Outlined below are the tasks which you ought to be completing if you are to succeed at A level. Remember, if you are taking A level seriously, the work is never over - there will always be something extra still to be done.

Things you should be doing on a weekly basis

• writing up practical work whether told to or not! This includes the experiment, a full set of results and ensuring that all questions related to the practical have been answered and balanced equations put in where appropriate including state symbols.
  All practical work will be introduced for you before you start and discussed with you at the end - pay attention and ask any relevant questions before you leave to write the work up

• homework will usually take the form of an experimental write up each week and a set of questions relating to the theory work in hand. You must ensure that you meet the deadlines set except in exceptional circumstances. This is a chance to learn your chemistry and to organise yourself. Look at the homework well in advance of the deadline for handing it in so that if you need to clarify some points you can ask beforehand and therefore be able to complete the work yourself. Do not delude yourself that all is well by simply using somebody else's work to copy from - you will do yourself no favours and the error of your ways will be all too obvious when the results of tests and exam modules are analysed

Things you should do on a rolling basis

• look through the notes made in class and ensure that you are happy about your understanding of any concepts involved

• use the I.C.T. suite to access the software available for chemistry - there is quite a lot - and look at the Chemistry Website for L.G.S. which has a list of numerous sites of interest and relevance to your course

• if necessary, expand your class notes using a text book. You must keep up to date with this. Building up a serious backlog is far easier than you think

• read through the appropriate part of the specification that is to be found in your Sixth Form Chemistry Handbook, ticking topics off as they are covered and keeping a check that everything is covered to your satisfaction

• look at questions at the ends of chapters in text books and practise your answer technique against the answers given. You will be given guidance at various times during the course with respect to revision and study skills and also you will use questions from past papers and be able to compare your answers to the model ones supplied

• do ask questions in class. Advanced Level study is supposed to be an active learning process. We assume that you have chosen chemistry because you like it and are interested in it! Lessons will be interesting and challenging if you are prepared to participate in them. Given the nature of the examination papers, which test understanding and the application of knowledge to unfamiliar examples, this business of stretching yourself beyond the confines of the syllabus will pay enormous dividends later on.

Always remember that the A level is a two year course, with no time off. At the start you may be shocked by how much more challenging it is compared to GCSE - however, that should be to the liking of any genuine A level student. You will be sitting public examinations at the end of the Lower Sixth year, in addition to January and June of the Upper Sixth. Predictions for UCAS are based essentially on your performance in the first Units sat in the June of the Lower Sixth. Whatever we may predict ourselves, the results cannot be argued with. With this in mind, revision should be an ongoing activity. The volume of material covered and the rate at which it is covered is such that you cannot afford to make revision a last minute activity.

If all goes well, A Level Chemistry should be challenging, stimulating, rewarding ...
... and enjoyable.