Edexcel IGCSE Combined Science Tutors Online

Edexcel IGCSE Combined Science is the Science (Double Award), code 4SD0, written for first teaching from September 2017 with the first examination in June 2019. This page works from Issue 4 of the specification. It is a double award, which is why it is graded in pairs rather than with a single number.

The qualification has three papers, one for each science, and they are all the same size. Biology Paper 1, Chemistry Paper 1 and Physics Paper 1 each run for 2 hours, each carry 110 marks, and each is worth 33.3% of the qualification. There is no smaller paper and no optional paper, so biology, chemistry and physics carry exactly the same weight and no one of them can be traded against the others.

The most important structural point is which paper each of those is. The paper codes are shared with the separate sciences. Biology Paper 1 is 4BI1/1B and 4SD0/1B, Chemistry Paper 1 is 4CH1/1C and 4SD0/1C, and Physics Paper 1 is 4PH1/1P and 4SD0/1P. So a Double Award candidate sits the same Paper 1 as a student taking the separate science, and the same questions come up. What differs is the qualification the paper counts towards and how much of it the paper is worth.

The content is described in this specification as topics covering core content areas, and the topics are listed per paper. Biology runs to five: the nature and variety of living organisms, structures and functions in living organisms, reproduction and inheritance, ecology and the environment, and use of biological resources. Chemistry runs to four: principles of chemistry, inorganic chemistry, physical chemistry, and organic chemistry. Physics runs to eight: forces and motion, electricity, waves, energy resources and energy transfer, solids liquids and gases, magnetism and electromagnetism, radioactivity and particles, and astrophysics.

The qualification is linear. The specification states that three written examinations must be taken in the same series at the end of the course of study, and that all components and papers must be taken at the end of the course. There is no staging across two years and no January sitting.

The total is printed with its own arithmetic. The specification states that the total number of marks for this qualification is 330, obtained by adding up the marks for Paper 1B, Paper 1C and Paper 1P, each out of 110 marks, and that the marks for the papers are not scaled. So the three papers are all the weight the grade has.

Grading is where the double award shows. The qualification is graded and certificated on a 17-grade scale from 9-9 to 1-1 using the total subject mark, where 9-9 is the highest grade, and individual papers are not graded. First certification was August 2019, which is a month later than the June figure the separate sciences use.

The combination rules are unusually long here, and they matter more than on most pages because they determine what a student is allowed to take at all. This qualification may not be taken alongside the Biology (Modular), Chemistry (Modular) or Physics (Modular) qualifications, nor the Science (Double Award) (Modular), and it also may not be taken alongside the linear Biology, Chemistry or Physics. That is seven prohibitions in all, and it means a student cannot hold this qualification and any of the three separate linear sciences at the same time.

There is one exception worth knowing, and the specification states it plainly. Students may take the Science (Double Award) alongside the International GCSE in Human Biology. Human Biology is offered as a separate science in its own right, and it is the one science qualification this one is allowed to sit beside.

The assessment objectives are the same ranges as the separate sciences. AO1, knowledge and understanding of science, is 38 to 42 per cent. AO2, application of knowledge and understanding with analysis and evaluation, is also 38 to 42 per cent. AO3, experimental skills and the analysis and evaluation of data and methods, is 19 to 21 per cent. Because all three papers are the same size, all three carry the same split: 12.7 to 14.0 per cent each for AO1 and AO2, and 6.3 to 7.0 per cent for AO3, on every paper. The specification adds that totals have been rounded either up or down.

Practical work is embedded in the content rather than separately examined. The specification says the practical investigations are embedded within the science content as specification points in italics, and that the skills developed through these and other practicals will be assessed through written examinations. It then lists what experimental skills a student may be tested on, from devising and planning investigations through to assessing reliability and evaluating data. There is no required practical count and no endorsement.

A calculator is allowed in all three papers. Calculators that allow retrieval of text or formulae, or that have QWERTY keyboards, are not.

The specification also notes that a Science (Single Award) is available, and that it covers approximately 50 per cent of the Double Award specification while still having a comparable level of rigour and demand.