I was more referring to the case of a friend who got into ssp in 2004 with 99.30 UAI and no chem whatsoever (as opposed people you mentioned who did prelim).
Fundamentals is for people with no background in chem. Basically tries to teach you all the basics. Syllabus varies substantially from normal/advanced. Try to avoid at all cost, very poor scaling.
Normal is just normal. Try to avoid if possible, poor scaling.
Advanced is for people who did well in the subject in the HSC. Covers normal course plus a bit more. Good scaling.
SSP is for those who did really well in the HSC, either overall and/or in chem. Identical to advanced except that it has fun pracs instead of the crap you get in normal/advanced, and lab conditions are better (less cramped, less supervision, more chemicals to play with).