Cambridge International AS & A Level · syllabus 9701

Cambridge AS Level Chemistry (9701)

Cambridge 9701 Chemistry is examined in five papers. At AS Level: Paper 1 Multiple Choice, Paper 2 AS Level Structured Questions and Paper 3 Advanced Practical Skills. The full A Level adds Paper 4 A Level Structured Questions and Paper 5 Planning, Analysis and Evaluation. Paper 1 is 40 multiple-choice questions in 1h 15m, one mark each, with no negative marking.

Quanta holds 23 Paper 1 sittings (2023–2025), every question filed against one of the 22 AS syllabus topics. That gives something the syllabus document does not publish: the weighting Paper 1 actually uses, measured across 920 real questions.

Updated 22 September 2026

The five papers

Paper	Level	What it asks	Mapped
Paper 1Multiple Choice	AS	40 questions, one mark each, covering the whole AS content in 1h 15m.	23
Paper 2AS Level Structured Questions	AS	Written answers on the AS topics — calculations, explanations, equations and mechanisms.	—
Paper 3Advanced Practical Skills	AS	A laboratory examination: manipulation, observation, measurement and the analysis of your own results.	—
Paper 4A Level Structured Questions	A Level	Written answers on the A2 topics (23–37), assuming the AS content throughout.	—
Paper 5Planning, Analysis and Evaluation	A Level	A written paper on experimental design and the treatment of data — no laboratory work.	—

Paper 1 is set as variants 11, 12, 13, 14 — the same paper written for different time zones. How the codes and variants work →

What Paper 1 actually tests

Across all 23 sittings Quanta has mapped — 920 questions from 2023 to 2025 — this is how Paper 1 distributes across the 22 AS topics. The syllabus gives no per-topic weighting, so this comes from the papers themselves:

An introduction to AS Level organic chemistry

104 q · 11.3%

Atoms, molecules and stoichiometry

76 q · 8.3%

Chemical bonding

59 q · 6.4%

Atomic structure

58 q · 6.3%

Group 2

53 q · 5.8%

Carboxylic acids and derivatives

50 q · 5.4%

Equilibria

49 q · 5.3%

Chemical energetics

47 q · 5.1%

States of matter

44 q · 4.8%

Electrochemistry

44 q · 4.8%

Reaction kinetics

43 q · 4.7%

The Periodic Table: chemical periodicity

40 q · 4.3%

Hydroxy compounds

37 q · 4%

Group 17

36 q · 3.9%

Carbonyl compounds

36 q · 3.9%

Hydrocarbons

34 q · 3.7%

Halogen compounds

30 q · 3.3%

Nitrogen and sulfur

25 q · 2.7%

Analytical techniques

19 q · 2.1%

Polymerisation

18 q · 2%

Nitrogen compounds

12 q · 1.3%

Organic synthesis

6 q · 0.7%

An introduction to AS Level organic chemistry is the heaviest at 104 of the 920 questions (11.3%) — and organic chemistry as a whole (topics 13–21) is a larger share of Paper 1 than most students revising from the front of the textbook expect. Each sitting has its own page showing the same breakdown for that paper alone. All 9701 Paper 1 sittings by series →

Guides

Moles and stoichiometryThe mole, Avogadro's constant, molar mass, concentration and molar gas volume for Cambridge AS Chemistry 9701 — empirical formulae, limiting reagents and percentage yield, with worked calculations and the errors examiners see most.Atomic structureSubatomic particles, orbitals and electron configuration for Cambridge AS Chemistry 9701, plus what successive ionisation energies reveal about shells and sub-shells — with the two exceptions in the trend that every paper tests.Chemical bondingIonic, covalent, dative and metallic bonding for Cambridge AS Chemistry 9701, VSEPR shapes and bond angles, electronegativity and polarity, and the intermolecular forces that explain boiling points.Introduction to organic chemistryNaming organic compounds, the four ways to draw them, structural and cis-trans isomerism, and the vocabulary of mechanisms — homolytic and heterolytic fission, free radicals, nucleophiles and electrophiles — for Cambridge AS Chemistry 9701.Chemical energeticsEnthalpy changes for Cambridge AS Chemistry 9701: exothermic and endothermic, the standard enthalpy definitions examiners mark strictly, Hess's law cycles, bond-energy calculations and the sign errors that cost the marks.

How to practise multiple choice so it counts

A wrong answer on a 40-question paper is not one lost mark, it is a diagnosis. Every question Quanta holds is tagged to the syllabus topic it tests, so a mistake counts against that topic rather than against that question. Three sittings then tell you which of the 22 topics is costing you marks — instead of giving you three percentages and no instruction. Each answer is explained once you commit to it, and the explanation is the point: multiple choice punishes recognising an answer without being able to justify it.

Practise Chemistry against real mark schemes

Quanta has real Cambridge AS Chemistry 9701 past-paper questions, with every answer explained after you commit to it and each question tied to the syllabus topic it tests — and it tracks which skills you’re missing. Free for individual students.

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Common questions

How many papers are there in Cambridge 9701 Chemistry?

Five. AS Level is Paper 1 (multiple choice), Paper 2 (structured questions) and Paper 3 (advanced practical skills). The full A Level adds Paper 4 (A Level structured questions) and Paper 5 (planning, analysis and evaluation).

How long is 9701 Paper 1 and how many questions does it have?

40 multiple-choice questions in 1h 15m — a little under two minutes each. One mark per question and no negative marking, so never leave one blank.

Is a calculator allowed in 9701 Paper 1?

Yes. Paper 1 includes calculation questions — moles, concentrations, energetics, gas volumes — and you are given the Periodic Table with the paper. A scientific calculator is all that is needed.

Which topics come up most in 9701 Paper 1?

Across the 920 questions Quanta has mapped, the largest single topic is An introduction to AS Level organic chemistry at 11.3%, followed by Atoms, molecules and stoichiometry (8.3%) and Chemical bonding (6.4%). The full ranking is above, and each sitting’s own page shows its individual split.

What is the difference between AS and A Level Chemistry?

AS Level covers syllabus topics 1–22 and is examined by Papers 1–3. The full A Level adds topics 23–37 — the A2 content — examined by Papers 4 and 5, which also assume everything from the AS year.