“I enjoy the organic chemistry, in particular synthesis and synthetic schemes, along with the practicals that chemistry offers. Studying Chemistry A Level has inspired me to continue studying the subject at university and hopefully work in Medicinal Chemistry as a career. We conducted an equilibria titration experiment last week, using the Haber process, and content process as our reference point to further our practical endorsement. This week, we are analysing the results qualitatively using the titration.

We visited the University of Manchester for a tour of the facilities and the lecturers demonstrated pharmaceutical synthesis in the university’s chemistry labs, where we made and purified aspirin samples and then tested their purity using chromatography. Last month, we took part in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, which involved a 90-minute exam. The questions were based on advanced theoretical concepts and Xaverian Chemistry students did really well by gaining 17 Copper, 5 Silver, and 1 Gold Award! As part of the ‘Analyst Competition’ a group of us were tasked with determining the identity of unknown compounds using a range of techniques.”