Integrated Science as a Preparation for ‘A’ Level Physics, Chemistry and Biology

The study seeks to compare the performance in ‘A’ level science examinations of two groups of students; one group previously studied an integrated science course (SCISP) whilst the other studied the separate subjects of physics, chemistry and biology to ‘O’ level standard. Data were collected from a tertiary college where students assemble from a number of 11‐16 feeder schools. Some of these schools teach SCISP whilst others offer the separate subjects of physics, chemistry and biology. College policy is to mix students and to conceal their origins as much as possible. Different patterns were shown in the two years of students studied but overall no significant differences emerged between the performance of the two groups of students despite the fact that SCISP students must have spent considerably less time per science subject in their feeder schools. In the one feeder school studied where all the SCISP teaching was done by former physics teachers, there was no evidence to suggest either that students were less well disposed to biology and chemistry or that their ‘A’ level results in these subjects were less good.