IGCSE Chemistry study strategy

How to revise Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry (0620 / 0971) so the facts actually stick — and how to use the tools on this site to get there with short, daily sessions rather than last-minute cramming.

1. Know your papers

IGCSE Chemistry is tiered. You sit either the Core route (grades C–G) or the Extended route (grades A*–G), and every candidate takes three components:

Route	Multiple choice	Theory	Practical
Core	Paper 1 (40 MCQ)	Paper 3 (short/structured)	Paper 5 (practical) or 6 (alternative to practical)
Extended	Paper 2 (40 MCQ)	Paper 4 (short/structured)	Paper 5 or 6

Find out from your teacher which route and which practical paper you are entered for, then make sure your revision matches it — Extended students must also know the Supplement content, marked separately in the syllabus.

2. Learn the command words

Marks are lost every year by answering the wrong "type" of question. Train yourself to spot the command word and give exactly what it asks for:

• State / Name / Give: a short fact, no explanation.
• Describe: say what happens or what you see (e.g. a trend in data) — no reasons.
• Explain: give reasons or causes — the word "because" should fit.
• Compare: make linked points about both things ("whereas", "but").
• Calculate: show working and give units.
• Suggest: apply your knowledge to an unfamiliar situation; a sensible chemistry answer earns the mark.

3. Use active recall, not re-reading

Reading notes feels productive but is one of the weakest ways to revise. Active recall — trying to retrieve an answer from memory before checking — is far more effective, and it is exactly what this site is built around:

• Work through the topic question bank; the system serves you questions you have not mastered first, so you focus on weak spots.
• Drill key terms with the flashcards — recall the definition before flipping the card.
• Read a topic in study notes, then immediately test yourself on it.
• Keep the habit alive with the daily Quizdle.

4. Space it out

Revisit each topic several times with gaps of days, not in one long block. Short daily sessions beat a single marathon: your per-topic scores show what to come back to, and correctly answered questions and flashcards are deliberately set aside so you do not waste time on what you already know.

5. Do not neglect the practical paper

Whether you take Paper 5 or Paper 6, you need confident practical skills: separation and purification (filtration, crystallisation, simple and fractional distillation), paper chromatography and Rf values, titration of acids and alkalis, measuring rates of reaction and temperature changes, and tests for ions and gases — plus reading measuring instruments accurately, drawing and labelling apparatus, plotting graphs and planning a fair test with one variable changed. Practise interpreting data and tables, not just recalling facts.

6. A simple topic-by-topic plan

• Pick one of the 12 topics. Read the study notes once.
• Do a 10-question quiz on it; review every wrong answer and its explanation.
• Drill that topic’s flashcards until you can recall them.
• Come back two or three days later and re-test — aim to push each topic into the green.

7. Common mistakes to avoid

• Confusing describe with explain.
• Unbalanced equations — check the atoms balance on both sides and include state symbols (s, l, g, aq) where asked.
• Forgetting units in mole, concentration and titration calculations.
• Mixing up similar pairs: element/compound/mixture, ionic/covalent bonding, oxidation/reduction, exothermic/endothermic.

Start practising →