IB Chemistry, on the syllabus your child is actually sitting.

Content-heavy and technically unforgiving. Most students who underperform know more chemistry than their grade suggests — they are losing marks on terminology, equation notation and answer structure. That is a faster problem to fix than the syllabus.

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SL and HL

What actually differs.

	Covers
SL	Structure 1–3 and Reactivity 1–3 at standard depth: bonding, stoichiometry, energetics, kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases, redox, organic foundations.
HL	All of the above plus the HL extensions: organic synthesis and mechanisms, spectroscopic identification (NMR, MS, IR), electrochemistry, entropy and spontaneity, and greater quantitative depth throughout.

Both levels sit Paper 1 and Paper 2. Under the current syllabus, first assessed in 2025, there is no Paper 3 and no options. [TO CONFIRM — Glen] verify against the current IB Chemistry subject guide before launch.

Why it is hard

Breadth and depth, in the same paper.

A student must hold a large body of factual content and then apply it to an unseen context, under time pressure, in a specific register.

The register is the part schools rarely teach. The rubric rewards precise chemical terminology, correctly notated equations with state symbols, and answers structured so the examiner can find the marking points. Students who lose marks on technique rather than knowledge are exactly who this programme is for.

What we cover

Full syllabus: SL core plus HL extension, on the current structure
Organic chemistry and mechanisms — reliably the hardest HL section
Spectroscopy: reading NMR, MS and IR data under exam conditions
Chemical language training — answers written the way the rubric marks them
Paper 1 and Paper 2 technique, including the data-based questions
Internal Assessment coaching, research question to evaluation

Questions

What parents ask.

How is IB Chemistry different from A-Level or IGCSE Chemistry?

The content overlaps substantially with A-Level. The difference is the assessment: a compulsory Internal Assessment worth 20%, and a marking style that rewards very specific chemical language.

My child is struggling with organic chemistry at HL. Can you help?

Yes — it is the most common request in this subject. We teach it systematically rather than as a list to memorise: mechanism types first, then reaction pathways, then spectroscopic identification, each practised in exam format before moving on.

Does my child need lab access for the IA?

The IA requires a real investigation, and most IB schools provide lab access for it. We help scope an investigation that fits whatever access your child has, and coach the data processing and write-up regardless of where the experiment happens.

Send us a marked Chemistry paper.

We’ll tell you if it’s content or technique.

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