KBA > Secondary > Curriculum

Department Leader: Alice Gibbs

At KBA, our science curriculum is designed to spark curiosity, build knowledge, and develop practical skills that help students understand the world around them. Science is taught across Key Stages 3, 4, and 5, with each stage building on the last to support students’ academic growth and prepare them for future opportunities.

We aim to:
Foster a love of science through engaging lessons and hands-on learning.
Help students understand the key principles of biology, chemistry, and physics.
Encourage scientific thinking: asking questions, testing ideas, and making sense of evidence.
Equip students with skills for everyday life, further study, and science-related careers.

Our curriculum is carefully sequenced across Key Stage 3 and 4, allowing students to develop a deep understanding of key scientific themes as they progress. These themes help build a strong foundation of understanding that students can return to and build on over time. As they move through the curriculum, students can:
Connect new knowledge to what they’ve already learned.
Make more sophisticated links between topics.
Apply their learning with increasing confidence and depth.

Key Stage 3

In KS3, our students follow the Science curriculum provided by United Learning. This links closely with the National Curriculum and covers content equally from Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The curriculum is designed to develop students’ analytical, working scientifically and problem-solving skills, providing an excellent foundation for GCSE.

For details of the topics taught in KS3, please refer to our curriculum plans.

Homework: Students will be set homework each week which is designed to support content covered in class as well as revising key content using online platforms Satchel One and Sparx Science.

Assessment: Students are assessed through the completion of end of topic assessments. In addition, students complete mid-year and end of year assessments, which cover content from across the key stage. This means that for students in Year 8 and year 9, not only will the be assessed on the content covered in that academic year, but also in previous years.

Key Stage 4

We follow the AQA GCSE Science specifications and our students study either Combined Science: Trilogy and obtain two GCSEs (which still covers topics from Biology, Chemistry and Physics) or they study the three separate science GCSEs. At KS4, the AQA specification is both broad and deep, allowing students to make sense of the scientific world around them. Both the double award GCSE and the 3 separate science GCSEs provide the knowledge and skills for studying science at A-level and beyond. Students will continue to learn a wide range of skills from their education in the science department. These include risk assessment, planning, evaluation and consolidation of many of the key mathematical skills including displaying data and working with equations.

After completing science GCSE, our students move into a whole range of careers and further study, including A levels in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Qualifications in science are highly desirable to both universities and employers. A-levels in science will offer opportunities to pursue degrees in subjects such as engineering, genetics, midwifery, medicine, pharmacy, pharmacology, sports science, nutrition science and forensic science. Students may choose to apply their practical skills and take part in one of a large variety of apprenticeships, which include engineering, environmental sciences and healthcare.

Homework: Students will be set homework each week which is designed to support content covered in class as well as revising key content. Homework will be a mix of work set on online platforms such as Sparx science, as well as paper based exam questions.

Assessment: Students are assessed through the completion of end of topic assessments. In addition, students complete mid-year and end of year assessments.

Year 10: mid-year assessment will be an AQA GCSE Chemistry Paper 1, end of year assessment will consist of 3 exams: AQA GCSE Biology Paper 1, AQA GCSE Chemistry Paper 1 and AQA GCSE Physics Paper 1. The content assessed will have been taught across year 9 and year 10.

Year 11: November mock exams: AQA GCSE Biology Paper 1, AQA GCSE Chemistry Paper 1 and AQA GCSE Physics Paper 1, March mock exams: AQA GCSE Biology Paper 2, AQA GCSE Chemistry Paper 2 and AQA GCSE Physics Paper 2. The content assessed will have been taught across year 9, 10 and 11.