Chemistry is three subjects in one, and the students who score highest treat them differently. One to one, online, with mechanisms drilled until automatic and every calculation type given a structure.
Treating all three the same is the most common reason a capable student plateaus. Organic rewards pattern recognition, physical rewards structure, inorganic rewards systematic recall, and each needs teaching differently.
Curly arrows, electron pairs and conditions, drilled until they are automatic. Organic stops being memorisation once the patterns are visible, and that is the shift worth paying for.
Moles, yield, Kc and electrode potentials each have a reliable shape. Following it removes the careless errors that cost marks in students who understand the chemistry perfectly well.
The unpredictable paper rewards students who can move across topic boundaries, which is a habit built deliberately rather than something that arrives on its own.
The written questions the practicals generate are predictable in form, and worth rehearsing rather than meeting cold.
Every topic mapped to your board, with the balance set by where the marks are going missing.
The three boards weight organic and physical differently and structure their synoptic papers differently, so the balance of sessions follows the board you are entered for rather than a generic syllabus.
The same process every ILE student goes through, set out in full on our method page.
A free 60-minute lesson. Bring a paper you have attempted and we work out which of the three strands is actually costing you marks, because it is rarely all three.
The weakest strand first, with mechanism work running alongside from the start because fluency takes repetition over time rather than one session.
Teaching, mechanism drilling and timed calculation practice, with feedback that names the mark dropped rather than the total.
Past papers under timed conditions and deliberate synoptic work for Paper 3.
Organic feels like memorisation. The most common Chemistry complaint, and the one that changes fastest once the patterns are taught.
Losing marks in calculations you understand. Usually structure and presentation rather than chemistry.
Year 12 foundations. Moles and bonding underpin the whole A-Level, and weakness there compounds.
Paper 3 anxiety. The synoptic paper is the one students most often feel they cannot revise for.
Applying for Medicine, Dentistry or Chemistry. Where an A or A* is part of the offer.
Chasing an A*. At the top end it is mechanism fluency and calculation precision rather than knowledge.
Grades sat by ILE students, with the full set on our results page.
“My daughter had been stuck at a B for months. After three months with ILE the change was remarkable. Her confidence, her mark-scheme awareness, everything improved. She sat the January paper and came out with an A*.”
Parent of Priya S.Year 12 · AQA Chemistry“Organic mechanisms used to be a complete mystery. My tutor broke them down into patterns I could actually remember and apply. By the time I sat my mock I was getting full marks on mechanism questions.”
Niamh B.Year 12 · OCR Chemistry AILE was founded by a Cambridge medic who scored 97% in A-Level Chemistry, alongside four A*s and an AEA Distinction.
Tahan IslamFounder · Cambridge MedicinePer hour, one to one, at A-Level. No sign-up fees and no contracts. Full rates for every level are on the pricing page.
AQA, OCR A and Edexcel. They weight the three strands differently and structure the synoptic paper differently, so sessions follow your board.
Yes, and it usually does. Organic is pattern-based once mechanisms are fluent, and getting there is a matter of drilling curly arrows and conditions rather than learning more reactions.
Yes. Plenty of students come for one strand, and the diagnostic lesson is where we work out whether that is the right use of the time.
By deliberately working across topic boundaries during term rather than treating it as a revision problem in April. It is a habit, not a topic.
A full 60-minute lesson with your matched tutor, with no card details and no commitment. It is a real session rather than a sales call.
Yes, on Google Meet, anywhere in the UK.
A full 60-minute lesson on whichever strand is costing you marks, free and with no card details.
Book a free trial lesson →