Skill Area P: Planning Experimental Procedures
mark / strand / candidates...
X / fail to hand in a written plan.
0 / written plan is incomplete or hopelessly wrong.
1 / plan a simple, but not entirely correct, procedure.
2 / P.2a / plan a simple, safe procedure.
3 / P4.a or P4.b
4 / P.4a / plan a fair test or practical procedure, making a prediction where appropriate.
P.4b / select appropriate equipment.
5 / P6.a or P6.b
6 / P.6a / use scientific knowledge and understanding to plan a procedure, to identify key factors to vary, control or take into account, and to make a prediction where appropriate.
P.6b / decide on a suitable number and range of observations or measurements to be made.
6 marks is roughly equivalent to a C grade
Higher level knowledge must be used to get 7 or 8 marks
8 marks is equivalent to an A grade
7 / P8.a or P8.b
8 / P.8a / use detailed scientific knowledge and understanding to plan an appropriate strategy, taking into account the need to produce precise and reliable evidence, and to justify a prediction where appropriate.
P.8b / use, where appropriate, relevant information from secondary sources or preliminary work.

Sc1 GCSE Investigation – Mark Scheme

or

How to get top marks for science course work!

Skill Area O: Obtaining evidence
mark / strand / candidates...
X / fail to hand in any results
0 / results are incomplete, very wrong, or made up.
1 / results incomplete or unintelligible
2 / O.2a / use simple equipment safely to make some observations or measurements
3 / O4.a or O4.b
4 / O.4a / make appropriate observations or measurements which are adequate for the activity
O.4b / record the observations or measurements
5 / O6.a or O6.b
6 / O.6a / make sufficient systematic and accurate observations or measurements and repeat them when appropriate
O.6b / record clearly and accurately the observations or measurements
6 marks is roughly equivalent to a C grade
8 marks is equivalent to an A grade
7 / Part of O8.a not achieved
8 / O.8a / use equipment with precision and skill to obtain and record reliable evidence which involves an appropriate number and range of observations or measurements.
Skill Area A: Analysing Evidence and Drawing Conclusions
mark / strand / candidates...
X / fail to hand in graph or conclusion
0 / can not explain correctly what has been found out.
1 / explain simply but not quite correctly what has been found out.
2 / A.2a / explain simply what has been found out.
3 / A4.a or A4.b
4 / A.4a / present findings in the form of simple diagrams, charts or graphs.
A.4b / identify trends and patterns in observations and measurements.
5 / A6.a or A6.b
6 / A.6a / construct and use appropriate diagrams, charts, graphs (with lines of best fit), or use numerical methods, to process evidence for a conclusion.
A.6b / draw a conclusion consistent with their evidence and relate this to scientific knowledge and understanding.
6 marks is roughly equivalent to a C grade
Higher level knowledge must be used to get 7 or 8 marks
8 marks is equivalent to an A grade
7 / A8.a or A8.b
8 / A.8a / use detailed scientific knowledge and understanding to explain a valid conclusion drawn from processed evidence.
A.8b / explain how results support or undermine the original prediction when one has been made.
Skill Area E: Evaluating Evidence
mark / strand / candidates...
X / fail to hand in an evaluation.
0 / do not make any relevant comments.
1 / make comments which are not quite correct.
2 / E.2a / make a relevant comment about the procedure used or the evidence obtained.
3 / E4.a or E4.b
4 / E.4a / comment on the accuracy of the observations or measurements, recognising any anomalous results.
E.4b / comment on the suitability of the procedure and, where appropriate, suggest changes to improve the reliability of the evidence.
4 marks is roughly equivalent to a C grade
5 / E6.a or E6.b
6 / E.6a / comment on the reliability of the evidence, accounting for any anomalous results, or explain whether the evidence is sufficient to support a firm conclusion.
E.6b / propose improvements, or further work, to provide additional evidence for the conclusion, or to extend the enquiry.
6 marks is equivalent to an A grade

Spelling Punctuation and Grammar (SPG)

If you are scoring 7 or 8 for the skills you should get an SPG mark of 3. For skill marks between 4 and 6 you should get an SPG mark of 2, otherwise an SPG mark of 1 is likely.

A single SPG mark is awarded to cover all work used to make up your final total. Often teachers give each piece of work a mark so they can quickly calculate a final overall mark at the end of Year 11.

If you type up your work using a word processor you can use the spelling and grammar checking facilities. Remember that many scientific names are not in the spell-check dictionary. You may also have problems entering equations unless you are good at using the word processor. Whatever you do, make sure you check your work thoroughly and that nothing is left out. Often the best thing to do is to read it a week or so after you have written it - mistakes then often show up clearly. Alternatively, get someone else to read it through and see if it makes sense.

Mark / Performance /

Criteria

1 / Threshold / Candidates spell, punctuate, and use the rules of grammar with reasonable accuracy; they use a limited range of specialist terms appropriately.
2 / Intermediate / Candidates spell, punctuate, and use the rules of grammar with considerable accuracy; they use a good range of specialist terms with facility.
3 / High / Candidates spell, punctuate, and use the rules of grammar with almost faultless accuracy, deploying a range of grammatical constructions; they use a wide range of specialist terms adeptly and with precision.