What is Chemistry A Level like?

Thankyou so much!! How do you find biology and do they help eachother in some situations?? Good luck for tomorrow you’ll smash it!!

Oh no I’m sorry to hear that, were your teachers not as good as your GCSE teachers?? Everything happens for a reason I guess, maybe this will lead you to where you’re meant to be in life.

its piss easy honestly didnt even revise, or go to the lessons just turned up on the exam and smashed an A*
A LEVELS ARE EASY LMAO STOP CRYING XX

I took those 3 subjects Chemistry is horrendous, and honestly if I didn't need it for my university I would have dropped it for something else... The exams seem unfair and often you can't simply "learn" the answers. Biology and psychology were fairly easy compared to the hell that is chemistry. Unless you need it I wouldn't do it, but sometimes you have to compromise for the future you want...

Thank you I really enjoyed biology at A level, however I personally found that it got more difficult towards the end of the course, as the topics are more content heavy and there's a lot to memorise. But overall I really enjoyed it. Yes, there are some topics in biology that contain chemistry, for example biological molecules and chemistry in some topics in chemistry we covered things like DNA and the use of drugs. So both subjects work pretty well when taken together

In GCSE I never used the resource of the teachers, until the final months I was failing badly throughout year 10 and 11 - it was only in the final months I took time from school (they weren’t happy I was being called and threatened daily) and worked hard using my own tools online and revision guides and managed to teach every single gcse course myself from home that got me 3A* 4A 1B 2C so I did an alright job

Again, I tried to replicate this in a level and yeah shi* hit the fan and blew back in my face😂 I’m wanting to do an apprenticeship now with my GCSE grades as I think I’ll be a lot happier - so all hopefully will turn out okay

Would you recommend I take chemistry if I get a 6 (B) in combined science? I aimed for a 7/8 but I guess no one has a clue as it’s the first year of the new gcse for Science.

I’m currently revising for my final A2 chemistry exam tomorrow, and let me just tell you, if you want a high grade in chemistry, you are really gonna have to put ALOT of work and time in. It really comes down to how interested you are - I only really took chemistry because I wanted to do some type of science along with my other more essay based subjects of English Language and History, just to break it up a bit I guess? But honestly, it’s a big regret for me. A lot of the subject tests you on your natural maths ability, so if you’re not a natural mathematician in general (like me!!), it’s probably not a wise bet, otherwise you may struggle quite a lot. The exams themselves are also very difficult - not so much based on the content (which is vast, but not impossible to learn/understand) but more down to the wording of the questions. I find them to be very deceptive in a lot of ways, and the way they ask you is in no way as implicit as they do at GCSE. I’ve often lost marks not because of a lack of general chemistry knowledge, but more that I haven’t understood fully what the question is looking for you to say, and so have written the wrong thing. They also want VERY specific wording for answers, which can be quite annoying when you have the right idea but don’t word it exactly how the mark scheme suggests. I’ve honestly worked so hard for chemistry this year, more so than both of my other two subjects combined, but funnily enough, I’m still doing the worst in it - often averaging A’s in in-class tests, but getting C’s in the actual exams. It’s annoying really, and switched me off the subject a bit. I’d say with biology it would be a lot - my friend does bio and says she prefers that a lot, but doing the two subjects together is quite difficult. You shouldn’t have an issue with psychology though, as I find the essay based subjects to be CONSIDERABLY easier, but I guess it’s all down to your own personal strengths? I’m happy to talk to you more if you have any other questions about chemistry though x

I also got a B overall in science, so I think you'll be fine with Chemistry. It depends on what your schools entry requirements are for A-Level chemistry

Thankyou so much!! What do you hope to do after A levels and good luck for tomorrow I’m sure you’ll do great!!

I'm going to do Maths at Warwick (hopefully!). It will be the end of my 'chemistry career' but honestly I've really enjoyed it. My teachers weren't great at all, didn't really care much about how we did, and so I decided to leave their lessons and self-teach chemistry only (still went to maths physics etc). I used MaChemGuy on Youtube, and you should too - he makes it so simple. I also made my own revision cards which helped me stay on top of content a lot. I plan to make my own website in this summer holiday, with my physics and chemistry revision cards on. I'll try to let you know when it goes live?

The main thing to realise is that chemistry is far from impossible, providing two things. Firstly, you are interested in it, and you definitely seem to be. And two, you realise it will take a long time to get good at!

I say go for it, and just start revising early haha!

Thanks for the good luck message.

What did you get in GCSE? Also do you think I should try and do the head start to chemistry A level cap guide to see if I can manage that??

I got a B in chemistry at GCSE, but overall I got 4A*’s, 5A’s and 3B’s. And I don’t know what that is, but if it gives you some sample practice then I defo think that would be a good idea so you can see how you manage!

It’s a revision guide thing provided by CGP. Woah that’s amazing well done!!

Omg that would be amazing and so helpful Thankyou!! Yeah I understand my grades will probably be horrendous at the start of the year but all I can do is try my hardest I guess. Thankyou so much!!

Honestly, I was terrible at the start of Year 12 - but then once you get your head down and really decide 'I'm going to do well' it gets easier.

You'll look back at the end of Year 13 and think 'why did I used to find that difficult?'! At least that's what happened to me and ost of my friends.

Seriously though MaChemGuy is a life saver, you can also request a video and more often than not he'll make it (if he hasn't already!). He's like a personal tutor on demand for free!

In the new chemistry GCSE exams we were also given scenarios that we’ve never come across and they were also not as straightforward as the old 2017 GCSEs, so do you think the students who have taken the 2018 exams will be more prepared for science A levels?

Thankyou so so much!! So what would you recommend I do this summer to prepare??