Study tools
Rapid recall: fifteen questions that show you what is missing
A written set of fifteen questions on one chemistry topic, with the answers supplied. Advised to take fifteen minutes. Teachers use it as a quick formative check, as a finisher after a topic, or as a recap; students use it to find out what they actually know rather than what looks familiar.
Fifteen questions, fifteen minutes
Long enough to cover a topic properly, short enough to fit the end of a lesson or a gap before one. The answers come with it, so it marks itself and nothing waits on you.
One topic per set
Sets follow the specification topic by topic, so you can work on the one you are stuck on instead of shuffling the whole course together.
Written by a chemistry teacher
The wording, the level of detail and the marks each answer would earn come from someone who has marked the papers - not from a generic question generator.
By qualification
Rapid recall for your specification
The chemistry is the same; the depth, the wording and what earns the mark are not. Each set is written against its own specification.
GCSE Chemistry Rapid recall
Recall decks covering the whole GCSE chemistry course, written against the AQA, Edexcel and OCR specifications. Short enough to run before school, specific enough to find the gaps.
See the 10 topic areasiGCSE Chemistry Rapid recall
Recall decks matched to the Edexcel International and Cambridge iGCSE chemistry specifications, including the extra content that separates iGCSE from GCSE.
See the 6 topic areasAS Level Chemistry Rapid recall
First-year A Level recall decks for AQA, Edexcel and OCR A. The step up from GCSE is mostly a step up in precision, and these are written to that standard.
See the 10 topic areasInternational AS Level Chemistry React15
First-year International AS recall decks for Cambridge and Edexcel International. The step up from iGCSE is mostly a step up in precision, and these are written to that standard.
See the 10 topic areasA Level Chemistry Rapid recall
Second-year A Level recall decks for AQA, Edexcel and OCR A - including the mechanism and spectroscopy work that separates a good grade from a top one.
See the 10 topic areasInternational A Level Chemistry React15
Second-year International A Level recall decks for Cambridge and Edexcel International - including the mechanism and spectroscopy work that separates a good grade from a top one.
See the 10 topic areas
Not yet covered: O Level, IB, AP, SQA. Everything in the library today is written to UK GCSE, iGCSE and A Level specifications.
Method
How to use Rapid recall
- Step 1
Answer out loud, or write it down
Thinking "yes, I know that one" is not retrieval. Say the full answer or write it before you check - the effort is what does the work.
- Step 2
Mark it, then split the list in two
Got it, and did not. Only the second list goes round again. This is the cheapest way to stop spending revision time on things you already know.
- Step 3
Come back a few days later
Recall strengthens memory most when it has partly faded. Re-run a set after a couple of days rather than immediately - forgetting a little between attempts is the mechanism, not a failure.
- Step 4
Take the ones you keep missing into full questions
Rapid recall tells you a fact is missing. A full exam-style question tells you whether you can use it. Once a set comes back clean, move to the worksheets and past-paper questions for that topic.
Why recall practice and not re-reading
Retrieval practice and spacing are two of the better-evidenced findings in the study of learning: being made to produce an answer, and coming back after a gap, both reliably beat re-reading or highlighting for long-term retention. That is the entire design principle here - the questions are deliberately awkward, because easy revision is the kind that does not stick.
Try Rapid recall on a topic you are stuck on
Start a 3-day free trial, take 10 resources and use them properly before you decide anything.
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