GCSE Double Science - Higher or Foundation?

[divventdunshus]

My DD has recently been told that she will be sitting the Higher tier paper in Chemistry and the Foundation tier paper for Biology and Physics for her GCSE Core Science this year. She did her ISA last term, and was told that her score equated to a "definite B, but might go up following moderation". This from her head of science. The ISA seemed to be broadly physics based from what my daughter told me. I am a bit puzzled as to why they have put her in for Foundation tier, where she will be capped at a grade C. Although she is unlikely to continue with science at A level, she obviously needs to have a good chance of getting the best grade possible to boost her points total for sixth form entry. Can any science teachers out there help shed some light on this please? What would you do with a student with similar scores ( her scores in Chemistry tests this year have been A/B grade, and for the others generally B/C.). All help and light-shedding welcome - there may be something I have missed in how they work these things out.

Is your dd Y10 or Y11? Some schools enter for Foundation tier Core Science in Y10 to "bank" a grade C and students doing better than expected may retake Higher in Y11. It could be that the school hasn't covered the "harder" topics for Core Science yet, so think the final grades may be lower!
For a Y11 child though, I would enter grades B/C for Higher and C/D for Foundation.

Its quite common for students to be entered for both Foundation and Higher in each science and/or be entered 'early' for one bit to get it out of the way.

I thought with both core and additional science you can mix and match foundation and higher papers in the separate subjects, and still get higher than a C overall. Its the total UMS that decides the final grade.

This sounds like a strategy to maximise her chances of a B grade. The mark for an individual foundation paper is capped at one mark below a B so if she achieves that in the two weaker subjects and achieves Bs in the ISA and Chemistry she should get a B overall. This may be easier than getting the same marks on higher papers in physics and biology, but needs to be based on a good understanding of the students strengths and weaknesses and the style of the relevant exam questions; presumably the head of science has experience and a track record in getting this right.

For a deeper understanding, read an explanation of the UMS (Uniform Mark Scale) - here is the one for AQA but it works in a similar way in the other boards.

Thanks for all of this useful information everyone. I believe they are only entered for one level at DD's school. reddidi, to achieve a B overall as you describe, am I right in thinking that she would need to score close to 100% on both the other papers? Do you feel that this would be easier than scoring a C on the higher paper in your experience? (I really don't know, and have heard much contradicting information)

crazymum she is in Y10 - they all do their Core Science in Y10 and additional in Y11. Doesn't seem to be a "first go" scenario iyswim!

"am I right in thinking that she would need to score close to 100% on both the other papers"

No. For instance in the Edexcel June 2013 series to hit the cap in Foundation Biology B1 you had to get a raw mark of 41/60; this would earn a UMS mark of 55/80. To get the same UMS mark in the Higher paper you had to get a raw mark of 37/60. Whether this would have been easier or not for any particular candidate depends on so many factors, including those specific to the candidate and the way she has been taught (e.g. struggling in the middle set or overachieving in the bottom set) it is impossible to generalise.

Thanks reddidi - this is very helpful. I am old enough to have done the old "O" levels, so the whole system is new to me. It seems strange that, in the example you give , 38/60 on the foundation level would have given a C and the same score on the higher level would have got a B? (Or have I got this wrong too!). Anyway, help much appreciated - I will be able to have a more informed and useful discussion with the school.

"in the example you give , 38/60 on the foundation level would have given a C and the same score on the higher level would have got a B"

That's right, it is generally harder to score marks on the higher paper so the same raw mark gets a higher UMS mark/grade.

OK thanks - nice to know I'm getting the hang of it a bit! Just out of interest reddidi, which way would you jump tier-wise if you had a student whose predicted grade was a B, and what would be your deciding factors if there was any doubt. (Obviously you don't know my DD - just interested to know how you would arrive at decisions for any student as it might help me to understand how the school have done this for my DD) Once again, thanks for your help with this - really appreciate the time you're taking.

Fortunately I don't teach in a school so I don't have to make this kind of decision. If I did, I would base it on how consistently the candidate performs on individual questions with higher tier marks available rather than a simple A-F grade.

Thanks again reddidi - really useful.