11 Plus Exams Forum

I am slightly confused as to the difference between double and triple science . Does the candidate still get an award in physics , chemistry and biology even if they do double science? If the child does not want to study science at A Level does it matter if they do double or triple ? I hear double and triple all the time and need some clarity about this please , thanks .

lefol wrote:I am slightly confused as to the difference between double and triple science . Does the candidate still get an award in physics , chemistry and biology even if they do double science? If the child does not want to study science at A Level does it matter if they do double or triple ? I hear double and triple all the time and need some clarity about this please , thanks .

The GCSEs they get with the double award are Core Science and Additional Science. They only get Physics, Chemistry and Biology awarded separately if they take the third (? also a fourth with one board) element of each.

If your child is not very interested in science, or more pertinently, would be hindered from taking better (for them) options by taking triple to GCSE, then it's not really a big deal to do the double award - in some schools it may be all that's on offer. However, I would personally encourage him / her to do separate sciences.

'Anyone achieving more than level 6 (in old money) at KS3 should take triple science' is the advice given.

Many Grammar schools teach triple in the time of two options as a core part of KS4; a few may 'drop down' to double in Year 11.

Since most students are unclear about future career paths then I'd always recommend triple - so you end up, as said above, with 3 separate GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

My sister is a chemistry teacher.

Doing double is not a barrier to doing A level sciences, in fact she says some of her double award science students outperform those who did triple when they start A levels.

However if they know they want to go into sciences, then triple is the better option.

Some schools only do one or the other. At DDs school they all do triple.

How much of the syllabus is covered in Double award, compared to the syllabus of the individual science papers? Is it roughly 2/3rd?

Yes - they sit two of the three papers that make triple. They miss out the most complex topics.

Virtually all our students do triple and those doing double would be external students into the sixth form - rarely are these students among the strongest on the A level Chemistry course.

Guest55 wrote:Yes - they sit two of the three papers that make triple. They miss out the most complex topics.

Thanks for clarifying.