This study, located within Bernstein's sociology of pedagogy and the notion of 'opportunities to learn', commenced with the key question: what opportunities to learn physical science are made available in previously advantaged and disadvantaged South African classroom contexts? Data were collected through classroom observations and video recording of consecutive lessons on the same topic in the three schools. Data analysis showed that opportunities to learn the epistemology of science ranged

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... m technical to specialised meaning realised by differentiated pedagogic modalities based within differentiated school contexts. Key influencing factors included differences in objective aspects like resource availability and class size with concomitant differences in discursive practices such as: pacing of knowledge; explicit evaluative judgement; social relations; and levels of knowledge and cognitive process taught. Different combinations contributed to differentiated opportunities to learn and understand science. The varying impact of class size on discursive practices is described and explained. We conclude that notwithstanding curriculum policy goals of equity in quality of learning experiences, actual opportunities to learn physical science are profoundly unequal. How the state intervenes to regulate these contextually specific inequalities in ways that gives fair chances to those trapped in lower socioeconomic groups must be addressed as a matter of social justice.