GCSE Food Prep & Nutrition - 2019 spec hard?

When she does the practical, she can go in with instructions (like on Bake Off) The preparation will have timings so she can make sure that she's on schedule. DS has ADHD and had me read his instructions before cooking to check he'd not forgotten anything. He appreciated suggestions like washing up while bread is proving is a good idea.

It was ds' highest grade. For his final he made fresh ravioli amongst other dishes with high difficulty. Your dd is clearly very able if she's doing triple science, history and MFL so I can't imagine why she'd find the theory much harder.

My D's did this and loved the practical element of the complex dishes. He made a raspberry mouse cheesecake using gelatin, chicken, bacon and peas in a blue cheese creme fresh sauce with tagliatelle and bruchetta with tomato sauce made from scratch and roasted peppers with mozzarella. They look for how many skills you perform so for raspberry mouse cheesecake: blooming gelatin, sifting raspberries, whisking then folding in cream, crushing biscuits etc. The more skills you can get in the higher potential mark. The real skill is in getting everything done in correct order to finish in time including all clearing and washing up. So you need to be prepared to get chicken in oven then start on dessert as it needs time to set in fridge. Then switch onto slicing and roasting peppers, getting chicken breast out of oven and chopping up etc. Some children struggle with switching between dishes and want to do all of one dish then move on to next, but you can't as would run out of time. The dishes you choose have to be matched to Eat well plate. There is written exam where you have to write up your 3 complex dishes and explain your choices eg I used creme fresh for sauce as could use low fat, as already having fat from cheese. DS practiced dishes at home before doing them in school so most mistakes were ironed out at home and so teacher did not see them.

My Y11 didn't take it but her friends did. We have ruled it out with our autistic Y9, the practical element is fierce with doing 3 big dishes simultaneously in a short timeslot. His exec function just isn't at that level, I think.

Re the theory, the whole year group were reassured that it's manageable in any Tech. Avoiding a Tech subject because of the theory side seems a bit topsy turvy. By definition they will surely have less "bookwork" than purely academic subjects.

There is real value in having a more practical or creative subject to break up your week. They also tend to come with a low homework load - though Food Tech might not feel that way if you are forever supplying ingredients. But from talking to current Y11s, very anecdotally, Food Tech seems the hardest to me if you have issues with executive function.

This doc shows the sort of skills needed for lower, medium or higher grades, so your dd might want to be aiming for dishes and skills in the middle column: filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/food/AQA-8585-NG-SL.PDF

Rather than a fourth science, think of it as a practical extension of her other sciences - for instance comparing different raising agents and experimenting to see which is most effective and why. It's fun!

My son was aiming for 9's in all of his subjects, including food and nutrition, so it was the higher grade that necessitated the fileting, piping, etc. If aiming for a lower grade the skills can be less complex. But it does need them to be well organised - the practical exam reminded me of an episode of masterchef, except they have to do the washing up in the time too! Be prepared to help her practice at home - we ate a lot of ravioli (made from scratch, including the pasta), fish pie and tarte tatin in the weeks beforehand!

DS did this in yr9 (school compresses it into 1 year). He enjoyed it. I wouldn't say very academic but he did come home with lots of food & nutrition facts I hadn't heard before. Think he got a high 6, almost 7 in end (?). A lot of things went wrong with his practical but some parts went well, too.

This is my fussy eater kid who only ate about 12 different things when he was 4yo & still wouldn't try many things. But he likes to cook & bake . Catering GCSE was good for making him more adventurous with food, too.

My DS chose this GCSE. I have to admit I was a bit sneery about it but goodness me it was very rigorous. The theory was very science based - lots of biology but also links to chemistry. The practical element as PP as said gave him skills for life. In 3 hours he made homemade bread, homemade fresh pasta and homemade puff pastry and cleared up afterwards. The project part of the practical required research and evaluation. The bit that makes it easier is that there is only the one final written exam in June.

My son did this spec. He is very academic, so I initially had doubts for the opposite reason to you - I thought it might be a soft option for him - but it wasn't. The theory was interesting and useful, with lots of connections to the biology syllabus, so gave him no issues. The challenging part was the practical bit. His assessment involved planning and creating three complex dishes within a time limit, including clearing up. By complex, I mean that for the highest grades they need to be doing things like fileting fish, decorative piping, and making everything from scratch. They also need to write a project on the dishes they create, justifying their selection, amalysing their nutritional value, and cost. Ot was incredibly useful for learning skills that will give him lifelong benefit. Definitely not a soft option, and well worth their time.

Those subjects she's chosen are very academic, triple science, language and history.
If she is doing triple science I am sure she would be well able for the science content of the spec.
My DC school does the Eduqas spec for Food and nutrition, and I would be quite interested to know anyone's thoughts on that.

If she's doing triple science then she must be academic.

My ds did that qualification and really enjoyed the practical side of things.