OCR GCSE Gateway Chemistry

About this course

Old science gcse courses are being replaced by new ones. On this page I give details of both. Make sure you know which course you are taking – old or new!

Gateway separate sciences (triple science)  are taught and examined in a different way compared to other courses.

For each science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics), there are three Units as detailed below. The first two contain three modules each and the third is the practical, research-based part. So, for example, the first unit contains the two modules from the Gateway (core) science course plus one of the modules from Gateway Additional Science. Then the second unit consists of the remaining Additional Science module plus two extension modules. What this really means is that at the beginning of the course, you must decide whether you want to do double or triple science. You can’t do core and additional and then add on extension modules, as you can with other courses such as OCR 21st century and courses by other exam boards.

Some schools will cover the first units of each science in one year, then unit two the following year. Or you might concentrate on Biology first, then Chemistry, then Physics. There’s a great deal of flexibility.

Old course – J644

Unit B641  Chemistry – modules C1, C2, C3  1 hour
Unit B642  Chemistry – modules C4, C5, C6  1 hour
Unit B645  Chemistry – ‘Can-Do’ tasks and report on Science in the News
- or
Unit B646  Chemistry B Unit 4 – Research Study, Data Task and Practical Skills
Each unit count for one third of the total marks.

New course – J246

Unit B741  Chemistry – modules C1, C2, C3 – written paper – 35%
Unit B742  Chemistry – modules C4, C5, C6 – written paper – 40%
Unit B743  Chemistry – controlled assessment – 25%

Exam dates

Old course:
Unit 1 – Thursday, Jaunary 26th and Thursday, May 24th.
Unit 2 – Wednesday, February 1st and Friday, June 15th.
Unit 3 – the controlled assessment, can be taken at any time.

New course:

Unit 1 – Wednesday, Januray 18th and Thursday, May 24th
Unit 2 – The first exams will be in 2013 – dates to be confirmed

Exam papers

Old course: Past papers and other resources can be found on the OCR website.

New course: Specimen papers and other resources can be found on the OCR website.

Course content

These are the two extension modules. C1 and C2 are the same as Gateway (core) Science, and C3 and C4 are the same as Gateway Additional Science.

Old course:

C5:  How Much? 
a  Moles and Empirical Formulae
b Electrolysis
c Quantitative Analysis
d Titrations
e Gas Volumes
f Equilibria
g  Strong and Weak Acids
h Ionic Equations

C6:  Chemistry Out There
a  Energy Transfers – Fuel Cells
b Redox Reactions
c Alcohols
d  Chemistry of Sodium Chloride (NaCl)
e  Depletion of the ozone layer
f  Hardness of water
g  Natural fats and oils
h  Analgesics

New course

 C5: How Much? (Quantitative Analysis)
a  Moles and molar mass
b  Percentage composition and empirical formula
c Quantitative analysis
d Titrations
e Gas volumes
f Equilibria
g  Strong and weak acids
h  Ionic equations and precipitation

C6: Chemistry Out There
a Electrolysis
b  Energy transfers – fuel cells
c Redox reactions
d Alcohols
e  Depletion of the ozone layer
f  Hardness of water
g  Natural fats and oils
h Detergents

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