Yomi BlackChemistry is examined at international depth, with syllabuses written to be taught over two years and examined in components. That is the sentence to hold onto, because the same subject examined by a different body at a different depth needs a different plan, and candidates who carry preparation across from one to the other lose marks they did not need to lose.
- Subject
- Chemistry
- Examined by
- Cambridge
- Format here
- Multiple components per subject, with practicals examined as separate papers in the sciences
- Depth
- International depth, with syllabuses written to be taught over two years and examined in components
- What the grade does
- A grade read by admissions officers worldwide without translation
- Papers
- Objective, essay, and a practical or alternative to practical.
- Required for
- Medicine, pharmacy, chemical engineering, biochemistry, agriculture, nursing and the physical sciences
How Cambridge examines this subject
The format is multiple components per subject, with practicals examined as separate papers in the sciences, and it is marked against published assessment objectives, with grade thresholds set after each series.
This is the certificate you sit when the destination is outside Nigeria, and the portability is what you are paying for.
What the subject covers
Use these topic areas as the frame for your own checklist, then verify the detail against the syllabus Cambridge publishes itself, because depth and emphasis shift between curriculum cycles even when the headings do not.
- Separation of mixtures and purification.
- Atomic structure and bonding.
- The periodic table and periodicity.
- Stoichiometry and the mole concept.
- States of matter and gas laws.
- Energetics, rates and equilibrium.
- Acids, bases and salts.
- Oxidation and reduction, electrolysis.
- Organic chemistry.
- Metals, non-metals and their compounds.
The paper structure, and how to weight your time
Objective, essay, and a practical or alternative to practical.
Split your preparation roughly in the proportion the components are weighted. Candidates habitually over-prepare the part they enjoy and meet the other part for the first time in the hall.
What makes it hard
The mole concept sits underneath most of the calculation marks, and a candidate who has not internalised it loses across the whole paper rather than in one topic.
Set that against how this examination works. The syllabus assumes teaching most Nigerian schools do not provide, particularly in the sciences, which is why entering privately is difficult here.
Where marks are lost in this subject
- Reporting titration values to the wrong number of decimal places.
- Balancing equations carelessly, which cascades through every calculation that follows.
- Ignoring the concordant-titres convention in the practical and averaging everything.
Do the stoichiometry until it is automatic. Every other calculation topic in the subject stands on it.
Turning it into a plan
- Get the current syllabus from Cambridge and check the year range on the cover.
- Write one line per topic area, with a box beside it.
- Work a past paper in this examination’s format, multiple components per subject, and tag every question back to a line.
- Mark the lines your teaching has never covered. Those are the priority.
- Re-weight towards the component carrying the most marks. Two series a year, June and November, with a formal enquiry-about-results process afterwards.
What a good grade here is worth
In this examination the grade is a grade read by admissions officers worldwide without translation. Chemistry is required for medicine, pharmacy, chemical engineering, biochemistry, agriculture, nursing and the physical sciences, and course requirements are checked subject by subject, so a strong overall result with a weak grade here is a disqualification for the course that names it rather than a near miss.
What people ask about Chemistry
What makes it hard?
The mole concept sits underneath most of the calculation marks, and a candidate who has not internalised it loses across the whole paper rather than in one topic.
What is the most common way candidates lose marks?
Reporting titration values to the wrong number of decimal places.
Where do I get the official syllabus?
From Cambridge, on its own site, free. Check the year range on the cover before you use it.
Has the syllabus changed?
Syllabuses are revised on published cycles and old ones stay online after they expire. If the copy you are holding has no year range, you do not know what you are holding.
How do I turn it into revision?
One line per topic area with a box beside it, then tick the lines off against past papers rather than against your notes. The lines that stay blank are the finding.
Is Chemistry compulsory?
No. It is a science subject, chosen as one of your electives, and you should choose it because a course you want names it.
What is it required for?
Medicine, pharmacy, chemical engineering, biochemistry, agriculture, nursing and the physical sciences.
How many papers are there?
Objective, essay, and a practical or alternative to practical.
Sources
- Cambridge Assessment International Education. www.cambridgeinternational.org