A Level Chemistry

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My daughter received her GCSE’s today, she is planning on studying A level Geography, politics and needs to choose one more A level. She did double science and got 6’s in Chemistry and a 7 in Maths. She is thinking of A level Chemistry but I keep hearing how difficult it is. She works hard and enjoys Chemistry, she isn’t necessarily planning to go to university, she doesn’t know what to do yet so doesn’t necessarily need Chemistry A Level. I was just wondering what other people’s experience of Chemistry A level was? Thank you

I think that 6s are getting a bad press. A 6 is an old B!

DS has just got a 6 in Chemistry (Triple Science) and has registered for A level chemistry at college. He did do triple science though, your dd would have ground to cover on the “triple only” content.

The only other thing i’d say is that Chem /Politics/Geog isn’t a particularly coherent set of subjects. I’d say that Geography goes with both, but chemistry and politics not so much.

Let’s just say that I have 4 grade As at A level and one grade “something else”. Chemistry is the “something else”.

Generally though Chemistry has quite a bit of overlap with both Physics and Biology and there is also a lot of maths in it. Taking Chemistry without any of those subjects is going to make it so much harder.

My dd's friend is a STEM person & has just sat the UCAT for medicine & scored 2370 ( which dd tells me puts her in the top percentile) got 9's in sciences, maths & FM and is STILL struggling hugely with A level Chemistry.

What grade at A level would your dd be content with for Uni/ next steps ? I suppose thats the nub - if wanting an A star/ A it might be a struggle.

Congrats on her results🥳

You have to know everything in chemistry a level to get the a star and it is a big syllabus.
There are certain foundation topics you have to know at the beginning which is hard to go back to

Thanks everyone for your responses. She has no idea what she wants to do so has chosen a mixed set of A levels to keep her options open. It’s so difficult knowing what to do. She’s focused so far on what she enjoys and what she has done well in so far. She enjoys Chemistry and would be happy with a C I’m sure at A level

A level chemistry is a huge step up from GCSE, I think your DC might find it very hard going at A level, and many students take it as they need it for medicine, vet science etc rather than seeing it as a 3rd choice subject.

I would encourage my child to do an a level where it’s more realistic they get a higher grade than a C. You’ve no idea if they would even get a C

Both ds found a level chemistry really hard but both did ok in the end. It all depends on what grades she would need for her uni choice.

I studied double science at GCSE and chose to study A level Chemistry. I really struggled and ultimately decided to drop it rather than get a U. In the end I only got two A levels and chose to do an evening course to gain a 3rd. I’m a teacher now and I wished that I had chosen a completely different subject to start with. Chemistry is hard from combined science as she will have missed loads of content that triple students have already studied. Has she considered the subjects that she didn’t have a chance to study at GCSE such as sociology or psychology? There may be many other options that may be more suited.

Has she considered BTEC science? For pupils who are going to be at the lower end of the A-level class, and end up with D and E’s they will do far better, and enjoy their sixt form studies much more with BTECs. Grade 6/7 at GcSe is likely to end up with or Distinction* which then gives access to good university courses and appentiships.

It’s over 20 years ago but I got Bs in double science GCSE and went on to do A levels in biology and chemistry and got a B and a C. I don’t remember there being any maths in the course 😂. Chemistry was more challenging (for a comparison, I also took A level psychology and found it extremely easy, scoring nearly full marks in several modules and knew I’d score an A before even sitting the final exam), but it was doable. The most challenging aspect was that everyone else in the class had done triple award, so I was behind from the start, though that didn’t affect me as much in biology. If your dd wants to do a science I’d recommend biology.

My DD wants to do chemistry A level and it worries me that it's reputed to be so hard. She's going into Y11, so far is getting 9s in chemistry, it's her best science (doing triple) and she loves it. She doesn't need it for what she wants to do at university, or for any kind of career she can envisage, she just wants to carry on because she enjoys it. But she's aiming high for university and the difference between 2 A stars and an A, or 3 A stars, could be very important...

It's so hard to advise them.

I think I'm just offering sympathy!

It is hard, but that’s no reason not to take it! My dd looked at it and ultimately decided against it, but we were advised that it was totally doable if you were prepared to put in the 5 hours a week independent study every week. The college recommends 5 hours homework for all A-levels, but in reality dd hasn’t needed to do that much for psychology or economics, for maths she has to work harder and I think that’s the case for all sciences. If you’re enjoying it it’s doable.

Is there an option of taster lessons? Dd 6th form let them do a taster lesson in 4 subjects in the first week and then decide on their 3 options.

If she doesn’t know what she wants to do, then disparate A levels is probably going to qualify her for nothing rather than everything.

Chemistry without another science (tho geography is counted as a science by some unis – but I am thinking maths or physics or even bio) is a) going to be tougher and b) not going to hold open any doors really.

That said, there are certainly universities where chemistry is all that is needed in subject terms for a chem degree. But politics doesn't keep any options open – as in, there is no degree that requires it (not even politics). So would she be better off with another science instead, or maths? A 7 in maths is acceptable for A level tho lower than perhaps is ideal.

Geog, maths chem; geog, politics, sociology; geog, politics, eng lit? These all might be more coherent choices.

A long time ago I did chemistry A level after getting a B in the O level (yes, that long ago). I spent a disproportionate amount of time studying for the A level, to the detriment of my other subjects, and still only got an E.

Wish I'd done geography or economics!

I did double science at GCSE and at got A*...I then got a D in A level chemistry. The jump was massive and I just couldn't get my head around it. Luckily I did 5 A Levels so if I'm ever asked (which is hardly never at this point) I just say an A and 3 B's and totally ignore the D in chemistry. Unless you definitely need chemistry at A level I would advise anyone to avoid it like the plague! haha.

Many moons ago I wanted to do A-level chemistry after having done single award combined science (not even really a thing anymore!), the college would only let me do it if I also did GCSE chemistry at the same time. Of the two I much preferred the A-level course, more time was spent explaining why things happened the way they did rather than just remembering the facts. A-level choices are also unlikely to be set in stone, I was finding business studies A-level very dull so a couple of weeks in switched to environmental science with no regrets.

Just to echo what others have said - it’s a huge step up from GCSE chemistry. My dd did maths, chemistry and biology and chemistry was the hardest.

Is Environmental Science an option? Would go well with Geography. Otherwise, if she enjoys Chemistry more than any of the other options and is prepared to put in the work then why not?

Chemistry, maths, physics all hideous IMO! With those two choices I'd go environmental science or economics, but if she's got her heart set on chem then so be it. I'd talk it through but let her do what she wants if she's really set.

I got A* in double science and B at A level, nearly 20 years ago. It was hard work, I was definitely on the back foot and playing catch up.

I wouldn't recommend A level chemistry after a grade 6 at GCSE. I know several people who didn't get into their first choice university because their chemistry A level grade was too low.
A good friend of mine has all As at GCSE, a First in maths from Oxford and a PHD but had AAAC at A level. Thankfully the other 3 As meant he got his Oxford place despite the C in chemistry.

I have an A level in Chemistry. It is a very difficult A level

One of mine got a 7 in Chemistry recently and decided it was a possible A level choice. We spoke to the head of Chemistry who said that with a 7, statistics predicted a D/E as the most likely outcome. He did say that people can of course do better than the prediction but there are also always people who assume they'll outperform it but don't.

I also agree with a PP that a completely unconnected set of A levels is not usually a good idea. Two and a random one is much better - or of course three with some sort of link.