What practical skills does this module cover?

It covers planning (independent, dependent and control variables, a hypothesis, a fair test, range and risk assessment), carrying out (choosing apparatus, accuracy and precision, repeats and anomalies, recording in a table, and errors), and analysing and evaluating (plotting and reading graphs, drawing a conclusion, and judging reliability and improvements).

What kinds of question come up?

Expect questions identifying variables and writing a hypothesis, explaining a fair test, choosing apparatus and explaining accuracy and precision, calculating a mean and spotting anomalies, plotting and interpreting graphs, drawing conclusions linked to scientific knowledge, and evaluating reliability with improvements.

How should I revise these skills?

Learn the three variable types and what makes a fair test, and the difference between accuracy and precision and between random and systematic errors. Practise drawing and reading graphs, calculating means and identifying anomalies, and writing conclusions and evaluations. Rehearse the specified practical methods. Use WJEC Double Award past papers.

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WJEC GCSE Science Double Award: Practical and enquiry skills (Unit 7) overview

Q: What is the WJEC GCSE Science Double Award practical assessment?

Unit 7 is the practical assessment, worth 10 percent of the Double Award qualification. It is untiered, carried out in your centre and marked by WJEC, usually in the spring of the final year. It tests scientific enquiry skills: planning, carrying out, analysing and evaluating an experiment. Practical-style questions also appear in the six written papers.

Q: How is Unit 7 assessed?

Unit 7 is worth 10 percent and is a centre-based scientific enquiry marked by WJEC. You carry out a practical task and complete a written task, applying the planning, carrying-out, analysis and evaluation skills. To prepare, learn the specified practical methods across biology, chemistry and physics and practise the enquiry skills.

An overview of the practical and enquiry skills for the WJEC GCSE Science Double Award practical assessment (Unit 7), mapping planning an investigation, carrying out and recording, and analysing and evaluating, plus how Unit 7 is assessed.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.86 min readDouble Award Unit 7 (Practical assessment)Updated 2026-06-15

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The skills in this module
How Unit 7 is assessed
How to study these skills

The Practical and enquiry skills module covers the scientific enquiry skills assessed in the WJEC GCSE Science Double Award practical assessment (Unit 7), worth 10% of the qualification, and tested by practical-style questions in the written papers. This page maps the skills and links to a focused answer page for each part.

The skills in this module

Planning an investigation: Variables, a hypothesis, a fair test, range and risk assessment. See Planning an investigation.
Carrying out and recording: Choosing apparatus, accuracy and precision, repeats and anomalies, recording, and errors. See Carrying out and recording.
Analysing and evaluating: Plotting and reading graphs, drawing conclusions, and evaluating reliability and improvements. See Analysing and evaluating.

How Unit 7 is assessed

The practical assessment (Unit 7) is worth 10% of the Double Award. It is untiered, carried out in your centre and marked by WJEC. You complete a scientific enquiry involving a practical task and a written task, applying the planning, carrying-out, analysis and evaluation skills. The same skills are tested by practical-style questions in the six written papers.

How to study these skills

Learn the variables. Independent, dependent and control, and what makes a fair test.
Know measurement skills. Accuracy versus precision, random versus systematic errors, and repeats.
Practise graphs. Scales, labels, lines of best fit, and reading off values.
Write conclusions and evaluations. Link conclusions to science; evaluate reliability and improvements.
Rehearse the practicals. Learn the specified methods across biology, chemistry and physics.

Then test yourself with the module quiz.

Sources & how we know this

WJEC GCSE Science (Double Award) specification (from 2016) — WJEC (2016)