On reading this post's title, you may have been wondering what on earth is going on, since I myself did not do A-Level Chemistry. Well, long story short, today's blog post is a guest post brought to you by one of my closest friends Beth - you can find her on Instagram @beth_hazelx. I won't babble on for too long so as not to steal her shine but let me tell you, having received numerous offers to study Medicine next year at top UK universities as well as consistently achieving the top grades in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and History, there's no better person from whom to receive advice here! Let's jump straight in...
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Moving into what would've been the Easter break, I've been sat at my desk looking at my revision checklist almost feeling a little redundant. However, I thought I could use my time effectively to show how A-Level Chemistry can actually become (somewhat) enjoyable once you have a few simple things down. Hopefully, this takes away some of the anxiety and can help you feel more confidence when tackling Chemistry revision. I've found some cross-over with A-Level Biology with some of these tips but these mainly apply to Chemistry.
G E N E R A L T I P S
ONE - UNDERSTANDING
After every lesson (if you can), try and write/type up your notes from the day. This allows you to go through the notes to neaten them up as well as, with a fresh set of eyes, letting you see if you can understand something from class as time has passed. the benefit of doing this as quickly as possible is that it maximises the amount you remember from class and means that your brain is most engaged with that topic. This means that, hopefully, if you encounter something you don't understand, you can remedy it! By going through the specification, you can also see what the exam board exactly wants you to know so that your teacher hasn't missed something or that they've added an extra bit in. This means that your to-do list is kept as small as possible and so when you want to revise, it's simply recap rather than trying to understand a topic two months down the line.
TWO - MODEL CALCULATIONS
Physical chemistry is certainly very maths heavy and knowing how to tackle a question is vital so you can decipher what you see in the exam. So, for me, I found general trends with the types of calculations my exam board liked to ask and so made sure to include in my notes some model answers. Also, by going through this, I would then write notes about identifying certain things to note - i.e. conversion of units or where to start when doing the question. You'll quickly find that you improve and it's then a case of tackling the nastiest questions possible and being systematic in your approach, you'll find that they aren't as bad as you thought!
THREE - PRACTICE
It's really important to do lots of exam questions and to take end-of-topic tests seriously! It's all well and good knowing a fact but unless you recognise it in an exam scenario, you'll unfortunately find it very hard to achieve marks in said exam setting. This allows you to see common mistakes you make either because you don't fully understand a topic or because your exam technique needs some work. It's also useful to reinforce what you do know. Remember to be kind to yourself here, you may not get it now but it's better to make the mistake now and rectify it than to get to the exam and panic! This allows you again to see how an exam board may ask a topic or bring a few different topics together and then you can update your notes! I found Physics and Maths Tutor really useful here!
FOUR - MINDSET
Don't panic and start somewhere! Lastly, before we dive into how to tackle the papers specifically, the way that questions are phrased can sometimes throw you off and send you into information overdrive. Pause, take a breath and, with a pen, underline command words and key bits of information such as the concentrations or volumes. This will allow you to start somewhere. Sometimes, marks can be obtained for just writing a formula or by you attempting to work out something like the moles. Even if you're a bit unsure, sometimes just go with the flow - you may have cracked it and just need more confidence in yourself, or you could pick up method marks even if it's wrong!
H O W T O T A C K L E E A C H P A P E R ( A Q A )
PAPER ONE
Nail your maths! These papers are quite maths heavy and so if you have the calculations cracked, you'll do really well! I also want to stress not to forget the 'easy' topics: balancing equations, percentage yield calculations, remembering definitions etc. It's all well and good preparing to tackle a nasty buffer calculation but if you can't do the 'simple' questions and one-markers, then you'll start to lose marks quite quickly!
For this paper, it's also important to know what is being asked so you don't get any surprises in the real thing (check your exam board for more details).
For this paper, it's also important to know what is being asked so you don't get any surprises in the real thing (check your exam board for more details).
PAPER TWO
Don't neglect mechanisms and synthesis questions, which include reagents and conditions. These are almost guaranteed to come up every year and so being familiar with them is important. Similarly, naming and drawing molecules in fundamental in the organic paper.
Also, don't lose sight of what can be asked. While this is the organic paper, calculations and topics which are synoptic can come up in another paper!
Also, don't lose sight of what can be asked. While this is the organic paper, calculations and topics which are synoptic can come up in another paper!
PAPER THREE
Really go over the practical handbook that is on the exam board's website, this has all the methods as well as the teachers notes - this is really important as they have apparatus diagrams as well as the method! Questions in Paper Three are practical based and ask about the practicals that you should've carried out, so being familiar with this is essential. Like in Paper Two, remember that they can still ask you about calculations and sometimes even organic chemistry as the paper is synoptic - so please keep this in mind!
Another note about the multiple-choice is don't neglect them, do try and persevere but if you cannot do it, then please just guess as the answer, as silly as it sounds, is looking right at you! Similarly, leave yourself enough time but, again, if you do find that you're running out of time then it is only one marks - it's better to pick up two for the sake of losing one. By process of elimination, because of the nature of multiple choice, if you're sure the other three options are wrong then the answer must be the one you're left with! These few tricks really helped me out.
Another note about the multiple-choice is don't neglect them, do try and persevere but if you cannot do it, then please just guess as the answer, as silly as it sounds, is looking right at you! Similarly, leave yourself enough time but, again, if you do find that you're running out of time then it is only one marks - it's better to pick up two for the sake of losing one. By process of elimination, because of the nature of multiple choice, if you're sure the other three options are wrong then the answer must be the one you're left with! These few tricks really helped me out.
A final note, A-Level Chemistry was by far my most enjoyable A-Level - but also at times my toughest! With these few simple bits of advice, I have faith that you too can succeed. Remember it's okay to find a topic tough but please persevere!