Physical, organic and inorganic Chemistry taught by a qualified teacher and practising examiner. All four exam boards, online across the UK.
Genuine A-Level Chemistry outcomes from students taught by Shakib.
In his words: “Smashed it.”
Went into Year 13 expecting Chemistry to be the subject that let him down, and was guessing at what questions were asking for.
Took the subject back to first principles and rebuilt the understanding underneath it, then worked on reading what each question actually required.
A* at A-Level Chemistry
Dropping marks on long-answer questions whose content he genuinely understood.
Sustained past-paper work focused on what examiners credit in extended answers.
Students who cruised to a grade 8 or 9 at GCSE often hit A-Level Chemistry hard. The subject becomes more mathematical, more abstract, and far less forgiving of memorise-and-recall. Moles and calculations arrive early and never really leave. This is a transition problem, not an ability problem — but left alone it becomes a confidence problem.
Year 13 adds the hardest material — equilibria, electrochemistry, extended organic synthesis — on top of everything from Year 12, which is all still examinable. Add a university offer riding on the grade, and the pressure is substantial. Precision and exam technique are what separate the grades here.
I mark exam papers for an awarding body. Here is what that changes for an A-Level Chemistry student.
No advance knowledge of future questions. No confidential exam content. No inside information. Mark schemes are published by the boards; the advantage is years spent marking against them.
Energetics, kinetics, equilibria and Kp, rate equations, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, acids and bases.
Mechanisms, isomerism, synthesis routes, spectroscopy and analysis — taught as a system rather than as facts to memorise.
Periodicity, Group 2 and Group 7, transition metals, complex ions and their reactions.
The single biggest source of dropped marks. Method, working, units and significant figures, practised until they are automatic.
Worth a significant share of the written papers and consistently among the worst-answered. Treated as a topic in its own right.
The examiner’s favourite trick: known chemistry in an unknown setting. Recognisable once you have been taught how to look.
A system, not ad-hoc tutoring. Every student follows the same four stages; what changes is what the diagnosis finds.
Past-paper work across physical, organic and inorganic shows where the marks are going — calculations, mechanisms, application, or technique.
Rebuild the concepts underneath, so answers hold up when a question is worded unfamiliarly.
Past papers from your exact board, under exam conditions, including practical and unfamiliar-context questions.
Analyse every dropped mark, track progress against the specification, adapt the plan.
Year 12 students finding the step up from GCSE steeper than expected, and Year 13 students who need a specific grade for a university offer. Also suitable for students retaking.
More than a weekly lesson — every month includes
Programme terms — holidays, rescheduling and notice — are set out on the terms page. Everything is billed monthly in advance.
Each of these is drawn from what the student said themselves. Their full review is shown underneath so you can check it.
Went into Year 13 expecting Chemistry to be the subject that let him down, and was guessing at what questions were asking for.
Took the subject back to first principles and rebuilt the understanding underneath it, then worked on reading what each question actually required.
Understood what questions were asking instead of guessing.
In his words: “Smashed it.”
“I went into Year 13 fairly sure Chemistry was going to be the subject that let me down. Shakib took the whole thing back to basics and rebuilt it, and by the end I actually understood what the questions were asking for instead of guessing. Smashed it.”Gio, in full
Dropping marks on long-answer questions whose content he genuinely understood.
Sustained past-paper work focused on what examiners credit in extended answers.
Stopped losing marks on questions he already understood, within a few weeks.
A* at A-Level Chemistry
“The past-paper work made the difference. Shakib knew exactly what the examiners were looking for in the long answers, and within a few weeks I'd stopped dropping marks on questions I genuinely understood. Came out with an A*.”Jake, in full
Genuine reviews from students taught by Shakib.
“I went into Year 13 fairly sure Chemistry was going to be the subject that let me down. Shakib took the whole thing back to basics and rebuilt it, and by the end I actually understood what the questions were asking for instead of guessing. Smashed it.”
“The past-paper work made the difference. Shakib knew exactly what the examiners were looking for in the long answers, and within a few weeks I'd stopped dropping marks on questions I genuinely understood. Came out with an A*.”
It is extremely common, and it catches out strong students in particular. A-Level Chemistry asks for a different kind of thinking: more mathematical, more abstract, and far less tolerant of a memorise-and-recall approach that worked perfectly well at GCSE. It is a transition problem far more often than an ability problem.
All of it — physical, organic and inorganic. In practice most students need concentrated work on calculations, organic mechanisms and synthesis, and the physical topics such as energetics, kinetics and equilibria.
Yes. Practical-based questions are worth a significant share of the written papers, and they are consistently among the worst-answered. They are part of the programme.
That is a common reason for starting. The work is built around your target grade and the specification you are sitting, with past-paper practice from your exact board.
AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC. Tell me your board when you get in touch and everything follows that specification.
A live video call with a shared whiteboard, so you watch the working build up line by line and can write on it yourself. Notes are saved and sent after each lesson.
Yes — an enhanced DBS certificate, which I'm happy to show any parent before lessons start.
Twenty minutes. We find out whether the problem is content, technique or both — and what to do first.
Have a question first? WhatsApp ShakibOr call 07307 384459 · hello@learnandsmash.com
