The underlying science is fixed by the national subject content. What differs between boards is structure: how the content is split into papers, which practicals are required, how equations are handled, and the house style of the questions.
Paper structure
- AQA (Trilogy): six papers, two per science, each worth 16.7% of the qualification.
- Edexcel (Combined Science): six papers, split into Paper 1 and Paper 2 for each science.
- OCR (Gateway A and Twenty First Century B): six papers, but OCR runs two distinct specifications — Gateway is topic-led, Twenty First Century is context-led, and their question styles read very differently.
Required practicals
All three require practical work, but the named lists are not identical and the way they are examined differs. AQA sets out named required practicals and questions them directly; OCR Twenty First Century tends to embed practical reasoning inside a context; Edexcel labels them core practicals.
If you revise from the wrong board's practical list, you can lose marks on a paper for a method you were never taught.
Equations and data sheets
Physics is where board choice bites hardest. Which equations are given to you and which must be recalled differs by board, and this changes what you should be committing to memory. Check your board's own equation list rather than a generic one.
Command words and mark schemes
Each board publishes its own command word glossary, and their extended-response questions are banded differently. A six-mark answer that scores full marks on one board's level-of-response grid can drop a band on another for missing an evaluative judgement.
What to actually do
- Confirm your specification code from the front of a past paper — not from a revision site.
- Revise from your board's own past papers and mark schemes.
- Learn your board's equation and required-practical lists specifically.
- Practise extended response against your board's banding, not a generic rubric.