Predicted topics paper 1 AQA GCSE Chemistry Exam 2026

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-17

[00:00:01]These are my predictions for paper one AQA GCSE chemistry exam 2026.

[00:00:07]I'll go over the topics which are almost in every exam and you need to make sure that you know all of these topics because almost definitely are guaranteed to be in your exam. The first one is making soluble salts. So, always there will be a question about making soluble salt. Last year, it was the planning an experiment. This year, I don't think that the plan and experiment question, but they might give you the question with the steps and ask you about the different steps. So, make sure that you know how to make soluble salt.

[00:00:43]Acids, weak acids and strong acids always in the exam. So, they like to ask about the difference between weak and strong acid, how these strong acids are fully ionized in water while weak acid are only partially ionized, the pH of the solution based on the concentration of the hydrogen ion or how concentrated the acid is and of course titration because there would always be a question about titration and the calculation of the concentration from titration.

[00:01:15]So, in terms of the calculation, the ones that are almost in every single exams are the calculation of the AR or relative atomic mass using the abundance of the different isotopes and of course concentration from titration and also volume of gas in a reaction.

[00:01:38]So, make sure that you know how to do these calculations because almost guaranteed to be in your exam.

[00:01:45]Energy profile, draw and label or correct the energy profile. So, this is very common in the exam. It wasn't in the exam last year, so it's very highly likely to be in your exam this year. So make sure that you know the difference in the energy profile between exothermic and endothermic reactions and you can label the activation energy which is the difference between the energy of the reactants and the highest point on the energy profile and also the overall energy change or the delta H which is the difference in the energy between reactants and products. Very common in the exam to ask you to calculate the enthalpy change or delta H from a certain reaction or a missing find a missing bond energy.

[00:02:35]It was in the exam last year but it's very common so maybe it will be in the exam as well this year.

[00:02:42]Electrolysis one of the main topics in the exam. Definitely there will be a question about electrolysis. Last year there was a question about the extraction of aluminium from its ores.

[00:02:53]So this year I don't think they will ask you about aluminium but more likely to ask you about extraction using aqueous ionic compounds. So make sure that you know what is being oxidized, what's being reduced especially when we are talking about aqueous ionic compounds because there will be there will be competition between the cations which are the hydrogen ion and the cation from the ionic compounds and also between the anions. So make sure that you know which one is going to be oxidized, which one is going to be reduced.

[00:03:31]Periodic table and the trends in the periodic table one of the one of the guaranteed questions in the exams as well. The most common one that it's almost in every single exam [clears throat] is group zero or noble gases. They like to ask about the reactivity of noble gases, their structure or the physical properties, the trend and the physical properties for group zero elements. A group one, um I think going to be in the exam this year. Uh last year there was a long question about group seven, its reactivity, and the displacement reactions for the halides. So, I think this year and the main focus would be on group one. So, make sure that you know the reactivity of group one, their trend, uh their reactions with water or with acids. So, um because it's going to be very likely uh to be in the exam this year.

[00:04:28]Um the activity series, uh displacement reaction, redox, and ionic equations.

[00:04:35]Again, one of these topics that will be in the exam in a way or another. So, make sure that you know the difference between the oxidation and reduction. Um remember the um um that oxidation is the loss of electrons, and the reduction is gain of electrons. So, oil rig, and also remember that you could refer to oxidation and reduction uh to uh the gaining of oxygen or loss of oxygen.

[00:05:06]Uh bonding, of course, there will be questions about the different types of bonds. Uh for I think this year most likely they going to ask you about the metallic bonding because there was almost nothing about it in the exam last year. Uh if there is a dot and cross diagram uh this year, I think it's going to be for ionic compounds, not covalent because last year they asked to draw a dot and cross diagram for a covalent compound. So, I think this year might be uh if it comes in the exam, it would be for ionic compounds. One of the most common questions as well about the uh bonding is the formation to describe what happens when an ionic bond is formed. So, when a metal react with nonmetal, you have to refer to that the metal loses electrons to give the positive ion and the nonmetal gains electrons to give the negative ion. And then there is the electrostatic forces of attraction between them. Um also, they might ask you about the difference in the melting or boiling points between different compounds, ionic, covalent, and metallic. So, uh be careful with that. Make sure that you know how to um explain the whether the compound would have high melting or uh the low melting point.

[00:06:26]Plan an experiment. Uh definitely, there will be a question where they're going to ask you to plan an experiment.

[00:06:33]Um Lately, they started to uh this question started to be more of um uncommon question uh or uncommon experiment. So, something you haven't done before. So, whatever they're going to ask you, just make sure that you know the your variables, the independent variable, the variable that you change yourself, the dependent variable, the one that you measure after you change the independent one, and the control variables. So, um make sure especially the control variables. It's very important to know the control variables because you need to say which ones are kept exactly the same in the experiment.

[00:07:15]So, the following topics are most likely to be in the exam this year because they are common and they haven't been in the exam lately. The first one is related to giant covalent structure. Giant covalent structure in general is almost always in the exam. Last year, they asked about graphite. So, this year, I would think that maybe they will ask about diamond.

[00:07:38]So, make sure that you know everything about diamond, its structure, its properties, why it doesn't conduct electricity, and why it has high melting points and so on.

[00:07:48]Also, the C allotropes or carbon allotropes, especially fullerene, because it allows them to ask you about the nanoparticles as well. And last year they didn't ask about fullerene. Yes, nanoparticle was in the exam, but there was nothing about the fullerene. So, maybe this year they will ask about fullerene. Remember that fullerene is not giant covalent structure. It's just a big covalent compound.

[00:08:15]Um, and also remember the uses of fullerene because I think they might ask you about that this year.

[00:08:23]The use of Avogadro constant to calculate the number of atoms or particles. Remember that Avogadro constant represents the number of particles of any substance in one mole.

[00:08:35]So, you just need to find the number of moles, multiply that by Avogadro constant, which they're going to give you to find the total number of atoms or of particles.

[00:08:47]Um, metals, uh, properties of metals, how the metallic bonding affect the different properties of metals like the melting points, conduction of electricity, heat conduction, um, malleability, uh, ductility, all of that. So, you need to make sure that you know about metals and metallic bonding, and you can explain all of these properties based on the metallic bond and the structure of metals. Also, alloys because alloys wasn't in the exam last year, so maybe there will be something related to alloys this year.

[00:09:23]Uh, difference between electrolysis and chemical cells. So, chemical cells is not always in the exam. It's quite common, but it's not always in the exam.

[00:09:31]Last year there was a question about fuel cells.

[00:09:35]Um, so maybe this year they're going to ask you about the difference between electrolysis and electrochemical cells or chemical cells because electrolysis is the use of electricity to initiate a reaction while the chemical cells we use a chemical reaction to generate electricity. So, they are opposite to each other.

[00:09:58]Uh, these topics are common about they are not in every single exam. So, the first one is the atom economy. Why the atom economy is important and also calculation of percentage atom economy.

[00:10:12]Economy. So, very common in the exam to ask you about these one or two of these, but it's not in every single exam. So, also you need to make sure that you know how to answer these one.

[00:10:23]Percentage yield as well, it's quite common in the exam. Not in every single exam. There was a question about percentage yield yes last year and the year before. So, they might or might not ask you about the percentage yield.

[00:10:38]Model of the atom, it became more like consistent question in the exam lately.

[00:10:45]Last year there was a question about model of the atom, the year before and the year before. This year if the question comes, I think the question mainly will be about the Chadwick and the discovery of the neutrons and how the discovery of neutrons played a role in the discovery of the isotopes because isotopes have have different number of neutrons but the same number of protons.

[00:11:12]Uh, electrochemical cells. So, or chemical cells. So, they are common but not always in the exam. Last year there was a long question about fuel cells.

[00:11:23]So, I think it might be less likely this year but to ask you about fuel cell again but um, it's quite common to ask about the electrochemical cells, but it's not going to be, in my opinion, I don't think it's going to be a long question.

[00:11:41]Uh, these topics are less likely, but they are still possible, so I wouldn't exclude these, but they are less likely.

[00:11:48]Uh, the first topic is group seven elements. So, um, last year there was a long question about group seven elements. They asked about the properties, um, in terms of the melting, uh, physical properties like melting points with explanation, and they also asked about the reactivity trend, and the displacement reactions for the, uh, halogens with the halides. So, it's quite unlikely this year that they're going to ask about these details about group seven elements, and if it comes in the exam, I think it's going to be just one uh, small question about group seven, maybe trends and reactivity or something.

[00:12:30]Using electrolysis for extraction of aluminum from its ores, as I said, that was the main question about electrolysis last year, so very, very unlikely to be in the exam this year. Uh, transition metals, transition metals is not, uh, that type of question that would be in the exam every single year. So, um, and, uh, last year there was a question about transition metals, and they asked about the difference in the properties between transition metals and metals, so I think it's unlikely to be in the exam, but I would never exclude it as well.

[00:13:01]Uh, Mendeleev table, so the history of the discovery of the periodic table and the Mendeleev table, uh, this is not in the exam every year.

[00:13:09][clears throat] And last year there was a question about Mendeleev table, so I think it's less likely to be in the exam this year.

[00:13:17]Law of conservation of mass, uh, last year in my prediction, I told people to, um, pay attention to this topic because it hasn't been in the exam for such a long time, and it actually came in the exam last year. So, So, this topic is not like a common topic at all, and it was in the exam last year. So, I don't think it will be in the exam this year, but I wouldn't exclude anything.

[00:13:41]Uh finally, hydrogen fuel cells. As I said, uh last year there was a long question about fuel cells. Uh so, if hydrogen fuel cell came again in the exam this year, it's not going to be a long question. It's going to be embedded within uh the questions about um uh electrochemical cells if that comes in the exam. So, I don't think that there will be a long question about hydrogen fuel cells. Just make sure that you know the equations because this is uh the thing that that didn't come in the exam last year, so it might be in the exam this year.

[00:14:14]Finally, pay attention to these topics which are not very common and um haven't been in the exam for such a long time.

[00:14:22]The first one is limiting reagents. So, identify which reagent is the limiting reagent would be uh quite important. And also the state of uh states of matter and the particle uh model. So, this [clears throat] topic hasn't been in the exam for such a long time, and as I said last year, pay attention to the law of conservation of mass, and it was in the exam. Please pay attention to these topics. They might be in the exam this year.