Exam day: equipment, timing and mindset · A-Level Physics · Courselo

Guide · Test day

Exam day: equipment, timing and mindset

5 min readA-Level Physics

Each AQA paper is a 2-hour session in the May–June series, and the three papers usually fall on different days several weeks apart. Marks lost on the day are almost always preventable: a calculator in the wrong angle mode, no ruler for a gradient triangle, 15 minutes sunk into one 3-mark part, or a changed multiple-choice answer that can’t be read. This guide covers preparation, equipment, the data and formulae booklet, pacing for every paper and how to recover when a question goes wrong. Other boards’ papers run from 1 h 15 min to 2 h 30 min; scale the per-mark timings below to your paper.

Before the series

When	Task
4+ weeks before	Get your centre’s exam timetable and statement of entry. Check the dates, morning or afternoon sessions, your candidate number and your Paper 3 option.
2–3 weeks before	Sit at least one full paper under exam conditions: 2 hours, the official data and formulae booklet, your exam calculator, pacing by a wall clock.
Final week	One timed 25-question MCQ set, a last pass through your definitions deck and a redo of your error log. No new topics.
Day before	Pack your bag. Check the calculator’s batteries and angle mode, and clear stored data. Sleep at your normal time.
Morning	Eat breakfast. Arrive 20–30 minutes early. Read your “not in the booklet” list once, then put it away.

Equipment

Bring

Two or three black ink pens. Written answers must be in black ink.
HB pencils, a rubber and a sharpener. Graphs and diagrams may be drawn in pencil.
A 30 cm clear ruler, long enough for a large gradient triangle, and a protractor for ray diagrams, vector resolution and field angles.
A scientific calculator that meets exam rules (no computer algebra, no stored notes, no wireless), with fresh batteries, plus a spare if you own one.
A clear pencil case, and water in a clear, label-free bottle if your centre allows it.

Leave outside: phones, smartwatches, fitness trackers and earbuds. Having one on you, even switched off, is treated as malpractice. Most centres don’t allow any kind of watch at the desk, so practise pacing by the wall clock.

Angle mode. Use degrees for resolving forces, refraction and diffraction gratings. Switch to radians whenever $\omega t$ appears, for example $x = A\cos(\omega t)$ in simple harmonic motion or $\varepsilon = BAN\omega\sin(\omega t)$ for a rotating coil, then switch back.

Using the data and formulae booklet

The booklet is a separate insert: fundamental constants and values, then equations grouped by topic, then a section for each Paper 3 option. It also includes quark and lepton property tables and geometric formulae. Learn its layout from the copy on your board’s website before the exam.

It doesn’t give definitions, the conditions under which an equation applies, or what a symbol means in an unfamiliar context. Use it to check, not to discover. When a calculation stalls, go to that topic’s section and ask which equation links the quantities you have to the one you want.

Pacing: Papers 1 and 2 (85 marks, 120 minutes)

About 1.4 minutes per mark in Section A and 70 seconds per MCQ.

Elapsed	Do	Checkpoint
0–2 min	Flick through: find the 6-mark question and any graph to draw	Plan in mind
2–45 min	Section A, in order	About 30 of 60 marks attempted
45–87 min	Finish Section A	Section A done by 87 min
87–117 min	Section B: 25 MCQs	About 13 done by 102 min
117–120 min	Revisit flagged items	Every MCQ has an answer

Some candidates prefer multiple choice first with a hard stop at 32 minutes. Try both orders in mocks, then choose one and stick to it.

Pacing: Paper 3 (80 marks, 120 minutes)

Elapsed	Do	Checkpoint
0–2 min	Skim; note any graph to plot and any table to complete	—
2–67 min	Section A (45 marks), including 8–10 minutes for a plotted graph	Section A done by 67 min
67–115 min	Section B: your option (35 marks)	Option done by 115 min
115–120 min	Check units, significant figures and flagged items	—

Writing on the paper

MCQs: fill the circle completely in black ink. To change an answer, cross through the filled circle and fill a new one. To return to an answer you crossed out, draw a ring round it. Leave no question blank: there is no negative marking.
Running out of space: use the extra pages at the back. Write the question number there, and write “continued on page X” in the original space.
Scripts are scanned and marked on screen, so keep writing inside the answer area and avoid faint pencil for words.

When a question goes wrong

Apply the 60-second rule. If you have made no progress after a minute, write the relevant equation and any unit conversions (these often earn the first mark), flag the question and move on. Come back with fresh eyes.
Use the value you were given. If you can’t do a show-that, use its quoted value in the next part. Error carried forward means one mistake is penalised only once.
Find the familiar physics. Unfamiliar contexts are always built on specification content. A maglev train is $F = BIl$ . A phone’s accelerometer is a capacitor or a mass on a spring. A tsunami is wave speed and energy.
Remember that boundaries move. If a paper feels hard, it is hard for everyone, and the grade boundaries fall to match. A tough paper isn’t a sign that you are failing.
Don’t post-mortem. Between papers, don’t compare answers online. Spend the time on the next paper’s content.

The last five minutes

Is every MCQ answered, with one circle filled per question?
Does every final answer have a unit and sensible significant figures?
Does every show-that give one more significant figure than the quoted value?
Reread the 6-mark answer: is each strand there, and are the ideas linked?

Quick recap

Check your entry, including your Paper 3 option, weeks before the series.
Bring black pens, pencil, a 30 cm ruler, a protractor and a checked calculator. Leave all devices outside.
Use radians only when $\omega t$ appears.
In Papers 1 and 2, allow about 85 minutes for Section A and 30 for the MCQs. In Paper 3, allow 65 minutes for Section A and 48 for the option.
Stuck after 60 seconds? Write the equation, flag the question and move on.