Is chemistry alevel really hard?

[makemineadecaf]

Dd (just going into y11) needs to submit her alevel options by December. She’s got mocks in November which she’ll use to firm up her thinking.

currently she is set on biology and psychology. She is predicted an 8 in chemistry gcse . Would she struggle with the alevel if she doesn’t get a 9? It seems very difficult content but she is swinging between this anf English literature.

Shed love to be a doctor but knows she’ll need an A” in chemistry

She definitely wants to do biology. Plus psychology but there seems some uncertainty whether this is deemed a science or humanity.

But op one minute it was law, then physio, now medicine

and you’ve been worrying about this for months

I am afraid to say…. This isn’t normal and isn’t healthy given you say your daughter is already very anxious about it.

My dd did A levels in Biology, Chemistry and Psychology. Biology and Psychology sit well together - Biology really helps with the Biopsych elements - dd found Psychology the easiest of the 3 - she got A stars in Bio and Psych.

She found Chemistry a slog in comparison- she had found gcse Chemistry easy and got a 9 but the step up to A level was big. She ended up with an A after a lot of hard work (all her own effort she didn’t have a tutor) and actually enjoyed Chemistry in the end.

Biology and Chemistry both have practical elements which you need to pass (it is recorded with the results) but don’t contribute to the grade - although there are questions in the exams which relate to them.

My understanding is Chemistry is a key A level for medicine.

Psychology has a very low % of A stars awarded (probably due to the large diverse cohort who take it) compared Biology and Chemistry which I assume have a more pre selected cohort.

Psychology has a very low % of A stars awarded (probably due to the large diverse cohort who take it)

Yes

And why Latin has very high results - due to very narrow cohort who take it.!

@makemineadecaf we have about 200 students in each year group, so yes very popular. I’m at a college. Some students who on paper should do well, don’t. They don’t work hard enough. But every year we get some who come in with minimum entry requirements who listen to all the advice, do all the work, come and get help when they need to and they fly. I always feel it’s a fair A level. You get out of it what you put in. It also is marked fairly accurately compared to non-science subjects, which can be more subjective.

Thank you . Yes I’m sure it’s much more objective than essay based subjects. There’s only 100 in dd’s whole year group , will be interesting to see how many pick chemistry but then again stem subjects are popular now aren’t they. I think they cap the class number at 16 anyway.

Both my YP sat chemistry A level. Both found it challenging at times but certainly not really, really hard. They both said that once you work hard and really know your stuff (specifically the exam board specification), it's relatively straight forward to score highly. Interestingly, one of them also took Biology and they said that was way harder than chemistry due to a much larger content and also the marking schemes are much more precise so you can completely know the subject but if you don't answer in a very precise way, you won't get the marks. Biology A level has consistently the lowest A* grade boundaries of the STEM subjects. With Bio, Chem and Psychology A levels, I would also consider taking maths or AS maths as all 3 have varying levels of A level maths skills.

I could have written your post. DD also said that doing chemistry helped her get extra marks in her biology, as she compared the questions after the exam with one of her friends who didn't do chemistry.

DD liked chemistry and found it challenging, and found that it really began to click in year 13. She liked the fact that it is logical with no fluffy answers.

I think perhaps some students find chemistry a challenge because it requires a few different abilities - maths and logical thinking, quite a lot to remember but also maybe more than other subjects by A level engaging with some rather abstract concepts.

The emphasis on research methods in psychology makes it, in my mind, a more useful A level for a medic than A level biology. They'll learn the requisite biology over and over again, but research methods tends to get short shrift, so an extra exposure helps more.

Hmm. Glad I read this, was thinking the same. Ds2 is about to start PE, Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology. They all start with 4, drop one in the first term.

Dd did Biology, Chemistry and English lit. She found Chemistry the hardest and had to put in way more effort for it. English Literature was useful because of the coursework. Dd got a C in one of her two exams but ended up with an A overall because of the coursework and the other exam being A star. But Chemistry was a challenge for sure. You have to pass the practical element but I don't think if counts in the marks. Dd did get an A but spent a lot of time on it. However, it opened the doors for Medical careers which is what she wanted.

There is a lot of rote learning in Chemistry alongside the maths and the logical understanding. You have to be prepared to put it in the work to learn the mechanisms for reactions. You can’t just rely on understanding and working it out.

the further I got with chemistry I found it was more the other way - IME you can’t remember it all unless you properly understand it.

I remember DD having to memorise formulae and what colour various elements were after they reacted or were oxidised. She asked me to test her many times.

She found that a lot of things "clicked" when she was in year 13. It is very much a building block subject, like maths. You need the basics before you can move on to the next topic.

Could she start with 4 and then drop the one she likes least/finds the most difficult?

DS2 is now doing a Chemistry masters. The A level was hard and quite maths heavy. He got 85% in final exams which came out with an A. The grade boundaries are high due to the high calibre of people taking it/aspiring medics.

Mine is finding bio much harder than chem.

Chemistry was hard for me. I got an A* in it at GCSE. It was a lot of diagrams of molecules I found hard to memorise. Biology had more logic to it in my mind, I found that easier. I managed an A in both at AS level though. Chemistry I gave up and exchanged for a second AS level in Psychology, which was easy and a lot of fun. Oddly my lowest scoring result was English Combined Lit and Lang, with a B. I found it hard to write the required essays in the exams and get enough marks.