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Is Chemistry A level really THAT difficult?

i study chemistry biology and maths at A level
i think chemistry is hard but not as hard to other subjects such as biology
i think biology is one of the hardest A levels to study in AQA anyway
im sure many will agree with me on this

Reply 61

j.alexanderh

14

Original post by und

Hi, j.alexanderh. I was just wondering whether you've had time to read my PM.

Thanks

I did, but at the moment I am using a computer which switches off every five minutes so I don't have time to write a decent reply. I will soon.

yes

I personally believe it's how much you enjoy the subject. Chemistry is my easiest subject simply because I enjoy it and work. I revise for all end of module/unit tests unlike I did at GCSE where I attained an A and A* in science.

Physics on the other hand I found boring during the Mechanics unit, paid less attention and found it harder. I've started revising now and it isn't all that difficult.

So in my opinion, if you have a brain,enjoy the subject and put the work in then it won't be that difficult :smile:

EDIT: I'm on course for an A in chemistry :smile:

. Good luck with your choices.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 64

MrMoonmunch

Original post by und

Weirdly, my school has chosen Edexcel for Chemistry in contrast to AQA for Physics and Biology, based on the premise that it 'leads on better from [my school's] GCSE Chemistry course'. Odd, quite frankly, considering the GCSE course is AQA.

yep, it was the exact same for my school, all gcse science was aqa, but all ALevels were different boards, trust me though edexcel as challenging as it is, is the best for chemistry. isa's as previously mentioned are free marks essentially, the textbooks (although quite wafflely) do cover the things you need to know, the feedback i heard from other friends from different schools is that aqa chem textbooks are riddled with mistakes + and the course itself is quite odd/different to edexcel. But yeah chem does require hard work, but if you have picked f.maths,physics im sure you are quite a clever person, so you will do well.

Reply 65

und

OP

16

Original post by MrMoonmunch

yep, it was the exact same for my school, all gcse science was aqa, but all ALevels were different boards, trust me though edexcel as challenging as it is, is the best for chemistry. isa's as previously mentioned are free marks essentially, the textbooks (although quite wafflely) do cover the things you need to know, the feedback i heard from other friends from different schools is that aqa chem textbooks are riddled with mistakes + and the course itself is quite odd/different to edexcel. But yeah chem does require hard work, but if you have picked f.maths,physics im sure you are quite a clever person, so you will do well.

My GCSE experience has been that Edexcel textbooks for History are awful, and their specimen papers for Maths are riddled with errors. My AQA science text books are actually rather comprehensive. I guess it's different for A level, in that case.

Reply 66

Joseppea

2

I do OCR, I'm finding it to be the easiest of the 3 sciences.

It's not overly difficult - just an extension of GCSE so far (Done first exam, about to sit 2nd) but this is only my opinion :biggrin:

Reply 67

Chaofan88

10

Original post by und

My GCSE experience has been that Edexcel textbooks for History are awful, and their specimen papers for Maths are riddled with errors. My AQA science text books are actually rather comprehensive. I guess it's different for A level, in that case.

No, no it's not. I'm on Edexcel for chemistry and chinese and both include heaps of irrelevant information and errors (especially in chinese and chinese exam papers).

Reply 68

und

OP

16

Original post by Chaofan88

No, no it's not. I'm on Edexcel for chemistry and chinese and both include heaps of irrelevant information and errors (especially in chinese and chinese exam papers).

Are any of the errors as bad as stating that the Wall Street Crash was in 1919, or that the Americans first landed on the moon in 1979?

Reply 69

spocckka

14

I do Chemistry, French, Physics and Maths, and Chemistry is by far the hardest.

Reply 70

disco1000

7

Original post by und

Some people I've met seem to find Chemistry very difficult, and say it's their most difficult A level by far.

I know it's probably a lot harder than GCSE Chemistry (though to be honest you don't really need to understand Chemistry to do well at GCSE level), but as long as you think logically, and apply yourself in lessons, is the workload greater than Modern Foreign Languages, or Physics, for example?

I would simply like to attain a better understanding of A levels so that I can base my decision to change them or keep them as they are upon facts rather than superficial, anecdotal evidence.

Thanks

It really depends on your mentality. If your naturally a mathematician by inclination, it will be much more work (or "harder" in your terms) than Physics. Unlike Maths and Physics, where if you are intelligent and can apply the principles its all obvious, there is a lot more to "learn" without much understanding, at least I felt anyhow.
If your a biologist by inclination, then the Organic side which is developed upon much further will come very naturally and hence it will be "easier" than Physics.

I think if your well into the A* boundary at GCSE you will without a shred of a doubt get an A at A-level.
What I can say is that one indian boy took 25 A-levels, got A's in all of them except for further maths and chemistry, giving good evidence to suggest that they are the hardest a-levels.

If you enjoy science and are good at it, do it.

Reply 71

nickbob00

10

Original post by dotty_but_good

What I found doing three sciences was.
Physics is all concepts, biology is all learning, and chemistry is half and half.
Most people are good at concept or rote learning, and not both, hence they struggle with chemistry.

Quoted for truth

I'm doing 3 sciences and Further Maths, and chemistry is quite possibly my hardest option.

A lesson of physics work can fit on one side of A4. Chemistry can take anywhere from 3 to 10 sides, and Biology anywhere from 5-15 sides. Bear in mind I love massive diagrams, and I'll quite happily leave half a page if it makes my notes better structured and more readable.

In my experience also, however, It seems to be that Physics is either something you can do, or something you can't do. From my class of 16, we had 2 A grades in the january unit. One was mine, and one belonged to someone who studies insanely hard and is insanely intelligent, in addition to having the 'knack'.

Biology is most doable for people who do it as their only science (without maths).

Chemistry takes a bit from both, and also has the horrible written questions from biology, except with an extremely strict mark scheme, compared with the surprisingly lenient biology mark scheme.

Don't let this discourage you from doing whichever subjects you want, however! You will doubtless do better in a 'hard' subject you like than an 'easy' subject you despise, or even feel ambivalent about!

Reply 72

I'mBadAtMaths

14

Original post by drunkensailor258

In a nutshell yes it is. Basically first lesson you get told forget anything you learnt at GCSE because its wrong. That and you can cover all you learnt at GCSE in a single lesson.

That' not quite true is it...

Reply 73

kerily

15

I thought German was a joke compared to my other 4 AS (and I'm not a native speaker or anything else that would give you an unfair advantage - I started German in Y8, from scratch). MFL at AS are ridiculously simple conceptually - yeah, you have some new grammar and a bit of new vocabulary, but you spend half the time chatting about what sort of films you like and what you do on the weekend. Chemistry, on the other hand, I thought was pretty damned impossible.

Reply 74

S.A.S

Chemistry is awesomeness! But yeah, be prepared it is quite a jump from GCSE (as is the case with all AS levels!). I did really well in GCSE Chem without trying and I [mistakenly] thought I could do the same with AS. Thankfully I wisened up before it was too late and got away with an A in my Jan Chem exam but yeah, I'm working hard from now on!

AS Chem is a lot of logic and application as opposed to rote memorising and for that reason I love it! It's also why I hate Biology -.-
OP, if I were you, I'd take Chemistry. From the way you described yourself, you sound like you're the type who would really enjoy the course and the challenges it brings!

On a side note, AS MFL exams are a joke. I passed AS Arabic without really working at all (and my Arabic isn't even that good!).

Reply 75

Chaofan88

10

Original post by und

Are any of the errors as bad as stating that the Wall Street Crash was in 1919, or that the Americans first landed on the moon in 1979?

Well, I've not seen anything that bad.....yet. However, one listening question did go as the following:

Tape recorder (in chinese): the imperial palace is the largest palace in the world.
Question: The imperial palace is the biggest palace in China, true or false.
Me: Cest Vrai, non?
Mark scheme: Non. It's false.
Me: That the Fuu-

Reply 76

JPAR

I find chemistry incredibly difficult, I take Chem, Math, Biol and did take German. For my the worst thing about chemistry is how time consuming it is......but if you work hard (and a lot lol) it's fine :smile:

Reply 77

und

OP

16

Original post by Chaofan88

Well, I've not seen anything that bad.....yet. However, one listening question did go as the following:

Tape recorder (in chinese): the imperial palace is the largest palace in the world.
Question: The imperial palace is the biggest palace in China, true or false.
Me: Cest Vrai, non?
Mark scheme: Non. It's false.
Me: That the Fuu-

Well, the tape didn't specify which country the palace is in. Maybe I'm just trying to justify something that completely wrong :smile:

. And what's with the French? That confused me for a while as I was working out whether this was a Chinese test or a French one!

Reply 78

navarre

20

Original post by hahaff

i study chemistry biology and maths at A level
i think chemistry is hard but not as hard to other subjects such as biology
i think biology is one of the hardest A levels to study in AQA anyway
im sure many will agree with me on this