Foundation The Sciences
Foundation The Sciences is an Entry Level and Level 1 qualification for learners in Years 10 and 11 who need a practical, accessible science course, with energy, materials, cells, the environment and health taught through scientific enquiry. It names almost no digital tools. Its digital work sits in the data behind enquiry: recording results in tables and charts, turning tables into graphs, spotting patterns and doing simple calculations in the Unit 2 enquiry tasks and the Unit 3 health tasks, plus finding secondary information on websites and judging whether it looks valid. Unit 1 topic tests can be taken on screen. The biggest thing Key Stage 3 can build is confident use of a spreadsheet to record a results table and turn it into a clear chart.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level and Level 1
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Science in Everyday Life: Two topic tests of 30 minutes each, 30%, 60 marks (2 × 30), set and marked by WJEC; tiered (Foundation tier Entry 1 to Entry 3, Higher tier Entry 3 to Level 1); centres choose on-screen or paper tests within a four-week window
- Unit 2: Caring for the Planet: Non-examination assessment, four enquiry tasks of 30 minutes each plus up to one additional hour per task for data collection or data presentation, 40%, 60 marks (4 × 15); centres choose one WJEC set task for each of the four contexts; marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 3: Me and My Health: Non-examination assessment, two tasks with up to 20 hours in total, 30%, 60 marks; set by WJEC, centres can tailor the practical elements; marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
Skills that use Communication
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Learning from scientists on screen and working with others
The qualification gives opportunities for learners to engage with the work of diverse scientists in person, on screen or remotely, to visit areas of scientific interest in person or digitally, to research careers that draw on science, and to develop collaboration skills. These learning experiences are not directly assessed.
DCF: Communication, Collaboration
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils watch a short recorded talk by a scientist working in Wales and post one question each to a class online board.
- Year 8
- Pupils join a live video call with an NHS worker, ask prepared questions and share their notes in a shared class document.
- Year 9
- Pupils work in groups on a shared online slide deck about a science career, after taking a virtual tour of a science facility, and set edit permissions for each member.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Opportunities for integration of learning experiences, page 24
“either in person or on-screen and/or remotely”
Progression step 3
I can show an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of communication and when it is appropriate to use each, e.g. explain when video conferencing may be more appropriate than e-mail, and vice versa; explain the pros and cons of using instant messaging in social contexts; talk about purpose and audience.
I can work with others to create an online collaborative project for a specific purpose, sharing and appropriately setting permissions for other group members, e.g. editing, commenting, viewing.
Progression step 4
I can select and use different online communication tools for specific purposes with higher levels of competence, e.g. set up and manage an address book, organise contacts, use advanced features of e-mail provider (signature, auto reply, read receipt, widgets).
Good to know
- Unit 1 topic tests can be taken on screen or on paper: "Centres can select from digital and paper formats within a four-week assessment window." (Summary of assessment, page 5). Separate entry codes exist for the on screen and paper tests at each tier (Section 5.1, page 31).
- Unit 2 and Unit 3 tasks come through the WJEC Portal: the enquiry tasks "will be issued to centres in assessment packs for each topic via the WJEC Portal" (Section 3.2, page 27).
- Each Unit 2 task has extra time for data work: learners "may have up to an additional one hour for any data collection or data presentation linked to the task(s)" (Section 3.2, page 27).
- No digital tools or software are required anywhere in the specification; data handling is described in terms of "tables, tally charts, simple charts" (Unit 2, page 18), so paper or spreadsheet are both open to centres.
- The specification does not mention artificial intelligence. NEA follows "JCQ's Instructions for Conducting Non-Examination Assessments (Vocational and Technical Qualifications)" and teachers "must not provide feedback on the evidence being produced" (Section 3.3, page 28).
- Appendix A ticks all four Digital Competence strands (Citizenship, Interacting and Collaborating, Producing, and Data and Computational Thinking) for all three units (page 35) but does not say where in the content they occur.
Links with other qualifications
Foundation The Sciences leads towards GCSE The Sciences (Double Award) and GCSE Integrated Science (Single Award), which build on the same scientific enquiry skills of recording, graphing and evaluating primary and secondary data, then add data logging, gradients and fuller evaluation of accuracy. The waste, pollution and biodiversity enquiries overlap with Geography fieldwork, the BMI, diet and exercise work links with Physical Education and Health, and the Appendix C data skills support Foundation Mathematics and Numeracy.
Source: WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation The Sciences specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).