How to Prepare for the Chemistry Teacher License Test: An 8-Week Plan by Domain Weight

Last verified: 30 October 2026. The weights are from the candidate guide for chemistry teachers (pp. 6-7) and the standards from the chemistry teachers' standards document. This guide is independent: it is not affiliated with ETEC, Qiyas (the National Center for Assessment), the Ministry of Education or any government body.

In short: an eight-week plan that splits your time by domain weight: gases, stoichiometry, solutions, acids and bases (28%) get two and a half weeks, hydrocarbons and functional groups (18%) a week and a half, kinetics, electrochemistry and equilibrium (17%) a week and a half, then one week for matter and the periodic table, one week for the history and lab domains, and half a week for teaching chemistry. The next sitting is expected in late January 2027, so adjust the plan to end before your date (dates).

How we split the time

If a domain is already strong from your daily teaching, shorten its time and add it to your weakest domain after the week-1 result.

Rules for every week

• Calculate without a calculator: the test bans it. Solve problems on paper from the start, and get used to multiplying, dividing, powers of ten and simple logarithms.
• Read the standard, then solve: each standard has indicators in the test content, and each question tests one indicator. Start each topic with its indicators, then solve its questions in practice mode.
• Read the explanation of every option: a wrong option names the common misconception, so write down what you got wrong.
• Review your mistakes: on Sunday of each week, redo last week's questions that you got wrong.
• End of each week: practise the week's units, then take a full timed mock exam (88 questions in two hours) at the end of weeks 6 and 7.

Week 1: Diagnosis and the two smallest domains

• Day one: the free questions (10) to see where you stand in all seven domains.
• 6.7.1 and 6.7.2: hypothesis, theory and law, controlled variables, precision, accuracy and sources of error.
• 6.7.14 and 6.7.15: oil refining and petrochemicals, air and water pollution, how chemistry links to biology and pharmacy.
• 6.7.3 and 6.7.4: lab safety, hazard symbols and first aid, reading graphs, significant figures and scientific notation.
• End of week: practise these six standards and note your three weakest from the diagnosis.

Week 2: Matter and the periodic table

• 6.7.5: states of matter and their changes, the development of atomic theory, atomic structure, nuclear reactions.
• 6.7.6: electron configurations (including exceptions such as Cr and Cu) and quantum numbers, bonds and intermolecular forces, trends: radius, ionisation energy, electronegativity.
• End of week: practise standards 5 and 6, then start a mistakes notebook you keep until the test.

Week 3: Stoichiometry and gases (the heaviest week)

• 6.7.7: the mole and Avogadro's number, empirical and molecular formulas, balancing equations and stoichiometry, reaction types.
• Gas laws (Boyle, Charles, the ideal gas law) and the kinetic molecular theory, ideal versus real gases.
• Solve the official guide's example about the number of molecules in 19 g of F₂ and 1.0 g of H₂ yourself first, then read the solution.
• End of week: practise standard 6.7.7 alone, since it is the biggest part of the biggest domain.

Week 4: Solutions

• 6.7.8: molarity, mass percent, preparing solutions and dilution (M₁V₁ = M₂V₂).
• Solubility and the effect of pressure, temperature and polarity, and colligative properties: vapour pressure lowering, boiling point elevation, freezing point depression and osmotic pressure.
• Solve the guide's example on the mass of NaOH in 100.0 mL of a 1.5 M solution (0.15 mol × 40 = 6.0 g) without a calculator.
• End of week: practise standard 6.7.8.

Week 5: Acids and bases, then the start of kinetics

• First days, 6.7.10: Arrhenius, Brønsted-Lowry and Lewis, calculating pH (example: the pH of 1.0×10⁻⁵ M HCl), titration and the neutralisation point (example: 22 mL of 0.1 M H₂SO₄ neutralises 10 mL of NaOH), buffer solutions.
• End of this part: practise standard 6.7.10, then the whole fourth domain, which is 28% of the test.
• Second half, 6.7.9 (1): reaction rate and what affects it, collision theory, activation energy, catalysts (they lower activation energy but do not change ΔH).

Week 6: Equilibrium, thermochemistry and electrochemistry

• 6.7.9 (2): chemical equilibrium, its constant and Le Chatelier's principle, enthalpy and Hess's law.
• 6.7.11: oxidation numbers (such as Mn in MnO₄⁻), balancing redox equations, galvanic and electrolytic cells, calculating E°cell (the guide's example: +0.80 − (−0.74) = +1.54 V), the Nernst equation, electrolysis.
• End of week: practise standards 9 and 11, then take your first full timed mock exam in two hours with no phone and no calculator. You have not yet studied organic chemistry or teaching, so treat it as a second diagnosis and compare it with week 1, domain by domain.

Week 7: Hydrocarbons

• 6.7.12: classifying hydrocarbons, hybridisation (sp³, sp², sp) and molecular shapes, isomerism, IUPAC naming (example: CH₃CH₂CHClCH₃ is 2-chlorobutane).
• Reactions of alkanes (substitution), alkenes (addition) and aromatics (substituting benzene with nitric acid gives C₆H₅NO₂).
• The start of functional groups, 6.7.13: general formulas, naming, and how a group affects polarity, boiling point and solubility.
• End of week: practise standard 6.7.12, then a second full mock exam and review its mistakes.

Week 8: Functional groups, teaching chemistry and review

• First half, 6.7.13: acidity of functional groups, their reactions and tests, carbohydrates, proteins (alanine is an amino acid) and fats (sucrose is glucose plus fructose).
• Two days for 6.7.16 and 6.7.17: trends in science education, simulations, misconceptions, teaching strategies and the learning cycle, and varied assessment.
• The rest of the week: return to the weakest domains in the two full mock exams, and give the most time to the fourth domain if it is your weakest, since it is 28%.
• Two days before the test: a third full mock exam, then a light review. Do not start a new topic on the last day.
• Test day: check the ID you need and what is allowed, and sleep early.

If you have less time

If fewer than eight weeks remain, start with the diagnosis and then compress the plan in this order: gases, stoichiometry, solutions, acids and bases first (28%), then organic chemistry, then kinetics, equilibrium and electrochemistry, then the rest. Keep the last three days for two full mock exams and a review of their mistakes.

This plan is our suggestion for organising your time and does not guarantee any score, and your mock exam score is an estimate of readiness, not an official result. Start unit practice with stoichiometry, gases, solutions, acids and bases (28%), and keep the full mock exam for the end of the plan.