Edexcel A-Level Chem Paper 2 Advanced Organic and Physical Chemistry [Exam Chat]

dyk if we can use SOCl2 for carboxylic acid into acuchloride or do we have to use PCl5

Could the boundaries for this year be lower than 2022? I know i shouldn't think about it but i can't help but wonder given that I hardly know anything for paper 2 lmao

I literally have no idea what to think about grade boundaries... judging from most people's reactions to paper 1 – it was a hard paper = low grade boundaries(????) but maybe it has to be higher than last year's boundaries so it can go back to pre-pandemic grading????

I literally have no idea what to think about grade boundaries... judging from most people's reactions to paper 1 – it was a hard paper = low grade boundaries(????) but maybe it has to be higher than last year's boundaries so it can go back to pre-pandemic grading????

These 7 mark synthesis questions are going to ruin me. I have no clue what to do. Even when I have the pathways in front of me I’m still lost. They might as well just take 7 marks off of my paper at the beginning. Any advice for dealing with synthesis?

Thats not exactly what is meant by pre-pandemic grading.

“I can confirm that, in 2023, we will return to pre-pandemic grading as the next step in getting back to normal. But giving the 2023 cohort some protection against any impact of COVID-19 disruption is the right thing to do.”

“We are, therefore, putting in place the same protection that was given for the first cohorts of students taking reformed GCSEs and A levels from 2017 onwards. That meant not disadvantaging students who might have performed less well because they were the first to sit new exams”.

“senior examiners will be guided in their decisions about where to set grade boundaries by information about the grades achieved in pre-pandemic years by cohorts of students, along with prior attainment data. That means the 2023 cohort will be protected in grading terms if their exam performance is a little lower than before the pandemic”

“a typical student who would have achieved an A grade in their A level geography before the pandemic will be just as likely to get an A next summer, even if their performance in the assessments is a little weaker in 2023 than it would have been before the pandemic”.

I honestly don’t know where this widespread panic has come from. I seriosuly doubt they’ll make the boundaries like 2019, as they’re purposefully being more lenient with us this year than pre-pandemic. Im guessing the grade boundaries may be higher than last year (even then, last year and advanced information, so may be not) but they will not be higher than 2019, it would be absurd.

ah thanks for this, where did you get it from?

btw I just checked the 2019 grade boundaries and they are in literal heaven... wdym 242/300 for an A* and 202/300 for an A😭
(looked at 2022 as well – 235/300 for an A* and 192/300 for an A!)

that is from the uk.gov website, so can't get more official then that. they are statements from the head of education and ofqual itself.

hopefully it is below 192! we'll have to see how hard the next papers are...

Paper 3 is usually the hardest while paper 1 is usually considered the easiest (in most years). Therefore because of how hard paper 1 was, then grade boundaries are probably going to be a bit lower than usual. However this is just a stupid estimate so we can’t know for sure. All I do know is, Edexcel examiners are normally more lenient than AQA examiners.

For drawing enantiomers, does it matter where the functional groups go as long as you have the mirror images correct?

As the structural formulae are correct, it doesn’t matter how you draw the (functional) groups about the chiral carbon.

is it likely we’ll get a 7 mark synthesis question?

is it likely we’ll get a 7 mark synthesis question?

It would be quite likely as they haven't had a paper two without it. even if its not, it'll be in paper 3