Chemistry A Level
What is the subject and why should you study it?
A-level Chemistry attempts to answer the big question ‘what is the world made of’ and it’s the search for this answer that makes this subject so fascinating. From investigating how one substance can be changed drastically into another, to researching a new wonder drug to save millions of lives, the opportunities that chemistry provides are endless.
Course content
| Year 1 | Year 2 |
| Physical chemistry Including atomic structure, amount of substance, bonding, energetics, kinetics, chemical equilibria and Le Chatelier’s principle | Physical chemistry Including thermodynamics, rate equations, the equilibrium constant Kp, electrode potentials and electrochemical cells |
| Inorganic chemistry Including periodicity, Group 2 the alkaline earth metals, Group 7(17) the halogens | Inorganic chemistry Including properties of Period 3 elements and their oxides, transition metals, reactions of ions in aqueous solution |
| Organic chemistry Including introduction to organic chemistry, alkanes, halogenoalkanes, alkenes, alcohols, organic analysis | Organic chemistry Including optical isomerism, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids and derivatives, aromatic chemistry, amines, polymers, amino acids, proteins and DNA, organic synthesis, NMR spectroscopy, chromatography |
How is the course assessed?
There are three exams at the end of the two years for A-level, all of which are two hours long. At least 15% of the marks for A-level Chemistry are based on what you learned in your practicals
Any course requirements
At least Grade 6 GCSE Science or Grade 6 in GCSE Chemistry
Specification
AQA | AS and A-level | Chemistry | Specification at a glance