ABOUT THIS COURSE

This course is aimed at teachers of who are looking to maximise the potential of all their students in the upcoming AQA A-Level Chemistry 2023 exams.

The course focuses on final preparations, questions, question types, fine-tuning responses, revision techniques and tactics, the grade descriptors of those top-level grade bands. This will include strategies to help students apply their knowledge and understanding when answering exam questions, identify key information in the question stem and write concise answers using appropriate scientific terminology. This is an advanced, intense course for teachers of AQA A-Level Chemistry; the focus is on the key challenge areas for students.

Teachers will take away strategies and methods to stretch, challenge and motivate students of all ability ranges, supporting them through a range of questions ready for their exams. In particular the course will hone-in on the most challenging areas, what students need to do to ensure their projected grades don’t slip down, and what, and how they must demonstrate to examiners to achieve high marks.

BENEFITS OF ATTENDING

• Provide teachers of A-Level Chemistry with strategies to maximise the success of all their students in the Summer 2023 exams.
• Take away a range of techniques, approaches and materials that can be readily used in teaching to help students to demonstrate and apply their knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, processes, techniques and procedures
• Confidence to assess and provide constructive feedback to stretch students and enable high exam performance. To ensure that students can apply knowledge and understanding of scientific processes, techniques and procedures in a practical context as well as being able to analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific information, ideas and evidence
• Provide a range of effective exam techniques to prepare students to access high grades by helping them to identify the relevant scientific terminology and detail that they need to use in their answers

PROGRAMME

Key Messages – Question Responses from 2022

• Feedback from the 2022 Summer Exams
• Key messages from the latest Examiner Reports, identifying main areas for improvement, such as misunderstanding of terms such as valid, repeatable, accurate etc.

Strategies to Prepare for the Key Challenges in Papers 1 and 2

• Addressing common pitfalls/students’ mistakes and techniques to help students tailor their answers to the question, using the correct scientific terminology.
• Strategies to use to help students interpret questions and plan responses that are relevant and sufficiently detailed
• Analysing what are examiners looking for in questions
• Exploring strategies to improve student performance.

What needs to be done to move a Grade B response to Grade A?

• Suggested feedback and strategies to help students identify what they need to do next.
• An opportunity [with feedback] to assess student responses to exam-type questions
• Strategies to strengthen student exam answers in the run up to the exam

Strategies to help Students Successfully answer Exam Questions in Paper 3

• An examination of the different types of questions testing and their requirements.
• Addressing common pitfalls/students’ mistakes. Helping student to use of ‘language of measurement’ terms correctly and teaching them to make their responses context specific.
• What are examiners looking for when students make judgements and reach conclusions?
• Exploring strategies to improve student performance when evaluating scientific information, ideas and evidence.

Accessing the Top Grades

• Strategies to employ to address key areas of difficulty in the 2023 exam
• Areas that bring students down – helping students to improve their communication skills to provide organised, concise and detailed responses using scientific terminology.
• How to stretch able students. What do A/A* students have to do to consolidate success?
• Exam techniques and revision tactics l Strategies for managing student wellbeing, stress and anxiety