The Do’s and Don’ts of GCSE Physics Papers

GCSE Physics can be a tricky task, especially when knowledge alone only gets you half the marks. As a GCSE Physics tutor, I am going to guide you through key advice to make sure you prepare well.

The focus will be on 3 processes: learning/memorisation, conditioning (mind and body before the exam), and answering (with exam technique in mind).

My advice is a result of guiding hundreds of students through their GCSEs, taking the exam myself and my expertise in memory (part of my university studies), and conditioning to overcome nerves and perform (through 10 years of public speaking experience).

You will be surprised how many marks you can pick up on the questions you struggle with through carefully using clues from the questions and the formula booklet.

Before the Exam

#1 Do organise a list of things you need to memorise, so you can tick things off as you go.

Why? It is a way to reward yourself as you quantify the progress as you go. It also reminds you that the exam is not random and good preparation can leave you with no choice but to score your target grade.

How? Go to your exam board website, and look for the qualification code (not just the subject) to find the specification. Go through every specification point to make sure you can do what is expected in the exam.

Don’t worry if you find something that is unfamiliar, just keep a note to the side of the specification point number. Remember formulae are all given to you, so these need to be understood, not memorised.

Then… once you create this, it is time to confirm you know what you think you know, and learn the things you do not. There are a few ways to do this, my recommendation is to talk to a tutor who can provide you with materials to test yourself with lessons focused on things you cannot get your head around. Online tuition is a flexible way to get support tailored to your weaknesses.

For example, I provide students with assessment materials to complete outside of class, with lessons focused on explaining the concepts they feel like they cannot quite grasp yet. It is also a good idea to talk with friends, but beware that they will pass to you both their understanding and their misunderstandings, potentially with equal confidence.

#2 Do use sites like Anki and Quizlet to help you memorise key definitions and practicals.

Why? These sites have proven their ability to help you memorise things faster and more accurately than most other known techniques. Quizlet, for example, already has sets for GCSE Physics made by other students and teachers alike, which you can use, saving you the time of writing everything.

How? Create an account and use these sites to test yourself on key definitions and longer explanations of the key practicals that you will be expected to explain in the exam.

Then… take a break for a few days or a week, and retest yourself to lock the definitions and explanations into your long-term memory. Testing yourself has been shown time and time again to be one of the if not the best method for memorising significant amounts of information.

What if… I feel like I don’t understand something I am memorising.

Don’t ignore this. Instead, keep a note of it, and discuss it with a teacher, tutor or friend. Discussing with a GCSE Physics tutor allows you to have someone who is able to find the root cause of your struggle to understand key concepts, and give you highly personalized advice.

This can be done with a teacher, but it is often harder for them to keep track of your specific weaknesses and give tailored advice.

#3 Do try past papers after you have learnt roughly half of the content.

Why? This allows you to see if you are able to convert knowledge into marks. Are you a natural with exam technique (unlikely, but it is possible) or would guidance on where you’re losing marks be helpful?

As a GCSE Physics tutor, I advise my students to have a go at past papers outside of sessions, and then we review key exam techniques that will help them convert their understanding into marks. The problem with marking longer answer questions by yourself is the mark scheme does not give a specific guide on what constitutes marks.

How? These can be accessed on your exam board website.

Don’t try many past papers in one day. These are precious resources and it is best to attempt one at a time. After you are returned your marks, take the time to make a note of the topics of the questions you missed. Mentally keep a note of whether you struggled more with understanding or exam technique for each error.

Do wait until you have spent time learning more or memorising more before making another past paper attempt.

Don’t ignore when you guess an answer correctly, instead take the time to understand why you got it right. You can then use the feedback to update your progress tracker.

Then… repeat the process and try to time it so that you are completing the last few past papers a week or two before the exam. Don’t attempt a paper really close to the exam, every mistake will make you nervous and you will not have the time to learn from all the mistakes. Self-doubt undoes more candidates than lacking knowledge.

It is the difference between seeing a difficult question and throwing all your knowledge at it or only writing the things you know for sure are right (the former is better because exams are positively marked, just avoid contradicting yourself).

#4 Do remove decisions, big and small, from the day of the exam.

Why? These decisions can remove your ability to perform in the exam. Think of the brain like a muscle e.g., your leg. You need your brain to perform well in an exam. Let’s consider what we would do to prepare our legs for playing sports. We would rest them the day before, look before we walk in the morning to avoid damaging them and warm them up before the match. The brain is no different. Trying to make a decision, especially if it is new or important, in the morning is like trying to make a PB at the gym with your leg just before a match, risking fatigue and injury.

How? Prepare your bag a couple days in advance, or the night before. Clothes, stationery, water, snacks etc. Everything you leave out the day before allows your brain to rest more on the day. So what is the warm up equivalent for your brain? Research suggests a gentle jog a couple hours in advance of your exam can stimulate your brain more effectively than any revision. 

My recommendation is to do physical activity before you leave for the exam that you are comfortable with; do not injure yourself, a marathon will not activate every part of your brain. I would then recommend having a sheet with up to 10 items (if you feel it is helpful) of things you struggled most to memorise, which you can have a look at before the exam and bin before you go into the exam hall (very important).

Then… it is pretty much exam day. You’ve learnt the knowledge, practised recall, and set yourself up for success. The final skill is to convert preparation into marks, and forgetting this has undone many intelligent students.

In the Exam

Type 1: Questions using formulae - easy marks, even easier to lose.

Let’s create a step-by-step method.

Do list:

• Rearrange formulae carefully
• Check units and convert (remember to learn the prefixes, tera -> pico)
• Write working clearly so you can check answers without redoing the question

While these are the ‘easy’ marks because you are given the formulae, it is also the most costly to drop marks here because they are harder to pick up elsewhere. The strategy has to be to nail the easy questions, and throw everything you have at everything else.

Example from AQA GCSE Physics Paper 2, Higher Tier, June 2024, Question 2.5, 2.6

2.5 

Write down the equation which links distance (d), force (F) and moment of a force (M) 

(1 mark)

This requires you to copy the formula from your booklet.

moment of a force = force x distance

M = F d

2.6 

The child applies a force of 2.0N on gear A.

The perpendicular distance between the force and the pivot is 7.5cm.

Calculate the moment of the force about the pivot. 

Moment of force = _______Nm

(3 marks)

Let’s run through our checklist:

Rearrange the formula - Nothing to rearrange as we are solving for the moment of force and it is already the subject of the equation “moment of a force = force x distance”

Check units - The answer is requested in Nm (newton metre), and we are given the force in N (newton) and the distance in cm (centimetre). Therefore, we need to convert cm to m.

The “professional” way to convert units is as follows (my teacher’s favourite method from when I went to school):

7.5cm = 7.5(0.01m) = 0.075m

We replace the cm with 0.01m, and multiply out.

If you instead remember conversions by multiplying or diving by a hundred or a thousand, that is perfectly okay.

Write out working carefully - This is arguably the most important step.

Moment of a force (Nm) = Force (N) x distance (m)

M = 2.0N x 0.075m = 0.15Nm

Example from AQA GCSE Physics Paper 2, Higher Tier, June 2024, Question 7.4

7.4

Another train travels at a speed of 60m/s.

A constant braking force of 270 000N causes the train to decelerate and stop.

Mass of train = 240 000 kg

Calculate the distance travelled while the braking force is applied. 

(6 marks)

What if… you forget the formulae you need to use. Luckily, if you know two of the measures, you have no choice on the last. Go to your formula booklet and look for anything with force and mass, and the only thing will be F = ma. You can safely guess you need acceleration. Then you know you have acceleration and initial (60m/s) and final (0m/s) velocity, and the only other thing you need is distance, and all these appear in one equation.

resultant force = mass x acceleration

(final velocity)2 - (initial velocity)2 = 2 x acceleration x distance

Let’s go through our checklist again:

Rearrange the formulae - I need to calculate acceleration from the first equation.

resultant force = mass x acceleration

acceleration = resultant force / mass

(final velocity)2 - (initial velocity)2 = 2 x acceleration x distance

distance = (final velocity)2 - (initial velocity)2 / (2 x acceleration)

Check units - The answer is required in m (metre), and we have the velocities in m/s, (60m/s and 0m/s for the initial and final velocity respectively), and acceleration will be in m/s2 when we solve for it.The mass is given in kg (kilograms), and the force is given in N (newton). There are no conversions necessary.

Write out working carefully - The most important here, as we will not want to redo such a long question in the limited time we have to check our work.

acceleration = resultant force / mass 

= 270 000 N/ 240 000kg = 1.125 m/s2

distance = (final velocity)2 - (initial velocity)2 / (2 x acceleration)

= (60m/s)2 - (0m/s)2 / (2 x 1.125 m/s2)

= 3600 (m2/s2) / 2.25 (m/s2)

= 1600 m

Type 2: Questions requiring descriptions/explanations - say what you see

Do list:

• Pay attention to how many marks are on offer
• Try your best to establish a causal sequence of events (This leads to … leads to … leads to …)
• If in doubt, say everything you know that is correct

These questions are often tougher, requiring you to remember carefully how certain phenomena come about. The advice will make most sense in context, below.

Example from AQA GCSE Physics Paper 1, Higher Tier, June 2024, Question 4.1

4.1

Figure 5 shows a student touching the metal dome of the static electricity generator.

The dome is negatively charged.

Explain why the student’s hair stands up on end. 

[3 marks]

Let’s run through our checklist:

Pay attention to marks on offer - 3 marks, so likely 3 distinct statements for each mark required

Try to establish causal sequence - Electrons are transferred from the dome to the student [1].

Therefore, the student’s hair becomes negatively charged [1]. Since each hair is negatively charged, and like charges repel, every hair repels every other hair, causing them to stand on end [1].

I have underlined the words that collect the marks. No doubt this answer is overkill, but it is full and what you should aim for to ensure you collect the marks regardless of the mark scheme’s demands.

Do ask yourself why? at every stage of your explanation. Many students (who understand the question well) here would lose marks by saying, “student’s hair becomes negatively charged, hair repels”, forgetting to explicitly mention the electron transfer from the dome to the student.

If in doubt, say everything you know that is correct - If you did not remember the science behind it, but note the student is touching the metal dome, you can guess reasonably that there is something transferring from dome to student.

Moreover, there must be something travelling from hand to hair to make it stand up, or it would not make sense for the hair to be affected. The only information you are given is that the dome is negatively charged. You also have heard the idea of ‘charge flowing’ vaguely before.

Now you construct an explanation without an understanding of what is going on:

“The negative charge transfers to the student’s hand and from the student’s hand to their hair. Their hair is negatively charged”.

This scores 2 marks without needing any understanding of what is going on. It is the difference between zeroing the things you do not know and scoring 2/3 of the marks on them. You need to have a positive, attacking mindset towards the question, using all the information the question gives you. It is often a case of saying what you see.

Example from AQA GCSE Physics Paper 2, Higher Tier, June 2024, Question 3.6

3.6

When stars are formed, they contain mostly hydrogen.

Describe how stars produce all other naturally occurring elements. 

(4 marks)

Now, as always, let’s go through the checklist - note such questions do not attach specific phrases to marks, but instead look for a coherent account of the science behind the phenomena.

Pay attention to marks on offer - 4 marks on offer indicating we have to give a longer account than, for example, the question just before with 3 marks.

Try to establish causal sequence - This is something you have hopefully practised so the story you write should be something along the lines of… (note there are infinite possible full mark answers)

Stars contain mostly hydrogen, undergoing fusion at high temperatures to form helium nuclei.

As the star ages, helium nuclei fuse to make heavier elements.

This process produces elements up to iron in the core of the star.

When massive stars explode in a supernova, elements heavier than iron are formed.

Underlined are the phrases that get credit, not individual marks.

Don’t rush the explanation, add all the context you know. Students that know the topic well have answered in a manner such as:

“Stars produce elements with fusion. Hydrogen goes to helium and then helium goes to bigger elements. When stars explode, bigger stuff is made again.”

Language like “with fusion” rather than “through fusion reactions”, “goes to helium” rather than “forms helium”, and “helium goes to” rather than “helium forms”, make your explanations sound weaker. You want your unsure, sketchy answers to sound as confident and scientifically minded as your best answers, and you may just get an extra mark.

It leads smart students to lose marks through writing the first thing that comes to their mind, not because they do not know the answer.

If in doubt, try to say everything you know that is correct - Let’s think about what we could do if we blank on this question. Admittedly, this is not a good question to blank on.

Let’s start by repeating the information in the question, not because it will get marks, but it will be the right first step in the story.

Stars contain mostly hydrogen…

We also know that the stars must be the reason for the formation of all other naturally occurring elements, as it says in the question.

Stars contain mostly hydrogen which allows for the production of all other naturally occurring elements by the star.

We can try to repeat the idea of hydrogen being the root cause as it is all we have to go off, and we could mention hydrogen is the lightest element if you remember that. We can also logically assume it must be a chemical reaction of some sort somewhere. We also know that stars have very high temperatures, and that could have something to do with it.

Stars contain mostly hydrogen which allows for the production of all other naturally occurring elements by the star. The hydrogen, the lightest element, leads to heavier elements (every other element), through the reactions in the star, at very high temperatures.

Write this in your best handwriting and you might even snatch a mark or two, for knowing very very little. The best students are often those who can find marks out of nothing and this is exactly how.

Theoretically, going in blind, all formulae questions could be answered mostly correctly (save the units), and you could pick up a third of the marks on explanations you are unsure of, with naming lists being one of the only things you can’t make up. Even with the best preparation, we can always blank or forget, and we need to have a back up - this is how.

The GCSE Physics Paper is as much a test of exam preparation as it is knowledge. 

Parents’ section

My advice is to ask the following questions:

1. Do you know what to revise each week, and do you feel comfortable with your current revision techniques?
2. Do you know where you have lost marks in your past tests, and do you know how you can avoid it in future?
3. Do unfamiliar exam questions throw you off, or do you have an idea of how to scrape a few marks on them?
4. Do you feel comfortable using the formula sheet, and have you checked you recognise everything on there?
5. Would you benefit from structured support and clear strategies to tackle GCSE Physics alongside all your other GCSEs?

If they feel confident with everything, and you are happy with their progress, this is excellent. If however, you and your child believe they will benefit from some support, I would love to help.

As an experienced GCSE Physics tutor, I’ve worked with hundreds of students, reviewing their revision habits, past paper performance, and exam technique, creating clear personalised plans to help them improve their grades and their confidence.

Whether you're looking for online tuition or structured exam support, send me a message via my profile below and quote the code STUDY 10 for £10 off your first session. I look forward to seeing you soon.