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Welcome to the National Levelling Up: Chemistry Hub

Levelling Up: Chemistry is a free academic and pastoral support programme aimed at Year 12 students who aspire to study Chemistry at University.

The programme features a mixture of regular online academic tutorials, mentoring sessions, guest lectures and other events for students to get involved in to gain an insight to what life is like as a Chemistry student at University. Sessions are run by different University's own academic staff and student bodies, with content featured from the National Chemistry A-level curriculum. This programme is part of the wider Levelling Up: STEM initiative, with parallel programmes in other subjects.
Levelling Up: STEM
A Chemistry experiment with test tubes

How does the programme work?

There are three main aspects to the Levelling Up: Chemistry programme:

  1. Academic tuition with high-quality materials designed to help students supplement their A-level studies, whilst stretching and challenging their knowledge of Chemistry.
  2. Mentoring to help students gain an understanding of the process of applying to and studying Chemistry at University.
  3. Insights into the academic community of Chemistry departments across the country so that students know what to expect after A-level studies.

Sessions occur in groups of 5 - 8 at regular intervals throughout Year 12 and 13 with an assigned tutor and mentor.

Partner Universities

Durham University are proud to form the National Hub for Levelling Up: Chemistry, with Imperial College London, the University of Birmingham, Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Nottingham all running the programme, and more information about the programme that each University offers can be found below.

Potential University partners should contact levelling.up@durham.ac.uk to find out more about how to get involved.

Where can I apply for Levelling Up: Chemistry?

The 2024-2025 cohort of the programme is taking place at the following Universities. Please refer to each University's website for more details on how to apply.

University Programme Name Contact Deadline for Applications
Durham University Futures in STEM

Futures in STEM: futures.instem@durham.ac.uk

Hub: levelling.up@durham.ac.uk

Wednesday 31st January 2024
Imperial College London Levelling Up levellingup@imperial.ac.uk Thursday 11th January 2024
University of Birmingham Levelling Up levellingup@contacts.bham.ac.uk TBC
Sheffield Hallam University ChemBoost chemboost@shu.ac.uk  Friday 9th February 2024
University of Nottingham Levelling Up levellingup@nottingham.ac.uk Wednesday 21st January 2024

Who can apply for Levelling Up: Chemistry?

Applicants must be Year 12 students who are studying Chemistry A-level (or equivalent) (and for some institutions, Chemistry and Maths A-levels, or equivalent) and are considering studying Chemistry at University. 

Places on the programme are highly sought-after, and each partner University details their own eligibility and selection criteria to determine which participants they feel would benefit most from the programme.

Each University's eligibility criteria can be found using the links below:

Get in touch with us

Contact the National Levelling Up: Chemistry Hub team

National Levelling Up: Chemistry Hub

Department of Chemistry

Durham University

Lower Mountjoy

DH1 3LE