AQA A-Level Chemistry data sheet: A complete guide for 2026

The AQA A-Level Chemistry data booklet (specification 7405) is the insert you're handed alongside every paper. It's a short document, only a few pages long, but it contains the periodic table and the spectroscopy reference tables that you'll use again and again across Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3.

A common misconception is that the AQA data booklet includes a list of fundamental constants like Avogadro's number, the gas constant, and the specific heat capacity of water. It does not. Those values are printed inside the question stems on the actual exam paper, on the questions where they're needed. The data booklet itself is a reference for the periodic table, the IR table, the NMR tables, and a set of biological structures used in the organic chemistry sections.

This guide walks through every section of the booklet that AQA actually publishes, explains when each part is used, and corrects a few common myths about what's on it.

The AQA 7405 data booklet is split into four printed reference sections, plus a page of biological structures. You get a full periodic table with relative atomic masses, Table A (infrared absorption data), Table B (¹H NMR chemical shift data), and Table C (¹³C NMR chemical shift data). The final page shows the structural formulae of phosphate, the sugars glucose and 2-deoxyribose, the four DNA bases, six amino acids, and Haem B.

There's no formulae section, no list of constants, no electrode potentials, and no bond enthalpy table. If you've seen a revision site claim otherwise, that information is wrong. The booklet is short for a reason: AQA prints the values you can't reasonably memorise (like specific IR wavenumbers or NMR shift ranges) and expects you to reach for the periodic table for relative atomic masses. The constants that some students assume are on the booklet, like Avogadro's number or the gas constant, are given in the question stems on the relevant exam questions instead.

The booklet opens with a full periodic table of the elements. For each element you get the symbol, the name, the atomic (proton) number, and the relative atomic mass. The lanthanides (elements 58 to 71) and actinides (90 to 103) sit in the standard pull-out rows underneath the main body.

Use the printed Mr values for every mole calculation. Even if your textbook gives a slightly different value to one more decimal place, AQA's mark scheme is calibrated to the booklet, so the printed value is the one that scores marks.

The periodic table is also where you'll work out electron configurations on the fly. Block (s, p, d, f) tells you which subshell is being filled, period tells you the principal energy level, and group tells you the number of valence electrons. You can build up a configuration like [Ar] 3d⁶ 4s² for iron just by reading the table, without trying to recall it cold.

Trend questions hinge on the table too. Reading across a period, atomic radius decreases and first ionisation energy generally rises. Reading down a group, atomic radius increases and first ionisation energy falls. The periodic table on your data booklet is the visual prompt for every Group 2, Group 7, and Period 3 trend question on the paper.

Table A is the IR table. It lists the common bonds you'll meet in A-Level organic chemistry and the wavenumber range (in cm⁻¹) at which each one absorbs. You'll use this table on every question that asks you to identify a functional group from an IR spectrum.

The principle is straightforward: A strong absorption in a particular range maps to one of the bonds in the table, and that bond tells you which functional group is present. You don't need to memorise the numbers, but you do need fluency in reading the table fast under exam pressure.

Table B lists the types of proton you might meet in an A-Level NMR question and the chemical shift range (in ppm relative to TMS) at which each one tends to appear. The table groups protons by their immediate chemical environment, so an alkyl methyl (RCH₃) is in one row, an aromatic proton is in another, an aldehyde proton sits down at the bottom of the table at high ppm.

In the exam, you'll match each peak on the spectrum to a row of the table. Combine that with integration (which tells you the relative number of protons), splitting patterns (n+1 rule), and any IR data you have, and you can deduce a full structure from spectra alone.

A few rows are worth highlighting. The R-O-H (alcohol) shift is given as 0.5 to 5.0 ppm, which is unusually wide because the position depends heavily on solvent, concentration and hydrogen bonding. The aldehyde R-CHO sits at 9.0 to 10.0 ppm, which is so distinctive that it's almost diagnostic on its own. The carboxylic acid R-COOH at 10.0 to 12.0 ppm is even further downfield.

Table C does the same job as Table B but for carbon-13 NMR. Where Table B groups protons by environment, Table C groups carbons. Saturated alkyl carbons sit at the top of the table, aromatic and alkene carbons sit in the middle, and carbonyl carbons appear right at the bottom, around 160 to 220 ppm.

In the exam, you'll use Table C either alongside ¹H NMR to confirm a structure, or on its own when only ¹³C data is given. The key skill is recognising the ranges fast. A peak around 170 ppm tells you an ester or carboxylic acid carbonyl; a peak at 200 ppm or above is almost certainly an aldehyde or ketone.

The final page of the booklet is a quiet hero. It prints the skeletal formulae of the biological molecules that come up in the organic and biochemistry sections of the course, so you don't need to memorise them.

The structures shown are: Phosphate; the sugars glucose and 2-deoxyribose; the four DNA bases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine; six amino acids (alanine, aspartic acid, cysteine, lysine, phenylalanine, and serine); and Haem B.

These structures show up in questions on DNA, polypeptides, transition metal coordination (Haem B is the iron-containing ligand at the centre of haemoglobin), and condensation reactions. Knowing they're there means you can sketch a peptide bond between two of the printed amino acids in seconds, rather than trying to draw the side chains from memory.

It's worth being explicit about what's missing, because plenty of revision sites get this wrong.

No fundamental constants. There's no section listing Avogadro's constant, the gas constant R, the molar gas volume at RTP, or the specific heat capacity of water. When a question needs one of those values, AQA prints it in the question stem on that question.

No standard electrode potentials. The Edexcel booklet includes an E° table, but AQA doesn't. For AQA, key E° values come from memory (or from the question stem if it gives you a half-equation table for that question).

No Pauling electronegativities. Edexcel prints these too; AQA expects you to reason about bond polarity from periodic trends.

No bond enthalpy table. OCR has been said to include one, but AQA doesn't, and bond enthalpy values for any calculation will be given inside the question.

No mathematical formulae. Equations like pV = nRT and q = mcΔT, and any logarithmic formulae for kinetics, are expected to be known. AQA writes them into the question stem where needed.

Open the booklet the moment the exam starts. Glance at the section headings to remind yourself what's there, then leave it open beside your answer booklet for the whole paper.

For spectroscopy questions, identify the strongest peaks on the spectrum first, then go straight to the relevant table. For IR, scan Table A for a bond that matches the wavenumber. For NMR, use Table B or Table C to map shifts to environments, then bring in integration and splitting to nail down the structure.

For calculation questions, the constants will be in the question itself, not the booklet. Underline them in the stem as you read, so you don't miss anything. Then go to the periodic table for any Mr values you need.

For organic synthesis questions involving biological molecules, flick to the biological structures page rather than redrawing structures from memory. The amino acids, bases, and sugars are all printed for you.

The first mistake is assuming the booklet has constants on it. Students sometimes flick through the booklet hunting for Avogadro's number when the question already gives it to them on the page. Read the question stem first.

The second is confusing the two O-H ranges in Table A. The alcohol O-H is broad and sits at 3230 to 3550 cm⁻¹. The carboxylic acid O-H is much broader and lower, at 2500 to 3000 cm⁻¹. Mixing them up turns a clear functional group identification into a wrong answer.

The third is mis-reading the very wide variable range for an alcohol O-H peak in ¹H NMR. Table B gives it as 0.5 to 5.0 ppm, which is why position alone rarely identifies it. You confirm an O-H by adding D₂O and watching the peak disappear.

The fourth is using relative atomic masses from memory rather than the printed periodic table. Even a small difference in Mr propagates through a calculation and can lose you the final mark. Always use the booklet.