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EXAMINER TIPS for AS and A Level Chemistry 9701
- Thread starter AlyHamza
- Start date
General Advice
• Read the question carefully. Yes, we know you’ve been told this before, but it is still a
common issue. Misreading a question costs you marks if you could have answered the
question that was there.
• Don’t concentrate your revising on “difficult” material if it means you leave out the “easier”
material. There will be many easier marks on each paper, so make sure you score them all.
For example, learn all the definitions you have been taught, such as first ionisation energy
and standard electrode potential.
• There will be harder questions on the paper. Some of these could involve elements or
compounds you may not have studied. Don’t give up on these questions! If you know your
chemistry you will be able to score all the marks by applying what you know to these
substances.
• Write clearly. If your answer to a question is “alkene” the person marking your papers must
be able to be certain that you have written “alkene”: if it looks at all like “alkane” you will not
get the mark.
• Write numbers clearly. If your answer to a question is “0.46 moles” make sure the numbers
are clear: if it looks like you might have written “0.96 moles” or “0.40 moles” you will not get
the mark.
• If you have to make a correction, cross out what you have written and write down your new
answer clearly in an available space. Don’t try to write over the top of your previous answer,
or fit the new answer into the space between lines of writing. Make sure you identify your new
answer clearly, e.g. “continuation of Q4 (b)”.
• On papers that give scope for longer answers, look at how many marks are available for each
part of the question. For example, if part (a) has one mark and part (b) has two marks, then a
single statement might be sufficient for part (a) but it won’t be for part (b).
• Look out in part (b) for the possibility of writing a statement and an explanation.
• Read the question carefully. Yes, we know you’ve been told this before, but it is still a
common issue. Misreading a question costs you marks if you could have answered the
question that was there.
• Don’t concentrate your revising on “difficult” material if it means you leave out the “easier”
material. There will be many easier marks on each paper, so make sure you score them all.
For example, learn all the definitions you have been taught, such as first ionisation energy
and standard electrode potential.
• There will be harder questions on the paper. Some of these could involve elements or
compounds you may not have studied. Don’t give up on these questions! If you know your
chemistry you will be able to score all the marks by applying what you know to these
substances.
• Write clearly. If your answer to a question is “alkene” the person marking your papers must
be able to be certain that you have written “alkene”: if it looks at all like “alkane” you will not
get the mark.
• Write numbers clearly. If your answer to a question is “0.46 moles” make sure the numbers
are clear: if it looks like you might have written “0.96 moles” or “0.40 moles” you will not get
the mark.
• If you have to make a correction, cross out what you have written and write down your new
answer clearly in an available space. Don’t try to write over the top of your previous answer,
or fit the new answer into the space between lines of writing. Make sure you identify your new
answer clearly, e.g. “continuation of Q4 (b)”.
• On papers that give scope for longer answers, look at how many marks are available for each
part of the question. For example, if part (a) has one mark and part (b) has two marks, then a
single statement might be sufficient for part (a) but it won’t be for part (b).
• Look out in part (b) for the possibility of writing a statement and an explanation.
General Tips
• You are going to take several chemistry exam papers lasting a total of many hours. These
papers will cover the whole syllabus very thoroughly. If you don’t know something, find it out
and learn it.
• Method marks contribute a lot to your total on many papers. Write out each step of your
method! This is very important when you find you are unable to work all the way through a
longer question to the final answer. Don’t give up on it, or leave blanks. You may be able to
score the majority of the marks. Examples of this situation include:
o At the end of a four-mark calculation on gas volume you get an answer you know is
wrong, e.g. you work out that 45,000 dm3 of gas are released from a test tube reaction! If
you write out your method in full you may still score three marks if you have only made
one mistake. Even if you only score one mark it might be important.
o You are answering a five-mark organic question in which you have to use information
from the question to deduce the full structural formula of a compound.
• You find you cannot produce a structure that fits all the information. Answer the question
anyway, stating in full what your deductions are from each separate piece of information in
the question. Many answers like this can still score four or five marks, even without the final
structure.
• Don’t cross out an answer, or part of an answer, simply because you are unsatisfied with it. If
you are changing an answer or part of an answer, only cross out your first answer if it
contradicts your new answer, e.g. in a question about “sodium chloride dissolving in water”
you might have started by saying that “sodium chloride is a covalent compound”. If you then
want to change this to “sodium chloride is an ionic compound”, you must cross out your first
answer because these two answers contradict each other. However, if you begin your answer
by saying that “sodium chloride dissolves in water to give a solution of pH 7”, and then you
decide this is not relevant, don’t cross it out. It may score you marks.
• Round off calculations to the correct number of significant figures at the end of the
calculation. Do not round off after each step of the calculation. If you do this, rounding errors
can add together so that your final answer is not close enough to the correct answer.
• Be prepared to guess intelligently. For example, a question says that “when silver nitrate
solution is added to an unknown solution a yellow precipitate forms”. If you know that this
means that either bromide or iodide ions are present, but you can’t remember which, you
have nothing to lose if you guess. If you leave the answer blank, you get no mark. If you
guess wrongly, you get no mark. If you guess correctly, you score a mark.
• If a question asks you about an inorganic compound you are not familiar with, look at your
periodic table. You may be able to answer the question by applying your knowledge of other
elements in the same group. If, for example, you get a question about the shape or acid/base
behaviour of phosphine (PH3), think of what you know about ammonia (NH3).
• If a question asks you about an organic compound you are not familiar with, look at the
functional groups in the compound. You may be able to answer the question by applying your
knowledge of how these functional groups behave. If, for example, you get a question about
an organic compound with an aldehyde (-CHO) group, think of what you know about ethanal
(CH3CHO).
• You are going to take several chemistry exam papers lasting a total of many hours. These
papers will cover the whole syllabus very thoroughly. If you don’t know something, find it out
and learn it.
• Method marks contribute a lot to your total on many papers. Write out each step of your
method! This is very important when you find you are unable to work all the way through a
longer question to the final answer. Don’t give up on it, or leave blanks. You may be able to
score the majority of the marks. Examples of this situation include:
o At the end of a four-mark calculation on gas volume you get an answer you know is
wrong, e.g. you work out that 45,000 dm3 of gas are released from a test tube reaction! If
you write out your method in full you may still score three marks if you have only made
one mistake. Even if you only score one mark it might be important.
o You are answering a five-mark organic question in which you have to use information
from the question to deduce the full structural formula of a compound.
• You find you cannot produce a structure that fits all the information. Answer the question
anyway, stating in full what your deductions are from each separate piece of information in
the question. Many answers like this can still score four or five marks, even without the final
structure.
• Don’t cross out an answer, or part of an answer, simply because you are unsatisfied with it. If
you are changing an answer or part of an answer, only cross out your first answer if it
contradicts your new answer, e.g. in a question about “sodium chloride dissolving in water”
you might have started by saying that “sodium chloride is a covalent compound”. If you then
want to change this to “sodium chloride is an ionic compound”, you must cross out your first
answer because these two answers contradict each other. However, if you begin your answer
by saying that “sodium chloride dissolves in water to give a solution of pH 7”, and then you
decide this is not relevant, don’t cross it out. It may score you marks.
• Round off calculations to the correct number of significant figures at the end of the
calculation. Do not round off after each step of the calculation. If you do this, rounding errors
can add together so that your final answer is not close enough to the correct answer.
• Be prepared to guess intelligently. For example, a question says that “when silver nitrate
solution is added to an unknown solution a yellow precipitate forms”. If you know that this
means that either bromide or iodide ions are present, but you can’t remember which, you
have nothing to lose if you guess. If you leave the answer blank, you get no mark. If you
guess wrongly, you get no mark. If you guess correctly, you score a mark.
• If a question asks you about an inorganic compound you are not familiar with, look at your
periodic table. You may be able to answer the question by applying your knowledge of other
elements in the same group. If, for example, you get a question about the shape or acid/base
behaviour of phosphine (PH3), think of what you know about ammonia (NH3).
• If a question asks you about an organic compound you are not familiar with, look at the
functional groups in the compound. You may be able to answer the question by applying your
knowledge of how these functional groups behave. If, for example, you get a question about
an organic compound with an aldehyde (-CHO) group, think of what you know about ethanal
(CH3CHO).
Paper 1 Tips: Multiple Choice
• Answer every question.
• If you are not sure about an answer, make a note of the question number on the front of your
question paper. Go back to this question first if you have time at the end of the exam.
• Questions 1-30 have four answers. If you cannot spot the correct answer with certainty, mark
each answer with a tick, a question mark, or a cross. Use this to decide which of the four
answers is the best answer.
• Some questions will state a fact, and then ask for an explanation of the fact. Beware of
answers that are true but do not answer the question, e.g. a question says, “explain why MgO
has a higher melting point than NaCl” and one of the possible answers states, “MgO has a
giant ionic structure”. This is true, but it does not answer the question as NaCl also has a
giant ionic structure.
• Questions 31-40 have three statements. To answer these questions you have to decide
whether each statement is true or not. When you have decided whether or not the first
statement is true, put a tick or cross by it. Do the same for the second and third statements.
This way you don’t have to remember your earlier decisions while looking at later statements.
• If a question involves a calculation write out your method. This will save you time if you have
to check your answer.
• Answer every question.
• If you are not sure about an answer, make a note of the question number on the front of your
question paper. Go back to this question first if you have time at the end of the exam.
• Questions 1-30 have four answers. If you cannot spot the correct answer with certainty, mark
each answer with a tick, a question mark, or a cross. Use this to decide which of the four
answers is the best answer.
• Some questions will state a fact, and then ask for an explanation of the fact. Beware of
answers that are true but do not answer the question, e.g. a question says, “explain why MgO
has a higher melting point than NaCl” and one of the possible answers states, “MgO has a
giant ionic structure”. This is true, but it does not answer the question as NaCl also has a
giant ionic structure.
• Questions 31-40 have three statements. To answer these questions you have to decide
whether each statement is true or not. When you have decided whether or not the first
statement is true, put a tick or cross by it. Do the same for the second and third statements.
This way you don’t have to remember your earlier decisions while looking at later statements.
• If a question involves a calculation write out your method. This will save you time if you have
to check your answer.
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this should be read by evryone 
XPFMember
XPRS Moderator
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*bump*
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Thank you