Subject content

Our GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition specification sets out the knowledge, understanding and skills required to cook and apply the principles of food science, nutrition and healthy eating.

The majority of the specification should be delivered through preparation and making activities. Students must be able to make the connections between theory and practice to apply their understanding of food and nutrition to practical preparation.

Topics and themes have been grouped to help you teach the specification, but these are not intended as a route through the specification, you can teach the content in any order. The topics are:
  1. Food, nutrition and health
  2. Food science
  3. Food safety
  4. Food choice
  5. Food provenance.

The range of food and ingredients studied should reflect the recommended guidelines for a healthy diet based on the main food commodity groups. Food groups include:

  • bread, cereals, flour, oats, rice, potatoes and pasta
  • fruit and vegetables (fresh, frozen, dried, canned and juiced)
  • milk, cheese and yoghurt
  • meat, fish, eggs, soya, tofu, beans, nuts and seeds
  • butter, oil, margarine, sugar and syrup.