Has the reformed GCSE curriculum improved the effectiveness of practicals?

What does effective practical work look like under the new GCSE curriculum? Are students deepening understanding, or simply completing tasks? This session explores that question by examining full teaching sequences around required practical. Participants will engage with a dual framework that draws on Abrahams & Millar’s model and CLT to explore barriers to memory, understanding, and application in exams. The session includes a short presentation, discussion tasks, and action planning. Participants will reflect on research findings and consider implications for their own teaching practice and we will draw on doctoral research investigating the extent to which the 2016 reforms to the GCSE science curriculum have enhanced effectiveness of practical work in Key Stage 4. The shift from coursework-based practical assessment to written exam questions has sparked widespread reflection on what practical science is for, and how it supports learning. The research was conducted in four secondary schools using classroom observations, teacher interviews and student focus groups. A distinctive feature of the study is its focus not on isolated lessons but on entire sequences of teaching centred around GCSE required practical—a methodological decision that offers a richer and more authentic insight into how practical science unfolds over time in real classroom settings. The study updates the influential 2008 work by Abrahams and Millar by applying their 2x2 effectiveness matrix to the post-reform curriculum. This matrix, which evaluates practical work in terms of both ‘doing’ (manipulative skills) and ‘learning’ (conceptual understanding), was adapted to incorporate principles from CLT (Sweller, 2020). This enabled deeper analysis of how teachers manage cognitive demand and memory retention during and after practical session. By analysing full sequences of lessons, the research reveals how GCSE required practical are introduced, followed up, and experienced by students. With the removal of coursework and the use of 6-mark written questions, the role of practical work has shifted—from demonstrating skills to demonstrating conceptual mastery under exam conditions. With the removal of direct coursework assessment and the introduction of written ‘6-marker’ exam questions to assess understanding of required practical, these changes have redefined the function of practical work—from demonstrating skills to demonstrating conceptual mastery under exam conditions. This study questions whether this new model supports genuine epistemic progress or merely reinforces procedural compliance, and what this means for the future of practical science teaching in England. Participants will be able to: •Evaluate their own practical teaching using a dual framework. •Identify opportunities to improve post-practical discussion and reflection. •Apply strategies to enhance memory and conceptual understanding. •Take away a practical idea or resource to trial and share.