Is this course for me?
Chemistry helps you to develop your research, problem solving and analytical skills. It helps you challenge ideas and shows you how to work things out through logic and step-by-step reasoning. If these are skills you want to develop further, if you are competent in maths and know how to work hard, then Chemistry is the right subject for you.
What will I learn?
Chemistry is split into three sections. Physical, Organic and Inorganic. The topics
you will learn within these sections include;
Physical: Atomic structure, amount of substance, bonding, energetics, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, acids and bases, kinetics, rates, equilibria.
Organic: Alkanes, alkenes, halogenalkanes, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, amines, amides, acyl chlorides, spectroscopy amongst others.
Inorganic: Periodicity, group 2, group 7, period 3 and transition metals.
Anything else?
You should be willing to set aside 5 additional hours per week, in additional study to your lesson time, if you aim to be successful in this course. The exam papers are made up of a variety of types of questions from multiple choice to essay style. Questions involving the use of mathematical skills will contribute 20% of the assessment total. Assessment of ‘practical competency’ will be teacher led and reported on separately, to assess the practical abilities of the learner.
Entry requirements
Specific entry requirements: Standard A Level programme criteria, including grade 6 Chemistry, grade 5 in another science or grade 6 and grade 5 in Trilogy Science.
Future careers
Chemistry will help you get ahead in most STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) careers and more besides. Chemistry is an important subject for careers in medicine, pharmaceuticals, veterinary science, environmental science, engineering, toxicology, developing consumer products, metallurgy (studying how metals behave), space exploration, developing perfumes and cosmetics, energy, teaching, science, software development and research.
