Guide for parents · September 2026
When a science problem is not a science problem
Science help for UK parents: most lost marks are maths, writing or variables rather than science, and this page explains how to tell which.
Science difficulty is usually not about science
When a child says they are bad at science, the cause is often somewhere else. Physics questions fail because the maths inside them fails. Biology answers lose marks because the writing does not explain, it describes. Chemistry looks impossible because the symbols are being memorised rather than read. The subject label hides three quite different problems.
This is why a science hub on a site that started with maths is not a stretch. A large share of the marks a child loses in science at Key Stage 3 are lost to rearranging a formula, handling units, reading a scale or converting a quantity.
Working scientifically is the skill that carries the marks
Alongside the content of biology, chemistry and physics, the science curriculum in England has a strand about how science is done — planning an investigation, choosing what to change and what to keep the same, taking readings, spotting anomalies and drawing a conclusion the data actually supports. It is examined throughout, and it is the part children get least practice at outside school.
The classic example is the fair test. A child who does not firmly grasp that only one variable changes will design an experiment that cannot answer its own question, and will then write a confident conclusion from data that does not support it.
| Where marks go missing | The real cause |
|---|---|
| "Describe the pattern in the results" | Describing values instead of the trend |
| Rearranging a formula in physics | Algebra, not physics |
| Explaining an experiment's design | Not separating the variables |
| Units and conversions | Place value and multiplication by powers of ten |
| Long biology explanations | Writing structure, not knowledge |
Pages in this section
- Fair tests in Year 7 science
- Key Stage 3 science tutor alternatives
- Online science tutor alternatives
- Maths support — for the number skills underneath science
What Pobbi can and cannot do here
Pobbi's science coverage is narrower than its maths coverage, and pretending otherwise would not help anyone. Where it is genuinely useful is on the numerical and reasoning skills that science leans on: the check can show whether a physics problem is failing on the physics or on the algebra, and guided practice can work on that underlying skill with hints rather than answers.
What it does not do: practical work, equipment, a specification for a particular exam board, or the experience of running an investigation in a lab. Those belong to school, and no home tool replaces them.
Questions parents ask about science
My child likes science but gets low marks. What is going on?
Enjoyment and marks measure different things. Interest carries a child through the content; marks depend heavily on answering the question that was asked in the form it was asked. Look at a returned paper and check whether the lost marks are knowledge or expression.
Physics seems to be the problem. Should we get a physics tutor?
Look at the maths first. If your child cannot confidently rearrange a simple equation or handle units, a physics tutor will spend the hour teaching maths at a physics tutor's rate. Fixing the algebra often fixes the physics on its own.
How do I help with a science investigation at home?
Ask three questions and stop there: what are you changing, what are you measuring, and what are you keeping the same. If your child can answer all three, the design is sound. If not, that is the conversation to have, not the results table.
Is memorising definitions worth it?
Some of it is unavoidable, but definitions recalled without meaning tend to be reproduced in the wrong place. A quick test is to ask for an example rather than the definition — a child who can give one has understood it.