Made-for-Wales ‘The Sciences (Double Award)’ update

Made-for-Wales ‘The Sciences (Double Award)’ update

Yesterday, Qualifications Wales announced that the first teaching for ‘The Sciences (Double Award)’ GCSE has been changed from September 2025 to 2026. Their full statement and further information on the decision is available to view here.

Updated development timeline

Following this decision, our Qualification Development Team has adjusted our timeline, and ‘The Sciences (Double Award)’ will now be included in our second phase of development.

We understand Qualifications Wales’ decision to change the introduction of this qualification in order to revisit some of the design aspects of their approval criteria to ensure we can develop a qualification that best fits the needs of learners.

An updated version of the qualification outline will be published in 2025.

Current GCSE Science qualifications

As a result of this decision, our current GCSE Science qualifications will continue to be taught until 2027, final assessment will be summer 2027. Resit opportunities will be available for January 2028. This will impact the following current GCSE qualifications:

  • Applied Science (Single Award) - C00/0780/1
  • Applied Science (Double Award) - C00/0780/2
  • Biology - C00/0779/8
  • Chemistry - C00/0779/9
  • Physics - C00/0780/0
  • Science Double Award - C00/0780/3

Further information

If you have any questions regarding our CURRENT Science qualifications, please contact our Science Subject Team via science@wjec.co.uk.

To keep you up to date with the latest news, opportunities and FAQs regarding the new GCSEs and related qualifications, visit our ‘Made-for-Wales’ web area. This area hosts a wealth of material, including an introduction to our Qualification Development Team who are leading the creation of the new qualifications.