This set mixes the five skills from Combined Science qualification and scope: checking the code, finding tier and year, building a grid, scope-checking a lesson and handling pure-science extension. Questions run from easier to harder. Try each on paper first, then open the answer.
All resources and students are invented. Record each error in the mistake log and retest queue so you can retest weak points later, and use the scientific investigation critic when you move on to investigation skills.
Easier questions
1. Which code identifies the single-award Combined Science course, and which identifies the double-award route?
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Combined Science is 0653 (single award). Co-ordinated Sciences is 0654 (double award).
2. A revision guide is titled “IGCSE Combined Sciences” but prints no code. A student is entered for 0653. Is it confirmed as a match?
Show answer
No. A title is not a code. Mark it unchecked and compare topics with the 0653 syllabus before relying on it.
3. Who confirms which tier and exam year a student is entered for?
Show answer
The school or exam centre. Entries and registration belong to the centre, not to a tuition team or a website.
4. In a coverage grid, which of these counts as evidence: (a) watched a video, (b) wrote an explanation from memory and checked it, (c) read a chapter twice?
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Only (b). Evidence is something you produced. (a) and (c) are exposure.
Medium questions
5. A student has a syllabus printed for earlier exam years only. Her exam is in a later year. What is the first action and why?
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Download the current syllabus whose stated years include her exam year, and replace the printed one. Wording, content or assessment details may differ between versions, and a printed copy looks official, so it is the riskiest document to keep.
6. Here is a grid row: “Topic: forces. Confidence: 3. Evidence: (blank).” What is wrong, and what is the fix?
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A score of 3 needs evidence. Lower the confidence to 2 or below until the student answers a question from memory and checks it. Then record that as evidence and raise the score if it is correct.
7. A video has these chapter markers: 0:00 to 6:00 “core idea”, 6:00 to 11:00 “worked questions”, 11:00 to 18:00 “advanced model”. The first two match grid rows; the last has no match. Write a decision.
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Use 0:00 to 11:00 fully, mark 11:00 to 18:00 as background. Record “video 0:00 to 11:00” in the resource column. If the student is unsure about the last part, they can ask their teacher or school. Using eleven of eighteen minutes is 11 ÷ 18 = 0.61, about 61% of the video, so most of it is useful.
8. Explain in two sentences why a separate-science book may contain more detail than a student on 0653 needs.
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Separate-science courses have a wider syllabus, so authors include more topics and more depth. Combined Science covers all three sciences within a smaller scope, so some pages go beyond what 0653 asks.
Harder questions
9. A student marks seven of twenty grid rows as confidence 3, with evidence for only five of them. How many rows are correctly scored 3, and what percentage of all twenty rows is that? What should the other two rows become?
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Only rows with evidence count: 5 rows. Percentage: 5 ÷ 20 × 100 = 25%. Check: 5 × 5 = 25, so 25 out of 100 matches. The other two rows lack evidence, so they should be 2 or lower until the student adds an answer produced from memory.
10. A friend on 0654 sends her Chemistry notes. A student on 0653 reads them and finds a section on “a detailed model of acid behaviour” that has no match in her grid. She also finds three sections that match. Describe a sensible plan in four steps.
Show answer
- Confirm her own code and syllabus (0653) before anything else.
- Match each note heading to a grid row.
- Learn the three matching sections, answering one question on each from memory.
- Mark the unmatched section as extension, and ask her teacher or school to confirm if she is unsure.
The notes are a source of explanation only after the scope check, because they were written for a different route.
If you got these wrong
| Error type | Go to |
|---|---|
| Treated a title as a code, or mixed up 0653 and 0654 (Q1, Q2) | Verify the entry code |
| Guessed the tier or used an old syllabus (Q3, Q5) | Identify tier and exam year |
| Counted watching as evidence, or scored without evidence (Q4, Q6, Q9) | Build a coverage grid |
| Used a whole lesson without comparing content (Q7) | Select a shared lesson |
| Treated extra detail as required (Q8, Q10) | Pure-science extension |
For a teacher to go through your own resources with you, see Combined Science tuition, or return to the module overview.