Exam review

• Alison Candy


  Subject officer for WJEC's new GCSE Food and Nutrition
• Key features of the Food and Nutrition specification

  • Many opportunities for flexible teaching approaches
  • Questions designed to enable candidates to demonstrate high order skills
  • Straightforward wording of questions on the examination paper
  • Good accessibility of materials
  • Plenty of opportunities for breadth of study and subject specific learning and knowledge
  • High quality examination available via e-assessment and in traditional paper format
• Unit 1: Principles of Food and Nutrition

  1. Written examination of 1 hour 30 minutes

  2. 80 marks

  3. 40% of the qualification
• Unit 2: Food and Nutrition in Action

  1. Non-examination assessments

  2. Assessment 1 and Assessment 2

  3. 120 marks

  4. 60% of the qualification
• WJEC has retained the percentage weightings for the Practical and the written element in line with Legacy qualifications
• Assessment Objectives


  • AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of food, cooking and nutrition
  • AO2: Apply knowledge and understanding of food, cooking and nutrition
  • AO3: Plan, prepare, cook and present dishes, combining appropriate techniques
  • AO4: Analyze and evaluate different aspects of food, cooking and nutrition, including food made by themselves and others
• Assessment Objectives weighting


  • Unit 1 assesses AO1, AO2 and AO4
  • Unit 2 Assessment 1 assesses AO2 and AO4
  • Unit 2 Assessment 2 assesses AO3 and AO4
• Unit 1: Principles of Food and Nutrition


  • Subject content set out to promote flexibility within delivery
  • Areas of content developed into six key areas
  • For every key area, content set out as: what do the children need to learn, what do they need to do with that knowledge, and how can that knowledge be delivered
• Unit 2: Food and Nutrition in Action

  1. Assessment 1: Food investigation assessment

  2. 2,000 to 2,500 words plus any charts, graphs, photographs

  3. Issued to centres during the summer term

  4. 40 marks

  5. Submitted for postal moderation in May

  6. Assessment 2: Plan, cook and present 3 dishes with accompaniments

  7. 15 hours recommended

  8. Includes a compulsory 3-hour practical session

  9. Evidence must be no more than 15 pages

  10. Two options released annually

  11. Issued to centres during the summer term when candidates are in Year 10

  12. Submitted together for postal moderation
• Practical skills to be developed

  • Listed in Appendix A in the specification
• Unit 1 assessment


  1. Two sections

  2. Section A: Based on a visual stimulus, 12 marks

  3. Section B: 68 marks, covering remainder of subject content

  4. Question types change according to content and requirements

  5. Detailed mark schemes provided
• Unit 2 Assessment 1


  1. Section A: Researching and investigating the task

  2. Section B: Investigate the working characteristics, function and chemical properties of ingredients through practical experimentation

  3. Section C: Analyze and evaluate the task

  4. Detailed mark scheme provided
• Unit 2 Assessment 2

  1. Section A: Research and investigate the task, including testing and trialing

  2. Section B: Plan the task and select a final menu based on research

  3. Section C: Prepare, cook and present the menu (3-hour session)

  4. Section D: Evaluate the selection, preparation, cooking and presentation of the 3 dishes and accompaniments

  5. Detailed mark scheme provided
• All assessments will change annually
• A wealth of resources will be made available to support the new specification
• Online resources available free of charge
• Teachers guide including exemplar materials and a route through the specification
• Textbooks produced by Illuminate and Hodder to support the specification
• Online exam review and exam results analysis available
• WJEC will be delivering CPD training courses, face-to-face sessions, to equip centres with the knowledge required to deliver the course
• This paper is 1 hour 30 minutes long
• It is testing your knowledge of Principles of Food and Nutrition
• The paper is made up of 2 sections – Section A is based on the picture stimuli and is 1 question which has 5 parts – 12 marks in total
• Section B has 7 questions which vary in complexity and size – and this section totals 68 marks
• The question types vary
• The paper will assess AO1, AO2 and AO4
• The total marks for this paper is 80
• All question papers for Food and Nutrition are the same layout as this one
• What should I do first?

  1. Read the front cover of the exam paper

  2. Make sure your name and candidate number are on your answer booklet
• How do I tackle Section A?

  1. Look at the picture stimuli

  2. Read question 1 (a) – (e) and highlight key words/command verbs

  3. Check how many marks each part-question is worth so you spend your time appropriately

  4. Look again at the picture stimuli

  5. Think about the best answer for each part question

  6. Write the answers for 1 (a) – (e) in the spaces provided
• Question 1 (a) AO1

  Identify is similar to name – allows you to give a one word answer
• Question 1 (b) AO1

  Two lines for each responses suggest you may want to write more than one word
• Question 1 (c) AO1


  Name can elicit a one word response, and there is only small space to respond in
• Question 1 (d) AO1


  State can sometimes elicit a one word response, but in this question there is more detail required than one word and the two lines per point highlight this
• Question 1 (e) AO2

  Explain elicits some extended writing and its AO2 and 4 lines
• How do I tackle Question 2

  1. Look at the recipe information before attempting any part of this question

  2. Read all the parts before answering the questions, so that you know what each question is all about

  3. Underline key words in the questions to keep you focused

  4. Pay particular attention to the command verbs and number of lines allowed for each question to be answered as this will give you an idea of how much you need to write
• Question 2 (a)(b)(c) AO1


  Identify and State
• Question 2 (d) AO1 and (e) AO2


  Explain, Name and Describe
• How do I tackle Question 3

  1. Read all the parts before answering the questions, so that you know what each question is all about

  2. Underline key words in the questions to keep you focused

  3. Pay particular attention to the command verbs and number of lines allowed for each question to be answered as this will give you an idea of how much you need to write
• Question 3 (a)(b)(c) AO1


  1 mark for the correct response