← England Food Preparation & Nutrition
England · WJEC EduqasSyllabus
Food Preparation & Nutrition syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the England Food Preparation & Nutritionsyllabus, with a focused answer for each one. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions, and links to related dot points. Written by Claude Opus 4.8, Anthropic's latest AI.
Area 6: Cooking and food preparation
Module overview →- How does food become contaminated, and how do we handle food safely to prevent food poisoning?Bacterial contamination and food safety: the main food-poisoning bacteria, sources and symptoms, cross-contamination, the conditions bacteria need, the key temperatures, and safe buying, storing, preparing, cooking and serving of food.11 min answer →
- What practical skills and cooking methods do you need to prepare and cook food well?Cooking and preparation skills: knife skills and preparation techniques, water-based, dry and fat-based cooking methods, how cooking affects nutrients, and choosing the right method and equipment for a dish.9 min answer →
- What makes people choose the food they do, how is food sensory-tested, and what does a food label tell us?Food choice, sensory evaluation and labelling: the factors that affect food choice, sensory testing methods, food labelling law and nutrition information, and how marketing and packaging influence what we buy.10 min answer →
- Why does food go off, and how do preservation methods make it last longer?Food spoilage and preservation: the signs and causes of spoilage (micro-organisms, enzymes, moisture, warmth), date marks, and how preservation methods such as chilling, freezing, drying, canning, vacuum packing and using acid, salt or sugar extend shelf life.9 min answer →
- How are microorganisms used to make food, and what jobs do enzymes do in food?Micro-organisms and food production: the useful roles of bacteria, yeast and mould in making bread, yoghurt, cheese and other foods, fermentation, and the action of enzymes in food (ripening and enzymic browning).9 min answer →
- What are the two Eduqas NEA tasks, and how do you plan, carry out and write them up well?The non-exam assessment: Assessment 1 the Food Investigation (15%) using fair-test experiments and a written report, and Assessment 2 the Food Preparation Assessment (35%) planning, preparing, cooking and presenting three dishes, and how each is structured and marked.11 min answer →
Area 3: Diet and good health
Module overview →- Which health conditions are linked to a poor diet, and how can the diet be changed to reduce the risk?Diet-related health: obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, tooth decay, bone health (osteoporosis), iron-deficiency anaemia and bowel health, their links to diet, and the dietary changes that reduce the risk.11 min answer →
- What does a balanced diet look like, and what guidelines should we follow?Current healthy-eating guidance: the Eatwell Guide proportions, the eight tips for healthy eating, government dietary advice (reducing saturated fat, sugar and salt, increasing fibre, fruit and vegetables) and how to plan a balanced diet.9 min answer →
- How do our nutritional needs change at different stages of life?Nutritional needs through the life stages: babies and young children, teenagers, adults, older adults and pregnant women, the key nutrients each needs and why, and how to plan suitable meals.9 min answer →
- How do you plan a balanced diet for people with particular dietary needs, beliefs or medical conditions?Special diets and dietary needs: vegetarian and vegan diets, religious and cultural diets, and medical needs including coeliac disease, lactose intolerance, nut and other allergies and diabetes, and how to adapt recipes to meet them.10 min answer →
Area 1: Food commodities
Module overview →- What are cereals, what foods come from them, and how are they used in cooking?Cereals as a commodity group: wheat, rice, oats, maize and the products made from them (bread, flour, pasta), their nutritional value, working characteristics, and how they are grown, processed and stored.9 min answer →
- What do fruit and vegetables give us, and how do we keep their nutrients when preparing them?Fruit and vegetables as a commodity group: their classification, nutritional value (vitamins, minerals, fibre), enzymic browning, how to minimise vitamin loss in preparation and cooking, and how they are stored.9 min answer →
- What do meat, fish and eggs give us, how do they behave when cooked, and how are they handled safely?Meat, fish and eggs as a commodity group: their nutritional value, types and cuts, working characteristics (coagulation, tenderising, the structure of an egg), and the food safety rules for handling these high-risk foods.9 min answer →
- What do milk, cheese and yoghurt give us, how are they made, and how do they behave in cooking?Milk, cheese and yoghurt as a commodity group: their nutritional value, types and how they are produced (pasteurisation, cheese-making, fermentation), their working characteristics, and how they are stored safely.9 min answer →
- What do alternative proteins, fats and sugars give us, and how do they behave in cooking?Soya, tofu, beans, nuts and seeds, and the fats and sugars group (butter, oils, margarine, sugar, syrup): their nutritional value, as alternative proteins for plant-based diets, their working characteristics, and how they are used and stored.9 min answer →
Area 5: Where food comes from
Module overview →- What impact does our food have on the environment, and how can we reduce it?Food and the environment: food miles and carbon footprint, packaging and its disposal, food waste and the 3 Rs, the environmental cost of food production, and how the consumer can make more sustainable choices.9 min answer →
- How is raw food turned into the products we buy, and how does processing change it?Food processing and production: primary and secondary processing, how foods such as wheat, milk and oil are processed, fortification and additives, genetic modification, and the effect of processing on nutrition and shelf life.9 min answer →
- Where does our food come from, and how is it grown, reared, caught and traded?Food provenance and production: where and how food is grown, reared and caught, intensive and organic farming, free-range and sustainable fishing, seasonality, local and imported food, fair trade and the journey from farm to fork.9 min answer →
- What is food security, what threatens it, and what does sustainable food mean?Food security and sustainability: what food security means, the factors that threaten the food supply, food poverty and food banks, sustainable food production and fishing, and global food issues.9 min answer →
Area 2: Principles of nutrition
Module overview →- How much energy does the body need, and how do we calculate it from BMR and activity?Energy needs: sources of energy from food, basal metabolic rate (BMR) and physical activity level (PAL), how requirements vary with age, sex and activity, energy balance, and the proportion of energy from each macronutrient.10 min answer →
- What are the macronutrients, what do they do in the body and where do we get them?Protein, fats and carbohydrates: their composition, functions, sources, biological and complementary value of protein, saturated and unsaturated fats, simple and complex carbohydrates, and the effects of excess or deficiency.10 min answer →
- What are vitamins and minerals, what do they do, and what happens if we lack them?Micronutrients: the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and water-soluble vitamins (B group and C), and the key minerals (calcium, iron, sodium, fluoride, phosphorus, iodine): their functions, sources and the effects of deficiency.10 min answer →
- Why do we need water and dietary fibre, and what happens if we do not get enough?The functions of water and the signs of dehydration, and the role of dietary fibre (NSP) in healthy digestion, with sources and recommended intakes.8 min answer →
Area 4: The science of food
Module overview →- What happens to starch and sugar when they are heated with or without water?The functional and chemical properties of carbohydrate: gelatinisation of starch, dextrinisation, caramelisation and the use of sugar and starch in cooking, with the conditions that cause each and food examples.9 min answer →
- What happens to proteins when food is whisked, heated or mixed with water?The functional and chemical properties of protein: denaturation, coagulation, foam formation (aeration of egg) and gluten formation, with food examples and the conditions that cause each.9 min answer →
- What jobs do fats and oils do in cooking, and how do emulsions hold together?The functional properties of fats and oils: shortening, aeration and plasticity, and emulsification, with the conditions that cause each, the role of emulsifiers such as egg yolk lecithin, and food examples.9 min answer →
- How is gas introduced into a mixture so that baked goods rise?Raising agents: chemical (baking powder, bicarbonate of soda), biological (yeast), mechanical (whisking, creaming, sieving, lamination) and steam, the gas each produces and how it makes a mixture rise, with food examples.9 min answer →
- Why do we cook food, and how does heat travel into it?Why food is cooked (safety, digestibility, palatability, variety and shelf life) and the three methods of heat transfer into food: conduction, convection and radiation, each linked to cooking methods.9 min answer →