Best IGCSE Chemistry Notes for 2026–2028: Four Options Ranked and Compared

TL;DR: The best IGCSE Chemistry notes for 2026–2028 are the ones written around the 0620 mark scheme and updated after each exam session, and on that test the Chem-Bio complete notes eBook ranks first, ahead of Save My Exams, a Cambridge-endorsed coursebook and ZNotes. Cambridge states that its 2026–2028 Chemistry syllabus has no substantial changes that would impact teaching, so a "new for 2026" label is not a reason to buy anything. What moves from one session to the next is how mark schemes and examiner reports reward your wording. Knowledge with understanding, which covers definitions and key terms, carries 50% of the whole qualification, and that is why precise key terms beat page count.

Disclosure: I wrote the Chem-Bio notes ranked first. To keep this comparison fair, every ranking criterion comes from Cambridge's own 0620 syllabus (version 2, August 2026), and every feature listed for the other three options was checked against their published information in October 2026.

In this guide

• What are the best IGCSE Chemistry notes?
• Did the syllabus change for 2026–2028?
• The 6-point notes checklist
• Why the Chem-Bio notes rank first
• Save My Exams
• A Cambridge-endorsed coursebook
• ZNotes
• Are free notes enough?
• How to use your notes
• FAQ

What are the best IGCSE Chemistry notes for 2026–2028?

The best IGCSE Chemistry notes for 2026–2028 are the Chem-Bio complete notes eBook for exam-focused revision, Save My Exams for practice volume, a Cambridge-endorsed coursebook for learning a topic the first time, and ZNotes as the best free recap. Each one wins for a different student, so read the "best for" column as carefully as the rank.

How did I rank them? Against six criteria taken from the Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry 0620 syllabus for 2026–2028: an exact syllabus match, key terms worded the way the mark scheme credits them, built-in testing, exam-style diagrams, practical support, and a named author who keeps the notes current. The checklist below explains each one.

Notice that no single option wins every column. Save My Exams beats the others on question volume, and ZNotes wins on price. The Chem-Bio notes rank first because they score on the most criteria at once, inside one book written for 0620 alone.

Did the IGCSE Chemistry syllabus change for 2026–2028?

No. Cambridge states that the 0620 syllabus for 2026, 2027 and 2028 has no substantial changes that would impact teaching, and its August 2026 syllabus update changed only the assessment overview on page 9.

So why do so many notes carry a "new 2026 syllabus" label? Because a new date on the cover sells. The content you are examined on is the same 12 topics, from states of matter to experimental techniques and chemical analysis. Cambridge even confirms in the same syllabus document that coursebooks endorsed for exams from 2023 are still suitable.

What does change is the marking. Cambridge sets 0620 in the June and November series, and the syllabus lists past papers, mark schemes and principal examiner reports among its support materials. Those documents show which wording earned the mark and which did not. That is where good notes earn their keep.

Here is a real case. After the June 2026 mark schemes, I rewrote wording across the bonding sections of my own notes, because examiners are now far more precise about the words they credit. For bonding, they insist on the term electrostatic attraction, and that includes metallic bonding, not only ionic bonding. Notes that never changed after June still teach the looser version.

What should the best IGCSE Chemistry notes include?

The best IGCSE Chemistry notes match the 0620 syllabus exactly, word key terms the way the mark scheme credits them, and build in testing, exam-style diagrams and practical support. Use these six checks on any notes before you trust them, including mine.

Why these six? Because they follow the marks. Extended candidates sit Paper 2 (40 multiple-choice questions, 30%), Paper 4 (80 marks of short-answer and structured questions, 50%) and either Paper 5 or Paper 6 (practical skills, 20%), according to the 0620 assessment overview.

1. Exact syllabus match, with Extended content clear. Cambridge states that students taught only the Core content can achieve a maximum of grade C, so Supplement content must be flagged, and nothing outside the syllabus should take up your revision time.
2. Key terms worded the way the mark scheme credits them. In the 0620 assessment objectives, knowledge with understanding (AO1) is 50% of the qualification and 63% of Papers 1 to 4, and it explicitly includes scientific vocabulary and terminology.
3. Built-in testing, not reading alone. The Education Endowment Foundation's review of cognitive science in the classroom found that testing what you have learnt is often a better strategy than restudying the same information, so flashcards and quizzes should sit inside the notes.
4. Diagrams drawn the way the exam draws them. The same EEF review warns that inaccurate diagrams can reinforce misconceptions, and that images should carry information rather than decorate the page.
5. Support for Paper 5 or Paper 6. Experimental skills (AO3) carry 20% of the qualification, and Paper 6 tests them without you doing a single experiment in the exam room.
6. A named author and a visible update record. If the notes cannot tell you who wrote them or when they were last updated, you cannot know whether they reflect the latest mark schemes.

Why the Chem-Bio IGCSE Chemistry notes rank first

The Chem-Bio IGCSE Chemistry complete notes eBook ranks first because it passes all six checks in one book written for the 0620 syllabus. It is now in its seventh version, and it is updated after almost every exam session from the latest mark schemes and examiner reports. Every section is marked as Core or Extended, so you never revise content your route does not need.

Students have been revising from this book for more than seven years, and what they value most is that it is concise and saves them a lot of time.

If you would rather see the notes before you read about them, watch my video walkthrough of the IGCSE Biology and Chemistry notes.

Built around the mark scheme, so there is no fluff

Why does concise matter so much in Chemistry? Because the exam rewards short, precise answers. Under the 0620 syllabus, Paper 4 gives you 1 hour 15 minutes for 80 marks, which is less than a minute per mark. Notes that wander into material the syllabus never asks for train the opposite habit. Every page of these notes is written backwards from the mark scheme: what the question asks, what earns the mark, and nothing else.

The whole book runs to 125 pages across 24 chapters, before the glossary at the end.

Key terms highlighted the way examiners look for them

Take the ionic bond. The 0620 syllabus describes it as a "strong electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions". Every word in that phrase is doing a job. The same wording now appears everywhere the mark scheme expects it: after June 2026, the bonding sections use electrostatic attraction for metallic bonding too, where the syllabus describes the attraction between positive ions in the lattice and a sea of delocalised electrons. When a question uses the command word define , Cambridge's command-word table asks for the precise meaning, not a description and not an example. That's why every key term in the notes is highlighted and written in the wording the mark scheme credits. You learn the exact sentence once, instead of a loose version you have to fix later.

Flashcards and quizzes inside the notes

Why build testing into a book? Because reading the same page again feels productive but rarely moves your grade. The Dunlosky review of ten learning techniques rated practice testing and spaced practice as high utility, and rated rereading and highlighting as low utility. The EEF review adds that short, low-stakes quizzes are a cheap and easy way to recap that may strengthen long-term memory. Testing yourself like this is what we call retrieval practice. So the notes come with flashcards built from the key terms and quizzes written in exam style.

Each chapter comes with around 20 flashcards and another 20 quizzes, so testing yourself is part of every topic, not something you organise separately.

Updated after almost every exam session

The syllabus stays still until 2028. The marking does not. After almost every session I go through the new mark schemes and examiner reports and update the notes. Because they are an eBook, the update reaches your device without you buying a new edition.

The bonding rewrite described above, made after the June 2026 mark schemes, is one example of what an update looks like. Access lasts two years from purchase, so every update in that window reaches you at no extra cost.

Diagrams as you will meet them in the exam, plus mind maps

An exam diagram is not decoration. Very often, it is the question. If you have only ever seen a textbook version drawn from a different angle with different labels, you spend exam time decoding it instead of answering. The diagrams in these notes are drawn the way you will meet them in the paper. The mind maps are teacher-made, and the EEF review reports some evidence that concept maps work better when teachers build them than when pupils start from scratch.

The book also carries data sheets, including the colours of compounds and molecules you are expected to recall. The 0620 syllabus expects you to know, for instance, that chlorine is a pale yellow-green gas and bromine a red-brown liquid at room temperature, as well as the colours behind every test for ions and gases. Having them on one sheet saves you hunting through chapters.

The memory techniques are there for fixed lists, such as the order of the reactivity series in the syllabus, from potassium down to gold. Use them to hold a list in place, then test yourself on it. A memory trick is a starting point, not revision on its own.

QR codes that show you the experiment

Experimental skills carry 20% of the qualification. If you sit Paper 6, Alternative to Practical, the 0620 syllabus confirms you answer questions on experiments without doing any in the exam. That's why the notes carry QR codes. Scan one with your phone and you watch a short video of the experiment itself before you write about it.

The last of the 24 chapters is dedicated to Paper 6 practical skills. It shows you exactly the kind of questions that paper asks, so the practical marks stop being a surprise.

One eBook on every device, online or offline

The notes open on your phone, tablet or laptop, online or offline, and every update reaches the copy on your device. You can highlight, add your own notes and bookmark the pages you want to come back to before the exam. Use highlighting for that job, finding pages again, and use the flashcards for learning, because highlighting on its own is one of the low-utility techniques in the Dunlosky review.

Who should choose something else?

If your child has not been taught a topic yet, notes are the wrong first step: a coursebook or a teacher comes first. If you want far more exam questions than the notes' own quizzes, pair them with a question bank such as the solved past papers bundle, or with Save My Exams below.

Save My Exams: best for a large bank of practice questions

Save My Exams ranks second. It is a subscription revision platform whose Cambridge 0620 course includes revision notes, flashcards, quiz and exam-style questions, mock exams and past papers, written by its team of teachers and examiners, according to its own website (checked October 2026).

It suits a student who wants volume: lots of questions, across many subjects, in one login. If exam practice is your child's weakest area, it can reasonably be your first pick.

Parents should note that plans run monthly or annually, that there is no dedicated app, and that its own help page warns that cancelling on the renewal date itself may be too late to avoid an annual charge. Set a reminder a few days before.

Why second and not first? Focus. It is a broad, multi-subject platform, while the Chem-Bio notes are a single book written for 0620 alone, with testing, practical videos and post-session updates from one author built in.

A Cambridge-endorsed coursebook: best for learning a topic the first time

A Cambridge-endorsed coursebook ranks third: it is the best way to learn a topic properly the first time, but it is too long to revise from in the final weeks. Cambridge designs IGCSE Chemistry around roughly 130 guided learning hours, and it confirms that coursebooks endorsed for exams from 2023 remain suitable for 2026–2028.

The trade-off is length and layout. The EEF review observes that many core textbook materials use designs likely to split attention and overload working memory. That is manageable when you are learning slowly with a teacher. It is not what you want four weeks before Paper 4. Learn from your IGCSE Chemistry textbook, then revise from IGCSE Chemistry revision notes.

ZNotes: best free option for a quick recap

ZNotes ranks fourth and is the best free option: concise, syllabus-specific notes produced by student contributors and, according to its contributor guidelines, moderated and proofread by subject experts before they are published. According to its own pricing page (checked October 2026), the free plan includes its notes and more than 3,000 chapter-wise quiz questions across all its subjects, while unlimited PDF downloads need the paid Boost plan at $29.99 a year.

It suits a student on a tight budget who needs a fast recap of a topic already learnt. Before relying on it, check two things: that the page you are reading is for the 2026–2028 syllabus, and that it separates Core from Supplement content. Parents should also note that unlimited PDF downloads are a paid feature, so check how your child will read the notes without Wi-Fi before relying on the free plan. Why fourth? Because the checklist rewards an accountable author and post-session updates, and a volunteer, student-written model makes those harder to guarantee. On price alone, nothing beats it.

Are free IGCSE Chemistry notes enough, or is it worth paying?

Free IGCSE Chemistry notes can be enough for a disciplined student who also tests themselves and practises past papers against the mark scheme. Paying is worth it when the notes add what free ones rarely bundle together: an accountable author, built-in testing, practical support and updates after each session.

If you are a parent, here is how I would decide. Ask four questions before you pay for anything. Who wrote it? When was it last updated? Is it a one-off payment or a subscription that renews? Does it work on the device your child revises on, without Wi-Fi? Any seller who cannot answer all four in one line is asking you to trust them blind.

For the Chem-Bio notes, the answers are: me; after the June 2026 mark schemes; a one-time payment; and yes, online or offline. The Chemistry notes cost $25 once, which includes the flashcards and quizzes and two years of access with ongoing updates. A $40 package covers both the IGCSE Biology and IGCSE Chemistry eBooks on the same terms: one payment, two years of access and every update in that time. Before you decide, look through the free sample of the notes, flashcards and quizzes.

How should your child use IGCSE Chemistry notes to raise their grade?

Your child should use notes to test themselves, not to reread: read one section, close it, recall it, check it with flashcards and a quiz, then answer past-paper questions on that topic and mark them against the mark scheme. Spread the same topics across weeks rather than cramming them into one night.

Why spread them out? Because practice testing and spaced practice are the two techniques the Dunlosky review rated high utility, and the EEF review found a small positive effect from spacing learning across days and lessons in real classrooms.

1. Read one section of the notes: one sub-topic, not a whole chapter.
2. Close the notes and write down everything you remember.
3. Run the flashcards and the quiz for that section.
4. Answer past-paper questions on the same topic, then mark them against the mark scheme. The classified IGCSE Chemistry solved past papers are sorted by topic for exactly this step.
5. Come back to the topic a few days later, then again a few weeks later.

This is the same cycle my live IGCSE Chemistry course follows, with weekly topical questions and mock exams marked against the mark scheme.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best notes for IGCSE Chemistry?

For the Cambridge 0620 syllabus in 2026–2028, the Chem-Bio complete notes eBook ranks first for exam-focused revision, with Save My Exams best for practice volume, an endorsed coursebook best for first learning and ZNotes the best free recap. Pick the one that matches how your child revises, then pair it with past papers marked against the mark scheme.

Is it worth paying for IGCSE Chemistry notes?

It is worth paying when the notes give you what free notes rarely combine: a named expert author, built-in flashcards and quizzes, and updates after each exam session. If a seller cannot tell you who wrote the notes or when they were last updated, keep your money.

Do older IGCSE Chemistry notes still work for 2026–2028?

Mostly yes, because Cambridge reports no substantial changes to the 0620 syllabus for 2026–2028. Check that they still separate Core from Supplement content and reflect the latest mark schemes and examiner reports.

Is there a Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry textbook available?

Yes. Cambridge endorses coursebooks for 0620 and states that books endorsed for exams from 2023 remain suitable for 2026–2028, so use one to learn topics the first time and switch to concise notes for revision.

Not sure which option fits your child? Send me a message on WhatsApp on +965 5137 5709 or email admin@chem-bio.info, and I'll tell you where to start. I wish you all best of luck in your exams.

About the author: Hosni Showike is the author of eight published science textbooks with more than 20,000 copies sold worldwide. He has taught IGCSE and International A Level Chemistry and Biology for over 20 years, including 16 years teaching to Cambridge and Edexcel mark schemes at A-level, and writes at chem-bio.info where he publishes grade-threshold analysis, solved past papers and live exam-preparation classes.