Tutoring built on Pearson's Foundation papers, boundaries and examiner reports
Book a Free ConsultationFoundation Edexcel GCSE Combined Science (1SC0) tutoring from Leading Tuition prepares students for the Foundation tier, where Pearson's specification makes grades 1–1 to 5–5 available on a 17-grade double-award scale. Each paper is 60 marks in 1 hour and 10 minutes, and the 4–4 boundary was 174 of 360 marks in June 2025. Our expert Combined Science tutors build each plan from those papers, boundaries and examiner reports.
This page covers what is particular to the Foundation tier. The paper-by-paper overview, core practicals and the equations to recall sit on our Edexcel GCSE Combined Science page, and the other tier is on our Higher tier Edexcel Combined Science page.
Our expert Edexcel Combined Science tutors help Foundation tier students work through the papers, mark targets and command words set out below.
Combined Science is a double award, so every candidate receives two grades from one total. The specification (Issue 6, March 2024) says the qualification is graded and certificated on a 17-grade scale from 9–9 to 1–1 using the total subject mark, and that individual papers are not graded. For the Foundation tier it states that grades 1–1 to 5–5 are available. The same document says the Foundation papers target grades 1–5 and that students complete all assessments in the same tier, in May/June in any single year (Pearson Edexcel specification).
On choosing the tier, Pearson's tier-entry document for science teachers says: "Those students predicted to attain grades 6 or above for GCSE Science should be aiming towards Higher Tier." The same document says Combined Science students "must choose all foundation or all higher", with no mixing and matching of tiers, and that a resit candidate must resit all papers at the same tier. It was written for Summer 2020 entries, so we read it for the board's reasoning and take the grade range itself from the specification (Pearson tier-entry document).
On what a grade means, the same Pearson document states: "The DfE have confirmed that a grade 4 is a standard pass and grade 5 is a strong pass." It adds that for Combined Science this means a grade 4–4 would be a standard pass, and that for Progress 8 measures the two grades in Combined Science are averaged, so a grade 4–3 "would be averaged to a 3.5". We therefore set the working target for most Foundation students at the 4–4 boundary, with the 5–5 boundary as the stretch, and plan every paper against the mark figures in the next section.
Pearson publishes one set of raw-mark boundaries for the whole qualification. Its own definition reads: "A grade boundary is the minimum mark at which a numbered grade (between 9 and 1) can be achieved." The table gives the Foundation row for the three June series in our table, with every double-grade column the board prints for this tier. Marks are out of 360, the total of all the 60-mark papers.
| Series | 5–5 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2024 | 217 | 197 | 178 | 155 | 132 | 109 | 86 | 63 | 41 |
| June 2025 | 215 | 194 | 174 | 151 | 128 | 105 | 82 | 59 | 37 |
| June 2026 | 231 | 212 | 194 | 168 | 142 | 116 | 91 | 66 | 41 |
Read down the 4–4 column and the boundary moves from 174 to 194 marks, a spread of 20. The 5–5 column moves from 215 to 231, a spread of 16; the 4–3 column from 151 to 168, a spread of 17; the 1–1 column from 37 to 41, a spread of 4. In each series there are 23, 23 and 26 marks between the 4–4 and 4–3 boundaries. A plan that aims at one series' 4–4 figure carries a 20-mark risk, so our tutors set the working target from the highest value in the table.
| Series | 5–5 share of 360 | 4–4 share of 360 | 1–1 share of 360 |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2024 | 60.3% | 49.4% | 11.4% |
| June 2025 | 59.7% | 48.3% | 10.3% |
| June 2026 | 64.2% | 53.9% | 11.4% |
As shares of the 360 marks, the 4–4 boundary sat between 48.3% and 53.9% across the table, so a student at that boundary has typically earned about half of the marks available. The working for each share is 4–4 mark ÷ 360. Pearson's results pages carry each year's figures at the grade boundaries page.
Our expert Foundation Combined Science tutors help students turn a boundary table into weekly mark targets for each paper.
Because a Foundation student sits the papers separately, a tutor needs a mark target for each one. Pearson publishes notional component boundaries for that purpose, each out of 60 marks. The table gives the notional 4–4 boundary for each Foundation paper in the three June series, with the values added together in the last column.
| Series | 1BF Biology 1 | 2BF Biology 2 | 1CF Chemistry 1 | 2CF Chemistry 2 | 1PF Physics 1 | 2PF Physics 2 | Sum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2024 | 31 | 31 | 24 | 28 | 32 | 32 | 178 |
| June 2025 | 32 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 174 |
| June 2026 | 34 | 32 | 32 | 30 | 34 | 32 | 194 |
The sums equal the 4–4 boundary printed for the whole qualification in the previous table: 178, 174 and 194. Pearson attaches a caveat to these paper-level figures. Its document says the examples show "that notional grade performance at component level plays no part in the determination of a qualification grade", and that "For teachers, the notional component grade boundaries can be useful as an indicator of grade performance when, for example, an examination paper is used as a future mock examination."
That is how we use them. A past Foundation paper sat as a timed mock is compared with its own notional 4–4 value, so a student who scores 31 on Biology 1 in the June 2024 notional terms can see which paper holds the shortfall. The paper that holds the shortfall then gets the next block of tutoring time. The final grade still depends on the total across all six papers.
The specification's notation is: "text in bold indicates content that is for higher tier only". We read that bold from the PDF's font data, statement by statement and at every position on the page, rather than from extracted text. Where only part of a statement is bold, the tables name the bold words and show the plain-type words beside them. The Foundation course therefore teaches the plain-type material in full and leaves the bold words to the Higher tier.
| Topic | Ref | Printed in bold (Higher tier only) | Plain-type neighbour kept at Foundation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic 1 Key concepts in biology | 1.5 | Part of the statement: the item “e calculations with numbers written in standard form”. | Plain type: the relationship between quantitative units in relation to cells, including milli (10−3), micro (10−6), nano (10−9) and pico (10−12). |
| Topic 4 Natural selection and genetic modification | 4.11 | Whole statement: describe the main stages of genetic engineering, including the use of restriction enzymes, ligase, sticky ends and vectors. | Plain type, 4.10: “Describe genetic engineering as a process which involves modifying the genome of an organism to introduce desirable characteristics”. |
| Topic 6 Plant structures and their functions | 6.4 | Whole statement: “Explain the interactions of temperature, light intensity and carbon dioxide concentration in limiting the rate of photosynthesis”. | Plain type, 6.3: “Explain the effect of temperature, light intensity and carbon dioxide concentration as limiting factors on the rate of photosynthesis”. |
| Topic 6 | 6.6 | Whole statement: “Explain how the rate of photosynthesis is directly proportional to light intensity and inversely proportional to the distance from a light source, including the use of the inverse square law calculation”. | – |
| Topic 7 Animal coordination, control and homeostasis | 7.2 | Whole statement: adrenalin produced by the adrenal glands to prepare the body for fight or flight, including increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, increased blood flow to the muscles, and raised blood sugar levels by stimulating the liver to change glycogen into glucose. | – |
| Topic 7 | 7.3 | Whole statement: how thyroxine controls metabolic rate as an example of negative feedback, including low levels of thyroxine stimulating production of TRH in the hypothalamus, release of TSH from the pituitary gland, TSH acting on the thyroid, and thyroxine inhibiting TRH and TSH when levels are normal. | – |
| Topic 7 | 7.5 | Whole statement: “Explain the interactions of oestrogen, progesterone, FSH and LH in the control of the menstrual cycle, including the repair and maintenance of the uterus wall, ovulation and menstruation”. | Plain type, 7.4: “Describe the stages of the menstrual cycle, including the roles of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, in the control of the menstrual cycle”. |
| Topic 7 | 7.8 | Whole statement: “Explain the use of hormones in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) including IVF and clomifene therapy”. | – |
| Topic 7 | 7.14 | Whole statement: “Explain how blood glucose concentration is regulated by glucagon”. | Plain type, 7.13: “Explain how the hormone insulin controls blood glucose concentration”. |
Our expert Foundation Combined Science tutors help students secure the plain-type content in each topic, from limiting factors and insulin to indicators and the Haber process.
| Topic | Ref | Printed in bold (Higher tier only) | Plain-type neighbour kept at Foundation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formulae, equations and hazards | 0.4 | Whole statement: “Write balanced ionic equations”. | – |
| Topic 1 Key concepts in chemistry | 1.12 | Whole statement: “Calculate the relative atomic mass of an element from the relative masses and abundances of its isotopes”. | – |
| Topic 1 | 1.50 | Whole statement: one mole defined as the Avogadro constant number of particles (6.02 × 1023 atoms, molecules, formulae or ions) and as a mass of ‘relative particle mass’ g. | Plain type, 1.49: “Calculate the concentration of solutions in g dm−3”. |
| Topic 1 | 1.51 | Whole statement: calculating moles from a given mass, particles from a given number of moles and particles from a given mass, and vice versa. | – |
| Topic 1 | 1.52, 1.53 | Whole statements: the reactant not in excess controls the mass of product; deducing stoichiometry from masses. | – |
| Topic 3 Chemical change | 3.4, 3.5 | Whole statements: hydrogen ion and hydroxide ion concentration against pH, including that a factor of 10 rise in hydrogen ion concentration decreases pH by 1. | Plain type, 3.3: “Recall the effect of acids and alkalis on indicators, including litmus, methyl orange and phenolphthalein”. |
| Topic 3 | 3.7, 3.8 | Whole statements: the terms dilute and concentrated, with respect to amount of substances in solution; the terms weak and strong acids, with respect to the degree of dissociation into ions. | – |
| Topic 3 | 3.27, 3.28, 3.29 | Whole statements: half equations at the anode and cathode in electrolysis; oxidation and reduction in terms of loss or gain of electrons; reduction at the cathode and oxidation at the anode. | Plain type, 3.30: the formation of the products in the electrolysis of copper sulfate solution, using copper electrodes, and how this electrolysis can be used to purify copper. |
| Topic 4 Extracting metals and equilibria | 4.2, 4.8 | Whole statements: displacement reactions as redox reactions in terms of gain or loss of electrons; evaluating alternative biological methods of metal extraction (bacterial and phytoextraction). | Plain type, 4.1: “Deduce the relative reactivity of some metals, by their reactions with water, acids and salt solutions”. |
| Topic 4 | 4.17 | Whole statement: predict how the position of a dynamic equilibrium is affected by changes in temperature, pressure and concentration. | Plain type, 4.16: the conditions for the Haber process. |
| Topic 6 Groups in the periodic table | 6.12 | Whole statement: why the halogen displacement reactions are redox reactions in terms of gain and loss of electrons, identifying which substances are oxidised and which are reduced. | – |
| Topic 7 Rates of reaction and energy changes | 7.14 | Whole statement: “Calculate the energy change in a reaction given the energies of bonds (in kJ mol−1)”. | Plain type, 7.13: the overall heat energy change for a reaction as exothermic or endothermic. |
| Topic | Ref | Printed in bold (Higher tier only) | Plain-type words kept at Foundation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic 2 Motion and forces | 2.20, 2.21, 2.22 | Whole statements: an object moving in a circular orbit at constant speed has a changing velocity (qualitative only); the resultant centripetal force towards the centre of the circle; inertial mass as the ratio of force over acceleration. | – |
| Topic 2 | 2.23 | Part of the statement: the word “both” and the words “and to collision interactions and relate it to the conservation of momentum in collisions”. | Plain type: “Recall and apply Newton’s third law” and “to equilibrium situations”. |
| Topic 2 | 2.24, 2.25, 2.26 | Whole statements: define momentum and use momentum = mass × velocity; examples of momentum in collisions; Newton’s second law as force = change in momentum ÷ time. | Plain type, 2.27: “Explain methods of measuring human reaction times and recall typical results”. |
| Topic 2 | 2.31 | Part of the statement: the words “and estimate the forces involved in typical situations on a public road”. | Plain type: “Explain the dangers caused by large decelerations”. |
| Topic 3 Conservation of energy | 3.12 | Whole statement: “Explain how efficiency can be increased”. | Plain type, 3.11: recall and use the efficiency equation. |
| Topic 4 Waves | 4.10 | Part of the statement: the words “and speed”. | Plain type: “Explain how waves will be refracted at a boundary in terms of the change of direction”. |
| Topic 4 | 4.11 | Whole statement: “Recall that different substances may absorb, transmit, refract or reflect waves in ways that vary with wavelength”. | – |
| Topic 5 Light and the electromagnetic spectrum | 5.13, 5.14, 5.23 | Whole statements: the same absorb, transmit, refract or reflect idea for electromagnetic waves; the effects of differences in the velocities of electromagnetic waves in different substances; radio waves produced by, or inducing, oscillations in electrical circuits. | – |
| Topic 9 Forces and their effects | 9.3, 9.4, 9.5 | Whole statements: vector diagrams for resolving forces, a net force and equilibrium (scale drawings only); free body force diagrams; forces on an isolated solid object or system and balanced forces. | Plain type, 9.2: “Explain the difference between vector and scalar quantities using examples”. |
| Topic 10 Electricity and circuits | 10.25 | Whole statement: “Explain ways of reducing unwanted energy transfer through low resistance wires”. | – |
| Topic 12 Magnetism and the motor effect | 12.10, 12.11, 12.12, 12.13 | Whole statements: the force on a current-carrying conductor near a magnet and the equal and opposite force on the magnet; magnetic forces as interactions between fields; Fleming’s left-hand rule; the force equation. | Plain type, 12.9: the fields from individual coils inside a solenoid. |
| Topic 13 Electromagnetic induction | 13.2, 13.5, 13.6 | Whole statements: the factors that affect the size and direction of an induced potential difference; an alternating current in one circuit inducing a current in another in a transformer; a transformer changing the size of an alternating voltage. | – |
The use-of-mathematics bullets are marked the same way. The bold ones cover standard form in biology Topic 1 and Topic 8, the inverse square law in biology Topic 6, standard form with the Avogadro constant and mass-to-moles conversion in chemistry Topic 1, enclosed areas in velocity-time graphs in physics Topic 2, radioactive half-lives in physics Topic 6 and scale drawings of vectors in physics Topic 9. In the chemistry Topic 7 gradients bullet, only the reference 4e is bold.
The June 2025 examiners' report for 1SC0/1CF says its questions are a subset of the separate Chemistry Foundation paper, "comprising of six of the ten questions in that paper". Students who move to separate Chemistry can read our Foundation Edexcel GCSE Chemistry page.
Our expert Foundation Combined Science tutors help students learn the plain-type physics content, from reaction times and efficiency to vector and scalar quantities.
Appendix 4 prints some equations in bold, which is the specification's marker for Higher tier only. In the list of equations to recall and apply (list a) it is 2.24: momentum = mass × velocity, with the symbols p = m × v. In the list of equations to select and apply (list b) they are 2.26: force = change in momentum ÷ time, and 12.13: force on a conductor at right angles to a magnetic field carrying a current = magnetic flux density × current × length, with the symbols F = B × I × l.
The board states the rules in its own words. For list a: "Students may be asked to recall, recall and apply, or only apply these equations in the exam papers. If students are required to only apply an equation from this section the equation will be given in the question." For list b: "These equations will be given in a formulae sheet at the end of the exam papers." On the Higher-only equations it says they "will not be required in the foundation tier papers" (list a) and "will not be given in the formulae sheet for the foundation tier papers" (list b).
Pearson's tier-entry document adds that within the Foundation papers "it is expected that candidates could be given equations, or be given the terms of an equation or asked to recall the full equations, depending on the complexity of the equation." Our tutors therefore teach each list a equation for recall and each list b equation for selection and substitution, and keep the Higher-only equations out of the Foundation plan. The physics side of a Foundation course is the same specification as the separate qualification only in part; our Foundation Edexcel GCSE Physics page covers the 1PH0 specification and its own equation lists.
Pearson's tier-entry document describes the design. "Around half of the question items in the Foundation Tier are targeted at low demand processes and around half are targeted at medium demand processes." Papers "will generally start with lower demand questions to help students build their confidence", then move to medium demand "towards the second half of the paper". It also says that "in Foundation papers we may use more scaffolding within questions" and that question types such as words in a box, sentence completion and line matching will only appear in the Foundation Tier paper.
The specification puts 16 marks of each 60-mark paper in overlap questions that appear in both tiers; the tier-entry document gives the share as 27% of marks and says these questions "will tend to be at the start of the Higher Tier paper and towards the end of the Foundation Tier paper." Extended open response accounts for 10% of marks in the combined paper at each tier, and at Foundation it is "targeted at grades 1 to 5". For maths, the specification sets the minimum level in the Foundation papers at Key Stage 3, and Pearson's document puts the assessment of maths skills in Combined Science at 20%.
These design facts set how we practise: a clean start with full units and written substitution, timed practice on the later questions where overlap sits, and a drilled structure for extended open-response answers.
Pearson publishes an examiners' report for each paper. The table gives the findings we use, paper by paper, in the reports' own words where quoted, and what each one changes in the tutoring.
| Paper and report | What the examiners said | What it changes in our plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1SC0/1BF, June 2025 | The extended open-response question "required candidates to plan an investigation to the effect of the concentration of enzyme on the rate of activity". The summary advises: "If a sequence of points need to be made, eg in a plan or method, present them as bullet points or numbered points". | Plans written as numbered stages, each naming the variable changed, measured and controlled. |
| 1SC0/2BF, June 2024 and June 2025 | Both summaries advise candidates to "Develop their practical skills knowledge to ensure they understand the difference between the factors being investigated and controlled variables". | For each core practical, the student states the variable changed, the variable measured and what is held constant. |
| 1SC0/1CF, June 2025 | "Know the difference between the different types of equation such as word equations and symbol equations including writing formulae using the correct scientific conventions and the use of state symbols." The report also advises practice in rounding to significant figures and decimal places and notes a six-mark question "with a levels-based mark scheme". | Word and symbol equations with state symbols drilled separately; rounding practised to both significant figures and decimal places. |
| 1SC0/2CF, June 2025 | "It appeared that many of the candidates did not know the test for chlorine". The summary advises: "Learn fully tests for gases" and "Practise drawing the dot and cross diagrams of molecules in the specification." | A gas-test sheet recalled from memory each week; dot-and-cross diagrams drawn without prompts. |
| 1SC0/1PF, June 2025 | "Most candidates managed the calculation questions in this paper where the equation was given. However, many did not show full substitution of numbers". The summary advises: "Practice calculating gradients and using data from graphs. Practice questions involving radioactive half-life." | Every calculation written as equation, substitution, answer; gradient and half-life questions set as separate drills. |
| 1SC0/2PF, June 2025 | "Q02(b), on measuring density, did not achieve high scoring outcomes very often." The report also advises: "Look for 'deal-breakers' as you study six-mark questions." It says the exam "gave ample opportunity for candidates to display their knowledge and understanding at grades 1-5". | Density measured by hand where possible; six-mark answers marked against the points that decide the level. |
| 1SC0/2PF, June 2024 | The summary advises candidates to "recognise SI prefixes such as m and k and n and how to handle these in calculations" and, where a question involves a calculation, to "write down the equation they are using (if not given in the question) and show each step in their working". | A prefix conversion warm-up at the start of physics sessions; every step shown. |
The table uses the reports named in each row. Examiners write about the cohort of one series, so each finding is a drill we test with the individual student.
Our expert Foundation Combined Science tutors help students on every Edexcel paper, including the practical, calculation and six-mark questions the examiners single out.
Each programme starts from a past Foundation paper sat under the board's timing of 1 hour and 10 minutes and marked against that paper's notional boundaries. The result shows which of 1BF, 2BF, 1CF, 2CF, 1PF and 2PF holds the largest shortfall against 4–4. Tutors then work in the order the evidence above supports: the plain-type content that every Foundation paper draws on, the command words and substitution habits the examiners describe, and timed practice on the final third of the paper where overlap questions sit.
Students who have a prediction of 6 or above are, in Pearson's words, those who "should be aiming towards Higher Tier", and the Higher tier page linked above covers that route. For the wider picture across boards, see our GCSE tuition overview. Every plan is reviewed after each full mock, and the next block of sessions follows the paper that moved least.
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Pearson's specification (Issue 6, March 2024) says the qualification is graded on a 17-grade scale from 9–9 to 1–1 using the total subject mark, and that for the Foundation tier grades 1–1 to 5–5 are available. Individual papers are not graded. The Foundation papers target grades 1–5, so 5–5 is the top grade on this tier, and it needed 215 of 360 marks in June 2025.
No. Pearson's tier-entry document, written for Summer 2020 entries, says Combined Science students can sit Foundation or Higher tier but "must choose all foundation or all higher", with no mixing and matching of tiers. The specification says the same: students complete all assessments in the same tier, in May/June in any single year. The Foundation paper codes run from 1SC0/1BF to 1SC0/2PF.
Out of 360 marks, Pearson's published Foundation boundary for 4–4 was 178 in June 2024, 174 in June 2025 and 194 in June 2026. The 4–3 boundary was 155, 151 and 168. Pearson defines a boundary as the minimum mark at which a grade can be achieved, and the marks are raw marks for the whole qualification, so they cover all the papers together.
The specification states that text in bold indicates content that is for higher tier only. For example, statement 7.14 on regulating blood glucose by glucagon is printed in bold, while 7.13 on how insulin controls blood glucose concentration is plain type. In physics 2.23 is partly bold: only “both” and the words about collision interactions and the conservation of momentum are bold. Our tutors check the bold words of each statement, not the topic title.
Appendix 4 prints these equations in bold: 2.24 momentum = mass × velocity in the recall list, and 2.26 force = change in momentum ÷ time and 12.13 force on a conductor = magnetic flux density × current × length in the select-and-apply list. Pearson says the first "will not be required in the foundation tier papers" and that the list b ones "will not be given in the formulae sheet for the foundation tier papers".
Notional component boundaries are paper-level marks out of 60. In June 2025 the notional 4–4 value for Paper 1BF Biology 1 was 32 and for Paper 1PF Physics 1 it was 29. Pearson says notional performance at component level plays no part in determining a qualification grade, but can be useful to teachers as an indicator when a paper is used as a mock. We use them to decide which paper to practise next.
Pearson's tier-entry document answers a resit question with yes, and adds that a candidate who wishes to resit must resit all papers for the qualification at the same tier. A Foundation resit therefore covers each of the papers from 1SC0/1BF to 1SC0/2PF in May/June, graded again on the 1–1 to 5–5 scale, with the same total of 360 marks.
Sources: Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Combined Science specification, Issue 6; Pearson GCSE 9-1 Sciences support for tier entry decisions; Pearson's published Edexcel GCSE grade boundaries, notional component boundaries and examiners' reports.
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