AS-Level Chemistry, how to revise??
I'm only 2 months away from my AS exams but I have fallen really behind. I did not revise or study at all during the year.
Any revision tips on how I can cover AS within 2 months and understand the concepts? I want to achieve at least a C/B grade.
Any revision tips on how I can cover AS within 2 months and understand the concepts? I want to achieve at least a C/B grade.
(edited 5 years ago)
Scroll to see replies
Past papers
Seriously, don’t panic! I covered the AS content for Chemistry in 3 weeks (I’m doing CIE) and I’m now doing practice exam papers. This is what I did:
1. I sifted through every single page of my chemistry notes that I ever wrote, and selectively took what I thought would be useful.
2. I copied and pasted topic-specific notes from chemguide, and printed them out.
3. I downloaded topic-specific notes from Physics and Maths Tutor and printed them out.
4. I started with the first topic, and read all content that I had either written notes on or got from the above 2 websites, highlighting key definitions, concepts etc in 4 different colours.
5. When I finished reading the topic, I put away all of my notes on that topic into a subject-specific folder.
6. I repeated the above for all topics in Physical and Inorganic chemistry. It took me 2 weeks to do this.
7. I then printed out notes for organic chemistry, read through them, highlighted key points etc and then put them away into the same folder.
8. An additional thing that I did for organic was to create charts for the reaction pathways and mechanisms, so definitely do this because it will make it infinitely easier for you to keep track of all the reactions and understand how they are linked.
9. Starting with the 2004 exam paper, finish each and every exam paper until 2017.
You can easily do 6 exam papers a day, so you should aim to set aside around 10 days just to do chemistry AS past papers. That is 60 exam papers in total, which will give you more than enough experience to get an A.
Good luck!
1. I sifted through every single page of my chemistry notes that I ever wrote, and selectively took what I thought would be useful.
2. I copied and pasted topic-specific notes from chemguide, and printed them out.
3. I downloaded topic-specific notes from Physics and Maths Tutor and printed them out.
4. I started with the first topic, and read all content that I had either written notes on or got from the above 2 websites, highlighting key definitions, concepts etc in 4 different colours.
5. When I finished reading the topic, I put away all of my notes on that topic into a subject-specific folder.
6. I repeated the above for all topics in Physical and Inorganic chemistry. It took me 2 weeks to do this.
7. I then printed out notes for organic chemistry, read through them, highlighted key points etc and then put them away into the same folder.
8. An additional thing that I did for organic was to create charts for the reaction pathways and mechanisms, so definitely do this because it will make it infinitely easier for you to keep track of all the reactions and understand how they are linked.
9. Starting with the 2004 exam paper, finish each and every exam paper until 2017.
You can easily do 6 exam papers a day, so you should aim to set aside around 10 days just to do chemistry AS past papers. That is 60 exam papers in total, which will give you more than enough experience to get an A.
Good luck!
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by mafk80
Seriously, don’t panic! I covered the AS content for Chemistry in 3 weeks (I’m doing CIE) and I’m now doing practice exam papers. This is what I did:
1. I sifted through every single page of my chemistry notes that I ever wrote, and selectively took what I thought would be useful.
2. I copied and pasted topic-specific notes from chemguide, and printed them out.
3. I downloaded topic-specific notes from Physics and Maths Tutor and printed them out.
4. I started with the first topic, and read all content that I had either written notes on or got from the above 2 websites, highlighting key definitions, concepts etc in 4 different colours.
5. When I finished reading the topic, I put away all of my notes on that topic into a subject-specific folder.
6. I repeated the above for all topics in Physical and Inorganic chemistry. It took me 2 weeks to do this.
7. I then printed out notes for organic chemistry, read through them, highlighted key points etc and then put them away into the same folder.
8. An additional thing that I did for organic was to create charts for the reaction pathways and mechanisms, so definitely do this because it will make it infinitely easier for you to keep track of all the reactions and understand how they are linked.
9. Starting with the 2004 exam paper, finish each and every exam paper until 2017.
You can easily do 6 exam papers a day, so you should aim to set aside around 10 days just to do chemistry AS past papers. That is 60 exam papers in total, which will give you more than enough experience to get an A.
Good luck!
1. I sifted through every single page of my chemistry notes that I ever wrote, and selectively took what I thought would be useful.
2. I copied and pasted topic-specific notes from chemguide, and printed them out.
3. I downloaded topic-specific notes from Physics and Maths Tutor and printed them out.
4. I started with the first topic, and read all content that I had either written notes on or got from the above 2 websites, highlighting key definitions, concepts etc in 4 different colours.
5. When I finished reading the topic, I put away all of my notes on that topic into a subject-specific folder.
6. I repeated the above for all topics in Physical and Inorganic chemistry. It took me 2 weeks to do this.
7. I then printed out notes for organic chemistry, read through them, highlighted key points etc and then put them away into the same folder.
8. An additional thing that I did for organic was to create charts for the reaction pathways and mechanisms, so definitely do this because it will make it infinitely easier for you to keep track of all the reactions and understand how they are linked.
9. Starting with the 2004 exam paper, finish each and every exam paper until 2017.
You can easily do 6 exam papers a day, so you should aim to set aside around 10 days just to do chemistry AS past papers. That is 60 exam papers in total, which will give you more than enough experience to get an A.
Good luck!
Thanks a lot! This was really helpful. I'll try and do this but I don't think I will have enough time to do 10 papers a d
Original post by mafk80
Seriously, don’t panic! I covered the AS content for Chemistry in 3 weeks (I’m doing CIE) and I’m now doing practice exam papers. This is what I did:
1. I sifted through every single page of my chemistry notes that I ever wrote, and selectively took what I thought would be useful.
2. I copied and pasted topic-specific notes from chemguide, and printed them out.
3. I downloaded topic-specific notes from Physics and Maths Tutor and printed them out.
4. I started with the first topic, and read all content that I had either written notes on or got from the above 2 websites, highlighting key definitions, concepts etc in 4 different colours.
5. When I finished reading the topic, I put away all of my notes on that topic into a subject-specific folder.
6. I repeated the above for all topics in Physical and Inorganic chemistry. It took me 2 weeks to do this.
7. I then printed out notes for organic chemistry, read through them, highlighted key points etc and then put them away into the same folder.
8. An additional thing that I did for organic was to create charts for the reaction pathways and mechanisms, so definitely do this because it will make it infinitely easier for you to keep track of all the reactions and understand how they are linked.
9. Starting with the 2004 exam paper, finish each and every exam paper until 2017.
You can easily do 6 exam papers a day, so you should aim to set aside around 10 days just to do chemistry AS past papers. That is 60 exam papers in total, which will give you more than enough experience to get an A.
Good luck!
1. I sifted through every single page of my chemistry notes that I ever wrote, and selectively took what I thought would be useful.
2. I copied and pasted topic-specific notes from chemguide, and printed them out.
3. I downloaded topic-specific notes from Physics and Maths Tutor and printed them out.
4. I started with the first topic, and read all content that I had either written notes on or got from the above 2 websites, highlighting key definitions, concepts etc in 4 different colours.
5. When I finished reading the topic, I put away all of my notes on that topic into a subject-specific folder.
6. I repeated the above for all topics in Physical and Inorganic chemistry. It took me 2 weeks to do this.
7. I then printed out notes for organic chemistry, read through them, highlighted key points etc and then put them away into the same folder.
8. An additional thing that I did for organic was to create charts for the reaction pathways and mechanisms, so definitely do this because it will make it infinitely easier for you to keep track of all the reactions and understand how they are linked.
9. Starting with the 2004 exam paper, finish each and every exam paper until 2017.
You can easily do 6 exam papers a day, so you should aim to set aside around 10 days just to do chemistry AS past papers. That is 60 exam papers in total, which will give you more than enough experience to get an A.
Good luck!
How can you do 10 papers in a day? Surely each paper is like 2 hours?! How do you have time to mark each one etc?!
Original post by MKaur18
How can you do 10 papers in a day? Surely each paper is like 2 hours?! How do you have time to mark each one etc?!
It depends on how fast you get through a paper, I guess because sometimes, the paper's really easy so you can take an hour and a half max to just do the paper, and assuming you don't double check, it's pretty realistic to get around 6 papers done in a day.
Original post by nyxnko_
It depends on how fast you get through a paper, I guess because sometimes, the paper's really easy so you can take an hour and a half max to just do the paper, and assuming you don't double check, it's pretty realistic to get around 6 papers done in a day.
That’s insane! No way! I wouldn’t be able to.. i’d lose concentration by the second or third one
Original post by MKaur18
How can you do 10 papers in a day? Surely each paper is like 2 hours?! How do you have time to mark each one etc?!
I said 6 papers a day, not 10. For AS exams, a paper is 1hr 15 mins; that’s not a lot to ask if you want an A or A*.
Original post by najmat
Don't stress or worry.
You still have got time. Start revising with content you find harder. Get a tutor to help you with that and watch revision videos ( Allery chemistry , Machemmguy ....)
You still have got time. Start revising with content you find harder. Get a tutor to help you with that and watch revision videos ( Allery chemistry , Machemmguy ....)
I have a tutor, but still struggling on a few topics. It's mostly organic chem that I struggle with. Thanks though!
Original post by MKaur18
That’s insane! No way! I wouldn’t be able to.. i’d lose concentration by the second or third one
it's possible to get through 6 past papers a day but I wouldn't say it's the best way to revise because of concentration
You might as well do 2 papers a day for chemistry and then work on your other subjects so that there's some variety... some of my friends tell me they have like master sessions so only maths for one day and then chemistry for one day and i'm just like... how on earth do you stay focused? don't you get bored?Before I start getting bashed for the advice I gave, it might help to try to put what I said into perspective 
1. Considering exams are in a matter of weeks, would I be considered insane if I said that I study 12-14 hours a day on weekends and 4-8 hours on weekdays? (I have a full-time job which I need to balance on weekdays). How many hours do you guys study on average?
2. If I’m not insane, is it inconceivable that I can easily spend 7.5 hours in a day taking X6 1.25 hour practice exam papers? It doesn’t sound unreasonable to me.
3. I didn’t say you should do one exam paper after the next without taking a break.. You can plan your day in such a way that you start at 8am, finish the first paper by 9:15am, take a 30 minute break, go over the mark scheme, move on to the next paper, and repeat the process until you’re done at around 10pm. Then go to bed.
4. I also didn’t say that you should set aside 10 consecutive days to do this. You can pick any 10 days spread out as you please.
Given the amount of time available, and the grade the OP wants to achieve, I don’t think what I said is unreasonable or unrealistic at all.
1. Considering exams are in a matter of weeks, would I be considered insane if I said that I study 12-14 hours a day on weekends and 4-8 hours on weekdays? (I have a full-time job which I need to balance on weekdays). How many hours do you guys study on average?
2. If I’m not insane, is it inconceivable that I can easily spend 7.5 hours in a day taking X6 1.25 hour practice exam papers? It doesn’t sound unreasonable to me.
3. I didn’t say you should do one exam paper after the next without taking a break.. You can plan your day in such a way that you start at 8am, finish the first paper by 9:15am, take a 30 minute break, go over the mark scheme, move on to the next paper, and repeat the process until you’re done at around 10pm. Then go to bed.
4. I also didn’t say that you should set aside 10 consecutive days to do this. You can pick any 10 days spread out as you please.
Given the amount of time available, and the grade the OP wants to achieve, I don’t think what I said is unreasonable or unrealistic at all.
Original post by mafk80
I said 6 papers a day, not 10. For AS exams, a paper is 1hr 15 mins; that’s not a lot to ask if you want an A or A*.
I thought you meant at A2 you was doing that many! It's difficult when they're just under 3 hour papers.. which is why I was a bit worried that you did 10 a day!
Original post by nyxnko_
it's possible to get through 6 past papers a day but I wouldn't say it's the best way to revise because of concentration You might as well do 2 papers a day for chemistry and then work on your other subjects so that there's some variety... some of my friends tell me they have like master sessions so only maths for one day and then chemistry for one day and i'm just like... how on earth do you stay focused? don't you get bored?
You might as well do 2 papers a day for chemistry and then work on your other subjects so that there's some variety... some of my friends tell me they have like master sessions so only maths for one day and then chemistry for one day and i'm just like... how on earth do you stay focused? don't you get bored?Exactly
Original post by nyxnko_
it's possible to get through 6 past papers a day but I wouldn't say it's the best way to revise because of concentration You might as well do 2 papers a day for chemistry and then work on your other subjects so that there's some variety... some of my friends tell me they have like master sessions so only maths for one day and then chemistry for one day and i'm just like... how on earth do you stay focused? don't you get bored?
You might as well do 2 papers a day for chemistry and then work on your other subjects so that there's some variety... some of my friends tell me they have like master sessions so only maths for one day and then chemistry for one day and i'm just like... how on earth do you stay focused? don't you get bored?I guess it depends on the person. As a mature student I might be at a slight advantage with respect to my level of efficiency. I’m on my 5th past paper for the day and I am already starting to see the effectiveness of the strategy in action. Maybe it isn’t effective for everyone, but this is definitely the way I am going to do my exam practice.
Whatever technique you choose to use, all the best
Original post by Hangaway
I'm only 2 months away from my AS exams but I have fallen really behind. I did not revise or study at all during the year.
Any revision tips on how I can cover AS within 2 months and understand the concepts? I want to achieve at least a C/B grade.
Please help, im really stressed out and worried
Any revision tips on how I can cover AS within 2 months and understand the concepts? I want to achieve at least a C/B grade.
Please help, im really stressed out and worried
Same problem here.
Original post by mafk80
I guess it depends on the person. As a mature student I might be at a slight advantage with respect to my level of efficiency. I’m on my 5th past paper for the day and I am already starting to see the effectiveness of the strategy in action. Maybe it isn’t effective for everyone, but this is definitely the way I am going to do my exam practice.
Whatever technique you choose to use, all the best
Whatever technique you choose to use, all the best
oh okay
I honestly don't even know if there're enough past papers to go around
but good luck with your exam prep!! 
Original post by mafk80
I guess it depends on the person. As a mature student I might be at a slight advantage with respect to my level of efficiency. I’m on my 5th past paper for the day and I am already starting to see the effectiveness of the strategy in action. Maybe it isn’t effective for everyone, but this is definitely the way I am going to do my exam practice.
Whatever technique you choose to use, all the best
Whatever technique you choose to use, all the best
Now, I am struggling to find any past papers at all online. My exam board is edexcel and all I found was around 4 papers in total.
Any helps guys? Where can I get past papers for AS chem (not A2)?
What I did is quite unique/weird but it should be applicable. What I do with all my subjects, (2maths, chem and physics). I use my lecturer note, a website note, and Google to do my notes using Microsoft words. The total editing time on those documents is in the realm of few days as I idle a lot as well as sometimes I was using google or trying to understand the concept.
For you, if you have Easter holiday, I would suggest intensively learn your subject and try to write it down in a book in an organised manner. The process of organising the info I learnt really helped me a lot.
Also, don't forget past years, you need to be efficient with it. I did like 60 past year for most papers, but I don't think that is for anyone. But please do enough pass years so you know how to answer some generic answer without much delay, so you have more time for the question you never answer before.
For you, if you have Easter holiday, I would suggest intensively learn your subject and try to write it down in a book in an organised manner. The process of organising the info I learnt really helped me a lot.
Also, don't forget past years, you need to be efficient with it. I did like 60 past year for most papers, but I don't think that is for anyone. But please do enough pass years so you know how to answer some generic answer without much delay, so you have more time for the question you never answer before.
Original post by Hangaway
Now, I am struggling to find any past papers at all online. My exam board is edexcel and all I found was around 4 papers in total.
Any helps guys? Where can I get past papers for AS chem (not A2)?
Any helps guys? Where can I get past papers for AS chem (not A2)?
http://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/past-papers/a-level-chemistry/
Just click on the link for a specific unit under Edexcel and you will get access to past papers for that unit.
Good luck.
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- TSR Study Together - STEM vs Humanities!
- GCSE Exam Discussions 2024
- A-level Chemistry Help
- Chemistry A-level
- Im failing a-level chemistry! Help!
- Is SnapRevise for chemistry worth the cost ?
- Should i drop chemistry
- A-level chemistry revision, taking notes and exam practise help and paper 3
- Chemistry A-level?
- A- levels
- Tips for motivation.
- Revision for A level
- Independent and Private A levels thread 2022-23
- A level choice dilema!!!
- Foundation year fail and mental health
- Choosing A levels
- Doing well in A levels
- im losing hope
- Advice for getting A*s in A levels
- A level Chemistry
Latest
Last reply 43 minutes ago
How I get an A in A-Level Business StudiesPosted 2 hours ago
Will I receive funding for my full 3 year degree if I repeat first year?Posted 2 hours ago
Repeating first year and last maintenance loan paymentLast reply 2 hours ago
Jaguar (JLR) Degree apprenticeships 2024Last reply 2 hours ago
Official Cambridge Postgraduate Applicants 2024 ThreadLast reply 2 hours ago
Will an IVA cause my Civil Service pre employment check to fail?Last reply 2 hours ago
Oxbridge applicants for modern languages - 2025 entry (applying in 2024)Last reply 2 hours ago
My boyfriend left me because he said my breasts and butt were too small
