What an Examiner Wishes Every Chemistry Student Knew
I’ve spent years on both sides of the exam: teaching students in the run‑up, then marking papers by the hundred once the exam is over. That combination gives you a particular kind of insight — you see exactly where marks are won and lost, again and again. Here’s what I genuinely wish every chemistry student […]
How to Go From a Grade 6 to a Grade 9 in GCSE Chemistry
A grade 6 in GCSE chemistry is a solid result — it means you know your stuff. But the leap to a grade 9 isn’t about learning twice as much content. It’s about a handful of specific changes in how you work. Having taught and examined GCSE chemistry for 30 years, I can tell you […]
Top 10 Mistakes Students Make in A‑Level Chemistry Exams (and How to Avoid Them)
Here’s something that surprises students: most marks lost in A‑level chemistry aren’t lost because the student didn’t know the chemistry. They’re lost to avoidable exam mistakes — the same handful, paper after paper. As an official examiner for many years, I’ve marked these errors thousands of times. The good news? Every one is fixable. Here […]
Acids, Bases, pH and Buffers: The A2 Essentials
Acid–base chemistry is one of the most calculation‑heavy topics at A2 — and one where a clear method makes all the difference. Logarithms, weak‑acid approximations, buffers that resist pH change… it can feel like a lot. But it’s built from a few core equations applied carefully. Here’s the essential toolkit. Starting point: what pH actually […]
Rate Equations and Orders of Reaction Explained
Kinetics is where A2 chemistry gets quantitative, and rate equations sit at the heart of it. Students often find them slippery because the orders “come from experiments, not the equation” — which feels backwards at first. But once that idea clicks, rate equations become a clean, logical set of rules. Let’s unpick them. What a […]
Born‑Haber Cycles: A Step‑by‑Step Guide
Born‑Haber cycles are one of those A2 topics that look terrifying on first sight — a ladder of arrows, half a dozen enthalpy terms with intimidating names, and a lattice enthalpy you can’t measure directly. But underneath the jargon, a Born‑Haber cycle is just Hess’s law drawn as a staircase. Learn the steps once and […]
How to Read IR and NMR Spectra at A‑Level (Without the Panic)
Spectroscopy questions have a reputation. A student opens the paper, sees a jagged IR spectrum next to a forest of NMR peaks, and freezes. But here’s what I tell every A‑level student: spectroscopy is detective work, and the clues follow rules. Learn the rules and these become some of the most satisfying — and reliable […]
A‑Level Organic Mechanisms Made Simple
For a lot of A‑level students, organic mechanisms are the moment chemistry stops feeling like memorising facts and starts feeling like a foreign language of curly arrows. Nucleophiles, electrophiles, homolytic, heterolytic — it can seem like a wall of jargon. Here’s the secret I share with every student: mechanisms aren’t something to memorise — they’re […]
AQA vs Edexcel vs OCR Chemistry: What’s Actually Different?
“Does it matter which exam board I’m on?” It’s one of the most common questions I hear from students and parents — and the honest answer is: the chemistry is the same, but how it’s tested isn’t. All three major boards — AQA, Edexcel and OCR — cover the same core science. An atom is […]
How to Answer 6‑Mark Chemistry Questions (From an Examiner)
Ask a chemistry student what they fear most in the exam and many will say the same thing: the 6‑mark question. That big empty box, worth a chunk of the paper, where you’re expected to “write everything you know.” Here’s the reassuring truth from someone who marks these questions: 6‑mark answers follow a pattern. They […]