You will notice the common patterns of questions! There are lots of key details that the exam board expects you to be aware of, such as the characteristics of metallic compounds. Be sure to spend adequate time consulting the mark scheme, which will help you to identify those points that will be accepted and rejected.

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Those students that are aware of the subtleties in the mark scheme will score much more highly than those that aren’t.

Not being confident in tackling the mathematical questions can drop you lots of marks. Mole calculations form a large part of the specification and can be quite challenging to understand in the beginning, but it’s that moment when it clicks that will increase your confidence. Keep putting the effort in! Don’t neglect bond energy, titration and Rf value calculations as well.

There are lots of examples where you will be penalised for not doing this. As an example, be sure to differentiate between an ion and atom, which cannot be used interchangeably. In addition, it is vital that you are confident in knowing when to use either weak intermolecular forces or strong covalent bonds in reference to respective covalent compounds.