Cognivia Tutoring offers 1:1 A-Level Chemistry lessons with Archie Dyer, a second-year Theoretical Physics student at UCL. Each lesson lasts one hour, runs online on Google Meet or in person around Marylebone, London, and follows your own exam board. Lessons cost £45 an hour online or £55 in person, with a free 30-minute trial.
By Archie Dyer, founder and tutor · Last updated 11 October 2026
Three written papersPlus a practical endorsement, reported separately from the grade.
20% of marks need mathsStated in the AQA, Pearson Edexcel and OCR specifications.
Taught by Archie DyerSecond-year Theoretical Physics at UCL, after a First in his first year.
£45 online, £55 in personOne hour, 1:1. No group classes.
Free 30-minute online trialNo card needed.
Enhanced DBS checkedArchie is the founder and the only tutor.
How A-Level Chemistry is assessed
A-Level Chemistry has two parts that are reported separately. The grade, A* to E, comes entirely from three written papers sat at the end of the course. Alongside it sits a practical endorsement, assessed by the student’s own teachers and shown on the certificate as its own result.
All three specifications below divide the subject into physical, inorganic and organic chemistry, and all three set three papers. The lengths, weightings and the way the content is split between papers are different.
A-Level Chemistry written paper structure by exam board and specification
Specification
Written papers
AQA (7405)
Three 2-hour papers. Paper 1 (105 marks, 35%) covers inorganic chemistry and the relevant physical chemistry topics. Paper 2 (105 marks, 35%) covers organic chemistry and the relevant physical chemistry topics. Both include relevant practical skills. Paper 3 (90 marks, 30%) can draw on any content and any practical skills: 40 marks on practical techniques and data analysis, 20 marks testing across the specification and 30 marks of multiple choice.
Pearson Edexcel (9CH0)
Paper 1, Advanced Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, and Paper 2, Advanced Organic and Physical Chemistry, are each 1 hour 45 minutes, 90 marks and 30%. Paper 3, General and Practical Principles in Chemistry, is 2 hours 30 minutes, 120 marks and 40%, and may draw on any topic in the specification.
OCR A (H432)
Periodic table, elements and physical chemistry is 2 hours 15 minutes, 100 marks and 37%, on modules 1, 2, 3 and 5. Synthesis and analytical techniques is 2 hours 15 minutes, 100 marks and 37%, on modules 1, 2, 4 and 6. Unified chemistry is 1 hour 30 minutes, 70 marks and 26%, on all six modules. Module 1 is the development of practical skills; modules 4 and 6 are the organic chemistry.
Linear assessment
All papers in one summer series. AQA: “students must complete all exams in May/June in a single year”. OCR: “All examined components must be taken in the same examination series at the end of the course.”
Practical endorsement
A minimum of 12 practical activities, assessed by teachers. Pearson: it appears “on all students’ certificates as a separately reported result, alongside the overall grade for the qualification”.
Pass or Not Classified
The endorsement is not graded A* to E. OCR: candidates who reach the standard “will be awarded a Pass grade”, and those who do not “will be recorded as ‘Not Classified’”.
Does it count?
Not towards the grade. AQA: “A-level grades will be based only on marks from written exams.” Pearson: “The Endorsement will not contribute to the overall grade for this qualification”.
Maths content
20% of the marks. Pearson: “a minimum of 20% of the marks across the three papers will be awarded for mathematics at Level 2 or above”. AQA and OCR state the same 20% figure.
Practical work on paper
AQA: “At least 15% of the overall assessment of A-level Chemistry will assess knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to practical work.”
Paper structures, timings, weightings, the practical endorsement and the mathematics requirement checked against each board’s own specification: AQA 7405 at a glance, scheme of assessment and practical assessment; the Pearson Edexcel 9CH0 specification (Issue 3); and the OCR H432 specification (version 3.1). Checked on 11 October 2026. Cognivia Tutoring is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any exam board; your school can confirm which specification you are entered for.
Where A-Level Chemistry is demanding
These are observations drawn from the specifications, not statistics about results and not claims about any particular student.
Organic chemistry is examined through mechanisms. Knowing that a reaction happens is not enough; the student has to show how. Pearson’s specification states: “Use of the curly arrow notation is expected”, and OCR asks for “reaction mechanisms, using diagrams, to show clearly the movement of an electron pair with ‘curly arrows’ and relevant dipoles”. An arrow starting in the wrong place is a wrong answer.
Physical chemistry is built on multi-step calculations. AQA’s physical chemistry section includes amount of substance, the equilibrium constants Kc and Kp, acids and bases, and electrode potentials and electrochemical cells. Each has its own method, and a question can chain two of them. With 20% of marks needing maths, a slip in moles, units or rearranging carries through the whole answer.
Questions cross topic boundaries. AQA sets questions that test “the ability to draw together different areas of knowledge and understanding within one answer”. Pearson’s Paper 3 “will include synoptic questions that may draw on two or more different topics”. OCR states that “all components include synoptic assessment”.
Practical skills are examined in writing. The endorsement is separate, but practical work still appears in the papers. AQA’s Paper 3 gives 40 marks to “practical techniques and data analysis”. Pearson’s Paper 3 assesses “conceptual and theoretical understanding of experimental methods”. OCR’s practical skills module is assessed in all three of its papers.
Extended answers can be calculations. AQA says extended responses “may be in written English, extended calculations, or a combination of both”.
What a tutor can and cannot do here. Lessons can cover the written papers: the theory, the mechanisms, the calculations and the practical-skills and data-analysis questions. The practical endorsement itself is assessed by the student’s teachers through direct observation of practical work, so no tutor can assess it or sign it off.
The ESAT is the Engineering and Science Admissions Test, which some engineering and science courses ask applicants to sit. It has five modules, Mathematics 1, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics 2. UAT-UK says each module “lasts 40 minutes and contains 27 multiple choice questions”, and that candidates cannot use a calculator.
That is a different format from an A-Level Chemistry paper, so preparing for the Chemistry module is separate work from the A-Level. Archie tutors the ESAT in Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Physics and Chemistry, and not Biology: see the ESAT page. Which courses ask for which modules changes between admissions cycles, so check the university’s own course page.
Checked against the official UAT-UK page About the ESAT. Checked on 11 October 2026.
Who you would be working with
Lessons are with Archie Dyer, the founder of Cognivia Tutoring and its only tutor. He tutors Chemistry at IGCSE and GCSE, A-Level and IB, alongside Maths, Physics and Economics.
Second-year Theoretical Physics student at UCL (University College London), after a First in his first year.
43 out of 45 in the IB, with 7s in HL Maths, Physics and Economics.
10 A*s at IGCSE.
Tutoring for over two years. Enhanced DBS checked.
Based in Marylebone, London.
Archie did not sit A-Level Chemistry, and Chemistry was not one of his IB Higher Level subjects. He took the IB Diploma, where his Higher Level subjects were Maths, Physics and Economics, and went on to Theoretical Physics at UCL. He tutors the A-Level Chemistry specifications without holding an A-Level or Higher Level grade in the subject himself. Lessons follow the student’s own exam board and specification, so say which one at the trial.
He also tutors A-Level Maths and A-Level Physics, so a student taking those subjects with Chemistry does not need a separate tutor for each. He does not tutor Biology. He will not promise a grade: A-Levels are marked by the exam boards, not by tutors.
How he teaches. In Archie’s words: “I find where the understanding actually breaks down, which is usually two or three topics further back than where the marks were lost, and we rebuild from there. I keep lessons relaxed. I would far rather a student asked me something they think is obvious than sat quietly and nodded.” The free 30-minute trial is the way to judge that for yourself: bring a topic you find difficult. There is more on the About Archie page.
Prices and practical details
A-Level Chemistry prices at Cognivia Tutoring
What
Online
In person
One 1-hour 1:1 lesson
£45
£55
5-pack — five 1-hour lessons, £15 off
£210
£260
30-minute trial lesson
Free
Online only
The price is the same whichever exam board the student is on. A 5-pack is held in a My lessons account, so the five lessons can be booked one at a time.
1 hour, 1:1. Every lesson is with Archie, built around one student. There are no group classes.
Online on Google Meet, or in person around Marylebone, London (+£10). The Meet link is in your confirmation email; times are shown in your own time zone.
Free 30-minute online trial, no card needed. A relaxed session to meet and see if it clicks.
24 hours’ notice to cancel, by email or phone. See the refund policy.
Payment by Stripe at booking. Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Full prices for every subject and level are on the pricing section of the home page. Parents receive a short note after each lesson on what was covered and what to practise next. Parents or students can book.
At Cognivia Tutoring, A-Level Chemistry lessons are £45 an hour online, or £55 an hour in person around Marylebone, London. A 5-pack of five 1-hour lessons saves £15: £210 online or £260 in person. The 30-minute online trial is free and needs no card.
Lessons follow the student’s own exam board and specification. This page sets out the paper structure for AQA (7405), Pearson Edexcel (9CH0) and OCR A (H432). Archie did not sit any of them himself, because he took the IB Diploma, so tell him the board at the trial.
Yes. Online lessons run on Google Meet, with the link in the booking confirmation email. The booking calendar shows times in your own time zone, and students join from the UK and across Europe.
Yes. In-person lessons take place around Marylebone, London, and cost £10 more than online, at £55 an hour. See the Marylebone page for details.
It is demanding in specific ways. The course combines physical, inorganic and organic chemistry, and all of it is examined in three written papers at the end. Organic chemistry asks for reaction mechanisms, physical chemistry asks for multi-step calculations, and each board sets questions that draw on several topics at once. How hard that feels depends on the student.
About a fifth of the marks. AQA states that “20% of the overall assessment of A-level Chemistry will contain mathematical skills equivalent to Level 2 or above”. Pearson Edexcel states a minimum of 20% of the marks across its three papers, and OCR gives the same 20% figure for its written examinations.
Not with the endorsement itself. It is assessed by the student’s teachers through direct observation of practical work, and it is reported separately from the grade. Lessons can cover the practical-skills and data-analysis questions that appear in the written papers.
Book the free 30-minute online trial and bring a topic you find difficult. You will see how Archie explains it and whether his teaching suits you before paying anything, and no card is needed. After every paid lesson, parents receive a short note on what was covered and what to practise next, so progress stays visible.
Where to go next
A free 30-minute trial is the simplest way to find out whether this is the right fit. Nothing is charged and no card is needed.
