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I'm so bad at A level Chemistry

I'm literally giving up with A level Chemistry. I thought I would start to Improve in this subject after a terrible 1st year. I'm now well into the 2nd year and I have just been getting D's in all of my tests despite revising so much and dedicating so much of my time to doing practice questions and revising. It all seems like a complete waste of time and I'm not improving at all. When I do bad in one subject, I end up doing badly in all of my other A levels because of a lack of motivation. Anybody else have a similar experience?
Original post by Loreto2018
I'm literally giving up with A level Chemistry. I thought I would start to Improve in this subject after a terrible 1st year. I'm now well into the 2nd year and I have just been getting D's in all of my tests despite revising so much and dedicating so much of my time to doing practice questions and revising. It all seems like a complete waste of time and I'm not improving at all. When I do bad in one subject, I end up doing badly in all of my other A levels because of a lack of motivation. Anybody else have a similar experience?


Do you need the A level? Could you drop it and take something else?
Have you talked to your tutor?

What else are you doing?
What grades do you need and are predicted?


IT might be possible to turn it round, but youd have to pull out all the stops starting with examining why you are going wrong. You are obviously missing a lot of marks. Mark schemes, and teacher could Id that as well as being honest about where you think the weaknesses are.

Besides treating it like a double subject I might also be doing:

1. Workbooks.
https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/Student/books_a_level_chemistry

2. Chemrevise.
https://chemrevise.org/

3. Dr Boes.
http://www.alevelchemistryrevision.co.uk/revisionnotes-store/

4. Paying a tutor.


Understanding and then practice, spot where lost marks + what was needed + more practice.
Original post by 999tigger
Do you need the A level? Could you drop it and take something else?
Have you talked to your tutor?

What else are you doing?
What grades do you need and are predicted?


IT might be possible to turn it round, but youd have to pull out all the stops starting with examining why you are going wrong. You are obviously missing a lot of marks. Mark schemes, and teacher could Id that as well as being honest about where you think the weaknesses are.

Besides treating it like a double subject I might also be doing:

1. Workbooks.
https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/Student/books_a_level_chemistry

2. Chemrevise.
https://chemrevise.org/

3. Dr Boes.
http://www.alevelchemistryrevision.co.uk/revisionnotes-store/

4. Paying a tutor.


Understanding and then practice, spot where lost marks + what was needed + more practice.

Thanks for the links and advice. I need Chemistry for the University course im applying to. I need an A but im predicted a C.
Original post by Loreto2018
Thanks for the links and advice. I need Chemistry for the University course im applying to. I need an A but im predicted a C.


So you are applying for Medicine? You should have sorted this out in the Summer. have they given you a predicted A to get an interview?

I would be all in, forget about UKcat and vol work , but focus purely on A levels.
What's your exam board? I could send you links to some resources that might be of use
Hi,
Omg I was in the same boat. I did alevel chemistry and boy it's hard!! I'm at first year of uni now doing a foundation year for optometry. (Im hoping i pass the foundation year to get onto it!) And I understand you completely. I literally worked my ass off for chemistry. I did everything yet I got a grade D at A2 (needed a B but they still accepted me, I really don't know how!😅
I worked so hard and use to get headaches and nosebleeds and everything. My teachers knew I worked extremely hard but it just didn't reflect in my grades. I was consistently getting D grades. (At AS it was U's!)
My teachers felt sorry for me, but told me all I could do was work hard and I did yet despite my grade I got into the uni I wanted !
My advise would be just do your best, I did and look at me now I'm still doing what I wanted even though I didn't get the best grade at Chemistry. And I was one of the students who didn't do Alevels maths as I hated maths. (That explained the struggling!!)

Just do PLENTY of practice papers! And understand the mark scheme. I LOVED organic it was inorganic that I really didn't like, again probably because of the maths.
I made flashcards on the content (365, yes I counted them haha!)
Just work hard and attend all support groups, in my school we had "session 3s".
Ask your teachers what you can do and the advise they can give you to improve. (My teachers, hands down were extremely helpful).
And ask your peers to help you and watch YouTube clips, my teacher was obsessed with MaChemGuy!
What exam board you doing, we did OCR A.

Feel free to private message me if you need any advice etc.

I honestly wish you all the best, please don't give up! You can do this!!:smile:
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by 999tigger
So you are applying for Medicine? You should have sorted this out in the Summer. have they given you a predicted A to get an interview?

I would be all in, forget about UKcat and vol work , but focus purely on A levels.

No, my dream was to go to Medical school but clearly that's going to remain a dream because I've not worked hard enough. I'm planning on going for Biomedical sciences or Pharmacy.
Original post by Alisha999
Hi,
Omg I was in the same boat. I did alevel chemistry and boy it's hard!! I'm at first year of uni now doing a foundation year for optometry. (Im hoping i pass the foundation year to get onto it!) And I understand you completely. I literally worked my ass off for chemistry. I did everything yet I got a grade D at A2 (needed a B but they still accepted me, I really don't know how!😅
I worked so hard and use to get headaches and nosebleeds and everything. My teachers knew I worked extremely hard but it just didn't reflect in my grades. I was consistently getting D grades. (At AS it was U's!)
My teachers felt sorry for me, but told me all I could do was work hard and I did yet despite my grade I got into the uni I wanted !
My advise would be just do your best, I did and look at me now I'm still doing what I wanted even though I didn't get the best grade at Chemistry. And I was one of the students who didn't do Alevels maths as I hated maths. (That explained the struggling!!)

Just do PLENTY of practice papers! And understand the mark scheme. I LOVED organic it was inorganic that I really didn't like, again probably because of the maths.
I made flashcards on the content (365, yes I counted them haha!)
Just work hard and attend all support groups, in my school we had "session 3s".
Ask your teachers what you can do and the advise they can give you to improve. (My teachers, hands down were extremely helpful).
And ask your peers to help you and watch YouTube clips, my teacher was obsessed with MaChemGuy!
What exam board you doing, we did OCR A.

Feel free to private message me if you need any advice etc.

I honestly wish you all the best, please don't give up! You can do this!!:smile:

Hey thanks for your advice and I'm so glad that you know how I feel. I'm on OCR A like you were and I've been watching loads of those Machen guy videos. I just don't seem to be able to get higher than a D no matter what I do. I'll try and hang in there though. What do you study in a foundation year? Is it basically A level again?
Original post by Loreto2018
No, my dream was to go to Medical school but clearly that's going to remain a dream because I've not worked hard enough. I'm planning on going for Biomedical sciences or Pharmacy.


I'd just work as hard as you can and then see what happens. Community Pharmacy is pretty saturated, so I would check into that as there are plenty of threads from unhappy pharmacy students. be aware of the risks.
Reply 9
It sounds like you may be approaching studying wrong for chem, I really struggled too at first.

Past papers help but you won’t be learning the underlying concepts from them. For example instead of trying to remember each set of reactions in organic chemistry, learn how electrons behave during reactions i.e electronegativity. I quickly learned in chem thats its just all about the concepts!

I highly recommend E. Rintoul (i think thats his name) on youtube, very good teacher.

PS: Dont give up on med school of its your dream! I am going for grad entry so I will be 23 when I start it’s not the end of the world if you have to do another degree first!

I also did a degree in biomedical science so if you have any questions regarding that feel free to ask
No problem, I'm here if you want to talk!
And yes don't worry your not the only one who struggles. Chemistry alevel is just very difficult. (Even my teacher had admitted it and told me that even if you get a D grade you should be happy because it's a pass and it's a very hard subject!)
And it's because I did psychology, chemistry, English and health and social care and for Optometry I was told I needed 2 sciences and I thought my uni would allow psychology as a another science but unfortunately they didn't! Had I know earlier I would have done Biology instead and wouldn't have to be doing 1 extra year!
Foundation year involves me studying alevel maths, biology,physics psychology and other "easier"modules alongside these compulsory ones.
And it's stressful because everything is cramped in 1 year. Atm I'm doing maths alongside the "easier" ones and need to get 60% in January to then be able to do the biology, physics and psychology!
I'm honestly hoping I can get 60% in the maths because I'm just so bad at it! People use to say it's easy but it's not for me, it's not even GCSE stuff it's meant to be "basic" maths stuff!
Original post by 999tigger
I'd just work as hard as you can and then see what happens. Community Pharmacy is pretty saturated, so I would check into that as there are plenty of threads from unhappy pharmacy students. be aware of the risks.

This. Also, there are few jobs in Biomedical Science, even with a Masters. You will need to be accredited with the IBMS to work in the NHS, in which case you will need to find a hospital that will be able to help you complete your portfolio in order to get accredited. However accredition is mostly not required in private companies. Check other degrees like healthcare science or vocational/ allied health care professions because at least with these one you will be better off than a biomedical scientist in acquring a job and you get value for your money. As a Biomedical science graduate, I won't recommend Biomedical Science.
Hey,
I’m sorry to hear that you’re struggling with the subject, but don’t worry you’ll improve. In the mean time dedicate 1-2 hours on trying to understand the underlying concepts, then try to explain it via a different approach I.e teach someone else about the concept. Attempt to do past papers, if this isn’t working out, then go back on the topic, what did you miss out? are there any possible teachers you could ask to explain it to you in a different way, it was this which helped me a lot.

Best of luck I hope you get the grade you want x
I never got Chemistry either. I never understood the rules, how the diagrams worked etc. And this was when I was in my late 20s.

I mean I did understand it basically, the subject itself can make sense over time even without a love for the subject, but then you have to play the game in an exam environment, answering questions a specific way under a time limit almost like a robot.

You know you best, and I'm assuming you're 17/18. There's no rush. If you've tried everything and you haven't even improved, by all means worry more on the other subjects.

Instead, don't aim for an A in Chemistry, just aim for a good showing. See how you do in your other A Levels and, if that Chemistry is the only single thing stopping you, then you can redo it any time.
Theres nothing wrong with your revision technique, chemistry is just a stupidly hard subject and the exams are much, much harder than practise exams and textbook questions
Original post by Alisha999
No problem, I'm here if you want to talk!
And yes don't worry your not the only one who struggles. Chemistry alevel is just very difficult. (Even my teacher had admitted it and told me that even if you get a D grade you should be happy because it's a pass and it's a very hard subject!)
And it's because I did psychology, chemistry, English and health and social care and for Optometry I was told I needed 2 sciences and I thought my uni would allow psychology as a another science but unfortunately they didn't! Had I know earlier I would have done Biology instead and wouldn't have to be doing 1 extra year!
Foundation year involves me studying alevel maths, biology,physics psychology and other "easier"modules alongside these compulsory ones.
And it's stressful because everything is cramped in 1 year. Atm I'm doing maths alongside the "easier" ones and need to get 60% in January to then be able to do the biology, physics and psychology!
I'm honestly hoping I can get 60% in the maths because I'm just so bad at it! People use to say it's easy but it's not for me, it's not even GCSE stuff it's meant to be "basic" maths stuff!

Which university do you study in? I'm studying biology, psychology and english literature. Do you know any degrees in the medical field that will allow psychology as a 2nd science? I know for medicine, university of manchester allow it.
Original post by tasnimali2492
Which university do you study in? I'm studying biology, psychology and english literature. Do you know any degrees in the medical field that will allow psychology as a 2nd science? I know for medicine, university of manchester allow it.

Hi,
I study Optometry at Aston university.
I think Plymouth University allow Optometry and dentistry whilst having Psychology as a second science.

Hope this helps.
Original post by Alisha999
Hi,
Omg I was in the same boat. I did alevel chemistry and boy it's hard!! I'm at first year of uni now doing a foundation year for optometry. (Im hoping i pass the foundation year to get onto it!) And I understand you completely. I literally worked my ass off for chemistry. I did everything yet I got a grade D at A2 (needed a B but they still accepted me, I really don't know how!😅
I worked so hard and use to get headaches and nosebleeds and everything. My teachers knew I worked extremely hard but it just didn't reflect in my grades. I was consistently getting D grades. (At AS it was U's!)
My teachers felt sorry for me, but told me all I could do was work hard and I did yet despite my grade I got into the uni I wanted !
My advise would be just do your best, I did and look at me now I'm still doing what I wanted even though I didn't get the best grade at Chemistry. And I was one of the students who didn't do Alevels maths as I hated maths. (That explained the struggling!!)

Just do PLENTY of practice papers! And understand the mark scheme. I LOVED organic it was inorganic that I really didn't like, again probably because of the maths.
I made flashcards on the content (365, yes I counted them haha!)
Just work hard and attend all support groups, in my school we had "session 3s".
Ask your teachers what you can do and the advise they can give you to improve. (My teachers, hands down were extremely helpful).
And ask your peers to help you and watch YouTube clips, my teacher was obsessed with MaChemGuy!
What exam board you doing, we did OCR A.

Feel free to private message me if you need any advice etc.

I honestly wish you all the best, please don't give up! You can do this!!:smile:


Hello I am currently in year12 and right now in the same boat I find organic easier than inorganic because I never get marks for the wordings and haven't nailed down the content. I consistently get Ds but. need a A/B for end of years for a good UCAS prediction what do you recommend I do I also study maths and Econ which take a lot of time

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