Paper 5 & Paper 6 · Visual Guide
Practical Skills That Win Marks on Papers 5 and 6
The practical papers reward precise reading, correct apparatus and clean data presentation - skills that are easy to see and easy to lose marks on. Here are four of the most common, drawn out clearly, with links to the full written guides for each.
Whether you sit Paper 5 (a laboratory test) or Paper 6 (the written Alternative to Practical), both assess the same underlying experimental skills.
Reading scales
Read a burette to the bottom of the meniscus
- Read the bottom of the meniscus for clear liquids, with your eye level with it to avoid parallax.
- Record to 0.05 cm³. A burette reads to two decimal places, ending in 0 or 5 (e.g. 24.40, 24.45).
- Both readings, then subtract. Titre = final − initial; show both in your table.
Apparatus
Collect a gas the way the mark scheme expects
- Seal the flask with a bung. A gap lets gas escape and the volume reads low.
- Match the method to the gas. A gas syringe measures volume; collection over water suits gases with low solubility; downward delivery suits dense gases.
- Label every part when you draw apparatus - unlabelled diagrams lose the marks.
Recording data
Lay out a results table that scores
Do
| Time / s | Volume / cm³ |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0.0 |
| 30 | 18.0 |
| 60 | 31.5 |
- Quantity and unit in the heading (Volume / cm³).
- Every value to the same number of decimal places.
- Units never repeated in the cells.
Don't
| Time | Volume |
|---|---|
| 0s | 0 cm³ |
| 30s | 18cm³ |
| 1 min | 31.5 |
- No units in headings; units stuck to values.
- Mixed units (s and min) in one column.
- Inconsistent decimal places.
Graphs
Draw a best-fit line, not a dot-to-dot
- Plot accurately with sharp crosses or small dots, then draw one line following the trend.
- Balance the points roughly equally on each side of the line; ignore an obvious anomaly.
- Use a sharp pencil and a ruler for a straight line; a smooth freehand curve where the trend is curved.
The full written guides
Practise the practical papers with a specialist
Practical marks are some of the easiest to recover with focused feedback. Ask about the paid trial lesson and we'll work through Paper 5 or 6 technique with your child.