A-level Chemistry

Unit 1: The Core Principles of Chemistry

AS The examination will be 1 hour 15 minutes and contain Sections A and B. Section A is an objective test section, and Section B contains a mixture of short-answer and extended answer questions. Section B will include questions on the analysis and evaluation of practical work. Quality of written communication will be assessed in this examination in Section B.

Unit 2: Application of Core Principles of Chemistry

AS The examination will be 1 hour 15 minutes and contain Sections A, B and C. Section A is an objective test section, and Section B contains a mixture of short-answer and extended answer questions. Section C will contain questions on contemporary contexts. This may contain stimulus materials on a scenario that students must read in order to answer the questions. Quality of written communication will be assessed in this examination in either Section B or C. Questions on the analysis and evaluation of practical work will also be included in either Section B or C.

Unit 3: Chemistry Laboratory Skills I

AS Students' laboratory skills will be tested in four different ways, there will be a general practical competence (GPC) check and three separate activities which make up this assessment unit. The four activities must cover the areas of physical, organic and inorganic chemistry. Activities ‘b, c and d' include practical activities where the teacher uses Edexcel devised practical activity sheets and mark schemes (if marked by the teacher). Teachers have the option of marking these activities or having them marked by Edexcel.

Activity a: General Practical Competence (GPC)

This will confirm that students have completed a range of practicals over the whole year and developed their laboratory skills. Students must have carried out at least five practicals in class. The practicals that the students complete must cover the three areas of physical, organic and inorganic chemistry. Verification of completion is required as well as the core practical code (or title), field and dates the practicals were carried out.

Activity b: Qualitative observation.

Students must complete one qualitative observation, from the selection provided by Edexcel. This activity will include a student sheet, teacher and technician notes and a mark scheme. The activity is marked out of 14.

Activity c: Quantitative measurement. Students

must complete one quantitative measurement, from the selection provided by Edexcel. This activity will include a student sheet, teacher and technician notes and a mark scheme. The activity is marked out of 14.

Activity d: Preparation.

Students must complete one preparation (making a chemical), from the selection provided by Edexcel. This activity will include a student sheet, teacher and technician notes and a mark scheme.
The activity is marked out of 12.

These activities must all be carried out under controlled conditions. Students will be allowed to write up their practical reports in a separate lesson, but their materials must be collected at the end of the session and handed back at the beginning of the next session.

Students are not permitted to work on their practical sheets out of the lesson.
Students' work must be individual and they may not work with other students in groups.

The practical sheets for activities b, c and d are confidential and must not be shown to students prior to their completion of them. They will be available on a secure Edexcel website for teachers to download in preparation for delivery.

Unit 4: General Principles of Chemistry I
• Rates, Equilibria and Further Organic Chemistry

A2 The examination will be 1 hour 40 minutes and contain Sections A, B and C. Section A is an objective test section, and Section B contains a mixture of short-answer and extended answer questions. Section C will contain data questions and will require the use of a data booklet. The longer timing of the examination reflects the style of the Section C questions. Students will be able to show their full ability in Sections B and C as these contain areas where they will be stretched and challenged. They will be provided with data from a laboratory experiment and asked a series of questions on it. Quality of written communication will be assessed in this examination in either Section B or C.

Unit 5: General Principles of Chemistry II
• Transition Metals and Organic Nitrogen Chemistry

A2 The examination will be 1 hour 40 minutes and contain Sections A, B and C. Section A is an objective test section, and Section B contains a mixture of short-answer and extended answer questions. Questions on the analysis and evaluation of practical work will also be included in Section B. Section C will contain questions on contemporary contexts.

This may contain stimulus materials on a scenario that students must read in order to answer the questions. The longer timing of the examination is to reflect the style of the Section C questions. Students will be able to show their full ability in Sections B and C as these contain areas where they will be stretched and challenged. Quality of written communication will be assessed in this examination in either Section B or C.

Unit 6: Chemistry Laboratory Skills II

A2 As with AS Unit 3 students' laboratory skills will be tested in four different ways. However there is a choice in how these can be delivered. The laboratory skills assessment must cover the areas of physical, organic and inorganic chemistry.
All students will have to complete activities a and b as detailed below, as in AS.

Activities ‘b, c and d' include practical activities where the teacher uses Edexcel devised practical activity sheets and mark schemes (if marked by the teacher). Teachers have the option of marking these activities or having them marked by Edexcel.

Activity a: General Practical Competence (GPC)

This will confirm that students have completed a range of practicals over the whole year and developed their laboratory skills. Students must have carried out at least five practicals in class. The practicals that the students complete must cover the three areas of physical, organic and inorganic chemistry. Verification of completion is required as well as the core practical code (or title), field and dates the practicals were carried out.

Activity b: Qualitative observation.

Students must complete one qualitative observation, from the selection provided by Edexcel. This activity will include a student sheet, teacher and technician notes and a mark scheme. The activity is marked out of 14.

Students then have a choice of completing either pathway 1 or pathway 2 as detailed below.

Pathway 1:

Students complete activities c and d, as in AS, as described below.

Activity c: Quantitative measurement.

Students must complete one quantitative measurement, from the selection provided by Edexcel. This activity will include a student sheet, teacher and technician notes and a mark scheme. The activity is marked out of 14.

Activity d: Preparation.

Students must complete one preparation (making a chemical), from the selection provided by Edexcel. This activity will include a student sheet, teacher and technician notes and a mark scheme. The activity is marked out of 12.

Pathway 2:

Students could complete a multi-stage experiment, which comprises a quantitative measurement and a preparation. This covers the same criteria as activities c and d, but gives students experience of a longer and different style practical activity.

The activity must be chosen from the selection provided by Edexcel. It will include a student sheet, teacher and technician notes and a mark scheme. This activity is marked out of 26.

All of these activities must be carried out under controlled conditions. Students will be allowed to write up their practical reports in a separate lesson, but their materials must be collected at the end of the session and handed back at the beginning of the next session. Students are not permitted to work on their practical sheets out of the lesson. Students' work must be individual and they may not work with other students in groups.