Special Studies: which version?

The examinable content of the Special Studies is defined by the Edexcel specification. This has not changed. You can go on using the edition that was published by Longman.

We think that the new versions on Re:act will help you and your students. This advice applies to the exams in June 2005. We have checked that students will not be disadvantaged by using the new edition.

While working on the revised versions we have been consulting the examiners and teachers to make sure that the new editions are as helpful as possible.

In revising the Special Study texts we have:

• removed material that is not required by the specification,
• simplified the treatment where possible and removed unnecessarily complex text and diagrams,
• brought the text up-to-date where necessary.

In revising the programme of experiments we have:

• separated the instructions from the main text
• revised the experiments where teachers have told us that this is necessary
• added alternatives which may be easier to carry out.

Bearing in mind the pressures of time we have also tried to help students study much of the content on their own, and check their learning, helped by:

• study guides for each chapter,
• selected web links that really help,
• on-line quick tests with commentaries,
• end-of-topic questions.
• past exam questions.

In the Special Studies the experiments are not an optional extra but an integral part of the course.

Although the Edexcel Chemistry (Nuffield) specification does not expect students to be able to recall all the details of how to carry out the experiments, an exam question could describe the experiment, and then ask for an understanding of why it was conducted in the manner described or to give an outline of the results expected. The best way to prepare for this is for students to do the experiments!