Chemistry

Head of Department: Tracy Muller. Email: T-Muller@epsomcollege.org.uk

The Chemistry Department is housed in a light and airy building, with traditional high ceilings and beautifully refurbished laboratories. This vibrant department is staffed by a core team of five, highly experienced and enthusiastic, chemistry specialists. The lessons are predominantly teacher-led but also contain a significant amount (approximately 33%) of practical work, which is supported by highly qualified and dedicated technicians.

One of the biggest strengths of the department is the high quality A level teaching, which, over the last three years, has produced an average of 91% A/B grades at A2. Most of the students go on to further their studies in traditional science courses or medicine but this subject is also increasingly being retained as the fourth subject option for some of the more able and versatile economists.

The most able students are extended through Oxbridge lessons and preparation for the Chemistry Olympiad, run by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The three students pictured in the banner image above all achieved Silver awards in the Chemistry Olympiad in 2008 and have moved on to study at Imperial College, London, and Stamford University. There are also currently three students studying Chemistry or Biochemistry at Oxford and two at Cambridge following Natural Science courses.

For the A level students who find the transition from GCSE more difficult, there are extra sessions run throughout the year to help support them and prepare them for module retakes. The U6th are completing the final year of the Edexcel Chemistry GCE (syllabus code 9080).

The 6th form Chemistry dinner is a hugely enjoyable event and usually takes place in March during National Science and Engineering Week. The College has been privileged enough to have had Dr Mary Archer, Professor Brian Johnson, Professor Andrew Hamnett and Dr Michael Clugston as previous speakers. The Chemistry Department also collaborated with the Design Technology Department in running an inter-house Great Egg Race during the same week.

In the L6th, almost 50 students have chosen Chemistry as one of their four option subjects. This year group has started on the new Edexcel GCE course (syllabus code 8CH01) and they are taught for six lessons of 50 minutes per week. The students will undertake both core and assessed practicals over the year to complete the practical coursework element and take both their module examinations in June. Most pupils have come from a triple science (GCSE or IGCSE) background but extra sessions are provided to support those pupils who have joined the College with dual award science.

All students in the U4 and 5th form are currently being prepared for Edexcel Chemistry IGCSE (syllabus 4335), which covers traditional chemistry topics in depth and provides a strong academic base from which to begin the AS course. Over the past few years, a small set of students has also been entered for Dual Award Science (Edexcel IGCSE, syllabus 4437). All students have three lessons of 50 minutes per week.

M4 classes are taught for four lessons of 50 minutes per week in a science carousel, where each subject is taught intensively for between ten and eleven weeks. The focus this year is on developing the students' practical skills and improving the precision of their understanding, whilst covering the simpler IGCSE topics. The students all take a common examination at the end of their teaching period, which is used, along with those of Biology and Physics, to determine their science sets for the following year.