Chemistry

National 5 Chemistry covers Chemical Changes and Structure, Nature's Chemistry, and Chemistry in Society, assessed by an SQA exam plus a 20-mark assignment based on the pupil's own research and experimental work.

The course is calculation-heavy by Scottish standards: mole calculations, concentration, percentage mass, energy changes and titration all appear. Alongside these, pupils cover bonding, the periodic table, acids and bases, homologous series, metals, plastics and fertilisers.

Formula writing and mole calculations are where grades are made or lost. Structured, repeated practice with feedback on setting out working is the intervention that reliably helps.