GCSE Science Required Practicals — What You Need to Know

The setup

AQA Combined Science has 21 required practicals across biology, chemistry and physics — 7 per subject. Triple Science adds a handful more per subject. Every student must complete these in class, but the exam doesn't test doing them — it tests knowing them.

What examiners actually ask

• Describe the method (in order, with specific detail)
• Identify the independent, dependent and control variables
• Suggest a source of error and how to reduce it
• Interpret data (usually graphs or tables) from the practical
• Suggest improvements to the method
• Explain the underlying scientific principle

The 7 AQA Biology required practicals

1. Microscopy — using a light microscope
2. Osmosis in potato
3. Food tests (starch, sugar, protein, fat)
4. Enzyme rate (pH effect on amylase)
5. Photosynthesis — effect of light intensity
6. Reaction time (ruler drop)
7. Field sampling with quadrats

The 7 AQA Chemistry required practicals

1. Making salts by reacting an insoluble base with an acid
2. Neutralisation titration
3. Electrolysis of aqueous solutions
4. Temperature change of exothermic/endothermic reactions
5. Rate of reaction (disappearing cross / gas volume)
6. Chromatography
7. Water purification

The 7 AQA Physics required practicals

1. Specific heat capacity
2. Thermal insulation
3. Resistance of a wire
4. I-V characteristics of components
5. Density of solids and liquids
6. Force and extension (Hooke's law)
7. Acceleration (light gates)

How to revise each practical

Create a one-page summary per practical answering these six questions:

1. What are we measuring?
2. What's the independent variable? Dependent? Control?
3. What's the specific method, step by step?
4. What equipment is essential?
5. What's the biggest source of error, and how do we reduce it?
6. What does the expected result look like (graph shape)?

21 practicals × one page each = 21 pages. Two hours of work per week for a month covers the lot.

The most common exam trap

Being asked about a practical you've done in class — but with slightly different equipment. Students panic because "we didn't do it that way." The mark scheme wants the principles applied, not the exact method your school used. Practise this by looking at the same practical from multiple exam papers — the method varies but the principles don't.

Why this matters more than parents realise

Required practical questions are the single most predictable source of marks in GCSE Science. Every year, without fail, there will be practical questions. Students who systematically revise them pick up 15-25 marks reliably. Students who don't — thinking "I did them in class" — leave those marks on the table every time.