AO3 is 20% for analysing information and ideas to interpret and evaluate, make judgements, draw conclusions and develop experimental procedures. Each is shown with a tolerance of plus or minus three percentage points.

Because every paper carries the same split, the pattern is unusually flat. Each paper is 6.67% AO1, 6.67% AO2 and 3.33% AO3, and that is repeated six times. AO1 and AO2 are equal in every paper and AO3 is exactly half of either of them. A student who is strong on recall but weak on application, or the other way round, will find no paper where the balance shifts in their favour.