Science Key Stage 4 Courses

In year 10 students complete their Science GCSE.
Assessment is based on 3 terminal exams at the end of year 10, practical exams and a piece of extended writing. The combination of these assessments gives the students a single GCSE grade at the end of year 10 such as A or B.

In year 11 the students complete their Additional Science GCSE. The assessment of the GCSE follows the same format as in year 10.

Advantages of these new courses are that the GCSE is split evenly over the 2 years and the students can gain a combination of grades, such as AB or AC. The topic content is more heavily based on Science that is in the everyday news. As a consequence, there is a lot of discussion on the pros and cons of current scientific research, such as animal testing, nanotechnology and the use of nuclear power.

The flexibility offered by the separate year long GCSEs, means we have the opportunity to offer different academic and vocational courses for our students.

We are currently offering seperate science GCSEs to interested students. This gives them the opportunity to achieve 3 seperate GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. We intend to offer the same opportunity to students in future years and are also looking into other alternative courses including BTEC, ASDAN and OCN awards

Biology topics covered in year 10 GCSE Science.
1. Adaptation and Competition
2. Variation
3. Evolution
4. Genetics and Inheritance
5. Genetic Engineering
6. Nervous Control
7. Homeostasis
8. Healthy Living

Biology topics covered in year 11 GCSE Additional Science.
1. Cells
2. Respiration
3. Movement of substances through cells
4. Animal Nutrition
5. Plant Nutrition
6. Energy and Nutrient Transfer
7. Impact of Human Activity on the Environment

Biology topics covered in year 11 GCSE Biology.
1. Plants and the movement of water
2. Blood and the circulatory system
3. Removal of waste substances by the Kidneys
4. Microbes
5. Microbes and diseases
6. Microbes as useful organisms

Physics topics covered in year 10 GCSE Science:
1. GENERATION OF ELECTRICITY
2. TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRICITY
3. HEATING AND THE HOME
4. ENERGY, TEMPERATURE AND THE TRANSFER OF HEAT ENERGY
5. ENERGY EFFICIENCY
6. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WAVES
7. THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIC SPECTRUM
8. THE SOLAR SYSTEM
9. STARS
10. THE UNIVERSE

Physics topics covered in the year 11 GCSE Science:
1. RADIOACTIVE EMISSIONS
2. THE HALF LIFE OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
3. USES AND DANGERS OF RADIOACTIVITY
4. SIMPLE ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS
5. SAFETY FEATURES USED IN MAINS CIRCUITS
6. DISTANCE, SPEED AND ACCELERATION
7. THE EFFECT OF FORCES
8. INTERACTIONS BETWEEN OBJECTS

Students sitting the Physics GCSE wil cover the above topics by the end of year 10. In year 11 they will cover the following units:
1. ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND GENERATORS
2. TRANSFORMERS
3. REFRACTION OF PLANE WAVES
4. ULTRASONIC WAVES
5. SEISMIC WAVES
6. MOTION
7. ATOMIC STRUCTURE
8. NUCLEAR FISSION
9. NUCLEAR FUSION