The Food Preparation and Nutrition GCSE will equip pupils with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to cook and apply the principles of food science, nutrition and healthy eating. Students are encouraged to make informed decisions about food choices and develop life skills that will enable them to feed themselves and others affordably, now and in later life. The heart of the qualification is the development of strong practical cookery skills and techniques as well as a good understanding of nutrition. This is so that pupils are more likely to make better food choices and understand healthy eating. Pupils will discover the essentials of food science and also understand the huge challenges that are faced globally, to supply the world with nutritious and safe food.

This is not a purely practical subject, students will be required to research, plan and evaluate all dishes created which includes a lot of writing, as well as doing the written work essential for the non-examination elements. Pupils will need to purchase chef’s whites through school and wear them to each practical lesson. They will also need to bring in ingredients from home, or money to pay for basic ingredients provided by the school.

Food Preparation and Nutrition is the course run by OCR. It is divided into two parts: The exam and 2 non exam assessments. Both are worth 50% of the exam.

Students have to sit a written exam, Food Preparation and Nutrition, worth 50% of the total GCSE.

The non exam assessments are divided into: a Food Investigation Task worth 15% of the GCSE and a Food Preparation Task worth 35% of the GCSE.