OxfordAQA International GCSE Chemistry Tutors Online

OxfordAQA International GCSE Chemistry is specification 9202. This page works from the current specification, version 6.2, which covers exams from May/June 2018 onwards.

The qualification is linear. There are two question papers, and both must be taken in the same examination series.

Paper 1 is a written exam of 1 hour 30 minutes carrying 90 marks. Paper 2 is a written exam of 1 hour 30 minutes carrying 90 marks. The assessments are equally weighted, the total mark is 180, and both papers use structured and open questions.

On both papers, content from any part of the specification may be assessed. There is no topic split. Paper 1 does not test the first half of the course and Paper 2 does not test the second half.

What differs is the skill weighting. OxfordAQA publishes the four assessment objectives with a separate percentage for each paper, and the two columns are not the same.

The four objectives are AO1 knowledge and understanding of scientific principles, AO2 application in familiar and novel contexts, AO3 describing analysing interpreting and evaluating scientific information presented in different forms, and AO4 selecting describing and evaluating scientific procedures.

On Paper 1 the weighting is AO1 at 20 per cent, AO2 at 20 per cent, AO3 at 7 per cent and AO4 at 3 per cent.

On Paper 2 the weighting is AO1 at 10 per cent, AO2 at 20 per cent, AO3 at 13 per cent and AO4 at 7 per cent.

Overall the weightings are AO1 at 30 per cent, AO2 at 40 per cent, AO3 at 20 per cent and AO4 at 10 per cent.

So Paper 1 carries twice as much recall and Paper 2 carries nearly twice as much data work. The Biology specification prints an identical table, so a student taking both sciences meets the same assessment model twice.

The subject content is organised into ten sections, and the names are worth knowing because they describe the shape of the whole course.

The first is Atomic structure and the periodic table, covering solids liquids and gases, a simple model of the atom, and the Periodic Table.

The second is Structure, bonding and the properties of matter, covering chemical bonds ionic covalent and metallic, how bonding and structure relate to the properties of matter, the structure and bonding of carbon, and nanoparticles.

The third is Chemical changes, covering metals with the reactivity series and metal carbonates, and electrolysis.

The fourth is Chemical analysis, covering purity and chromatography, identification of common gases, and identification of ions.

The fifth is Acids, bases and salts, covering the properties of acids and bases, and the preparation of salts.

The sixth is Quantitative chemistry, covering conservation of mass including the quantitative interpretation of chemical equations, the use of amount of substance in relation to masses of pure substances, the mole concept, and molar concentrations.

The seventh is Trends within the periodic table, covering group properties and transition metals.

The eighth is The rate and extent of chemical change, covering rate of reaction, factors affecting equilibrium, the production of ammonia and sulfuric acid, and redox reactions.

The ninth is Energy changes, covering exothermic and endothermic reactions, calculating and explaining energy change, and chemical cells and fuel cells.

The tenth is Organic chemistry, covering carbon compounds as fuels through crude oil hydrocarbons and obtaining useful substances from crude oil, synthetic and naturally occurring polymers, and organic compounds their structure and reactions through alcohols carboxylic acids and esters.

Ten sections is a lot of surface, and the quantitative chemistry section is where the mathematics concentrates. The mole concept, molar concentrations and the use of amount of substance in relation to masses are the three topics that decide whether a student can do the calculation questions on either paper.

There is a layer of content that belongs to Chemistry alone. Most of the subject content is common with and co-teachable with OxfordAQA International GCSE Combined Science 9204, and content that is only applicable to chemistry is marked with a C, either next to the topic heading or immediately before each statement.

Eight whole topics carry that mark: nanoparticles, identification of common gases, transition metals, factors affecting equilibrium, the production of ammonia and sulfuric acid, redox reactions, chemical cells and fuel cells, and esters.

That list is a useful revision tool in itself. A student taking Combined Science never meets those eight. A student taking Chemistry 9202 will be examined on all of them.

The specification also prints its required practicals, and in Chemistry each of them is a measurement rather than a description.

The first is an investigation into the products at the anode and cathode in the electrolysis of copper sulfate solution, under chemical changes.

The second is identifying the metal ion in an unknown compound using flame testing techniques, under identification of ions.

The third is establishing the concentration of an unknown strong acid through titration with a strong base, under molar concentrations.

The fourth is an investigation into the factors affecting the rate of a reaction.

The fifth is a test for the presence of a double bond in an unknown hydrocarbon, under obtaining useful substances from crude oil.

Three of those practicals turn on an observation: what forms at each electrode, what colour the flame goes, and whether the solution decolourises. The other two are investigations where a variable is changed and something is measured. The specification's own grid makes that difference visible.

That grid shows designing a practical procedure ticked for all but the alkene test, and controlling variables ticked only for the titration and the rates investigation. Risk assessment, collecting data, analysing data and making conclusions are ticked against every practical in the table.

The two that develop control are the titration and the rates investigation, which is exactly what a student should expect, because those are the two where a variable is deliberately changed.

There is one administrative permission that surprises students arriving from another board. The specification states that students are permitted to use calculators in all assessments.

It also expects units to be used appropriately, while noting that not all questions reward the appropriate use of units. So a missing unit is not always punished, and a correct unit is not always credited.

The mathematical requirements are listed as skills rather than as a checklist for each paper. The specification says assessments reflect those requirements across the full range over a reasonable period of time.

The grading scale is the nine point one. The qualification is graded 1 to 9, with 9 the best grade, and a student who does not reach the minimum standard for grade 1 is recorded as U and receives no certificate.

Exams are available in May/June and in November.

Resits are whole qualification only. The specification describes itself as a traditional linear specification and states that individual components cannot be re-sat, though a candidate may re-take the whole qualification as many times as they wish.

There are no previous learning requirements, and any entry requirement is at the discretion of the school.

Two overlap statements matter to a school. The specification overlaps with AQA UK GCSE Chemistry 8462, and it overlaps with OxfordAQA International GCSE Combined Science 9204.

Entry for Chemistry 9202 and Combined Science 9204 in the same series is not permitted, so a student must choose between the separate science and the combined route.

The specification also sets out how science as a discipline develops, alongside the subject content and the practices of science. That third dimension is where questions about evidence, and about different conclusions being drawn from the same evidence, come from.