The abolition of controlled assessment from GCSE science has led to much discussion around the role of practical work and how it will be assessed. Science is, after all, a practical subject. The practical is one of the things that most excites a new Year 7 (age 12) cohort eager to experience the Bunsen burner, and I always feel a responsibility to the scientific community to produce scientists who are capable of carrying out experiments safely and competently (maybe because of my experiences of working in a lab).