Teacher guide

Edexcel GCSE Combined Science revision

These activities are mapped to Edexcel GCSE Combined Science 1SC0, the double award, and not to the separate Biology, Chemistry and Physics specifications. That distinction matters more here than on any other page we have, because two chemistry topics and two physics topics exist only in the separate awards and are deliberately absent from this content. What we have is spread almost evenly across the three sciences: 15 biology, 14 chemistry, 15 physics. Twenty-five of the 44 activities include a calculation the student types rather than picks, and twelve involve reading or plotting a graph, which is a higher proportion than any other subject we cover.

This page lists what we actually have for Edexcel GCSE Combined Science 1SC0. It is built from the live activities, so it is accurate on the day you read it.

Which award this content belongs to

Combined Science is the page where getting this wrong costs a teacher the most, so it goes first.

Everything here is mapped to 1SC0, the double award. The mapping was done against the boundary in the specification rather than by taking the separate sciences and hoping:

Biology. All nine topics appear in the combined award. Only individual specification points are separate-only, never a whole topic.
Chemistry. Two entire topics exist only in the separate Chemistry award and are excluded here completely.
Physics. Two entire topics, astronomy and static electricity, exist only in the separate Physics award and are excluded here completely.

If you teach the separate sciences, this is the wrong page: setting combined content to a separate class quietly leaves the separate-only material uncovered.

What we have, science by science

Fifteen biology activities, fourteen chemistry, fifteen physics. Forty-four in total, and close to an even split.

That balance is worth pointing out because it is not typical here. Most subjects are stronger at the beginning of the course than the end, since content gets built in teaching order. Combined Science was mapped across all three sciences from the start, so it did not develop that lean.

The maths and the graphs

Twenty-five of the forty-four activities include a question where the student types a value rather than choosing from options. Twelve involve a graph they have to read or plot.

Both proportions are higher than any other subject on this site, which reflects the specification rather than our preferences. It also makes this a useful page to set from deliberately: with four options on screen a student can often reach an answer by elimination, and neither typing a value nor reading a gradient off a curve allows that.

Finding the right activity

The lists below are grouped by classroom use, worked out from what each activity contains rather than from a label. Homework is not one of the headings, because all forty-four suit it and a heading holding everything narrows nothing.

The three activities embedded further down are playable here without an account, so you can see what a student sees before setting anything.

Using them, and what to pair them with

For a short repeated cycle with a recheck built in, revision intervention a department can sustain has the shape. For the tasks themselves at fifteen and thirty minutes, see the revision homework toolkit. To put several in front of one class in order, build a sprint.

Our past paper archive carries Edexcel's own Combined Science papers and mark schemes, free and unaltered. Check the tier before you hand one out.

What this page does not do

It does not cover the required practicals as a set.

It does not track anything, so there is no completion list to check.

It is not a scheme of work. For the shape of a revision programme to drop these into, see how to structure a GCSE revision programme.

Every live Combined Science activity for Edexcel

44 activities, all mapped to Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Combined Science (1SC0).

Good for intervention (36)

Good for mock preparation (22)

Good for independent study (16)

Good for cover lesson (2)

Forces in Motion 20 min
The Chemical Detective 20 min

Good for starter (1)

Physics Foundations 15 min

See all 44, by topic

Try it with your class

Edexcel Combined Science 16 minutes

Cell Explorer

14 steps, 8 interactive, 7 activity types.

Best used for

Homework Independent study

Homework: Set it as a link. It marks itself.
Independent study: Explains before it asks, so a student can work alone.

Try one question

Which type of cell has NO nucleus, with its DNA as a free-floating loop?

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Edexcel Combined Science 16 minutes

The Osmosis Lab

14 steps, 10 interactive, 8 activity types.

Best used for

Homework Intervention

Homework: Set it as a link. It marks itself.
Intervention: Mostly questions, so it finds the gap quickly.

Try one question

In osmosis, which way do water molecules move across the membrane?

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Edexcel Physics 9 minutes

Physics Foundations

8 steps, 5 interactive, 6 activity types.

Best used for

Starter Tutor time Intervention

Starter: Short enough to open a lesson and still leave time to teach.
Tutor time: Fits a short tutor slot without being cut in half.
Intervention: Mostly questions, so it finds the gap quickly.

Try one question

On the Moon your mass is unchanged but your weight is less. Which statement is correct?

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Common questions

Is this the combined award or the separate sciences?

Combined, Edexcel 1SC0, the double award. Content that belongs only to the separate Biology, Chemistry or Physics specifications is not here. If you teach the separate sciences, use those specifications' own pages instead, because setting combined content to a separate class leaves gaps.

What exactly is left out compared with the separate sciences?

Two chemistry topics and two physics topics, the physics ones being astronomy and static electricity, exist only in the separate awards and are excluded here entirely. Biology is different: all nine topics appear in the combined award, and only individual specification points are separate-only.

Does it cover all three sciences equally?

Close to it, which is unusual for us. There are 15 biology activities, 14 chemistry and 15 physics. Most subjects on this site are stronger at the start of a course than the end, because that is the order content gets built in.

Is there calculation and graph practice?

Yes, and more than elsewhere. Twenty-five activities include a question where the student types a value instead of choosing one, and twelve involve a graph they read or plot. Science is where the quantitative side is most often skipped in revision, so it is worth setting deliberately.

Do you cover the required practicals?

Not as a set. A few activities touch practical work where the content demands it, but nothing here is built around the required practicals, and we would rather say so than let you find out in a lesson.

Will I see who has completed them?

No. Following a shared link records nothing about who followed it. That is a deliberate choice about children's data, so your own assessment data stays the measure.

Put one in front of a class

Tell us the subject and how long you have. You get a link to hand out, and it marks itself.

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Related for teachers

GCSE revision intervention a department can sustain A workable shape for revision intervention: find the gap, work on one narrow thing, check whether it moved, repeat. Built around what a small department can keep up for a term, and clear about what this site can't tell you.
The GCSE revision homework toolkit What to actually set as revision homework at fifteen and thirty minutes, a weekly routine that lasts a full term, options for a class with a wide range in it, what to tell parents, and a printable sheet students keep themselves.