Gcse science

[Panic71]

Anyone able to help?
Son is doing double award science.
Only top 30 kids were able to do single sciences.

He loves chemistry and physics but hates biology. Currently he’s assessment in chemistry and physics gave him a grade 7 and 8 but biology a 4. They gave him a combined grade of a 6.

Wouldn’t he have been better off doing single sciences??

For this reason?

There are different exam boards for all subjects, and the syllabi will vary, but if you take triple science, you gain three separate GCSEs with grades that may vary. Ds2 for example got 9, 8, 7. With double (sometimes called trilogy, confusingly) a,student gains two science grades, maximum of one grade apart (6-6 or 7-8 etc). There is no regional variation as GCSEs are a national qualification.

Op I agree he would make progress in general from yrc10 to year 11. But a 7 now in Yr 10 might just mean a level 7 on what he has learned (in fact it cannot mean much else for science) so that 7 might stay a 7 if that makes sense. I think you and he just need to work on his biology - plenty of time yo imprive that. Does he want to study sciences post 16?

Ok thanks. It makes perfect sense now. Wasn't clear at the school talk. It's better that way I suppose. Was only a double science available when I did mine many moons ago. Hasn't held me back from a very science based degree and career if thats any help to OP.

Yes he’s really keen on physics and chemistry maybe at A level

how is the trilogy science weighted? Is it evenly split between the 3 sciences?

@Panic71 AQA Combined Science Trilogy is equally weighted, 2 papers for each Science. If you look at the individual exam paper, it even says (for example) “Biology”.

At my kids’ school, their timetable has equally number of classes for each and the timetable itself says Chemistry / Physics / Biology. The teachers in her school are different and the units are independent.

The difference Vs Triple is the depth and breadth of the curriculum for each subject. There’s a huge crossover in topics.

I don’t many schools do this as you’d get low results, but you could in theory study Trilogy then take the foundation paper of all the Triple Sciences papers! I believe (happy to be corrected) that if you’re really strong on the Trilogy syllabus you can pass Foundation Triple.

If he’s in Y10, it’s pretty rubbish that his school didn’t explain the weighting during Y9 options presentations!

no, you would be putting the student at a huge disadvantage to enter them into an exam when they have not covered the specification

@Nimbostratus100 oh I agree! I was only pointing it out in the context of the cross over of part of the syllabus because OP doesn’t know what’s in the syllabus and how it’s weighted between the 3 sciences!

It’s only theoretically possible, and like I said - you’d have to be really strong on Trilogy to then only get a pass on Foundation papers. I’m not suggesting it!

💙

My daughter did 3 separate ones

Yes!

@Playdoughcaterpillar sorry that will teach me not to read the full thread!!

DS got 9, 9, 8 for his separate sciences, he definitely got 3 different grades and not a triple.

I was able to study single sciences back in the late 80s, early GCSE years, and did Chemistry and Physics but not Biology as I didn’t want to dissect the obligatory frog.

I was surprised to discover DD had to do all three either as combined science or separate. She would have chosen to drop Biology but actually found it her strongest or the subjects. She got three separate grades.

Her grammar school have traditionally given the students the choice of combined or triple, usually 30 out of 160 doing combined but the amount of teaching time and learning isn’t hugely different, the timetabling for the different groups previously, and the cohort means they are likely to only offer separate science going forward.

Just to clarify that pupils are not allowed to take both the combined Science Trilogy and separate Sciences. The exam papers are timetabled on the same day and time, so it isn't possible. The detailed exam information states that this is prohibited, so schools should not be doing it.
The reason behind the Trilogy name is because it clearly shows that all 3 science are included.

@catndogslife that’s interesting that it’s prohibited to take both - is that because there’s a crossover on the papers in the same year so doing a separate science paper might give you a heads up for the trilogy papers of the same science?

That’s leaving aside any question of why you would want to, and the timetabling issue where I guess you could treat it like any clash and do the papers the same day with supervision between.

What I was describing wasn’t doing both though - but studying the Trilogy syllabus but then only entering the 3 separate sciences. Is that theoretically possible to cover enough to pass? I’ve been told by a science teacher that it is - but it was a while ago!

Sorry OP for the derail! I only brought this up to discuss the crossover in some common syllabus elements, but now I’m curious!

@Testina the papers have different questions for each year.
So if you have dcs taking the separate Sciences, it would be OK to use the Trilogy papers for further exam practice. It would make no sense for a strong candidate capable of achieving grades 6-6 or above in Combined Science to attempt a Foundation paper in a separate Science subject where the highest grade achievable is a grade 5
In answer to the OP, it's too early to say if your son is still y10.
The papers are linear so it's hard to find suitable questions for assessments when he has only done part of the syllabus. He may find biology harder at the moment but this isn't guaranteed across the whole course.

@Panic71 clearly he is very capable so I would get him to concentrate on bringing up his biology grade. He has plenty of time so get specific feedback from his teacher and yes he may not like it but this isn't about liking a subject, this is about learning what gets you marks on an exam paper. Life is often about doing stuff we don't like but he won't have to study it again after year 11. I had a child who hated a particular subject but decided they were going to ace it even though that meant spending more time studying it. He was determined and dedicated and did incredibly well in it. Luckily it was a stand alone unlike combined science so didn't affect any other grades.

Ds1 did combined so got 2 grades for science from 6 exam papers, 2 each for Biology, Chemistry and Physics. He did get 9,9 and went on to do A level physics and got an A star. Most children in the class had only done combined science. I believe it is usually offered as an option subject due to the amount of work for the 3 separate sciences.

Ds2 did do 3 separate sciences but they were accelerated in normal combined science lessons in year 9 and it did mean going into school on some Saturday mornings in year 11. They had finished all of combined science content before the end of year 10 though. It was a very capable group of students.

Thank you. This is really helpful.