Physics (9702) Past Papers & Revision Resources
Free Cambridge A-Level Physics (9702) past papers, mark schemes, examiner reports and grade thresholds from 2020-2026, plus 546 flashcards across 73 topic decks and topic-by-topic revision notes.
A-Level Physics (9702): November 2026 papers
Dates depend on your administrative zone, so some papers show a range of days. Paper 3 is timetabled twice in some zones, on different days; your school tells you which sitting is yours. Your school or exams officer confirms your own papers and times.
- Paper 3Practical - Advanced · 2h8–22 Oct AM/PMBefore this paper ↓
- Paper 4A Level Structured Questions · 2h12 Oct AM/PMBefore this paper ↓
- Paper 2AS Level Structured Questions · 1h 15m14 Oct AM/PMBefore this paper ↓
- Paper 5Planning, Analysis and Evaluation · 1h 15m14 Oct AM/PMBefore this paper ↓
- Paper 1Multiple Choice · 1h 15m10 Nov AM/PMBefore this paper ↓
On the day: Exam-day tips · Last-minute revision
A-Level Physics (9702): May/June 2027 papers
Dates depend on your administrative zone, so some papers show a range of days. Paper 3 is timetabled twice in some zones, on different days; your school tells you which sitting is yours. Your school or exams officer confirms your own papers and times.
- Paper 3Practical - Advanced · 2h29 Apr – 18 May AM/PMBefore this paper ↓
- Paper 4A Level Structured Questions · 2h10–11 May AM/PMBefore this paper ↓
- Paper 2AS Level Structured Questions · 1h 15m12–13 May AM/PMBefore this paper ↓
- Paper 5Planning, Analysis and Evaluation · 1h 15m12–13 May AM/PMBefore this paper ↓
- Paper 1Multiple Choice · 1h 15m10–11 Jun AM/PMBefore this paper ↓
Before your paper: A-Level Physics (9702)
Pick the paper you're sitting next. Each one lists the mistakes that most often lose marks on it, and how to avoid them.
Paper 1: Multiple Choice (AS)Show
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Change in momentum
MistakeWhen an object rebounds, you subtract the two speeds, so you choose an option with a small or zero change in momentum.
Fix
Momentum is a vector: a rebound reverses the velocity's sign.
0.60 kg trolley: 2.0 m/s in, 1.5 m/s back.
Δp = 0.60 × (−1.5 − 2.0) = −2.1 N s, not −0.30 N s.
Newton's third law
MistakeYou pick the weight of an object and the normal contact force on it as a third-law pair, because they are equal and opposite.
Fix
Third-law pair: same force type, different objects.
Cat on a mat: the cat's weight pairs with its pull on Earth.
The mat pushes on the cat too: not a pair.
Area and volume units
MistakeYou forget to square the prefix when converting an area, such as mm² to m² with 10⁻³, so your answer is far out and matches a wrong option.
Fix
Square or cube the prefix as well.
0.35 mm² = 0.35 × (10⁻³ m)² = 3.5 × 10⁻⁷ m², not 3.5 × 10⁻⁴ m².
30 cm³ = 30 × (10⁻² m)³ = 3.0 × 10⁻⁵ m³, not 0.30 m³.
Polarising filters
MistakeYou use the angle the question gives in I = I₀cos²θ, even when it is not measured from the arriving polarisation, or scale the amplitude by cos²θ too.
Fix
At each filter, measure θ from the arriving polarisation.
Vertically polarised light; axes 15° then 48° clockwise from vertical.
I/I₀ = cos²15° × cos²(48° − 15°) = 0.66.
Amplitude: A/A₀ = √0.66 = 0.81, not 0.66.
Stationary wave spacing
MistakeYou take the gap between adjacent nodes or antinodes, or a closed pipe's length, as one wavelength, or forget a reflector or closed end is a node.
Fix
Adjacent nodes or antinodes: λ/2 apart.
Reflectors and closed ends are nodes; open ends, antinodes.
0.45 m pipe, one end closed, lowest note: λ = 4 × 0.45 = 1.8 m, not 0.45 m.
Friends sitting Paper 1 too? Send them these tips.
Paper 2: AS Level Structured QuestionsShow
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Uncertainty with powers
MistakeWhen a quantity is squared or cubed in a formula, you count its percentage uncertainty once instead of multiplying it by the power.
Fix
Multiply each percentage uncertainty by its power (½ for a square root), then add.
P = V²/R, with V ± 3% and R ± 1%: P is ± 7% (2 × 3 + 1), not ± 4%.
Word definitions
MistakeYou define a quantity with an equation such as P = Fv or F = ma, or drop key words like 'per unit', 'adjacent' or 'in the direction of'.
Fix
Give words, not equations.
'Power is work done per unit time', not 'P = Fv'.
Work: force × displacement in the direction of the force.
Wavelength: distance between adjacent crests.
Beta decay
MistakeYou describe beta decay only as an electron leaving the nucleus, leaving out the quark change, or mix up what β⁻ and β⁺ decay emit.
Fix
Give the quark change.
Phosphorus-32 → sulfur-32 is β⁻ decay: down becomes up (udd → uud).
It emits an electron and an antineutrino.
In β⁺, up becomes down, emitting a positron and a neutrino.
Resistance from graphs
MistakeYou find the resistance of a filament lamp or diode from the gradient of its I-V graph, or do not link a change in a lamp's resistance to its temperature.
Fix
R = V ÷ I at the point, not the gradient.
Lamp at 4.0 V, 0.50 A: R = 8.0 Ω.
At 8.0 V, 0.80 A: R = 10 Ω.
Larger current, hotter filament, larger R.
Show-that questions
MistakeIn a 'show that' question, you jump to the given value, or substitute numbers without first writing the equation or showing the powers of ten.
Fix
Write the equation, then substitute with powers of ten.
'Show p ≈ 2 × 10⁵ Pa': p = F/A = 560 N ÷ (3.0 × 10⁻³ m²).
Result: 1.9 × 10⁵ Pa, rounding to the given value.
Friends sitting Paper 2 too? Send them these tips.
Paper 3: Advanced Practical SkillsShow
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Results tables
MistakeYou record ruler readings to the nearest cm or pad them with extra zeros, or keep calculated values to a fixed number of decimal places.
Fix
On a mm rule: 7.0 cm, not 7 or 7.00 cm.
Calculated values: the row's fewest raw significant figures, or one more.
1/(7.0 cm) = 0.14 cm⁻¹; 1/(12.5 cm) = 0.0800 cm⁻¹.
Plotting graphs
MistakeYou choose a scale such as 3 or 7 units per large square, plot large dots, or draw the best-fit line in pieces with a short ruler.
Fix
Use 1, 2 or 5 units per large square.
Fill over half of each axis.
22 to 58 cm: 5 cm per square from 20 cm.
Fine crosses; one line.
Gradient and intercept
MistakeYou find a gradient from a small triangle or table points not on your line, or read the y-intercept off the y-axis when the x-axis does not start at zero.
Fix
Read two points on your line, over half its length apart.
(25, 0.95), (55, 1.85): gradient = 0.90 ÷ 30 = 0.030 s/cm.
False origin: c = y − mx = 0.95 − 0.030 × 25 = 0.20 s.
Estimating uncertainty
MistakeYou quote the instrument's smallest division as the uncertainty when the reading was hard to take, such as a hand-timed interval or a protractor angle.
Fix
Use a realistic uncertainty, not the smallest division.
Hand timing 10 swings: 15.6 s, then 16.0 s.
Half the range: 0.2 s, not 0.01 s.
Percentage: 0.2 ÷ 15.8 × 100 = 1.3%.
Limitations and improvements
MistakeYou write limitations like 'human error' or a bare 'parallax error' that fit any experiment, or improvements like 'repeat readings and average' that you could already have done.
Fix
Name the reading, why it was hard, and a fix.
'Landing distance d is hard to judge: the ball bounces'.
'Lay carbon paper over white paper to mark the landing'.
Friends sitting Paper 3 too? Send them these tips.
Paper 4: A Level Structured QuestionsShow
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Gravitational potential
MistakeWhen defining gravitational potential, you write 'work done moving unit mass', not 'work done per unit mass', or forget that potential and potential energy are negative.
Fix
Work done per unit mass in bringing a small test mass from infinity to the point.
Always negative: φ = −GM/r = −1.0 × 10⁷ J/kg.
For 3.0 kg, Ep = mφ = −3.0 × 10⁷ J.
Internal energy
MistakeWhen defining internal energy, you state the first law instead, or do not say that an ideal gas's internal energy is all kinetic.
Fix
'Sum of a random distribution of molecular kinetic and potential energies', not ΔU = q + W.
Ideal gas: no intermolecular forces, so no potential energy.
U is therefore all kinetic.
First law signs
MistakeIn ΔU = q + W, you give W a positive value when the gas expands, or mix up energy supplied to the gas with energy it loses.
Fix
In ΔU = q + W, both count energy into the gas.
Heated with 200 J, the gas does 60 J of work expanding.
ΔU = 200 + (−60) = 140 J, not 260 J.
Induced e.m.f.
MistakeYou say a changing field induces a current directly, or find the induced e.m.f. from the flux itself or the area under a flux-time graph.
Fix
Changing flux linkage induces an e.m.f.; current needs a complete circuit.
E = size of the gradient of flux linkage against time.
0.060 Wb → 0 steadily in 0.020 s: 3.0 V.
Centripetal force
MistakeYou draw centripetal force as an extra arrow on a free-body diagram, or treat it as a separate force that balances weight.
Fix
Draw only real forces; their resultant is mv²/r.
Coin on a turntable: 0.010 kg, 0.60 m/s, r = 0.20 m.
Normal contact force balances weight; friction = mv²/r = 0.018 N, inwards.
Friends sitting Paper 4 too? Send them these tips.
Paper 5: Planning, Analysis and EvaluationShow
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Variables
MistakeYou write 'control m' instead of 'keep m constant', or name a quantity vaguely, such as 'temperature' when you mean the temperature change.
Fix
Use the question's symbols.
'Keep m constant by using the same block', not 'control m'.
Name the exact quantity: 'temperature rise Δθ', not 'temperature'.
Choosing instruments
MistakeYou name an instrument vaguely, such as 'a scale', or one too coarse for the job, such as a ruler for a tiny gap or a stopwatch for milliseconds.
Fix
Name each instrument and what it measures.
'Top-pan balance: mass m', not 'a scale'.
Micrometer: 0.5 mm pencil lead diameter, not a ruler.
Light gate and data logger: millisecond times.
Safety precautions
MistakeYou give a general safety rule, such as wearing a lab coat, that does not match any real hazard in the set-up.
Fix
Name the hazard this set-up creates, then a precaution that reduces it.
'The laser beam could damage eyes: never look into it', not 'wear a lab coat'.
Log graphs
MistakeWhen you linearise with logs, you drop a minus sign from the gradient or intercept, give log values a unit, or round them to the wrong number of decimal places.
Fix
Keep signs: y = kx⁻² gives lg y = −2 lg x + lg k, gradient −2.
x = 4.60 cm (3 sf): lg (x / cm) = 0.663 (3 dp) or 0.6628, no unit.
Worst acceptable line
MistakeYour worst acceptable line misses some error bars, or you add percentage uncertainties to get the uncertainty in the y-intercept.
Fix
Draw the steepest or shallowest line that still crosses every error bar.
Best gradient 1.84, worst 1.96: uncertainty 0.12.
Best y-intercept 0.52, worst 0.43: uncertainty 0.09, not summed percentages.
Friends sitting Paper 5 too? Send them these tips.
Start studying A-Level Physics
Pick the resource that matches where you are in your revision cycle. All resources are free and require no signup.
Past Papers (2020-2026)
482 files across 20 sessions. Question papers, mark schemes, examiner reports.
Flashcards (73 decks)
546 flashcards organised by topic. Spaced repetition for active recall.
Revision Notes
Topic-by-topic notes mapped to the 9702 syllabus. Concise, exam-focused.
9702 Paper Components
Cambridge A-Level Physics consists of 5 paper components. AS-Level candidates sit Papers 1-3, including the Paper 3 practical exam (with Confidential Instructions for the supervising teacher). Full A-Level candidates sit all 5 papers, adding Paper 4 and the Paper 5 planning, analysis & evaluation paper.
About Cambridge A-Level Physics
Cambridge A-Level Physics (9702) is one of the most respected pre-university physics qualifications in the world. The syllabus develops fluency in scientific inquiry, advanced practical experimentation, and the mathematical handling of physical models — preparation that maps directly onto first-year undergraduate physics, engineering, and astronomy degrees.
AS-Level (Papers 1-3)
AS-Level (Papers 1, 2 and 3) covers the foundation half of the syllabus: physical quantities and units, kinematics, dynamics, forces and momentum, work and energy, waves, superposition, electric circuits, particle physics, and a first look at radioactivity. Paper 1 is 40-mark multiple choice; Paper 2 is structured questions worth 60 marks; Paper 3 is the practical exam (40 marks, with a Confidential Instructions document for the teacher).
Full A-Level (adds Papers 4-5)
A2 (Papers 4 and 5) extends the syllabus into circular motion, oscillations, gravitation, thermal physics, ideal gases, electric and magnetic fields, electromagnetic induction, alternating currents, quantum physics, nuclear physics, medical physics, and astronomy & cosmology. Paper 4 is the largest theory paper (100 marks); Paper 5 covers planning, analysis & evaluation (30 marks).
Key topics in A-Level Physics
These are the major topic areas examined across the 9702 syllabus. Refer to the official Cambridge syllabus PDF for the complete topic list with learning outcomes.
- Physical quantities, units, and measurement uncertainty
- Kinematics, dynamics, and Newton's laws
- Work, energy, power, and conservation principles
- Mechanical waves, superposition, and stationary waves
- D.C. electricity, resistance, and circuit analysis
- Particle physics, leptons, and quarks
- Circular motion and gravitational fields
- Thermal physics and the ideal gas equation
- Electric, magnetic, and capacitor fields
- Electromagnetic induction and alternating currents
- Quantum physics, photoelectric effect, and matter waves
- Nuclear physics, radioactive decay, and binding energy
Past Papers by Year
Download 9702 past papers, mark schemes, examiner reports and grade thresholds for any year from 2020 to 2026. Each year covers up to three sessions: February-March (schools in India and Romania only), May-June (main series), and October-November. The grade thresholds for every session are also on one page.
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
How A-Level Physics is graded
Cambridge A-Level Physics is graded A* to E for the full A-Level, and a to e (lowercase) for stand-alone AS-Level. There is a U (ungraded) below E. The conversion from raw marks to grades uses session-specific grade thresholds that Cambridge publishes after each exam series — harder papers have lower thresholds.
In June 2026, the whole A Level sat in one series needed 196 to 210 out of 260 (75% to 81%) for an A* and 174 to 186 out of 260 (67% to 72%) for an A, depending on the option; AS grade a needed 94 to 104 out of 130 (72% to 80%) (Cambridge grade threshold table, June 2026). Across the 19 sessions in our files, the A* threshold ran from 69% to 85% of the marks. See the grade thresholds for every 9702 session.
Official syllabus and external references
These are the authoritative sources for A-Level Physics content. Use the Cambridge syllabus PDF as the definitive list of what's examinable; the others are reputable third-party resources that complement what's on this site.
- Cambridge International — 9702 Physics syllabus
Official syllabus PDF, specimen papers, and learner guides direct from Cambridge.
- Institute of Physics — A-Level resources
IOP teaching and learning resources, careers in physics, and university transition guides.
- Khan Academy — AP Physics 1/2
Free video walkthroughs that overlap heavily with the 9702 AS and A2 syllabus.
Studying A-Level Physics? Brush up on IGCSE foundations first
A-Level Physics (9702) builds directly on IGCSE Physics (0625). If you're transitioning from IGCSE or coming to A-Level from a different IGCSE specification, the 0625 resources are the most efficient way to fill any foundation gaps before tackling the AS material.
Applying to Cambridge, Imperial, Oxford or UCL?
Many Engineering and Science courses require the ESAT (Engineering and Science Admissions Test). A-Level Physics (9702) maps closely to ESAT Physics - prepare with our free topic-by-topic ESAT revision notes.
A-Level 9702 — Frequently asked questions
When are the A-Level Physics exams in 2026?
Cambridge A-Level Physics (9702) exams in 2026 are held during these sessions:
- February-March 2026: schools in India and Romania only
- May/June 2026: 23 April – 9 June 2026 (main global session)
- October/November 2026: late September – mid November 2026
AS-Level papers and A2 papers are scheduled on different dates within each session. View the October/November 2026 timetable →
What's the difference between AS-Level and full A-Level?
AS-Level is Papers 1-3, taken at the end of year 1 of a two-year course or as a stand-alone qualification. Full A-Level adds Papers 4 and 5 (year 2), and is the qualification most universities require for entry to physics, engineering, or astronomy degrees.
What paper components are in A-Level Physics?
Cambridge A-Level Physics (9702) has 5 paper components:
- Paper 1: Multiple Choice (AS) — 1h 15min, 40 marks (AS-Level)
- Paper 2: AS Level Structured Questions — 1h 15min, 60 marks (AS-Level)
- Paper 3: Advanced Practical Skills — 2h, 40 marks (AS-Level)
- Paper 4: A Level Structured Questions — 2h, 100 marks (A2)
- Paper 5: Planning, Analysis and Evaluation — 1h 15min, 30 marks (A2)
What are paper variants (e.g. 11, 12, 13) and which one should I practise?
Cambridge issues different variants of each paper so the exam can be sat across global time zones without leaks. The last digit of the paper number is the variant (Papers 11, 12 and 13 are variants 1, 2 and 3 of Paper 1). Which variant you sit depends on your school's administrative zone, and Cambridge's timetable for each zone lists it. All variants test the same syllabus content at equivalent difficulty, with grade thresholds calibrated session-by-session to even out small variation. Any variant is equally valuable for revision.
How many UCAS points is A-Level Physics worth?
Cambridge A-Levels carry the same UCAS tariff as UK GCE A-Levels (subject to per-university confirmation). A* = 56 points, A = 48, B = 40, C = 32, D = 24, E = 16. AS-Level is worth roughly 40% of the full A-Level points (a = 20, b = 16, c = 12, d = 10, e = 6). Most UK universities accept Cambridge A-Levels directly; some prefer the predicted-grade route. Always check the specific UCAS course page for your target university.
What is Paper 3 and the Confidential Instructions (CI) document?
Paper 3 is the Physics advanced practical-skills exam. It is sat under supervised lab conditions and tests skills like manipulation of apparatus, data presentation, and analysis. The accompanying Confidential Instructions document is given to the supervising teacher before the exam — it lists the apparatus, equipment required, plus any preparatory work the centre must do. Students don't see the CI, but reading past CIs is a useful way to anticipate what kind of experimental setups Paper 3 favours.
How should I structure my A-Level Physics revision?
A solid approach: (1) finish notes for every topic at least 6 weeks before the exam, (2) work through 4-6 past papers under timed conditions, (3) self-mark each one with the mark scheme and log your error patterns, (4) read the examiner report for at least 2-3 of those sessions — it tells you exactly which questions tripped most candidates and what examiners wanted, (5) use flashcards for active recall on factual content and timed practice on calculation-heavy questions. On this site: 546+ Physics flashcards and topic-by-topic revision notes are free with no signup.