Note: these are all student perspectives, and opinions may vary!
Complementary Options
Physics
Mathematics
Materials Science
In Short
I found part IA Chemistry to be a good course; while it didn’t add much new material to my pre-university knowledge, everything was explained better and more methodically. New things this year were slight extensions of my organic knowledge, kinetics and thermodynamics, and a much better treatment of molecular orbitals.
The lecturers for Chemistry in IA were all highly competent, and engaging. Though on occasion lectures can contain a lot of waffle.
Practicals are mostly really interesting (one afternoon every two weeks), though sometimes producing colourless liquid three times in a row gets a bit dull! They are marked but moderation means everyone gets the same mark unless you’re truly abysmal.
Modules
Michaelmas:
The Shapes and Structures of Molecules (Wothers)
Reactions and Mechanisms in Organic Chemistry
Lent:
Reactions and Mechanisms in Organic Chemistry
Energetics and Equilibria
Kinetics of Chemical Reactions
Easter:
Inorganic and materials chemistry