All GCSE science syllabuses have exactly the same marking criteria. In the mark tables for each skill the statements for 2,4,6, and 8 marks are word for word the same as in every syllabus. These are the only formal marking criteria supplied.
When a skill area is marked the criteria are matched up and the one that provides a best fit to the candidates work is awarded. Once you have read the criteria you will realise that they are very vague. To overcome this exemplar material is provided for teachers. This contains examples of marked coursework, with reasons why the marks have been awarded. Although the syllabus guidelines say "statements should not be taken as discrete and literal hurdles, all of which must be fulfilled for a mark to be awarded", this is usually not the case. Teachers will usually have a tick list of features they are looking for and if you don't fulfill them you don't get the mark.
Supposing your graph and conclusions are marked. They easily satisfy statements A.4a and A.4b so your mark will be at least 4. The conclusion is correct and related to scientific knowledge so A.6b is awarded. There is no Higher level knowledge so 8 marks is not considered. The line of best fit for the graph, however, is not good enough to award A.6a. In this case you have matched A.4a, A.4b, A6b and almost A6a. You would be given the in-between mark of A.5.
Marks of 1, 3, 5, and 7 may be awarded for work that is not quite good enough for the mark above but is easily better than the mark below. A mark of 0 is awarded when an attempt is made, but nothing of scientific relevance is achieved.
Evaluating is the most difficult skill. 6 marks for Evaluating has an equivalent difficulty to 8 marks in the other three skills, E.4 is equivalent to 6 marks in the others and so on.
A full investigation means you have carried out all four skill areas for a particular investigation and gained marks of 0 or higher for each skill area.
Any mark for a skill area that is not part of a full investigation. This may be because the investigation writeup is incomplete, or because only one or two skills have been carried out. e.g. A plan could be discussed as a class, results obtained as a class, and then they could be analysed and evaluated for individual assessment.
There is a minimum and maximum number of pieces of work that can be included when calculating the Final Mark Total. This depends on the course you are following - refer to the page on Calculating the Final Mark Total. There is no upper limit, other than finding the time, on how many pieces of coursework may be attempted.
If you have not completed the minimum number of pieces of work by the date when your school has to send off the marks you will not be able to have any extra time. All schools work to the same date and there are no exceptions.
For an assessed piece of coursework your teacher is not allowed to give any help. If they do give you help this has to be taken into account during the marking and you will receive a lower mark. Help is usually only given to those at the bottom of the mark scale. Suppose someone has planned an experiment that is not a fair test and wouldn't work. It is better for the teacher to point this out so they can correct their plan or they would waste all their time on taking results that would gain no marks for Obtaining and Analysing.
NO. Coursework can not be marked, improved, and then marked again. If you were to say something like "If I were to hand in my work now is it good enough to get an 8 for Analysing" your teacher can say "Yes" or "No", although they can't say "No because...". They are not allowed to give any hints as to how your work can be improved.
The marking criteria can be explained in general terms. These are hoops you must jump through to get the highest marks. So, it is important you know exactly what you have got to do to get each mark. Your teacher can, of course, explain to you any questions you ask about previous work you have done but not fully understood.
Most investigations are based on work that (usually) you have just studied. Look through the syllabus and your notes and pick out the bits you are not sure about. It is no good asking your teacher to explain everything about resistance because you "don't understand". Even if they have the time this would take them too long, and they would have so much to tell you (again) that you wouldn't be able to understand it or remember it. Pick out a few key points you don't understand and get them sorted. Then have a think, read your text book, and ask some more questions. "About this experiment we did on measuring the resistance of a bulb? I've got the results and the graph but I'm not really sure about the conclusions. What do they mean?"
If you make up results or copy someone else's coursework you will not receive any marks. If it is discovered that you cheated after marks have been sent off to the exam board you may not be awarded a grade for your GCSE.
Before the marks are sent off you have to sign a form stating that your coursework is your own original work. If you had help (other than your teacher) you must state who helped you and what help they gave you. You also need to list other material such as extra Books or Computer Programs that you used, unless you have already listed them in your writeups.