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Is there anyway to do extra chemistry outside of school?

I don't do Chem A level, My Alevels are maths Bio and RS. As I plan to apply for Biomedical sciences, chemistry while not required at every uni, would be useful. Is there any way I could do part of chemistry A level without doing the whole qualification, and would there be much benefit to it?

Reply 1

bibachu

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Infxtion

You have two options here, you could either do AS level chemistry or just learn the A level chemistry specification and not actually sit the exam. I’m assuming you aren’t applying to any universities that require chemistry, but if you really want to show chemistry knowledge on your personal statement or just get ahead for university, you could find a specification and learn the content. I’d recommend using AQA as they have the most resources for sciences, including CGP textbooks and guides, as well as online resources such as Seneca. When I was doing my GCSEs, I found that Seneca was very helpful in explaining scientific content, and when I was planning to do biology and chemistry A level, I used Seneca to introduce me to some of the topics and I found it to be a great free tool. You might also benefit from investing in premium as this gives you access to more resources, such as predicted papers and exam questions, but this is not essential. If you want to sit the AS level in chemistry, you wouldn’t need to learn all the content that’s in A level, however you would still need to sit an exam. This might be more beneficial if you want to prove to universities that you have sufficient chemistry if you gain a good grade. If I were you, I wouldn’t bother with sitting the AS level, as in this case it’s not necessary. You can demonstrate your chemistry knowledge through your personal statement or interviews. This doesn’t have to be learning the A level specification, it could be as simple as reading scientific novels in areas of chemistry you’re interested in, which would be a great talking point. If you were to sit chemistry outside of school, you would have to sit privately which can cost a lot of money as well.