AQA

AQA offer syllabus specifications that are more similar to the 'old' double science syllabuses than those offered by OCR or Edexcel. There is a Core Science (science A) syllabus which covers the compulsory science, and an Additional Science which can be taken in year 11.

Science A 4461 (core science - year 10)

(specification from AQA)

Assessment is by six multiple choice question papers (75%) and centre-based investigations (25%).

The six papers last 30 minutes each and can be taken in November, March and June. They cover the modules Biology 1a & 1b, Chemistry 1a &1b, Physics 1a & 1b, which I describe in more detail below.
Questions for both higher and foundation tiers are on the same paper - students decide which to take at the time.

The centre-assessed exams are known as Investigative Skills Assignments - ISAs. They consist of a 45 minute written paper with questions based on the student's own data, collected in class practicals, plus additional data supplied. More than one ISA can be taken from the set supplied by AQA from Biology, Chemistry and Physics, with the best one submitted for marking. They are externally set and internally assessed. The overall mark also includes a holistic assessment by the teacher on general practical and safety skills (Practical Skills Assessment - PSA).

Modules

Biology 1a - Human Biology
11.1 How do human bodies respond to changes inside them and to their environment?
11.2 What can we do to keep our bodies healthy?
11.3 How do we use/abuse medical and recreational drugs?
11.4 What causes infectious diseases and how can our bodies defend themselves against them?

Biology 1b - Evolution and Environment
11.5 What determines where particular species live and how many of them there are?
11.6 Why are individuals of the same species different from each other? What new methods do we have for producing plants and animals with the characteristics we prefer?
11.7 Why have some species of plants and animals died out? How do new species of plants and animals develop?
11.8 How do humans affect the environment?

Chemistry 1a - Products from Rocks
12.1 How do rocks provide building materials?
12.2 How do rocks provide metals and how are metals used?
12.3 How do we get fuels from crude oil?

Chemistry 1b - Oils, Earth and Atmosphere
12.4 How are polymers and ethanol made from oil?
12.5 How can plant oils be used?
12.6 What are the changes in the Earth and its atmosphere?

Physics 1a - Energy and Electricity
13.1 How is heat (thermal energy) transferred and what factors affect the rate at which heat is transferred?
13.2 What is meant by the efficient use of energy? Why are electrical devices so useful?
13.4 How should we generate the electricity we need?

Physics 1b - Radiation and the Universe
13.5 What are the uses and hazards of the waves that form the electromagnetic spectrum?
13.6 What are the uses and dangers of emissions from radioactive substances?
13.7 What do we know about the origins of the Universe and how it continues to change?

Science B (4462)

(specification)

Three written papers plus centre-assessed units based on practical work.

This specification covers the same content as Science A, but differs in the form of assessment:
GCSE Science B does not offer assessment through the ‘bite-size’ test route but has 45 minute written papers with structured questions. There is one paper for each of Biology 1, Chemistry 1 and
Physics 1, (25% each) available in January and June. The centre-assessed unit (25%) is similar to Science A.

Additional Science 4463 (year 11)

Three written papers, (Biology 2, Chemistry 2, Physics 2, each including How science works) short answers, of 45 min each, 25% each, plus Centre-assessed Unit based on practical work. Papers can be taken in January and June.

Modules

Biology 2
11.1 What are animals and plants built from?
11.2 How do dissolved substances get into and out of cells?
11.3 How do plants obtain the food they need to live and grow?
11.4 What happens to energy and biomass at each stage in a food chain?
11.5 What happens to the waste material produced by plants and animals?
11.6 What are enzymes and what are some of their functions?
11.7 How do our bodies keep internal conditions constant?
11.8 Which human characteristics show a simple pattern of inheritance?

Chemistry 2
12.1 How do sub-atomic particles help us to understand the structure of substances?
12.2 How do structures influence the properties and uses of substances?
12.3 How much can we make and how much do we need to use?
12.4 How can we control the rates of chemical reactions?
12.5 Do chemical reactions always release energy?
12.6 How can we use ions in solutions?

Physics 2
13.1 How can we describe the way things move?
13.2 How do we make things speed up or slow down?
13.3 What happens to the movement energy when things speed up or slow down?
13.4 What is momentum?
13.5 What is static electricity, how can it be used and what is the connection between static electricity and electric currents?
13.6 What does the current through an electrical current depend on?
13.7 What is mains electricity and how can it be used safely?
13.8 Why do we need to know the power of electrical appliances?
13.9 What happens to radioactive substances when they decay?
13.10 What are nuclear fission and nuclear fusion?