Usually, H1 is a subset of the H2, so about half the content, but same difficulty level. Better look up the moe syllabus for physics h1 and h2 to confirm. (For humanities, there may be further difference in the level of response marking, but I’m not sure about that.)

If you want to be practical in terms of scoring, it is not about the quantity of material to remember. It is about linking all the ideas together and being able to apply them in new situations. If you read Eran Katz or other memory masters, the common thread behind good memory is how one links random or seemingly random ideas together so that there is in effect less to remember. In fact, they say that we can only really hold seven random pieces of info in our heads! So no matter the subject at A level, the ability to understand and link subject matter is far more important than quantity of material. It may help you to see the percentage of A’s or A/B’s for H1 for those subjects for your school, as a rough gauge of how well students do. I found that in a particular case, H2 physics students did well compared to some other subjects but the same school’s H1 physics students did worse than those same other subjects - just an observation.

Thanks a lot, ks2010! That’s very useful.

Hi, my son is in the chess club. Can I check with anyone who knows, whether the regular meetings for chess club are on Mondays or Fridays? Got a bit of scheduling headache with outside commitments on a Friday. Also, will it be twice a week if he gets to play for the school and a tournament is coming up? He’s only into international chess and not Chinese chess. Thanks, anyone who can help.

I have no idea of history, but H2 chemistry is useful for many subject combis at uni, the science-based ones like biomed, med/dentistry, pharmacy, some engineering.

Based on my 2 dd experience in econs, I remember there are 2 papers: 1st one is two case studies, and 2nd one is three essays

psle sad mum:

thanks for the advice! how about econs? i heard many students are struggling

is it mostly essays or calculations?

Basically, student must be interested in market events you read in the newspapers and observe in real life transactions, and explain and analyse them eg. how entry of Uber may affect prices and profits in point-to-point transport industry; what is the impact of sustained low oil prices on different markets; how do airlines carry out price discrimination; evaluation of argument for minimum wages; understanding of why Sing dollar depreciated against US dollar, etc. If your girl likes to read and discuss this type of thing with you, or is interested to know about it, it is very positive for her to take econs!

I won’t say the subjects are equally heavy, rather they can be equally challenging depending on the student’s strengths and weaknesses. A quantitative person will have a relatively easy time doing double maths and physics, while some others have it relatively easy by doing literature and other humanities. Of course, there are those who find any subject ok and the opposite.


However, there are typically content-heavy subjects. History and geography in particular. DD1 took geography and told me students are discouraged from tsking history and geography H2 together. Biology is also perceived as content-heavy.

I’d say, know yourself and choose wisely. It can make a world of difference between an enjoyable school life or a painful slog.

yuenyuen:

Hi all, a stupid question...how do we know which subjects falls under science and what are the arts subjects?

Moe website has the listing: google this:
http://www.moe.gov.sg › subject_synoposes
And click on the pdf file

That would be science. H2 chemistry will be hard for one with a b4 at O level. Depends on why she obtained b4 - lack of interest in the subject, or concentrating on something else, or tried hard but still got b4. If she thinks she will be able to put in many more hours and much more effort in it, could still be ok, but it is going to get a lot harder. Even good students suddenly ask for tuition in Chem esp in year two, when they feel they are still not grasping the subject and start to feel shaky. Make sure she is committed, as there is no room to drop it down to H1 level if she is doing three H2.