#exam technique

If you want the full, detailed version of this guide, read the original article here: How to get a 9 in IGCSE Chemistry. If you’d like targeted, one-to-one help with weak topics and exam technique, explore Spires Online IGCSE Chemistry Tutors.

Achieving a grade 9 in IGCSE Chemistry is less about “doing more” and more about doing the right things, in the right order, with consistent feedback. Below is a streamlined approach that reflects how top-performing students typically revise: syllabus-first learning, exam-informed practice, and deliberate improvement cycle.

Key takeaways (what makes the biggest difference)

Know the syllabus and exam format so your revision time isn’t wasted

Build a realistic study schedule with clear milestones

Master the fundamentals (especially calculations) before pushing into harder questions

Use past papers properly: timed, marked, then reviewed for patterns

Learn the marking scheme so you write what earns marks, not what sounds right

Strengthen confidence and reduce stress with repeatable routines

Use online resources to make difficult topics click faster

1) Start with the syllabus, not the textbook

A grade 9 strategy begins with precision. The syllabus tells you what can be assessed, and therefore what must be revised.

What to do this week:

Download your specification and turn it into a checklist.

Identify the “core” topics that connect widely across the course (atomic structure, bonding, acids and bases, periodic trends, calculations).

Note which areas involve required practical knowledge and data handling.

Why it matters: students often revise what feels familiar, not what is examinable. The syllabus prevents blind spots.

2) Build a study plan you can actually maintain

Consistency beats intensity. A plan works when it’s repeatable across months, not heroic for one weekend.

A simple structure:

Set clear goals (topic-level goals, not vague ones like “revise chemistry”).

Break down the syllabus into manageable sections with deadlines.

Schedule regular, focused sessions and protect them from distractions.

Review progress weekly and adjust.

A practical rule: if you can’t maintain the timetable for three weeks, it’s too ambitious. Reduce the load, not the quality.

3) Master the basics before you chase “grade 9 questions”

Grade 9 performance is built on secure fundamentals: definitions, key processes, and routine calculations. When those are automatic, you have space to think in the exam.

Focus areas to tighten early:

Atomic structure and electron arrangement

Chemical bonding and structure-property links

Reactivity and the periodic table

Acids, bases, salts, and common reactions

Core calculations (moles, concentration, percentage yield, empirical formula)

If you routinely drop marks, it’s usually because:

You missed a definition or key term,

You didn’t show a step in a calculation,

You didn’t link cause to effect clearly in an explanation.

4) Calculations: practise until speed and accuracy are reliable

Chemistry marks often hinge on precision. Even strong students lose marks through small errors: units, rounding, rearranging, or missing conversion steps.

How to train calculation confidence:

Practise short sets regularly (10–15 minutes), not just in long revision blocks.

Write full working every time, even when it feels slow.

Check units and significant figures consistently.

Track your common error type (it’s usually the same few mistakes repeated).

This is one of the quickest ways to raise your ceiling.

5) Past papers: do them timed, then use them as diagnosis

Past papers are only valuable when they change how you revise next.

A high-impact cycle:

Sit papers under timed conditions.

Mark with the mark scheme.

Categorise every lost mark:

Knowledge gap (didn’t know it)

Technique gap (knew it, answered poorly)

Careless error (rushing, misread, unit mistake)

Fix the root cause with targeted drills.

Re-attempt similar questions within a week.

This approach turns “practice” into measurable improvement.

6) Learn the marking scheme and write for marks

Top grades require examiner-friendly responses. You’re not being judged on flair; you’re being judged on whether you hit the marking points.

Practical habits:

Use the correct scientific terms (do not swap in casual language).

For explanations, use a clear chain: statement → reason → outcome.

For longer questions, structure the answer logically and keep it tight.

If data is provided (tables/graphs), reference it explicitly.

Time management is part of this. Allocate time based on marks. Higher-mark questions deserve proportionally more time and clearer structure.

7) Mindset: confidence is built, not wished for

Confidence is a consequence of preparation. The way to reduce exam stress is to make your revision predictable and your practice realistic.

Simple habits that help:

Keep revision sessions short enough to stay focused.

Use frequent retrieval practice (quick quizzes, flashcards, short-answer prompts).

Revisit hard topics weekly rather than “saving them for later”.

Simulate exam conditions often enough that the real exam feels familiar.

Motivation tends to follow evidence of progress. Track your scores over time, even if the early results are not great.

8) Use technology and online resources strategically

Online tools should speed up understanding, not distract you.

Use tech for:

Interactive practice questions and quick topic tests

Video explanations for concepts you can’t visualise from text

Structured revision notes that help you recall key processes

Forums for specific clarification when you’re stuck (use selectively, and verify against your syllabus)

If a concept isn’t clicking, changing the explanation often works better than re-reading the same page.

how to revise effectively

revision is a very important part of education, but many people have no idea how. in this post i'm going to outline the basics of revision. it's important to note that different subjects will require you to revise differently, there is no one size fits all when it comes to revision.

less is more- studying for 30 focused minutes is way more effective than a 5 hour study session while you watch tv.

work on exam technique- this is such an overlooked part of revising for an exam, but if you know how to answer the questions and what structures to use, it will really help you. ask your teacher or search for your exam board online to find out the best way for your subject and exam board.

manage distractions- if like me you get distracted super easily, you need to create an environment with limited distractions. this means put your phone on do not disturb, if your house/place of study is noisy put some headphones on and listen to classical music or study ambience (my favourites are the Harry Potter rooms by Asmrweekly on youtube). if you get distracted while studying by thinking of things you need to do, something that's really helped me is to have a piece of paper next to me that i can write all my thoughts on, so i can continue studying and do what i've written afterwards.

set precise goals for your study session- this helps to reduce procrastination. for example, if I put "study geography" on my to do list i'll procrastinate, but if I put "do 30 flashcards for the topic hazards" I have a clear idea of what I need to do

use the pomodoro method- having breaks is really important in keeping you engaged while you're studying. I don't follow the typical timings, but I usually do between 30-45 minutes of studying followed by a 10-15 minute break depending on how I'm feeling

utilise your study breaks- it's so easy to pick your phone up and scroll through tiktok until you realise your 5 minute break turned into a 3 hour tiktok binge. when I go on a study break, I only go on my phone to snap people back, or for a little scroll on pinterest. I also like to get some more water, grab a snack and stretch. If I'm having a longer break, I'll try to get outside and go for a walk, especially if the weather is good (in England this is about 5 days of the year haha)

now, onto different ways to revise

doing past papers

doing flashcards

making timelines

doing essay plans

making mindmaps

blurting

quizzes

So I was asked a question by a follower and I thought it might be beneficial to post some general advice for all the future candidates whose GCSEs and A levels aren’t cancelled because of a pandemic. Here’s a short list of what helped me get through these exams.

1) Getting exam technique down is IMPORTANT! Do not underestimate this importance - knowing what the examiners want from you is (sadly) almost more important than knowledge of content (though you do have to know that, too!)

2) Understand the question words. For example, explain means give detail, and list means don’t waste time with such detail.

3) Answer the question as it is written, not what you want the question to be. Some questions are really long winded - they’ll wrap up the question with some background material that you haven’t learnt about per se but is still relevant and applicable to your course. You have to be able to unravel the core of what the examiners are asking. Don’t worry about the wall of information. Do read it as be ready to glean clues from it, but find the question first.

4) Read the mark schemes AND THE EXAMINERS’ REPORTS! Last year’s documents are locked because teachers like to use them for mocks, but if you’ve already done those papers, ask your teachers to send you them. These are gold! Use the mark schemes to know which buzzwords and details the examiners will reward and use the examiners reports to see which questions candidates struggled to answer. There is almost always detailed analysis of common mistakes and advice to future candidates there!

5) Look through the teacher-oriented documents. I know for OCR A Biology A level, there were sample documents that gave examples of full marks, mid marks and low marks for long response questions. They literally hand you “what a good one looks like” (and it was easy to find because of how new the specification is). I was never given these documents in class! Nobody you have contact with knows the course better than a teacher who is meant to teach it. For A level languages, I read every single document, no matter how boring it seemed, which perhaps was a bit overkill, but it helped me know what exactly was expected of me. I’m talking everything from the specification to exemplar work and speaking exam conduct (which actually was useful because I then knew what would happen if I got too distressed to continue for example, as I knew what the teacher/examiner would be required to do in that case). It sounds nuts, but seeing it from a teacher’s perspective helped me. I knew the structure of my course by heart; I knew weightings of different aspects of exams and the learning objectives by which I was assessed. A lot of it is irrelevant admin, but there are actually some useful documents so do have a root through!

6) Don’t be afraid of old spec questions if the subject matter is relevant.

7) Revising using past papers is always the best way, ultimately. If you run out of past papers, make your own questions and file them away and come back to them! I buddied up with a friend and we tested each other, swapping our own exam-style questions at periodic intervals and marking our partner’s answers. You get to be the examiner, the marker and the candidate in one simple activity!

8) Learn from your mistakes. Don’t look at a lower mark and think you’re doomed; rather, think about where you went wrong. You’d be surprised at how many marks are lost to silly mistakes for which you’ll absolutely kick yourself in hindsight! Little mistakes might be avoided by doing something as little as slowing down, taking a toilet break to clear your head and generally being aware of them.

9) If there’s a certain type of question you struggle to answer, it may help to make a checklist of what to include. For example, whenever I’m asked to draw a graph, I write down things like “suitable axes using more than half the available space, x is independent variable, labels, title, units, correctly plotted points, line of best fit” in a corner somewhere out the way - and I’m at university rn! I do this before I start fumbling about with the question; it takes less than 30s to jot it down in a shorthand I understand.

10) Teach someone else, or pretend to! Even now, I remember stuff and understand it better if I’m “explaining” my thought process out loud as if I were teaching it. Understanding things will make subjects like chemistry a lot easier, because then you can apply what you know rather than blindly rote learn a bunch of examples. Mechanism you’re not quite sure of? Draw it out and talk it through! You’ll quickly pinpoint exactly what you’re struggling with.

Sure, you might feel like you don’t know how to follow the whole process of a calculation, or write several pages on the topic of a question...but write something. 

In maths you can often pick up marks for showing *some* correct working out (even if you make a mistake later or can’t remember the next step). In psychology you can get up to 3 marks in a long-answer question just for demonstrating *some* relevant knowledge. 

2 out of 4 marks is better than 0 out of 4......3 out of 12 is better than 0 out of 12. All your marks add up...those extra couple of marks here and there could make a difference.

Awh thank you so much for the ask!!✨💛

So the biggest thing i think is knowing the exam structure. If you can narrow down what you actually have to learn, it becomes a lot easier! I know i’m going to get a 10 marker essay on a Marriage Of Figaro piece, a 10 marker on a baroque solo concerto piece, and a 30 marker essay on Music for Media. By looking at past exam questions, I can see what has been asked before, and since i’m the first year doing the a level on this specification, i can guess which set works might come up. As a class, we went through all the pieces in the specification that we needed to know, and drafted the possible essay questions that could come up - eg. How does [baroque composer] show typical baroque features in [baroque solo concerto]. This means even if there is a nasty question, you’re already prepared for it!

For the general listening questions, a good practice to get into is analysing all the music you listen to. Put on a playlist of music you’ve never heard before, and try and pick out all the features you can, then repeat. The more genres of music you can cover, the better, as you’re less likely to get thrown with an odd listening question. Our teacher likes us to use RIMSHOTT to remember the key areas to listen out for:

R ~ Rhythm, also tempo/metre

I ~ Instrumentation, also timbre, virtuousic writing and production effects 

M ~ Melody

S ~ Structure

H ~ Harmony

O ~ this is usually dynamics, or other contexts about the piece

T ~ Texture

T ~ Tonality

This way, you don’t forget a massive chunk when you’re analysing and you can give a ‘comprehensive’ answer worthy of top marks!