AQA A-Level Chemistry Tutor

AQA A-Level Chemistry tuition.

One-to-one support for AQA Chemistry — understanding the chemistry first, then learning how to turn it into marks. I'm Dr Jane Power, a PhD chemist and full-time tutor, and I teach the AQA specification one-to-one, online across the UK or in person in South Manchester.

Arrange a free consultation See prices

Why AQA can feel hard

Knowing the chemistry isn't always enough.

The step up from GCSE is real: more content, more application, and questions that expect you to use what you know rather than just recall it. Plenty of students understand a topic in the lesson, then lose marks in the exam because the answer wasn't quite what AQA was looking for.

That's because doing well in AQA Chemistry really takes three things working together — understanding the chemistry, handling the maths, and answering the way AQA wants. We build all three.

The three challenges

  • Understand the chemistry — the concepts, properly, until they make sense.
  • Handle the maths — the calculations, step by step, with confidence.
  • Answer the AQA way — the precision and phrasing the mark scheme rewards.

What we'll cover

The full AQA course, covered.

The jump from GCSE to A-Level Chemistry can be challenging — new terminology, greater depth, and a different way of thinking. At first it can feel a little like learning a new language. As the course goes on, the connections between topics begin to build and the bigger picture starts to come together.

The topics below are just a selection of what we can cover — tuition can cover the full AQA specification, including the required practicals, mathematical skills and exam technique. For the complete topic-by-topic content, see the official AQA specification.

Physical chemistry

Atomic structure · moles and calculations · bonding, structure and shapes of molecules · energetics · kinetics · equilibria · thermodynamics · rate equations · Kp · acids, bases and buffers

Organic chemistry

Nomenclature and isomerism · halogenoalkanes · alkenes and alcohols · organic mechanisms · aldehydes and ketones · aromatic chemistry · amines · organic synthesis · NMR and chromatography

Inorganic chemistry

Periodicity · Group 2 · Group 7 · Period 3 · transition metals · reactions of ions in aqueous solution

My AQA approach

Understand it, practise it, apply it.

We start by finding the gaps and working through whatever isn't clicking — sometimes a concept is genuinely tricky, sometimes it just hasn't been explained in a way that lands for you. Then we practise: moving into AQA past-paper questions, working through the mark schemes together, and building the exam technique that turns understanding into marks.

You'll also have my own topic booklets and notes to work from between lessons, so you always have clear, structured AQA material to refer back to.

Say it the way AQA wants

It isn't enough to understand a topic — you also need the precision the mark scheme expects: the right definition, the right conditions, the correct observation, the units and significant figures. That's often where understood-but-lost marks disappear, and it's something we work on directly.

Whatever your stage

Year 12, Year 13, or resitting.

Year 12

Build strong foundations from the start of AQA A-Level, and stop small gaps quietly accumulating into big ones.

Year 13

Strengthen the harder topics while sharpening exam technique for the final push toward your target grade.

AQA resits

Find exactly where the marks were lost and build a focused plan to win them back.

A-Level resits

A resource I recommend

Alongside our lessons, I recommend the CGP AQA A-Level Chemistry Exam Practice Workbook to my students — it's excellent for building exam confidence, with plenty of practice questions and full answers to work through between sessions.

View it on Amazon

If you buy through this link I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you — and you're welcome to buy it anywhere. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The maths in AQA Chemistry

You don't need to be a Maths student.

The maths in Chemistry isn't always about being "bad at maths". In fact, students who take A-Level Maths, and are perfectly comfortable with algebra and rearranging equations, can still find calculations in Chemistry difficult.

Often, the real difficulty is understanding the chemistry behind the calculation. Once you genuinely understand the idea — what a mole represents, what Avogadro's constant means, or what an equilibrium constant is actually telling you — it becomes much clearer which equation to use and why.

For other students, the maths itself needs more practice too — and that's fine. We work through both the chemistry and the calculation step by step, then build confidence and speed with practice.

The concept comes first; the maths then has something to attach to.

Alongside your other A-Levels

Many students take Biology, Maths or Physics alongside Chemistry — often for medicine, veterinary science, dentistry, pharmacy or other STEM routes — but I've taught students with all sorts of combinations. Whatever your other subjects, what matters is finding where Chemistry feels difficult and working from there.

The AQA exams

Prepared for all three papers.

AQA assesses A-Level Chemistry across three written papers — Paper 1: Inorganic and Physical Chemistry; Paper 2: Organic and Physical Chemistry; and Paper 3, which draws on the whole course. I make sure you know what each paper expects and how to approach it — the style of questions, and the little things that catch people out — so nothing on the day comes as a surprise.

You can see the full, official detail on the AQA A-Level Chemistry specification page.

Is this you?

AQA tuition is a good fit if…

You get the lessons but lose marks in the exam

You understand the chemistry, but the questions don't go the way you expect. We fix the technique, not just the knowledge.

You've got gaps from Year 12

Something never quite landed, and it's making Year 13 harder than it should be. We find it and fix it.

You're stuck around a grade

You've plateaued and can't see what's holding you back. A fresh, expert eye usually finds it quickly.

You need a higher grade — or your confidence back

Whether it's for a university offer or just feeling on top of the subject again, we build steadily toward it.

Let's get AQA Chemistry making sense.

Arrange a free, no-pressure consultation and a 30-minute trial lesson. Tell me your year, your target and what you find hardest, and we'll take it from there.

Arrange a free consultation Read reviews

FAQ

AQA questions, answered.

Yes — I teach the current AQA A-Level (and AS) Chemistry specification, and every lesson is built around what your papers actually ask for.
The content is very similar, but it's organised and assessed differently. AQA divides the course into Physical, Inorganic and Organic Chemistry, and the content is split differently across the three exam papers. I teach to whichever board you're sitting, so it feels familiar rather than generic.
Absolutely. Year 12 gaps are one of the most common reasons students struggle in Year 13, so we find them, fill them, and stop them building up.
Yes. Once the chemistry makes sense, we practise with AQA past-paper questions and work through the mark schemes together, so you learn exactly how AQA awards marks.
Yes — I cover the practical skills and required-practical knowledge AQA can examine in the written papers, including the techniques and the reasoning behind them. The practical work and Practical Endorsement itself are completed through your school or college.
Yes. For resits I focus on finding exactly where marks were lost and building a targeted plan — there's a dedicated page for that too.
Yes. There's a fair amount of maths in A-Level Chemistry, but you don't need to be an A-Level Maths student. We work through calculations step by step and build confidence with practice and patience.
Both — one-to-one online across the UK, or in person in South Manchester.