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Chemistry Comeback Challenge (Year 12 to Year 13 Transition)

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About Course

If you’re about to start Year 13 A-Level Chemistry, there’s a good chance your memory of Year 12 topics feels a little… patchy. This is true even at the end of the year – too often, students cram for mocks or end of term exams and then quickly forget everything in a matter of weeks.

Every year as a tutor and teacher, I see the same pattern repeat – students assume that because they got a reasonable grade for their Year 12 mocks, they should find Year 13 a breeze. Unfortunately, most students seriously underestimate how much they’ve forgotten and how important those foundations for the year ahead.

That’s why I’ve put together a little something to get Year 13 off to a great start!

What is the Chemistry Comeback Challenge?

It’s a structured, online mini-course where each section tackles one of the key areas of Year 12 chemistry:

  • Module 1: Inorganic Chemistry
  • Module 2: Physical Chemistry
  • Module 3: Calculations
  • Module 4: Organic Chemistry
  • Module 5: Practical Techniques
  • Bonus Module: revision techniques and advice for Year 13 A Level chemistry

Each module includes:

  • A recap quiz to check what you remember
  • A revision activity designed to strengthen retrieval
  • An exam practice question to apply knowledge
  • A ‘spot the errors’ challenge – to sharpen your exam technique and avoid common mistakes

It’s not just a set of videos to watch passively – you’ll be actively engaging with the material, testing yourself, and identifying what you need to revisit before Year 13 begins.

Why take part?

  • Consistency matters. By committing to completing this course, you’ll get back into good study habits before term even starts
  • Confidence boost. You’ll head into Year 13 with a stronger grasp of Year 12 material, ready to build on it. Even if you get things wrong, the important thing is you will KNOW what it is you don’t know 
  • Exam technique. Activities like “spot the errors” make you think like an examiner and avoid the mistakes that cost marks
  • It’s free! All materials are online, with answers and video walkthroughs to guide you through.
  • Complete in your own time. There’s no time limit on this course and you can choose how you work through it. You could tackle one module each week, or leave it all until the last week of the holiday (or even the first week of term, if you’re a bit of a procrastinator )
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Course Content

Before you Start
The Chemistry Comeback Challenge is split into 5 modules - Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Calculations and Practical Techniques. For the next 5 modules you can work through at your own pace, although I recommend one per day if you want to keep up momentum. So that you make the most of the course, you need to complete the intro video and tracker lessons before you can move on to the rest.

  • Introduction and how to use this course
  • Chemistry Comeback Tracker
  • Live session 2nd September: Mastering A Level Chemistry
  • Recording: Mastering A Level Chemistry
    00:00
  • More resources for A Level Chemistry

Inorganic Chemistry
The main inorganic chemistry covered in Year 12 includes the following topics: - Atomic structure and electron configuration* - Ionisation energy and periodicity - Bonding and structure* - Shapes of molecules and intermolecular forces* - Reactions of Group 2 and Group 7 - Redox and acid-base reactions* *Some exam boards, especially AQA, group these topics under 'Physical Chemistry'. Since this course is suitable for students taking any exam board, I've put these topics here to help each module be more evenly 'balanced' in amount of content.

Physical Chemistry
The main physical chemistry covered in Year 12 includes the following topics: - Amount of substance - Enthalpy changes - Kinetics (reaction rates) - Equilibria (Le Chatelier's principle and Kc). For this module I've focused on enthalpy changes and Hess's Law, as it's such a tricky topic (plus, a lot of students don't really cover kinetics/equilibria until they do the Year 13 topics anyway). Calculations/amount of substance is covered in the next module.

Calculations (Quantitative Chemistry)
I've given this its own section, even though technically 'amount of substance' is only a single A Level topic. This is because it's a topic I get asked for help with A LOT, and it's something that runs through the whole Year 13 course. The topics covered include: - Chemical reactions and types of equation - Writing ionic equations and half equations - Titrations and back titrations - Gas volume calculations

Organic Chemistry
The main organic chemistry covered in Year 12 includes the following topics: - Introduction/organic basics (isomerism, naming compounds, functional groups and mechanisms) - Alkanes - Alkenes - Haloalkanes - Alcohols - Analytical techniques (IR/mass spec/tests for compounds)

Practical Chemistry
There are some core practical techniques and experiments that you should be familiar with by the time you finish Year 12, including: - Titrations - Making standard solutions - Measuring enthalpy changes - Investigating rate of reaction - Testing for ions - Testing for organic functional groups - Reflux and distillation

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Olivia Cheetham
2 weeks ago
Videos perfectly explained concepts allowing me to create better answers to the following exam questions