Edexcel A-Level Chemistry answers, written to the spec
3 topics · specification 9CH0 · explanations and examiner marking in Edexcel’s own language
Studying Edexcel A-Level Chemistry? Pick your board once and every answer, mark and flashcard elid gives you follows that specification. Free to start, no card needed. Open elid →
This is the full Edexcel A-Level Chemistry specification, code 9CH0, as elid holds it — 3 topics, each with the terminology Edexcel marks against. Every explanation and every mark elid gives you is written against this list, not a generic A-level one, because the same question answered in AQA, CAIE or OCR language loses marks it should have earned.
The Edexcel A-Level Chemistry specification, topic by topic
Advanced Inorganic and Physical Chemistry
Assessed in Paper 1
Atomic structure and the periodic table, bonding and structure, redox I and II, inorganic chemistry and the periodic table, formulae, equations and amounts of substance, energetics I (enthalpy, Hess's law, mean bond enthalpy) and II (lattice energy, Born-Haber cycle, entropy, Gibbs free energy), equilibrium I (Kc, Le Chatelier's) and II (Kp), acid-base equilibria (pH, Ka, Kw, pKa, buffers, titration curves), transition metals (complexes, ligand substitution, coloured ions, catalysis).
Specification terms elid matches
atomic structure
electron configuration
electronegativity
ionic bonding
covalent bonding
intermolecular forces
redox
oxidation number
moles
ideal gas equation
enthalpy change
Hess's law
mean bond enthalpy
lattice energy
Advanced Organic and Physical Chemistry
Assessed in Paper 2
Organic chemistry I (alkanes, alkenes, halogenoalkanes, alcohols), II (aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids and derivatives, esters, amides), III (aromatic chemistry, amines, amino acids, polymers), modern analytical techniques I and II (mass spectrometry, infrared, NMR spectroscopy), kinetics I (rate, activation energy, Maxwell-Boltzmann) and II (rate equations, orders of reaction, rate-determining step, Arrhenius equation), organic synthesis and mechanisms.
Specification terms elid matches
alkane
alkene
halogenoalkane
alcohol
aldehyde
ketone
carboxylic acid
ester
aromatic chemistry
benzene
amine
amide
amino acid
polymer
General and Practical Principles in Chemistry
Assessed in Paper 3
Synoptic assessment across the entire specification, including all 16 Core Practicals and broader practical principles (percentage yield, atom economy, uncertainty analysis, hazard awareness).
Specification terms elid matches
molar volume of a gas
preparation of a standard solution
acid-base titration
rate of reaction by colorimetry
finding activation energy
enthalpy change of combustion
enthalpy change by Hess's law
electrochemical cell measurement
finding Ka of a weak acid
preparation of an ester
preparation of a haloalkane
reduction of a carbonyl compound
transition metal complex preparation
identifying ions in solution
How the papers are weighted
elid uses these weightings when it decides which topics deserve your revision time first.
Paper
Share of the qualification
Paper 1
35%
Paper 2
35%
Paper 3
30%
Marked the way Edexcel marks it
Paste an answer you have written and elid marks it point by point against the Edexcel scheme: which marking points you hit, which you missed, and the sentence that would have earned each missing one. It is the difference between being told an answer is “good” and being told exactly where the marks went.
Ready to try it on your own question? Pick your board once and every answer, mark and flashcard elid gives you follows that specification. Free to start, no card needed. Open elid →