IGCSE Combined Science Tutoring for Students in the UAE
Combined Science is one IGCSE grade covering all three sciences, taken by students who need science on the timetable without three separate subjects. The trade-off worth understanding before Year 10 is what it allows afterwards.
- The full assessment structure, read from the published syllabus
- 12 syllabus areas mapped to your school’s scheme of work
- Taught by a specialist in this subject, not a generalist
- 90-minute online lessons, scheduled in UAE time
How Combined Science is assessed, board by board
One awarding body's specification is set out below, with a link to the syllabus it was read from and the date it was checked. If your school uses a different board for Combined Science, send us the specification code and we will confirm what changes.
Cambridge International
Cambridge IGCSE Science — Combined (0653)
| Component | Weight | Length | What it asks for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (Core) or Paper 2 (Extended): Multiple Choice | 30% | 45 min · 40 marks | multiple choice — Forty four-choice items |
| Paper 3 (Core) or Paper 4 (Extended): Theory | 50% | 1 hour 15 min · 80 marks | short answer and structured questions |
| Paper 5: Practical Test | 20% | 1 hour 15 min · 40 marks | practical work — Experiments done in a laboratory. Schools enter for this or for Paper 6 |
| Paper 6: Alternative to Practical | 20% | 1 hour · 40 marks | practical work and data response — A written paper about experiments, for schools that enter for it instead of Paper 5 |
- Cambridge tiers this subject. Core candidates sit the Core papers and can be awarded grades C to G; Extended candidates sit the Extended papers and can be awarded A* to G. A student entered for Core cannot be given a grade above a C whatever they write, so if a sixth form is asking for a B in Science — Combined, the entry tier is the first thing to check — and schools will usually still move a student between tiers if the work supports it.
- Practical skills carry 20% whichever paper the school enters for, and the Alternative to Practical is not the easier option — it asks students to describe, tabulate and evaluate experiments they can no longer see in front of them.
Read from the published syllabus and checked on 2026-09-22.
Weightings are the awarding body’s own published figures. Where a board tiers the entry, the same weighting applies to both tiers — what changes is the grade range available.
What students usually need help with
Not a list of topics — a list of the specific things that cost marks in Combined Science regardless of how well the content is known.
Switching between sciences
One paper contains all three subjects. Moving from an ecology question to a mole calculation to a circuit in twenty minutes is a skill the single sciences never demand.
Depth, not just breadth
Combined Science has less content than three separate sciences, but the questions on what remains are not easier. Students often under-prepare on that assumption.
Tier of entry
Core is capped at grade C. If the plan is A Level science, the Extended entry is usually not optional.
The practical component
Worth 20% and covering technique across all three sciences, which means three sets of apparatus conventions rather than one.
What the syllabus covers
The content both boards cover, grouped by area. Unit names and their order differ by specification — this shows the shape of the course; your own syllabus shows what is examinable.
Biology content
Cells, organisation and movement in and out of cells · Nutrition, transport and respiration in plants and humans · Coordination, reproduction and inheritance · Ecosystems and human influences on the environment
Chemistry content
States of matter, atoms, bonding and the periodic table · Stoichiometry and the mole · Rates, energetics, acids, bases and salts · Metals, electrolysis and organic chemistry
Physics content
Motion, forces, energy and pressure · Thermal physics and waves · Electricity, magnetism and electromagnetism · Radioactivity and the Earth in space
Where marks are actually lost
The structural problem in Combined Science is context switching. A single theory paper moves between biology, chemistry and physics without warning, and each requires a different answer style — biology wants precise definitions, chemistry wants observations, physics wants working. Students who have revised the three as separate blocks and never practised the switch lose time re-orienting on every question, and time is what the paper is short of.
The other issue is a planning one rather than an exam one, and it is worth raising early. Combined Science is a single grade, and many sixth forms ask for separate science grades — or a specific grade in Combined — before admitting a student to A Level Chemistry or Biology. If A Level science is the direction, check the sixth form’s published entry requirement in Year 10, while the subject choice can still be changed.
Send the specification code
Two students can both be "doing IGCSE Combined Science" and sit different papers, at different lengths, with a different grade ceiling. The specification code — 0610, 4BI1 and so on — is on the front of your syllabus and on every past paper, and it is the first thing we ask for. With it we can put you with a tutor who has taught that paper; without it, the subject match can be right and the exam preparation wrong.
Frequently asked questions
The questions UAE students and parents ask us most often about this program.
Related programs
Other preparation tracks students often combine with this one.
IGCSE Tutoring
Subject tutoring for Year 10 and Year 11 students working towards IGCSE or GCSE. Lessons follow your school’s board and specification, with past papers from the start rather than at the end.
IGCSE Pricing
IGCSE tutoring is priced per subject. Starting in Year 10 rather than Year 11 is the single biggest thing a family can do to reduce what it spends.
How it works
Every student starts with a free consultation and ends with a plan that has a date on it. What happens in between depends on which exam you are sitting.
Tell us where Combined Science is going wrong
Send a recent piece of marked work or a past paper with the marks on it, and tell us the specification code. That shows us more in five minutes than a description of the problem does in an hour.