Home Ec - Food & Nutrition A2

Food, Nutrition and Health AS/A Level
Social Science & Childcare
Board and Syllabus details
New 2008 Award

About the subject

A new and exciting syllabus which covers areas as diverse as poverty, housing, sport, dietary analysis and product development.
Students gather a real insight into the needs of the national and local populations. They then go on to understand how these needs are met through the diet, health care, the retail trade and other providers.
The balance of modules (listed below) allows for a diverse range of student interest and realistic choice of stimulating coursework. Topics can range from:
Diet for peak sports' performance, childhood obesity, eating disorders, consumer psychology in food retail, osteoporosis, homelessness and the comparison of Mediterranean and British diets.

Learning Styles
Students will enjoy an interesting mixture of learning styles with electronic white board and DVD use, combined with class discussion and note taking. Research and IT skills are developed within the coursework component.
We are lucky to have particularly good industry links and visiting speakers, and many students enjoy quality placements as part of their practical research, both locally and in London. The flexibility of the course allows students to develop their own career-linked research paths

Subject combinations and progression

This subject combines well with all other courses and students are encouraged to develop inter-disciplinary areas of research. Particular successes have included links with PE, Business, Sociology, Psychology, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, History, Travel and Tourism, Languages and Health and Social Care. We enjoy excellent progression onto Higher Education courses.

Subject modules and assessment

AS
Unit 1 - Materials, Components and Application - This unit looks at human nutrition, and the social, economic, cultural and technological influences that impact on our food consumption and the design of new food products
Written Paper: 2 hours - 50% of AS marks/25% of total A level
Unit 2 - Learning Through Designing and Making - students will use knowledge gained from the first unit to design and make a product of their own focussed on their chosen area of interest e.g. sport students could look at the role of isotonic/ergogenic aids; students interested in the health care sector could look at hospital food
Coursework : 50% of AS marks 25% of total A level
A2
Unit 3 - Design and Manufacture - students will learn about food science, processes and manufacture. Nutrition knowledge will be developed from AS and students will look at issues that affect the design of new products, alongside their manufacture. This will include the achievement of the Food Hygiene Certificate
Written Paper: 2 hours - 25% of total A level
Unit 4 - Design and Making Practice - where knowledge of the AS and A2 subject content is applied to the design and manufacture of the student's own project
Coursework: 25% of total A level

Entry Requirements
None.