This course is for you if you enjoy carrying out investigations by the application of imaginative, logical and critical thinking and want to use chemistry to support other qualifications or progress onto further studies. The course includes contemporary chemistry contexts such climate change, green chemistry, pharmaceuticals and chemistry research, and you will study aspects of chemistry that are often in the media. All A Level courses are delivered in partnership with the College of North West London. The courses will be delivered at the Islamic College for Advanced Studies in Kilburn while some practical aspects will be delivered at the College of North West London’s Willesden Centre. When you enrol, you will be a student of the College of North West London and this allows you access to a wide range of facilities and services.

The course is divided into three units: Unit 4: General Principles of Chemistry I – Rates, Equilibria and Further Organic Chemistry In this unit you make a quantitative study of chemical kinetics and take further your study of organic reaction mechanisms. The topics of entropy and equilibria show how chemists are able to predict quantitatively the direction and extent of chemical change. The organic chemistry in this unit covers carbonyl compounds, plus carboxylic acids and their derivatives. You are required to apply their knowledge gained in Units 1 and 2 to all aspects of this unit. This includes nomenclature, ideas of isomerism, bond polarity and bond enthalpy, reagents and reaction conditions, reaction types and mechanisms. Students are also expected to use formulae and balance equations and calculate chemical quantities. Unit 5: General Principles of Chemistry II – Transition Metals and Organic Nitrogen Chemistry In this unit the study of electrode potentials builds on the study of redox in Unit 2, including the concept of oxidation number and the use of redox half equations. You will study further chemistry related to redox and transition metals. The further organic chemistry section of this unit focuses on arenes and organic nitrogen compounds such as amines, amides, amino acids and proteins. You are expected to use the knowledge and understanding of organic chemistry that you have gained over the whole GCE in Chemistry when covering the organic synthesis section. This unit draws on all other units within the GCE in Chemistry and you are expected to use your prior knowledge when learning about these areas. You will again encounter ideas of isomerism, bond polarity and bond enthalpy, reagents and reaction conditions, reaction types and mechanisms. You are also expected to use formulae and balance equations and calculate chemical quantities. Unit 6: Chemistry Laboratory Skills II This unit contains practical assessments that cover the content of Units 4 and 5. The practical assessments cover the areas of physical, organic and inorganic chemistry. The types of practicals that you must complete are qualitative observations, quantitative measurements and preparations. There is the opportunity for you to undertake a multi-stage experiment, which includes the quantitative measurement and preparation in a longer assessment.