HGS Chemistry

Course Overview

The aims of the course are to develop your interest in chemistry, to appreciate how society makes decisions about scientific issues, to develop your skills, knowledge and understanding of how science works and to develop knowledge and understanding of different areas of chemistry and how they relate to each other.

Course Content

The course is split into six modules and combined with the Practical Endorsement, constitutes the full A Level qualification.

The modules can be summarised as:

Teaching of practical skills is integrated with theoretical topics and they are both assessed through the written exam papers. For the practical endorsement, your class teachers will assess your practical skills in lessons, with a minimum of 12 practical activities to be carried out over the 2 years. At the end of the course, this will be reported separately to the exam grade as a pass or fail.

A pass at A Level is essential for a chemistry degree as well as for medicine and veterinary qualifications. It can be taken as an only science, because although chemistry contributes well to other subjects, it does not rely on knowledge from other areas, although to do well, a candidate must have confidence in basic mathematical methods.

Course Entry Requirements

6 or above in GCSE Mathematics

6 or above in GCSE Chemistry or 7/6 or above in GCSE Combined Science

Course Specification

OCR H432

https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/171720-specification-accredited-a-level-gce-chemistry-a-h432.pdf

Homework

At A Level, students are expected to complete a minimum of  5 hours of study a week on top of their allocated lesson time.

Extra Information about the HGS Chemistry course

Chemistry helps us to understand the world in which we live and underpins a wide range of science-based degree courses and careers. Success with A level chemistry will prepare you for a future in chemistry, pharmacy, pharmacology, chemical engineering, biochemistry, biomedical sciences, medicine and dentistry. This course is designed to be stimulating, enjoyable and challenging. We want you to develop a passion for the subject and understand its practical relevance, as well as learn from the experiences of those already in the industry. Class time is supported by trips, conferences, spectroscopy workshops with UCL.  

What will you learn? In the first year we’ll develop your GCSE understanding and give you a clear foundational introduction to this higher-level study. You’ll learn about physical, inorganic and organic chemistry. You will also undertake a series of practicals to develop your skills and the exam papers will include questions on the theory of practical work and interpretation of both quantitative and qualitative results

In the second year of the A level course you will take the foundational topics and study them in further depth. Topics will include thermodynamics, rate equations, aromatic chemistry and analytical  techniques. 

You will also have the opportunity to further develop your practical skills and learn how to problem solve and interpret data. This course will teach you problem solving, teamwork, numeracy, communication and practical skills, as well as hugely valuable independent study and reasoning skills. Our purpose built chemistry laboratories are generously equipped and meticulously maintained by our technical staff providing you with a state of the art learning environment.

Practical Endorsement

As part of the course you will need to complete at least 12 practicals (commonly called PAGS) on a range of topics using various experimental techniques. At the end of the course, this will be reported separately to the exam grade as a pass or fail. At the end of the course, this will be reported separately to the exam grade as a pass or fail.

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Click the link to look at the materials on the A-Level Chemistry site

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