English GCSE science specifications; which should you choose?
Confused about which GCSE science specification you should choose for your new Year 10’s in September 2016? Not sure how all the awarding bodies are differentiating themselves? Searching for some sort of coherent summary of the differences between them?
To help provide a brief, unbiased summary, we have put together a Learn Chemistry article which you can find here http://goo.gl/qktdSK. Looking at the third article on the Learn Chemistry resource page you will find a table containing the four main awarding bodies, their different science specifications for GCSE, and the extra offers they have to support teachers of GCSE science. The hyperlinks in each box take you through to the relevant page for the specification, or the specification itself if it is accredited. The coloured key indicates whether a particular qualification will count towards Progress and Attainment 8, and towards the English Baccalaureate. 
The main difference that you might notice from previous years are the schemes of work and syllabuses for KS3, with particular focus on the transition in Year 9 to KS4; other differences include Entry Level Certificates for lower ability students, which can run alongside GCSEs, and new STEM technical awards, which replace BTECs and Cambridge National Certificates at Level 1/2. We hope this will help to equip you to choose your specification, when they are accredited, ready for teaching in September 2016! Due to Ofqual rejecting the English GCSE science specifications for a second time, on 05/02/16, the content in this resource is subject to any changes that occur in the re-drafting of the specifications. We will update the resources as the new specifications are accredited.
