How to Prepare for a Chemistry Exam: Useful Tips

Chemistry exams are taken in Ukraine as part of the NMT and in American schools as AP Chemistry. Here is how both exams work, what they test and how to prepare.

Chemistry in the NMT

Since 2024, the NMT has followed a “3+1” format: a fourth, elective subject was added to the compulsory Ukrainian, mathematics and Ukrainian history. The options include Ukrainian literature, a foreign language, biology, chemistry, physics and geography. The test runs as two hours, a short break of up to 20 minutes, then two more hours.

AP Chemistry in the US

AP Chemistry is a course and exam in the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program, and a good result can earn college credit at some colleges. The exam usually takes place in May. Since 2014 it has had 60 multiple-choice questions with four options, plus three long and four short free-response questions, with an emphasis on lab-based problems. The course covers most of general chemistry except organic: reactions and their types, equilibrium, kinetics, stoichiometry, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, the structure of matter, chemical bonding and the gas laws.

How to Prepare

• Learn the format: how many tasks, how much time, what you may bring.
• Revise the basics: many problems rest on the same calculations, such as amount of substance, reaction equations and concentrations.
• Do typical tasks against the clock: it helps you learn to split your minutes between easy and hard questions.
• Study experiments: be ready to explain what happens in a reaction and to follow safety rules with chemicals and lab equipment.

Preparing for math exams is covered in The Role of Online Math Tutors in Exam Preparation.

How to Get Started

In our chemistry course, students work through the topics of their school curriculum and fill in gaps, learn to solve problems on their own and explain experiments, and prepare for quizzes, tests and exams. The teacher follows the curriculum of the student’s own school. Lessons are open to students from age 13. A trial lesson costs $8: it is individual and lasts 45 minutes. More about the course is on the Chemistry page.