Back to Subjects Menu

Food Preparation and Nutrition

It should be that every child when they leave school can cook ten meals, because when they leave home they've got to be able to eat healthily. 

 -Mary Berry

Key Stage 4 Options Information

Exam board: AQA
Specification: AQA GCSE in Food Preparation & Nutrition

Assessment:


• Written exam of 1 hour 45 minutes accounting for 50% of GCSE grade. It will contain multiple choice questions (20 marks) and five questions each with a number of sub questions (80 marks)


• Non-exam assessment:

Students complete two tasks, a food investigation and a food preparation assessment:

The food investigation assesses a students’ understanding of the working characteristics, functional and chemical properties of ingredients. The food preparation assessment assesses a students’ knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to the planning, preparation, cooking, presentation of food and application of nutrition related to the chosen task. Students will prepare, cook and present a final menu of three dishes within a single period of no more than three hours, planning in advance how this will be achieved.

Who is the course for?

If you enjoy working with food and the topics of nutrition, health, food safety and food science interest you then this would be a suitable option.

Students would take part in practical lessons weekly to practise a wide range of food preparation skills.

Students will need to prepare, cook and present food as well as apply nutrition-related information to tasks set.

What will I do on the course?

The GCSE food preparation and nutrition is an exciting and creative course which focuses on practical cooking skills to ensure that students develop a thorough understanding of nutrition, food provenance, and the working characteristics of food materials.

At its heart, this qualification focuses on nurturing students’ practical cookery skills to give them a strong understanding of nutrition.

Food preparation skills are integrated into five core topics:
• Food, nutrition and health
• Food Science
• Food Safety
• Food Choice
• Food Provenance