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 Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Finding secondary information online and checking it
Learners find scientific information from a book, website, worksheet or video, pick out key facts or data and present them simply in lists, tables or graphs. They begin to evaluate secondary data by noticing if the information looks valid or if something does not fit. This is one of the Unit 2 enquiry skills.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search a teacher-chosen website for three facts about how much household waste goes to landfill in Wales and note the web address for each fact.
- Year 8
- Pupils refine their search words to find recycling rates for their local council and another council, put the figures in a table and say which source they trust more.
- Year 9
- Pupils find data on water use from two websites, compare the figures, spot one that does not fit and explain whether each source is reliable, with a simple reference list.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, Using secondary data, page 18
“find scientific information from a book, website, worksheet or video”
Progression step 3
I can adjust keywords and search techniques to find relevant information.
I can begin to reference sources used in my work, and consider if content is reliable.
Progression step 4
I can search a variety of sources using relevant search techniques with increased complexity.
I can evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justify my opinions and reasons for choices, and reference using appropriate methods.
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Judging health claims in the media and online
In Unit 3 learners consider the scientific evidence for using vaccinations to reduce serious disease, and must be aware that vaccine safety is often discussed in the media and that some reports are not scientifically accurate. They also study public health messages such as catch it, bin it, kill it. This calls for thinking critically about information shared online.
DCF: Identity, image and reputation, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content, Health and well-being
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils look at two online adverts for health drinks and pick out which claims give evidence and which do not.
- Year 8
- Pupils compare an NHS Wales web page on hand washing with a social media post about germs and list three checks that show which one is reliable.
- Year 9
- Pupils read two online articles about a vaccine, one from a health service and one from a blog, and explain which claims are backed by scientific evidence and which are not.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 3, Section 3.2.3, page 23
“the safety of vaccinations is often discussed in the media”
Progression step 3
I can think critically about information shared online, e.g. the impact of sharing images and videos, metadata of images and videos.
I can begin to reference sources used in my work, and consider if content is reliable.
Progression step 4
I can evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justify my opinions and reasons for choices, and reference using appropriate methods.
I can reflect on the role of digital media in my life and habits.
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).