Applied science: on course

The numbers of students taking GCSE Applied Science (double award) have grown, from 8916 in 2004, through 18,184 in 2005, to 27,471 in 2006. For the most recent certification, OCR reports that 44 per cent of students taking additional science in the Twenty first century science  suite chose the applied option and 56 per cent chose the general option.  

One of the attractions of the applied specifications is that courses may be designed to meet the needs of all students, regardless of ability and progression routes. In part, this is because the percentage of internal assessment (Table 1) allows the design of tasks and activities to challenge all students while allowing them to enjoy success. The courses are about science relevant to students' lives and experiences. They emphasise scientific skills and knowledge used by professional scientists, and there is a significant proportion of assessed practical and investigative work. 

A range of resources is available to support GCSE Applied Science (refer to Box). The following two examples illustrate the types of activities students might do. They are taken from The resource pack, a set of materials produced by 4science to support GCSE Applied Science (double award). The materials may also be used in any GCSE course where an 'applied' approach is wanted.