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There are a variety of tools available to you when making
the decision as to which tier to enter your students onto for GCSE Science.
There is a full guide that supports this video called
‘Support for Tier Entry Decisions’ that can be found under the Useful Documents
area of the Edexcel GCSE Science website or via the link at the end of this video.
Here you will find thorough information on the differences
between the two tiers and many example questions and mark schemes
that you can use to help you to support your decision.
[Should I consider the demand of the questions?]
The complexity of the cognitive processes that a learner needs
to go through in order to answer a question successfully
is used to judge a question as either low, medium or high demand.
In foundation tier the questions start low demand and will ramp up
to medium demand, as opposed to the higher tier where they start
at medium demand and ramp up to high demand.
The medium demand questions are the same on the higher and
foundation tier papers, and are targeted at grades 4 to 5.
There are some sample medium demand questions included at the end
of the supporting document that accompanies this video.
It may be useful to give some of these questions to your learners
and assess how challenging they find them.
If your students find these questions particularly challenging
it would suggest that they should be entered onto the foundation tier.
[What about 6-mark questions?]
The 6 mark (or Open ended response) questions also differ in each tier
and can be a useful tool to identify the best tier for your learners.
Foundation tier 6 mark questions are targeted at grades 1-5,
whereas higher tier 6 mark questions are targeted at grades 4-9.
Using some practice 6 mark questions can help you identify how well
your learners will achieve on each tier.
There is additional guidance on how to mark the extended open response questions
on the GCSE Science area of the Edexcel website.
[Isn't Maths important too?]
Yes, you should also consider your students’ mathematical ability.
The foundation tier papers will require maths skills
which are at least equal to KS3 maths,
whereas the higher tier papers will require maths skills which
are at least equivalent to that in the foundation tier GCSE maths.
It may be worth liaising with your students’ maths teachers
for further information as to where your students fall
in terms of their GCSE Maths skills.
[Are all students required to recall the Physics equations?]
In the Physics papers, both foundation and
higher tier candidates may be required to recall equations.
However there will also be some questions where
the equation is given, or scaffolding is included.
This will be more common on the foundation tier,
and not included in the high demand questions of the higher tier.
Therefore the likelihood of your learners having to recall and use
equations without any scaffolding is much greater for learners who are sitting the higher tier.
[Is there anything else to consider?]
As well as using practice questions and information on maths skills,
it is also advisable to consider Key Stage 2 results, the aspirations
of your learners and their attendance and attitude to science when deciding on tier of entry.
If learners want to progress onto studying A level Science,
then the higher tier may be an appropriate route for the learner.
[Where can I go for further support?]
As teachers you are best placed to make the tier of entry decisions for your learners.
If you would like any further support on tier entries
or any other aspect of delivering our Science Qualifications
please contact our subject advisors who will be happy to assist you.
All contact details for subject advisors and the pdf version
of the tier entry guidance can be found at the end of this video.
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