Difficulty verdict

Overall this series sits at a medium level (about 3/5). Paper 1 is broad and mostly accessible: 19 one-mark multiple-choice items (one further item was removed because of an error, so the paper total became 69) and short structured questions. Paper 2 is deeper, with multi-step calculations, graph work and two six-mark extended-response questions.

Where the marks are

  • Forces and motion: Newton's laws, equilibrium and moments, collisions and impulse, kinematics and power together make up around half the paper.
  • Electricity: potential dividers carry the single largest chapter weighting (12 marks), including a thermistor circuit and a potentiometer design question.
  • Waves and quantum: refraction, polarisation, stationary waves in a microwave oven, double-slit interference and a photon-count calculation appear repeatedly.
  • Practical skills: uncertainties, controlling variables, graph gradients and percentage uncertainty feature in both papers, including both asterisked questions.

Pitfalls to avoid

  • Newton's third law pairs: the two forces must act on different objects and be of the same type.
  • Using 9.81 where the mark scheme expects an acceleration already given counts as wrong physics.
  • Moments: use perpendicular distances, and subtracting distances is wrong physics.
  • Check significant figures: a '3 s.f.' instruction is a trap for an easy mark.
  • Energy before and after a collision must be compared numerically; stating 'energy is lost' alone earns nothing.

Strategy

Spend about 25 minutes on Paper 1 Section A and bank the quick calculations. On Paper 2, write down the equation and substitution for every calculation, because method marks (C1 and M1) are easy to collect and error-carried-forward credit is available. For six-mark questions, plan a labelled diagram or a clear ordered method before writing, as the level of response rewards logical structure.

Prediction

Topics that did not appear or were light this year and have been heavy before, such as internal resistance, resistivity, projectile motion, springs and the photoelectric effect, are good candidates for next series. Potential dividers, collisions and equilibrium have recurred regularly and should stay on your core revision list.