The Student Room Group

Tutor chemistry at a level

Basically I struggle with maths,however I found gcse chemistry a breeze but would lose marks when maths was heavily involved

what i'd like to know is your opinion on the matter/if you had a tutor at a level and it did help

But my worry is that if I do get the grades and go on to uni I'll still be dependent on help if chem is involved alot (i'm aiming for medicine/dentistry)

I'm aiming for a's at a level and since chem a lvl is supposedly hard i'd need all the help I can get
Reply 1
Original post by diggy
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If you put the work in I don't think it's necessary to get a tutor.

I'm going for Medicine and I struggle with maths too, I got a C at GCSE. I'm starting A-levels in September, one of them being Chemistry.
I started self teaching a couple of months ago and the maths actually isn't too difficult as it's all explained.

I'd highly recommend this book - Calculations For A-level Chemistry

and/or this book - Calculations In A-level Chemistry

If you use this along side the respecting modules, you will be fine with the maths and understand it a lot better IMO.
(edited 11 years ago)
I've got my last A2 chemistry exam tomorrow, and I can say that there is quite a lot of maths involved - you'll have to do quite a lot of calculations with concentration, volumes etc, but what I've found is that lots of practice helps.

I personally haven't needed a Chemistry tutor but there are other people who have in my class. Depends on whether it really does help. If it's just spending a bit more time going through with things rather than extra teaching etc, A Level teachers are usually really quite helpful if you want to go to them after school or something :smile:

Also don't worry about chemistry in med/dentistry - i'm pretty sure you never really touch upon A Level chem again, except maybe the odd topic here and there :tongue:
Reply 3
Honestly you should just go with a tutor anyway. Chemistry can be a really difficult subject and if you're aiming for an A then a tutor will help out loads :smile:
Reply 4
i'll follow isauls advice as he is in the same boat as me

If things get too much i'll opt for a tutor
Reply 5
Original post by diggy
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The other people have good advice!

But I think if you stay on top of your work and go over what you've done in class when you get home you'll be fine. If you're not keen on maths it will just take a bit longer to grasp than people who are, but it's not impossible.

If you put the hard work in, you'll get the results you want!

Good luck!
Reply 6
Original post by lsaul95
The other people have good advice!

But I think if you stay on top of your work and go over what you've done in class when you get home you'll be fine. If you're not keen on maths it will just take a bit longer to grasp than people who are, but it's not impossible.

If you put the hard work in, you'll get the results you want!

Good luck!


thanks man,I gave the other people pos rep
Reply 7
I'm just gonna say that, being at the end of A2 chemistry and having absolutely worked my socks off, it's not just about how much work you put in :P The initial teaching is just as important as how hard you work. You can't just learn it from a textbook and be absolutely fine, unless maybe in exceptional circumstances.
I've reached the end of my A-level journey in chemistry too and i must say that A2 in particular is pretty heavy in comparison to A2 when it comes to maths.

I'm on a target for an A overall in chem and I already got an A in gcse maths so it was somewhat easy being familiar with numbers and of course I'm doing A2 maths at the moment.

If you work hard, you won't need tuition. I was close to telling my parents that i wanted a tutor but figured out it was actually my laziness that wasn't getting me the top grades......

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