This is the short summary of the Prelim Paper Review I've done for
My 3 matrices:
Relevance: 6.5/10
Insightfulness: 7/10
Difficulty: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Expectation: 65%
Key questions to consider:
Question 4 - Organic Chemistry, unknown mechanism, Nitrogen Compounds
Question 5 - Organic Synthesis, Acid-Base Equilibria, Atomic Structure
Short writeup:
Upon first impression, this is a usual NYJC paper with strong focus on Organic Chemistry. At the same time, this paper pales in comparison to preceeding year's iteration of NYJC's H2 Chemistry prelim papers.
Nanyang Junior College's H2 Chemistry paper has been largely known to be very challenging while providing insights when the right guidance is available.
I'm a fan of their 2021 and 2022 prelim papers even though they proved to be impossible for most students. My students and I generally tackle the questions together and discussing the true insights behind each question.
However, 2023's version, seem to have mellowed down. It is still a good paper with sufficient challenges but it doesn't offer as much deep insights to stretch the students who are already scoring distinctions.
Do not be mistaken - this does not mean that this paper is lousy.
This paper serves a different purpose compared to previous iterations. This paper would be a great timed practice for students who are looking to gauge how secured their distinction for H2 Chemistry is in the actual A levels.