Chemistry A Level

Before submitting your application to Wyke Sixth Form College, please ensure that you have added

1. Personal Details (including Home Address, Email Address and Contact Number)
2. A full list of all of your predicted grades

Without this information we will be unable to process your application and will refer this back to you until it is fully complete.

Chemistry is an excellent preparation for you if you are looking to extend your understanding of a key physical science. It is a central science which opens up the possibility of a huge range of science related university courses and jobs. These includes medicine and health related professions such as dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary sciences etc., as well as chemical engineering, optometry and courses that overlap with maths and physics. A Level Chemistry blends particularly well with other science subjects such as Physics and Biology. You may also take it as a complementary course alongside other choices. If you are interested in how things work and why materials behave as they do then chemistry is for you.

You will be taught in one of our two specialist laboratories: both are equipped with fume cupboards and interactive whiteboards and the sort of glassware and equipment that you would expect to find in new, purpose built, laboratories. The course will develop your practical skills. These are an essential, and an assessed, part of the course. There is also a well-equipped central computer area that is shared across the science department. You will be helped in your studies by a team of experienced teaching staff who have many successful years of experience of A Level teaching, and a technician team who know how to handle the demands of practical work. All of our Chemistry teachers come from a background with industrial experience, with several of our staff educated to PhD level.

Most of our courses are led by a single teacher or a team of two teachers. Each of the four lessons in the week is 70 minutes long and are built around a mixture of theory and practical sessions. Our teaching is structured around the usual pattern of a starter, main content and then a plenary. We help you check your learning through regular tests and use feedback to help guide improvements and to stretch and challenge all. We have a very active support programme too. This means that you will find a group of Chemistry students in the labs at lunch time for extra support or challenge with one or two of our staff, please come and join them once you start your course.

We supply you with text books and some revision guides for the duration of the course. We use AQA Chemistry by Ted Lister and Janet Renshaw (ISBN-13: 978-0-1983-5181-8). You will also be provided with past exam paper booklets during the year.

PAPER 1 (35% OF A LEVEL)

PHYSICAL AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

YEAR 1 – PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

• Atomic structure

• Amount of substance

• Bonding

• Energetics

• Oxidation, reduction and redox equations

YEAR 1 – INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

• Periodicity

• Group 2, the alkaline earth metals

• Group 7(17), the halogens

YEAR 2 – PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

• Thermodynamics

• Equilibrium constant Kp for homogeneous systems

• Electrode potentials and electrochemical cells

• Acids and bases

YEAR 2 – INORGANIC CHEMISTRY

• Properties of Period 3 elements and their oxides

• Transition metals

• Reactions of ions in aqueous solution

PAPER 2 (35% OF A LEVEL)

PHYSICAL AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

YEAR 1 – PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

• Amount of substance, Bonding, Energetics and Chemical equilibria

• Kinetics

YEAR 1 – ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

• Introduction to organic chemistry

• Alkanes; Halogenoalkanes; Alkenes; Alcohols

• Organic analysis

YEAR 2 – PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY

Rate equations: Simple rate equations Determination of rate equation.

YEAR 2 – ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

• Optical isomerism

• Aldehydes and ketones; Carboxylic acids and derivatives; Aromatic chemistry; Amines; Amino acids, proteins and DNA

• Polymers

• Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

• Chromatography

PAPER 3 (30% OF A LEVEL)

INVESTIGATIVE AND PRACTICAL SKILLS

• Titration based practical skills

• Wet analysis

• Organic Synthesis

70% EXAMS
30% OTHER

Information on course specific and pathway specific entry criteria can be found on our website.

Chemistry is a great choice of subject for people who want a career in health and clinical professions, such as medicine, nursing, biochemistry, dentistry or forensic science. It will also equip you for a career in industry, for example in the petrochemical or pharmaceutical industries. In the past our students have joined university courses in: Chemistry Chemical Engineering Medicine Medical science Biomedical Science Bio-Veterinary Science Pharmacy Physics Aerospace Engineering Optometry Civil Engineering To name but some!