Virginia SOL Chemistry End-of-Course test (VDOE): complete guide to the exam, the reporting categories, the item types and how it is scored

The Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) Chemistry End-of-Course test is the statewide exam for high-school chemistry, written and scored by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). It is built directly from the 2018 Chemistry Standards of Learning, it is delivered online, and it is untimed. Passing it earns the verified credit in chemistry that counts toward a Virginia diploma. This page is the index for our Chemistry SOL library: below is the exam format, the four reporting categories, the item types and the tools you are given, and how to study each standard.

The format of the test

The Chemistry SOL is a computer-based End-of-Course (EOC) test taken on the state testing platform. It is assembled from a secure bank of items rather than published as a single fixed paper, so the exact item count varies by form, but the design is consistent: a set of operational (scored) items plus a smaller set of field-test (unscored) items that VDOE is trialing for future use. You do not know which items are which, so you treat every item as if it counts.

The test is untimed. You have the school day to finish, and most students complete it in roughly ninety minutes to two hours. There is no extended essay or laboratory practical inside the exam itself; instead, laboratory skills and scientific reasoning are tested through items embedded across the content.

The four reporting categories

VDOE groups the items into four reporting categories, and your score report shows your performance in each one. They map onto the chemistry standards CH.1 to CH.6 like this:

1. Scientific Investigation, Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table. Experimental design, data analysis and safe laboratory practice (CH.1), together with the structure of the atom, isotopes and average atomic mass, electron arrangement, the organization of the periodic table and periodic trends, and nuclear processes (CH.2).
2. Molar Relationships, Nomenclature, Chemical Equations and Reactions. Writing formulas and naming compounds, the mole and molar mass, percent composition, balancing equations and conservation of mass, the five reaction types, and stoichiometry including limiting reactants and percent yield (CH.3).
3. Phases of Matter, Kinetic Molecular Theory and Gas Laws. The particle model of solids, liquids and gases, phase changes and heating curves, and the gas laws relating pressure, volume, temperature and amount of gas (CH.4).
4. Solutions, Acids and Bases, Reaction Energy and Reaction Rates. Solutions and molarity, solubility and the factors that change it, acids, bases and the pH scale, neutralization, and the energy and rate of reactions including endothermic and exothermic changes, collision theory and equilibrium (CH.5 and CH.6).

The scientific-investigation standard (CH.1) is not a stand-alone category. It sits inside the first category and is also examined in context everywhere else, because almost every item asks you to read data, interpret a graph, or reason from evidence.

Item types

Most items are multiple choice with four options and a single best answer. The online format also uses technology-enhanced items (TEI), which let the test ask for something other than picking one option:

• Drag-and-drop, for example placing labels on a particle diagram or sorting substances into categories.
• Fill-in-the-blank numeric entry, for example typing the result of a gas-law or molarity calculation with the correct number of significant figures.
• Hot spot, where you click a region of an image, graph or periodic table.
• Ordering, for example arranging steps of a procedure or ranking properties by trend.
• Graphing, where you plot or complete points on a set of axes.

Technology-enhanced items reward precise, complete answers, so read the instruction for each one carefully (some accept more than one correct selection).

The periodic table and the calculator

A periodic table of the elements is provided on screen throughout the test, and an on-screen or school-approved handheld calculator is available. The exam is written on the assumption that you will use both. This is why the questions test whether you can find and apply a value (an atomic mass, an electronegativity, a group number) rather than whether you have memorized it. Practice locating atomic masses and group and period positions quickly, and practice setting calculations out so the units cancel.

Scoring

Virginia reports the Chemistry SOL on a scaled score from 0 to 600:

• 0 to 399 is below proficient (not passing).
• 400 to 499 is Pass/Proficient, the standard needed for the verified credit.
• 500 to 600 is Pass/Advanced.

A scaled score of 400 is the passing line. Because the raw-to-scale conversion is set for each form and the test mixes scored and field-test items, the number of items you must answer correctly to reach 400 is not fixed; use the scaled report, not a raw count, to judge a pass.

How to study Chemistry SOL

1. Use the periodic table actively. A large share of items asks you to read an atomic mass, identify a group or period, or apply a periodic trend. Speed here frees time for the calculations.
2. Master the mole. Moles connect mass, particles and gas volume and underpin stoichiometry, molarity and neutralization. It is the single most reused skill on the test.
3. Reason at the particle level. Many items ask you to explain a macroscopic property (boiling point, conductivity, solubility, the direction of an equilibrium shift) from particles, bonding and energy.
4. Keep the algebra tidy. Gas-law, molarity, percent-composition and pH calculations are one- or two-step. Identify the relationship, substitute with units, and round at the end to the right number of significant figures.
5. Read every technology-enhanced item carefully. Drag-and-drop and multi-select items can require a complete, exact response, so check how many selections the prompt expects.

The standards, module by module

Each dot point below has a standard-level answer page with SOL-format practice items and cross-links, plus a deep-dive guide and a paired quiz per module.

• Scientific investigation and atomic structure (CH.1, CH.2): scientific investigation and experimental design, measurement, significant figures and dimensional analysis, structure of the atom, isotopes and average atomic mass, electron configuration and energy levels, the periodic table and periodic trends, nuclear chemistry and radioactivity.
• Chemical bonding and nomenclature (CH.3): types of chemical bonds, Lewis structures and molecular geometry, polarity and intermolecular forces, naming compounds and writing formulas.
• Molar relationships and chemical reactions (CH.3): the mole and molar mass, percent composition and empirical formulas, balancing equations and conservation of mass, types of chemical reactions, stoichiometry and the mole ratio, limiting reactants and percent yield.
• Phases of matter and gas laws (CH.4): states of matter and kinetic molecular theory, phase changes and heating curves, the gas laws, the ideal gas law and molar volume.
• Solutions, acids and bases (CH.5): solutions, solubility and concentration, molarity and solution stoichiometry, acids, bases and the pH scale, neutralization and titration.
• Reaction energy and rates (CH.6): endothermic and exothermic reactions, reaction rates and collision theory, chemical equilibrium and Le Chatelier's principle.

For the official documents

VDOE publishes the 2018 Science Standards of Learning, the Chemistry Curriculum Framework, the test blueprint and released practice items on its Standards of Learning and SOL Assessment Program pages. Always study from the current standards and the Department's own released items, because the reporting categories and the on-screen tools are specific to Virginia.