Food Preparation & Nutrition

Key Stage 4

AQA GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition (8585)

AQA GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition specification

Key Stage 5

No examined course. Year 13 students take a non-examined life skills cookery course.

Year 7

Term 1

·         Food hygiene and the 4 Cs

·         Safe use of tools and equipment

·         Knife skills: carrot cuts

·         Oxidation and enzymic browning

·         The Eatwell Guide

Term 2

·         Healthy, balanced diets

·         Safe use of the oven

·         Pizza toast

·         Flapjacks

·         Sugars and carbohydrates

Term 3

·         Tunnock's teacake challenge

·         Apple crumble

·         Tomato ragu

·         Food safety

Term 4

·         Healthy breakfasts

·         Breakfast pancakes

·         Frittata

Term 5

·         Seasonality

·         Mini fruit cakes

·         Safe storage and handling of high-risk foods

·         Chicken skewers

·         Cake-making methods

Term 6

·         Baking and raising agents

·         Bread rolls: the cold oven proving method

·         Pasta salad

·         Modifying a recipe for different dietary needs

Year 8

Term 1

·         Recapping the Eatwell Guide and balanced diets

·         Complex knife skills

·         Ratatouille

·         Scone-based pizza

·         Eat like an athlete

Term 2

·         Planning healthy menus

·         Dutch apple cake

·         Chicken stir-fry

·         Tunnock's teacake challenge

Term 3

·         Staple foods

·         Savoury rice

·         Scones

·         Making healthy choices

Term 4

·         Making and adapting a roux sauce

·         Macaroni cheese

·         Posh pot noodle

·         Effective hob control

·         Grilling and radiation

Term 5

·         Cooking methods and heat transfer

·         Anzac biscuits

·         Garlic flatbreads

·         Salad jar design task

Term 6

·         Potato wedges and salsa dip

·         Use of specialist equipment

·         Pastry making: the shortening effect

·         Cheese and onion turnovers

·         Sensory testing

Year 9

Term 1

·         Cultural cuisine

·         Analysing a cultural dish

·         Quesadillas

·         Pasta arrabbiata bake

Term 2

·         Special diets

·         Adapting dishes for dietary requirements

·         Mini carrot cakes

·         Spinach and potato curry

·         Tunnock's teacake challenge

Term 3

·         Egg fried rice

·         Fajitas

·         Safe food handling

·         High-risk foods and food poisoning

Term 4

·         Eggs and coagulation

·         Intensive farming

·         Brownies

·         Pizza pinwheels

·         Mediterranean diets

Term 5

·         Introduction to street food

·         Planning international cuisine

·         Street food practical assessment

·         Ramen

Term 6

·         Ultra-processed foods

·         Healthy eating guidelines

·         Tikka naanwich

·         Introduction to macronutrients

·         Afternoon tea challenge

Year 10

Term 1

·         Standard components: tomato soup comparison

·         Macronutrients

·         Chilled lemon flan

·         The Eatwell Guide and planning healthy diets

·         Thai chicken en papillote

Term 2

·         Micronutrients: vitamins and minerals

·         NEA 2 mini practical planning

·         NEA 2 assessed practical

·         Longer-mark questions

·         Pasta making

Term 3

·         Food storage and food safety

·         Lasagne

·         Quiche

·         Food marketing

·         Burritos with roasted pepper sauce

Term 4

·         Nutritional needs at different life stages

·         Healthy lunch boxes for children

·         Secondary processing: cheese, yoghurt and jam

·         Mille-feuille

·         Organic and GM crops

Term 5

·         Potatoes three ways

·         Functional and chemical properties of ingredients

·         NEA 1 food experiments

·         Pastry making: pasties and empanadas

Term 6

·         Nutritional needs at different life stages: exam practice

·         Curry and roti

·         Mock examination revision

·         NEA 2: seasonal dishes

·         NEA 2 mock

Year 11

Term 1

·         NEA 1 introduction

·         NEA 1 planning and research

·         NEA 1 food experiments

·         NEA 1 evaluation

Term 2

·         NEA 2 introduction

·         NEA 2 brief analysis

·         NEA 2 research and planning

·         NEA 2 dish analysis

Term 3

·         NEA 2 skills trials

·         NEA 2 dovetailed time plan

·         NEA 2 three-hour assessed practical

Term 4

·         NEA 2 evaluation and costings

·         Exam revision: environmental factors

·         Exam revision: primary and secondary processing

·         Exam revision: cooking methods

·         Exam revision: food science

Term 5

·         Exam practice

Term 6

Year 13 Life Skills Cookery (non-examined)

Term 1

·         Cooking on a budget

·         Meal preparation and planning

·         Mexican cuisine

·         Italian classics

·         Bake Off

Term 2

·         Sauces from scratch

·         Student cupboard staples

·         Ready Steady Cook

Term 3

Term 4

Term 5

Term 6

·         Practical and technical skills

·         Planning and time management

·         Creativity and innovation

·         Understanding of nutrition and health

·         Food safety and hygiene

·         Evaluating and improving outcomes

·         Chef or caterer

·         Dietitian or nutritionist

·         Food scientist or technologist

·         Product developer

·         Environmental health officer

·         Food journalist or stylist

·         Hospitality manager

·         Teacher