Competitions · Chemistry · Chem13 News
The Chem13 News Exam.
Waterloo’s grade 12 chemistry paper, running for forty-eight years and costing a few dollars to enter. Forty questions in seventy-five minutes, sat online against a global field - and the top fifth of that field takes a certificate.
At a glance
What the paper is, and who sits it.
The Chem13 News Exam has run for forty-eight years at the University of Waterloo. Every entrant worldwide sits the same paper at the same time, which is what makes the global percentile meaningful.
- Organiser
- The University of Waterloo
- History
- Forty-eight years
- Who it is for
- Grade 12 students
- Format
- Individual, sat online, with no practical component
- Duration
- 75 minutes
- Paper
- 40 multiple-choice questions
- One global sitting
- A single paper and a single exam time worldwide
- Award
- Students finishing in the global top 20% receive a certificate of distinction
- When
- Early May, with registration opening in February and closing in late April
- Entry fee
- CAD $3.50 per student
- Equipment
- An internet-connected device, a scientific calculator, and a periodic table which is supplied
The pair
Chem13 News and the Avogadro Exam.
Waterloo runs two chemistry papers and they are easy to confuse. The difference is the year group they are built for.
| Avogadro Exam | Chem13 News Exam | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | The grade 11 curriculum | Grade 12 students |
| Questions | 40 multiple choice | 40 multiple choice |
| Duration | 75 minutes | 75 minutes |
| Sat | In person at an accredited school | Online |
| When | Mid-May | Early May |
A school may order each of the two exams only once, so a school entering both needs to plan which students sit which. The natural split is by year group.
Why students choose it
The most efficient chemistry entry here.
Chem13 News combines a very low cost with a globally ranked result, which is an unusual pairing.
A few dollars to enter
At CAD $3.50 per student this is by a wide margin the cheapest competition on this site. For a school entering a whole class the cost is close to negligible.
But a genuine global percentile
Every entrant sits the same paper at the same time, so the result places a student against the worldwide field rather than a local one.
And a reachable award
The top 20% receive a certificate. That is a broader band than most chemistry competitions offer and makes a serious attempt worth making.
For students who are not mathematicians
Waterloo’s mathematics and physics papers demand computational facility. This one asks for broad chemistry at moderate depth - if you have studied the material, reasoning gets you there.
Practical requirements
What has to be in place before the day.
Because it is sat online, the arrangements are more specific than for a paper exam and worth checking in advance.
A teacher must order it
Registration is placed by a certified serving teacher at an accredited high school. By default that teacher becomes the school’s exam administrator.
Once per school, per exam
A school may order the Chem13 News Exam and the Avogadro Exam once each. There is no second order, so the entry list needs settling before registration.
A device each, and a calculator
Every student needs an internet-connected device - desktop, laptop, Chromebook or tablet - plus a scientific calculator. A periodic table is provided.
And a supported browser
The organisers name Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Baidu Browser as supported. Others may cause problems, so this is worth testing before the day rather than discovering during it.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for Chem13 News.
The paper follows a grade 12 chemistry course, so preparation is consolidation rather than extension.
Your course is the syllabus
The exam is designed for grade 12 students and tests that level. A student working through AP or A-Level chemistry is preparing for both at the same time.
Breadth over depth
The paper rewards knowing the whole course rather than mastering one part of it. Preparation audits coverage and closes gaps.
Under two minutes a question
Forty questions in seventy-five minutes. Timed practice builds the recognition speed that a multiple-choice paper of this length assumes.
Aiming at the top fifth
The certificate goes to the global top 20%. That is a concrete target and a realistic one for a well-prepared grade 12 student.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for Chem13 News at Hanlin is taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
Programme formats
Five ways this is taught.
Group size is the whole difference between these. It decides how much of the tutor's attention a student gets and how far the course can bend to them, so it is worth choosing rather than accepting.
| Format | Group size | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | One student | Content, pace and emphasis set by what this student actually needs rather than by a syllabus. The only format that can be rebuilt mid-course. |
| Small group | Three to eight | Opens at three. Frequent discussion, and the tutor can slow down or move on according to what the group has absorbed. Most students chasing a higher award are taught in this one. |
| Class | Eight to twelve | Taught by the subject lead or a medal coach. Less back-and-forth, so it suits a student who will say when something is unclear. |
| Large class | Ten to twenty | For students in the middle of the placement range, and a way to try a competition before committing. Students often move to a small group or to one-to-one afterwards. |
| Past-paper class | No cap | Past papers worked through in sequence in the weeks before the sitting. Free to students already enrolled. |
Course length for Chem13 News is set after a placement paper. The gap between where a student is and what the paper asks for is what the course has to close, and that gap is not the same for two students in the same year group.
How it runs
Six steps, four people on your side.
The same process for every student, so that nothing depends on one tutor remembering to do it.
Step 1Pre-course assessment
A placement paper before anything is booked, so the course tier is chosen on evidence rather than on a year group.
Step 2Tutor matching
A subject tutor is matched to the result, and their full background is provided before you agree to it.
Step 3Plan and group
A study group opens with four people on one student: the tutor, a planner, a supervisor and an academic manager.
Step 4Scheduled teaching
The teaching office sets the timetable around the competition date and school term, and teaching begins.
Step 5After-class reports
What was covered, and how the student handled it, reported after every lesson.
Step 6Homework follow-up
The teaching assistant and the form teacher both check that homework is done, which is where most preparation quietly fails.
Free resource pack
Past papers and preparation pack
The same material our own Chem13 News students work from. Scan the code, say what you need, and an advisor sends it.
Tell an advisor which competition and year group, and the material comes back the same day. Free, and you do not have to enrol in anything. If we do not already hold what you need, we will go and find it.
- PDFPast papers, every year the organiser has released
- PDFWorked solutions, where the organiser publishes them
- PDFThe syllabus on one page - every topic, and how heavily it is examined
- PDFEntry checklist and the dates for the current cycle
Teaching team
Who would teach it.
Three of the twenty-two tutors on the published Hanlin roster - the ones whose subject this is.
Dr Li
A Fudan postdoctoral researcher with a PhD in organic chemistry from HKUST, a master's in medicinal chemistry and nano-engineering from East China University of Science and Technology jointly with Myongji University, and a first degree in pharmaceutics. College Board-accredited.
Qiu
PhD in organic chemistry from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, after materials physics at East China University of Science and Technology. College Board-accredited, with published papers on organic small-molecule catalysis in internationally recognised journals.
Shi
Master's in water science and engineering from TU Dresden - one of Germany's TU9 institutes - after environmental engineering at Ocean University of China. A researcher in environmental chemistry at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, a DAAD scholarship holder, and College Board-accredited.
Where it is taught
Hanlin learning centres.
Teaching runs from Hanlin's own centres in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou, and online for students elsewhere.
Talk to an advisor
Everything Hanlin does for Chem13 News, in one conversation.
Entry, planning, coaching and the past papers. An advisor will tell you which of these a student actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.
Competition entry and planning
Which competitions suit this student, in what order, and by when - then we handle the registration, including the ones that can only be entered through a school or a centre.
Competition coaching
Taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
International curriculum tutoring
IB, AP, A-Level, IGCSE and the US high school curriculum, taught alongside school and timed around the exam calendar.
Competition past papers, free
A large library of past papers, mark schemes and syllabus breakdowns across every competition on this site. No charge and no enrolment.
Scan to add an advisor
Say which competition or course you are asking about. Replies in Chinese or English.
Or call +86 21 6352 6630FAQ
Chem13 News, briefly answered.
What students and schools ask before entering.
Who is the Chem13 News Exam for?
Grade 12 students. Waterloo’s Avogadro Exam is the equivalent paper built around the grade 11 curriculum.
What is the paper?
Forty multiple-choice questions in seventy-five minutes, sat online with no practical component. Every entrant worldwide sits the same paper at the same time.
How much does it cost?
CAD $3.50 per student, which makes it by some distance the cheapest competition on this site.
What award is available?
Students finishing in the global top 20% receive a certificate of distinction.
How do we register?
A certified serving teacher at an accredited high school places the order and becomes the school’s exam administrator by default. Instructions are emailed to that address about a week before the exam.
Can a school enter both Waterloo chemistry exams?
Yes, but each may be ordered only once, so the entry list for each needs settling at registration. Splitting by year group is the natural approach.
What equipment do students need?
An internet-connected device - desktop, laptop, Chromebook or tablet - and a scientific calculator. A periodic table is provided.
Which browsers work?
Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Baidu Browser are named as supported. Others may cause problems and are worth testing well before the day.
Related
Other chemistry contests.
The companion Waterloo paper, and what else students enter.
Chem13 News enquiries
A global percentile for the price of a coffee.
Three and a half dollars, seventy-five minutes, and a certificate for the top fifth of a worldwide field. Tell us how many grade 12 students you have and an advisor will set out the May entry.