How hard is it to pass A level chemistry?

ok so I'm going into a level chemistry biology and English literature in year 12 and people always say how challenging a level chemistry is. If I find the right study technique and am consistent with my studying from the beginning will I be fine and get an A? Because I have heard of people who have studied yet failed.
Any general advice on these subjects? Thanks!

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 1

Scam Sandwich

10

Original post by greenamy2

ok so I'm going into a level chemistry biology and English literature in year 12 and people always say how challenging a level chemistry is. If I find the right study technique and am consistent with my studying from the beginning will I be fine and get an A? Because I have heard of people who have studied yet failed.
Any general advice on these subjects? Thanks!

What did you get at GCSE? There’s no definitive answer for this but if you knit chemistry and are good at it you’ll sail through. If not, then it’s hard

Reply 2

greenamy2

OP

11

Original post by Scam Sandwich

What did you get at GCSE? There’s no definitive answer for this but if you knit chemistry and are good at it you’ll sail through. If not, then it’s hard

I got a 7 in Chemistry

Reply 3

ShadowHokage

17

Original post by greenamy2

ok so I'm going into a level chemistry biology and English literature in year 12 and people always say how challenging a level chemistry is. If I find the right study technique and am consistent with my studying from the beginning will I be fine and get an A? Because I have heard of people who have studied yet failed.
Any general advice on these subjects? Thanks!

It depends on many things whether or not you get an A. If you achieved a grade 9 at GCSEs, whilst it doesn’t guarantee you getting an A/A*, it certainly does make things easier. Additionally it depends on the number of hours you dedicate to the subject, as well as the teacher - personally I found A-level Chemistry easier than GCSEs. In regards to general advice for Chemistry, just be consistent, make sure you understand everything, ask all the questions you have. Enter yourself into the Chemistry Olympiad or the Cambridge Lower Sixth challenge, if your school allows you to do so, these challenges are a great way to broaden your thinking (especially with the organic side of chemistry).

For Biology, it is definitely important to do revision often. Again it depends on how well you are at this subject, which will determine how much attention you should pay to it. Find out what method works for you in terms of revision, whether that is mindmaps or flash cards. Be open to a new revision method, I used mindmaps during GCSEs but I found this ineffective for A-levels. Personally for Biology, I don’t make notes (I don’t make notes for Chemistry or Psychology aswell), I think it is a waste of time because I know that I won’t revisit them so I just use online notes or read the revision book whenever I lack content.

These methods might work for you, it might not. I’m sure you have chosen these subjects because you enjoy them/excel in them/want to study medicine, so you have signed up for a difficult road but just enjoy the process. Many people say “A-levels are soooo difficult” and that “make sure you are revising every study period” but I think as long as you are consistent, it is very doable and you don’t have to become antisocial at all!

Reply 4

Sorryidontgetit

11

Original post by greenamy2

ok so I'm going into a level chemistry biology and English literature in year 12 and people always say how challenging a level chemistry is. If I find the right study technique and am consistent with my studying from the beginning will I be fine and get an A? Because I have heard of people who have studied yet failed.
Any general advice on these subjects? Thanks!

Im going into year 13, and went from getting B's to scoring 96% in my year 12 chem mocks purely by improving my revision . I would also like to inform you I am incredibly lazy- I basically do the bare minimum- so Ive really gotten this perfected into the least effort strategy! I would say with chemistry, there are three main steps to doing well.
step 1 is genuinely understanding what you are doing. This doesn't really apply with certain topics that just involve memorising things, but for more conceptual topics, utilise textbooks and videos online! the way i think of it is that you need to learn the subject before you learn the exam- often just learning exam board definitions and past paper question techniques doesnt give you a full-rounded knowledge of a topic.

step 2 is learning for the exam. Making flashcards is the best way to go around this- or if you're lazy like me, get a piece of paper, fold it in half and write questions on one side and answers on another to revise from. the things i put on these topic 'flashcards' are a combination of information from chemrevise (an AMAZING site to revise from btw), physics and maths tutor topic flashcards, and the questions and mark scheme answers of questions i have gotten wrong.

step 3 is doing past paper questions! I use p&m tutor :smile:

finally, good luck for year 12! Chemistry is such an interesting subject, and im sure you will enjoy it! with the correct mindset

(edited 2 years ago)

How hard is it to pass A level chemistry?

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