A level Chemistry Study help

Hello,
So I recently received my grade for my first assessment in chemistry which was a D, after getting an E in my AS. I’m applying for Biology but I still need ABB or AAB - and i’m doing maths, bio, chem and welsh bacc. I was just wondering how is the best way for me to improve my grades because last year I started off with an E and worked that up to a C then a B then an A but ended up getting a U and D in my actual papers.
When I answer written questions I don’t really hit all of the points on the markscheme but maths questions are usually fine. Sometimes I struggle with equations and topics that link and rely on equations.
Any advice and help will be greatly appreciated!!

Hello,
So I recently received my grade for my first assessment in chemistry which was a D, after getting an E in my AS. I’m applying for Biology but I still need ABB or AAB - and i’m doing maths, bio, chem and welsh bacc. I was just wondering how is the best way for me to improve my grades because last year I started off with an E and worked that up to a C then a B then an A but ended up getting a U and D in my actual papers.
When I answer written questions I don’t really hit all of the points on the markscheme but maths questions are usually fine. Sometimes I struggle with equations and topics that link and rely on equations.
Any advice and help will be greatly appreciated!!

Hey @m_tylda

I know how difficult A-level chemistry can be, one of the main things that helped me was to find online past papers from my exam board, print them out, do them under exam conditions, and then mark them against the mark scheme. It helped me to find areas that i was losing marks on in exams and i could then go and focus on these.

I made a flashcard for literally everything i needed to know for my exam, and wrote a little prompt on the back, and tried to recall the information out loud before turning it over and seeing the correct answer. This works especially well for the longer answer questions, write the main points that you need in your answer to get the marks, and just keep going over these.

For the equations and other short answer questions, i would also recommend lots of practice questions.

I hope this helps, and good luck on your chemistry paper, i know mark schemes can be very specific and frustrating, you just have to make sure you include all the key points in your answers.

-Molly
BCU Student rep

Hiya lovely

Don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s actually a really good sign that you’ve already managed to pull grades up before, even if the exams didn’t go your way last time. That shows you can improve with the right approach. Personally when I was doing my chemistry alevel I found that my grades where always better in the classroom than during exams but here's some ways that helped me improve.

Past papers are definitely the best thing you can do, but how you use them matters a lot. Don’t just go through them for the sake of it, after every question, compare your answer line-by-line with the mark scheme. That helps you see the exact phrasing and key terms they expect, along with providing you an idea of what kind of questions they usually ask/how they phrase them. That was my main way of studying along with making sure I actually write my notes with a pen and paper, not only did it help me personally but there is a study on how writing stuff out actually helps with memorising material.
Another thing that was my savior was quizlet as it allowed me to study and prepare flashcards really efficiently.
For equatuons, I would usually write out what each symbol actually represents. As it made it easier to remember how to rearrange and apply them later.

Here's a weird one I used to do...I tried teaching the subject to my mum. Try to teacha topic to someone else or even just explain it out loud it really shows where the gaps are, and allow you to understand more in depth.

You’ve clearly got the motivation and awareness to improve, so if you start now and stay consistent, you can absolutely bring those grades up 🙂 you've got this

Kind regards Aneta Chemistry Phd

Hello,
So I recently received my grade for my first assessment in chemistry which was a D, after getting an E in my AS. I’m applying for Biology but I still need ABB or AAB - and i’m doing maths, bio, chem and welsh bacc. I was just wondering how is the best way for me to improve my grades because last year I started off with an E and worked that up to a C then a B then an A but ended up getting a U and D in my actual papers.
When I answer written questions I don’t really hit all of the points on the markscheme but maths questions are usually fine. Sometimes I struggle with equations and topics that link and rely on equations.
Any advice and help will be greatly appreciated!!

thank you for all the advice, will take everything on board Although i’m considering dropping the A2 chem and just resitting AS to a better grade so I can get better grades at bio and maths to get into uni! Regardless, this advice does come in handy so thank you !!

Hello,
So I recently received my grade for my first assessment in chemistry which was a D, after getting an E in my AS. I’m applying for Biology but I still need ABB or AAB - and i’m doing maths, bio, chem and welsh bacc. I was just wondering how is the best way for me to improve my grades because last year I started off with an E and worked that up to a C then a B then an A but ended up getting a U and D in my actual papers.
When I answer written questions I don’t really hit all of the points on the markscheme but maths questions are usually fine. Sometimes I struggle with equations and topics that link and rely on equations.
Any advice and help will be greatly appreciated!!