Combined Science

[OhCrumbsWhereNow]

Trying to work out how the grades are worked out.

Do they take the results for Biology 1, Chem 1, Physics 1, add them together and divide by 3 for the first mark, and the same with Bio 2, Chem 2, Physics 2 for the second?

Or is there some complex formula that involves all 6 papers in giving the two marks?

Also, if you have a child who detests science, has zero interest and cannot wait to never do them again, plus SEN and high target grades... is it better to:

a) focus on pulling the least hated up to a decent level
b) focus on a bit in each of the three

ie would a good mark in one science and dire in the other two work out to a better grade than just being meh in all three?

Things must have changed since I was at school because we only had the option of combined science (rather than triple). We sat two papers per GCSE, one in year 10 and one in year 11, each paper was 1/3rd biology, chemistry and physics.

Nothing complex. They add up all the papers and divide by 6.

Most students will get two grades the same e.g 7,7 or 5,5. Occasionally you can get 6,5 or 7,6 if you are exactly on the boundary.

@OhCrumbsWhereNow as I understand it they take an average of the three subjects. If you get (say) 8-7 it means you were just slightly below an 8-8. Obvs for a single subject, just below an 8 would just be a 7, so this acknowledges how close your grade was. There are 17 grade boundaries!

In terms of focus, I reckon 3 x grade 5 level will give you 5-5; one x grade 8 level, 1 x 3 and 1 x 4 would also give you 5-5. Probably.

In general it’s a good idea to focus on the weaker subjects as that’s where most improvement can be made.

All six papers are added together and an average grade given x2. It is best to focus on the weakest subject - that is the low hanging fruit

Now it's six paper - two for each science, all taken in Y11

Thank you - that's what I'm trying to work out.

Whether something like 7,7,3,2,2,2 (ie grades on each paper) translates to a better end result than something like 5,5,4,4,3,3

Well the second set of figures adds up to more so would presumably be a higher grade. But there are actual grade boundaries so it’s not that simple.

Try to get the 2 up to a 4 is the badger surely?

I hope so!

Let's just say dealing with a SEN child who has subjects they like and excel at, and subjects they don't like and will not even look at (and will not care in the slightest if they get zero) is somewhat frustrating. Hence my trying to find some kind of strategy that might result in a pass!

Why the Govt thought everyone doing all the sciences was a good idea I am struggling to comprehend!

Actually I think doing all three sciences, and offering this in a reduced form, is a great idea – I only did two (a hundred years ago), not being a sciency type, and really regret my lack of physics knowledge tbh. Combined would have been excellent for me.

I do hear you on someone with SEN as you describe tho. In fact it is possible to take just some of the single sciences – a friend’s DD just took chemistry (no SEN so I was a bit :O) but that was at a private school. What year is your DC? If year 10 is there any way of switching and dropping one, pleading the issue you outline here? If year 11 tho then it’s a bit late.

If it's edexcel, each paper is 60 marks and they add all six together so total is out of 360. the grade boundaries for 2023 are shown here, so for example 279/360 (if taking the higher papers) was awarded 9 and 9.

All the marks are added together and then the grade boundaries are applied.

They have to sit all higher or all foundation papers so it's not actually possible to get 7-7 on one and 2-2 on the other, as Foundation papers are capped at 5-5 and Higher only go down to 4-3 (I think, could be 4-4 now), below that it's a U.

So, taking AQA as an example, total is 420. On higher papers a total of 200 would be a 7-7 (ish) and on foundation a total of 200 would be a 4-4 (ish).

Every mark is equally important. 59/60 on one paper and 1/60 on another is the same as 30/60 and 30/60.

I think private schools can do this as they're often doing iGCSEs.

DD is in Y10. I've asked about dropping to 1 or even dropping to Foundation and it's been a no to the former and a 'let's see next year to the latter.

The SEN is making a big difference as reading is a big struggle, and then understanding concepts is an even bigger one. We're on top of that with other subjects but it's a hefty work load than it would be for most students, so this is feeling like the straw that broke the camel!

Thank you - it's AQA.

So for a 4:4 they need to get 23% average looking at this.

https://www.my-gcsescience.com/content/uploads/2018/09/Grade-Boundaries-AQA-Combined-Science.pdf

Yes, so if you got 70% on both papers for Physics (higher) you could get 0% for the other two and come out with a 4-4.

Risky though, I imagine if not achieving 4s for the other two the school are likely to enter for foundation, which would shed need to score ok on the others as well.

That seems nuts that you can get 28% and come out with a 5/5

And an old-money A grade needs less than 50% - crumbs!

Deleted. I misunderstood.

This is the problem with inventing grade 9s which are frankly unnecessary.

Grade boundaries do depend on weather they sit higher or foundation. If they are really disinterested then maybe doing foundation would be better. They can only get a lower top make but it is easier to get a 5-5 on the foundation then a 5-5 on the higher.

I was wondering about that.

For a bright but SEN child who is uninterested, is it easier to score those high marks for the 5 on Foundation, or hope enough sticks that they can get enough good guesses to get the 5 on the Higher given how low the boundaries are.

There are 'crossover' questions so the hardest questions on the Foundation paper are the easiest on the Higher.
Most schools make the decision on tier of entry after the course is at least half taught. The Foundation tier has the same topics/units but omits the more complicated information. (DD dropped tiers so I did a comparison of the revision guides.)
It normally is something you just follow the advice from the school on.

The GCSE certificates don't say which tier of entry. No point doing Higher tier unless reasonably aiming for a 6.

Decisions about foundation and higher usually aren't made until year 11.

At my school we would let students who we weren't sure about/parents weren't sure about sit both as mocks so we could literally see which one they did better on.

They're due to finish the course at the end of Y10 and then apparently decisions on Foundation v Higher are after Y11 mocks.

Did your DD find the Foundation a lot easier to get on with and a much lower revision load?

I'd prefer DD to focus on getting the best grades she can in the other subjects, so minimising revision content would be a big plus.

It would have been an easier revision load. The things DD struggled most with understanding/learning were the things not in Foundation.
However due to covid and other things DD ended up missing y11, so for her the whole things ended up moot.