Edexcel A Level Chemistry (9CH0) Past Papers 2026

Advanced Inorganic and Physical Chemistry

Duration: 1h 45m

Advanced Organic and Physical Chemistry

Duration: 1h 45m

General and Practical Principles in Chemistry

Duration: 2h 30m

Bonding and Structure (especially relating bonding to physical properties)

Flagged in 2023 Paper 1 introduction: 'The two main topics that stood out with many candidates not understanding them were Bonding and Structure and Energetics I.' Candidates referred to 'molecules of sodium' and to London forces in metals/ionic solids.

Paper 1

Energetics: Born-Haber cycles, lattice energies, ionic vs covalent character

Both 2023 and 2024 Paper 1 reports flag Born-Haber cycle errors. June 2024: 'Some candidates failed to write the correct species in the boxes, in particular when converting F2 to 2F, and on occasion the electrons and state symbols were missing.'

Paper 1

Electron configurations of transition metals and their ions

June 2023 Paper 1: 'However, many candidates did not realise that the 4s electrons are lost first.' June 2024 Paper 1 question 6 lost marks on Cu²⁺/Fe²⁺/Zn²⁺ configurations and on careless interchange of 'orbital' / 'subshell'.

Paper 1

Buffer calculations and the difference between buffer and weak acid

June 2023 Paper 3: 'A sizeable number of candidates did a weak acid calculation rather than a buffer calculation which was also disappointing.' Buffer questions also caught candidates who used the molar mass of NH₄⁺ instead of NH₄Cl.

Paper 1, Paper 3

Practical procedures: titration quenching, recrystallisation, volumetric technique

June 2024 Paper 3: 'It was also evident that there were many candidates who appeared not to be fully prepared for the demands of a paper designed for candidates at the end of their A Level programme.' Quenching with sodium hydrogencarbonate (kinetics) and hot filtration (recrystallisation) routinely missed.

Paper 2, Paper 3

Curly-arrow mechanisms in unfamiliar contexts

June 2024 Paper 2 Q5(d)(iii): 'Just over 40% of candidates answered this correctly, suggesting that the understanding of curly arrows is not as well embedded as the recall of curly arrows in familiar mechanisms.'

Paper 2, Paper 3

Kp calculations with partial pressures and units

June 2023 Paper 3 Q10(b)(iii): partial-pressure errors and including solid nickel in Kp expression cost marks. Units must be in pressure terms (e.g. atm⁻³), not concentration units.

Paper 3

NMR interpretation: hydrogen environments, splitting, chemical shift

June 2024 Paper 2 Q6(d): linking number of environments to number of peaks routinely missed. Q6(c)(ii): 'this was probably the most challenging item on the paper, with less than 20% of the cohort able to deduce the structure.' June 2024 Paper 3 Q6(b)(iii): chemical shift values from the Data Booklet often omitted altogether.

Paper 2, Paper 3