S3 Chemistry: Reporting Window 2

Level delivery in Chemistry

Chemistry Units in S3 covers content from level 4 and beyond, together with investigatory and practical skills focussed at L3/4.

Units covered across the year

Chemical Changes and Structures

This unit introduces pupils to the concepts necessary to track the progress of a chemical reaction and explore factors that may alter the rate of a chemical reaction. Pupils will explore the structure of an atom, formation of ions, bonding and chemical formulae. The unit concludes with an introduction to the properties of acids, bases and neutralisation reactions.

Chemistry In Society

This unit builds upon the knowledge established in Chemical Changes and Structures by applying knowledge of chemical structure and bonding to metals, nuclear chemistry, fertilisers and polymers.

Nature’s Chemistry

This unit examines the world of carbon based molecules and their uses. Starting with the properties of fuels before moving onto exploring where out fuels come from and the molecules that they are made up on. Pupils will also examine food as fuels – examining the processes of carbohydrates, photosynthesis and respiration. 

Pupils coping with the majority of the Chemistry work being set should be able to achieve at least Fourth C in this subject.

S4 Recommendation:

Pupils currently working at Fourth B upwards would be recommended for N5 Chemistry. The Level 5 NPA in Science and Forensics may be a preferable choice for those operating at Fourth C as all content is assessed on an ongoing basis and there is no final examination.  Those working at Third level would be recommended for the Level 4 NPA in Science and Health.

 Working Level and Working Grade descriptions for S3 Chemistry:

Fourth+: Pupils working beyond fourth level at this stage of their school journey are performing at a higher level than the majority of their peers. The grading from A to D reflects how well they are performing within this advanced level. Please note that a grade D at this level is a higher grade than an A at Fourth level. 

Fourth A: A pupil achieving this will be making excellent progress across all their assessments (averaging 60% or more). They will be consistently demonstrating that they understand and can recall the content of the course and are able to apply that understanding to context-based questions.  They will also have demonstrated a sound ability to handle data and perform numerical manipulation. 

Fourth B: A pupil achieving this will be making very good progress across all their assessments (averaging 50-59%). They will be demonstrating that they understand and can recall much of the content of the course and are able to apply that understanding to some context-based questions.  They may also have demonstrated an ability to handle data and perform some numerical manipulation. 

Fourth C: A pupil achieving this will be making good progress across all their assessments (averaging 45-49%). They will be demonstrating that they understand and can recall some of the content of the course and may be able to apply some of that understanding to more straight-forward context-based questions.  They may also have demonstrated an ability to handle data and perform some numerical manipulation. 

Fourth D: A pupil achieving this will be making reasonable progress across all their assessments (averaging 40-45%). They will be demonstrating that they understand and can recall some of the content of the course and may be challenged by applying this knowledge to context-based questions.  They may also find challenge in handling data or carrying out numerical manipulation. 

Third A to D: A pupil achieving this will be making limited progress across all their assessments (averaging less than 40%). They may be demonstrating that they understand and can recall small portions of the content of the course but will likely find applying this content to context questions a great challenge.  They will also, likely find challenge in handling data.