5 Revision Tips For Chemistry O level 

The GCE O level examination often causes many Secondary students sleepness nights and anxiety in the last few months leading up to the exam.

Here are 5 revisions tips and strategies from ex-students and teachers to score your As!

Tip 1 - Know the topics to be examined

The GCE ‘O’ Level Chemistry Examination tests students’ abilities on applying chemistry concepts to problems which also require deep knowledge of chemical definitions and formulas.

In fact, at least 70% - 80% of the marks are awarded towards questions on understanding and application of key chemistry concepts. The balance are for writing out facts and definitions.

This means a memorize and regurgitate strategy at the last minute would not work!

Topics you need to master:

+ Know the definitions and use of chemical formulae, units and symbols.

+ Knowledge of observation in experiments

+ Use chemical calculations to solve problems in chemical reactions, mole concepts etc

+ Plot and interpret diagrams and graphs

+ Solve questions relating to Qualitative Analysis

+ Write about economic, social, environmental aspects of chemical uses in industrial / medical areas

Based on the revised O-level syllabus, secondary school chemistry topics will include social and environmental issues relating to the use of chemicals, energy and chemical industries, the world’s finite resources and the use of chemistry in daily life.

By acquiring knowledge in chemistry, your child will be more informed about the technological world and improve his social knowledge in the use of chemistry

Tip 2 - Memorise the periodic table

This is a must!

All Secondary students must know how to use the Periodic Table.

The Periodic Table has plenty of information that can help students to solve questions across the entire paper.

Students can glean information such as mass number, period number etc from the periodic table directly, they can also deduce selective scientific information from these data points.


Tip 3 - Plan Your Timings

Understand what each question needs to be answered and the marks allocated, so you can plan your time around it.

Questions with “Outline”, “Describe”, “Define”, “State” are factual and need basic explanation of concepts, thus marks will tend to be lower.

If you are stuck and cannot recall, don’t waste time and move on!

Higher-end questions that require more detailed answers such as ‘Based on your observations…’ will have more marks allocated to it, so spend more time on these.

Tip 4 - Understand the Link Between Topics

For Chemistry Paper 2, there are questions that may require answers from 2 or more topics, thus students have to be well-versed in most of the topics and their key content.

Some of the main topics:

- Kinetic Particle Theory
- Chemical Equations
- Atomic Structure
- Mole Concept
- Energy Changes

Some of the possible combinations:

Periodic Table + Chemical Bonding or Metals/Salts
Separation Techniques + Elements, Compounds and Mixtures
Oxidation Reactions + Electrolysis
Chemical Bonding + Atomic Structure

Tip 5 - Hire an expert Chemistry tutor
 

If you notice that your child is struggling with topics such as atomic structure or covalent bonding, then it is time to get a reliable tutor to prepare for O level chem tuition / IP chemistry tuition / IB chemistry tuition and give your child a boost in scoring an A for Chemistry.