Chemistry

Welcome to Brighton College Chemistry Department

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Chemistry is "the science of the elements, their laws of combination and behaviour under various conditions".  That definition comes out of an era in which many of our current parents (and indeed some of our teaching staff) were educated, when the emphasis was on the outcome of reactions between chemicals.

Prior to about 1965, the learning process in Chemistry focussed on chemical observation, together with a lot of rote learning.  It was a method-based approach  -  methods for preparing organic compounds, methods for determining molecular masses, and so on.  And to many there was much that was tedious!

Since 1965, the emphasis has gradually changed.  The whole subject has become more skills-based  -  both practical skills, and skills in application of the ideas  -  arguably making it now the most intellectually challenging of the three Sciences.  And what made the difference?  -  essentially the Nuffield Curriculum Teaching Project, which began to have an impact around the mid-1960’s, and has influenced our approach to teaching at both GCSE and A-level, though we follow a designated ‘Nuffield’ syllabus only at post-16 level.  Other options exist elsewhere, such as the ‘Salters’ course (which is based around industrial chemistry): but the Nuffield scheme, to which we are committed, is fundamentally concept-driven, and provides a solid foundation of understanding on which factual content is built.

In years 9, 10, and 11 we introduce a number of disparate theories and concepts, but by the time pupils reach GCSE these separate strands begin to inter-relate into a sort of ‘pyramid’ of ideas, giving a cohesive understanding of the subject as a whole.  At A-level, we don’t pick up a whole lot of new areas, rather we hang more ideas on the same basic framework, effectively building a bigger ‘pyramid’ over the top, again aiming by the Upper Sixth at a unified overview of the subject.

In the Fourth Form the aim is in three periods per week to give a balanced introduction to both the practical and the conceptual aspects of the subject. For details of the AQA Modular GCSE and Nuffield Modular A-level courses, please see the appropriate curriculum page.