Areas of work

SCORE partners are involved in several projects.

Practical Work in Science

SCORE is the lead organisation for the practical work in science action programme in the STEM Framework. This project aims to improve the quality of practical work in science.

Working closely with other stakeholders, SCORE has developed its practical work in science strategy based on the report prepared by the ASE and the Royal Society.

SCORE is the lead organisation for the enhancing and enriching the science curriculum programme in the STEM Framework. This programme aims to improve the access to high quality provision of enrichment and enhancement activities in schools.

Progression Routes

This research project aims to collect evidence and accurate information about subject combinations and qualifications that enable students to progress into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) degrees.

The evidence and information will provide an up to date picture of the current situation and assist the development of clear and accurate guidance to be included on the Science Council's ‘Future Morph' careers information website.

Grading Severity

A-level grades and the UCAS point-scoring system, which treats all subjects as equally difficult, have been tarnished by new research, published in July 2008, which shows that some subjects at A-level are more difficult than others.

Science Diploma

The Science Diploma was announced by the Secretary of State in October 2007 as one of three new subject-related Diplomas (Humanities, Science and Languages). The Diplomas are qualifications for 14-19 year olds and teaching for the level one and two Science Diploma is due to begin in 2011 and level three in 2012.

GCSE Science

SCORE's overall objective of this strand of work was to provide reliable information on the fitness for purpose of GCSE science examination papers, focusing on how the examination papers assess particular aspects of GCSE science.

This project was concerned with looking at the performance of the assessments. It does not provide any evidence on the performance of the students.