Tanjong Katong Girls' School 2025 Pure Chemistry Paper 2
- Yao Le Chen
- 28 minutes ago
- 3 min read
This is the short summary of the Prelim Paper Review I've done for
2025 Tanjong Katong Girls' School Pure Chemistry Paper 2
My 3 matrices:
Relevance: 7/10
Insightfulness: 9/10
Difficulty: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
Expectation: 60%
Key questions to consider:
Queston 5 - Organic Chemistry
Queston 6 - Organic Chemistry, Polymers
Queston 7 - Data-based, Environmental Chemistry, Chemical Calculations
Queston 9 - Application, Chemical Calculations, Energetics, Acid-Base and Salt
Short writeup:
2025 Tanjong Katong Girls’ School Pure Chemistry Paper Review — A Paper That Truly Rewards Skill, Not Memorization
The 2025 Tanjong Katong Girls’ School (TKGS) Pure Chemistry Paper 2 strikes an impressive balance between O Level fundamentals and IP-standard creativity. On first impression, it feels like a paper split in two — the first half straightforward and accessible, the second half demanding sharper thinking and real understanding.
This paper doesn’t just test memory. It tests mastery.
A Refreshingly Honest Paper — No Gimmicks, No A-Level Concepts in Disguise
One of the biggest frustrations with many school prelim papers is how they import A-Level ideas to artificially raise difficulty. TKGS doesn’t fall into that trap. Instead, it plays fair — sticking to O Level concepts while weaving in small, clever twists that require genuine problem-solving skills rather than rote recall.
This approach makes the paper authentically challenging. Students are rewarded not for memorizing templates, but for truly understanding chemical principles.
Environmental Chemistry That Actually Makes Sense
The standout feature of this paper is its data-based question on environmental chemistry — a topic that’s become a mainstay in recent O Level Pure Chemistry papers.
Instead of the typical convoluted “pollution” or “green chemistry” themes, TKGS set their question in a realistic and relatable context: aquarium health. Students had to interpret data, make sense of trends, and connect it to the chemical principles governing water quality and ecosystem balance.
This wasn’t just well-crafted — it was relevant, elegant, and genuinely insightful. In today’s O Level climate, where environmental applications are becoming the norm, this question hits the sweet spot between creativity and accessibility.
The Weak Spot — A First Half That Plays It Too Safe
For all its brilliance, the first half of the paper feels noticeably weaker. The early sections were too easy, testing only recall-level understanding that even Cambridge seems to have moved away from.
For instance, the Chemical Bonding question in this paper was essentially free marks — something that’s no longer true in recent O Level papers, where bonding is often tested through context-based or diagrammatic applications.
This inconsistency makes the paper a little uneven in pacing — a warm-up followed by a sprint. But for students preparing seriously, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It gives weaker students an entry point while offering stronger ones a playground to flex their skills.
Who Should Attempt This Paper
Overall, the 2025 TKGS Pure Chemistry Paper 2 is a refreshing and valuable resource, particularly for:
Stronger students who want to test their analytical skills under timed conditions.
Average students who want to learn how to think beyond memorization, one question at a time.
If you’re aiming for distinction-level mastery, this is one of the rare papers that truly trains the kind of flexible thinking required to excel at the real O Levels.
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