Could I change to A level Chemistry now??

I'm in year 12 and I take chemistry as an a level as well as potentially being interested in biomedicine too.

In my school, we haven't covered any super hard topics yet, all the tests I've done are pretty doable. It depends how determined you are at doing biomedicine, there would be so much content to learn since September as well as finding time to revise for mocks (mine are at the end of Janurary 2022) as well as finding a good resource to teach you everything since I'm not sure if a teacher from your school would be dedicated enough to go through the whole course with you from September

Hope this helps

Chemistry is hard - not just the A level but any degree course requiring it as well.
If you struggled with the GCSE you might need to think again - especially trying to catch up on 3 months missed work.

Thank you but I did not really struggle with GCSE Chemistry as I got an 8 in it, however, I thought that I could struggle with it at A-level especially with the catch up

Chemistry is quite hard btw.

Yes, you would struggle.
Chemistry at GCSE is very easy compared to A-level.

Yes I have been told that quite a lot but I am hard working, I'm just not sure If I am 'naturally' talented at Chemistry so I might need to work harder than others

Do you think that having a tutor would help me with the catch up and the difficulty of it?

You don't really need to be "naturally talented".


Having a tutor would help but if you are hard-working as you say, you can watch youtube videos and learn from other online resources.You probably only started year 12, so even freesciencelessons might've covered the topics you have to study.

But chemistry is nothing like GCSE btw, sure it builds on the concepts we were taught at GCSE but it's 90 times more complicated, even topic 1 I would say.

For example: in GCSE we learn about electronic configuration like 2 electrons in first shell, 8 in second and third etc.. but in A-levels it's completely different, sure there are shells but there are also different energy level with sub energy levels and orbitals and whatnot... it's like a slap in the face straight after GCSE tbh.

Thank you I will make sure to ask my friends to look at their folder and exercise books before making an informed decision regarding my ability to do A level Chemistry

Hi, I am in year 13 and I am doing chemistry A level. I think before you make this decision you should look in to a little bit of organic chemistry as that is the main difference between year 12 and GCSE chemistry.

I swapped from biology to further maths a level at the end of year 12 which is a lot later than you are planing to switch, lots people thought I couldn’t do it. Yes it was a lot of work and I spent almost the entire summer holiday catching up with it, but ultimately I would definitely do it again and I don’t regret anything.

I think you just need to decide which you would rather, not changing to chemistry and potentially regretting it or working hard to catch up with you peers.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thank you but I did not really struggle with GCSE Chemistry as I got an 8 in it, however, I thought that I could struggle with it at A-level especially with the catch up

I am also in yr12 and I switched to Biology AND Chemistry about a month ago. After roughly a month of doing Chemistry, I have realised how big of a jump chem a level is from GCSE. It is not easy. But I am always trying my hardest to catch up on the missed work, as unfortunately missing a month of chem a level left me very behind, as you learn the basics of chem a level in the first couple of months. But I knew it was not going to be easy, so what I would advise on doing is to make a firm decision and be 100% sure that chem a level is what you want to do and put in a lot of effort and hard work. Even though I switched a month , I don't regret it

You've missed nearly half of Year 12 content - will your school allow you to change?

No they haven't

You've missed nearly half of Year 12 content - will your school allow you to change?