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Chemistry

Imagine a world without anaesthetics, detergents, dyes for fabrics, anti-oxidants in jams and fruit squashes, bleaches, fuels.  All this is unthinkable and undesirable in equal measure.  At David Game College, our approach to the teaching of Chemistry is to present it is a dynamic, exciting and intellectually stimulating subject, whilst at all times paying full attention to the demands of the relevant examination specifications.  Attention to detail and academic rigour have become by-words for these courses.

Students study Chemistry to Advanced Level at David Game College in order to gain entry to careers in Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and many other fields not involving Chemistry directly but in which students benefit from having been exposed to the intellectual discipline and logic of the subject.

Our teaching style attempts to combine the best aspects of traditional and modern approaches; for example, our A level one-year intensive courses are enhanced by numerous teacher demonstrations which are in addition to the hands-on practical work which is undertaken by the student.

The Head of Chemistry (Mr Michael Kahn) has over 30 years’ experience of teaching A level

Chemistry using the specifications set by Edexcel and its predecessors and for many years he set multiple choice questions for Edexcel A level Chemistry; he keeps his interest in the subject

up to date as a member of the Royal Institution of Great Britain.  Mr Norman Luff has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry for 50 years, and has for many years organised the programme of practical work for our A level students with outstanding success.

Our Chemistry team make the maximum possible use of past paper questions as the basis for worked examples, regular written homework assignments and, most important of all, timed tests which are staged every two to three works.  In addition, full scale trial examinations are set at the appropriate times of the academic year.

Chemistry team

  • Mr M L Kahn, MA (Oxon), PGCE (Sussex), MRI
  • Dr P Stanley, MSc, PhD (London), CBiol
  • Mrs C Jones, BSc (London), PGCE
  • Mr N Luff

Specifications followed at David Game College:

AS/A level

Edexcel Chemistry 9CH01, which has the following examination structure:

Unit 1 (6CH01) Written AS paper (1 hour 30 minutes, 20% of the total A level marks) covering atomic structure, mole calculations, thermochemistry, hydrocarbons, isomerism.

Unit 2 (6CH02) Written AS paper (1 hour 30 minutes, 20% of the total A level marks) covering Groups 2 and 7, qualitative kinetics and equilibria, organic reaction mechanisms, halogenolakanes and alcohols, green chemistry, molecular shapes, mass and IR spectroscopy.

Unit 3 (6CH03) Teacher assessed AS practical coursework (10% of the total A level marks).

Unit 4 (6CH04) Written A2 paper (1 hour 40 minutes, 20% of the total A level marks) covering quantitative kinetics and equilibria, entropy, acid-base equilibria and pH, NMR spectroscopy, carbonyl compounds, carboxylic acids and derivatives, chirality, further organic mechanisms.

Unit 5 (6CH05) Written A2 paper (1 hour 40 minutes, 20% of the total A level marks) covering standard electrode potentials, fuel cells, d-block elements, benzene and derivatives, organic nitrogen chemistry, organic synthesis.

Unit 6 (6CH06) Teacher assessed A2 practical coursework (10% of the total A level marks.