SCH4U, Chemistry, Grade 12, University – online course

SCH4U is the Grade 12 University-preparation chemistry course covering organic chemistry, atomic structure and chemical bonding, energy changes and reaction rates, chemical equilibrium, and electrochemistry. It’s one of the most frequently required science credits for university admission.

SCH4U is widely regarded as one of the hardest Grade 12 courses — equilibrium and electrochemistry combine abstract concepts with multi-step calculations. Students with solid SCH3U foundations who practise problems consistently succeed. OES’s free 24/7 chemistry tutoring and self-pacing are genuinely valuable in this course.

The prerequisite for SCH4U is SCH3U (Chemistry, Grade 11, University). If you haven’t completed SCH3U, OES offers it — many students take the two in sequence within a single 12-month window.

SCH4U is required by most engineering, health-science, nursing, life-science, biomedical, pharmacy-pathway, and kinesiology programs — typically alongside SBI4U for health fields or SPH4U/MCV4U for engineering. It’s among the most commonly required Grade 12 sciences.

SCH4U covers organic chemistry (hydrocarbons, functional groups, reactions), structure and properties of matter (atomic theory, bonding), energy changes and rates of reaction (thermochemistry, kinetics), chemical systems and equilibrium (Le Châtelier, Ksp, acids-bases), and electrochemistry (redox, cells).

Programs requiring SCH4U often set 70% as a floor, but competitive health-science, nursing, and engineering admission averages run low-80s to 90s — and SCH4U typically counts in the average. Retaking SCH4U to raise a mark is one of the most common upgrades at online schools.

Yes. OES offers a dedicated Upgrade: SCH4U course built specifically for retaking SCH4U to raise your mark — Ontario universities and colleges use your highest grade. It’s self-paced and open year-round, so you can upgrade alongside your day school, a job, or a gap year and finish in as little as 4 weeks. See the Upgrade: SCH4U page for details.

Yes. Ontario students who started Grade 9 in the 2020–21 school year or later must earn at least two online learning credits to graduate, and SCH4U at OES — a Ministry-inspected online school (BSID #667186) — counts toward that requirement. An opt-out process exists through school boards, and specific provisions apply to students affected by the 2021 school closures.

SCH4U meets the Ministry of Education’s attendance and participation expectations through activities blended directly into the course. OES requires students to log in at least once per week for attendance, and participation activities appear throughout the course and are reflected in the grade book — preserving self-paced flexibility while satisfying the requirements for online courses.

Yes — science is one of Ontario’s STEM-related course groups (business studies, computer studies, cooperative education, mathematics, science, and technological education), from which students entering Grade 9 in 2024 or later must complete one credit. For math and science, the credit counts when earned in addition to your compulsory math and science credits, so SCH4U can double as your STEM-group credit.

Ontario’s Growing Success policy pre-determines the evaluation structure for every credit. Beginning in the 2026–27 school year, SCH4U is graded on classroom work completed throughout the course (65%) plus a Ministry-mandated final evaluation worth 25% for Grades 11–12, with attendance and participation also reflected in the final grade. A credit is granted at 50% or higher — and as an inspected private school, OES may administer final evaluations online, while school-board online courses generally require in-person exam sittings.