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Chemistry

Chemistry impacts on all facets of our lives. An understanding of chemistry is integral to all other sciences from astronomy to zoology. All of the materials used by engineers and technologists are created through chemical reactions and we all experience chemical reactions continuously, whether it be breathing or baking a cake, driving a car or listening to a battery-driven minidisk player. Chemistry is concerned with all aspects of molecules, their physical and chemical properties, their composition and structure, their synthesis and use in the 21st century.

Chemistry provides an excellent basis for a wide career choice within science, industry or commerce. A chemist is numerate, analytical, and practical and has good problem-solving, presentation and communication skills.

GCSE

At GCSE level, science is a core subject and, as such, we follow the AQA syllabus. We offer separate GCSE chemistry, as well as the chemistry strands of core science and additional science.

Rocks, oils, earth and atmosphere are covered within the core syllabus. Additional topics include sub-atomic particles, properties of substances, rates of reaction and ions. As part of the separate GCSE chemistry, periodic tables, acids and alkalis, water, reaction kinetics and chemical analysis are also covered.

AS and A-level

At AS and A2, we follow the Salter's syllabus. This means at AS we cover chemistry for life, chemistry of natural resources and practical skills for chemistry. At A2 we include chemistry of materials, chemistry by design and individual investigation work.