Starting A Level Physics: 10 Things I Wish Every Year 12 Student Knew
Starting A Level Physics is exciting, but it can also feel a little daunting.
Perhaps you loved Physics at GCSE and it was one of your strongest subjects. Maybe you chose it because you want to study Engineering, Physics or another STEM subject at university. Or perhaps you simply enjoyed it and wanted to take it further.
Whatever your reason for choosing it, A Level Physics is a big step up from GCSE.
I have taught Physics for many years, and one thing I see every September is very capable students suddenly wondering whether they are “good enough” for A Level Physics.
Usually, they are.
The problem is that A Level Physics feels different. Questions are less predictable, the maths becomes more important and sometimes you can understand everything your teacher has said in a lesson – then open an exam question and have absolutely no idea where to start.
That is normal.
So, if you are starting Year 12 this September, here are ten things I wish every new A Level Physics student knew.
1. The jump from GCSE Physics is real
There is a noticeable jump between GCSE and A Level Physics.
At GCSE, you can often recognise the type of question you are being asked and remember a method that you have practised before.
At A Level, you are increasingly expected to take what you know and apply it to an unfamiliar situation.
That can be uncomfortable at first.
You may understand a topic perfectly well in class but still find the exam questions difficult. This doesn't necessarily mean you haven't understood the Physics. It often means that you haven't yet developed the problem-solving skills needed to apply your knowledge.
Those skills come with practice.
Don't judge your ability to do A Level Physics based on your first few weeks.
2. Your maths matters more than you probably expect
One of the biggest surprises for some Year 12 students is just how mathematical A Level Physics becomes.
You don't have to be a mathematical genius, but you do need to become confident with things such as:
rearranging equations
standard form
significant figures
ratios and proportionality
gradients
graphs
trigonometry
powers and indices
units and prefixes
If your maths feels a little rusty, deal with it early.
Five or ten minutes practising equation rearranging or standard form now is much easier than reaching Year 13 and discovering that weak algebra is making every Physics topic harder than it needs to be.
Physics and maths become increasingly intertwined at A Level.
Getting comfortable with the maths will make the Physics much easier.
3. Stop thinking of equations as things to memorise
At GCSE, students can sometimes get quite a long way by remembering an equation, putting the numbers into it and getting an answer.
At A Level, that approach becomes much less effective.
Try to understand what an equation is actually telling you.
What happens to one quantity if another doubles? Which variables are proportional? Does the answer you have calculated make physical sense? What units should you expect?
The strongest Physics students don't just know equations. They understand the relationships behind them.
This becomes particularly important when you meet questions where the equation you need isn't immediately obvious.
4. Units are not an afterthought
Please don't ignore units!
They can feel like one of the least interesting parts of Physics, but becoming really confident with them will help you enormously.
Get used to checking units as you work.
Learn your common prefixes.
Know the difference between milli, micro, nano, kilo, mega and giga.
And don't automatically trust the numbers given to you in a question. You may need to convert them before using them.
Units can also help you work out whether an equation or answer makes sense.
They are one of the simplest ways of checking your own work – so use them.
5. You are supposed to find the questions difficult
This is probably the most important point on the list.
A difficult Physics question is not evidence that you are bad at Physics.
Some students who achieved grade 8s and 9s at GCSE are used to being able to answer almost everything they are given.
Then they start A Level Physics and suddenly find themselves staring at a question thinking:
“I have no idea what this wants me to do.”
That can knock their confidence quite badly.
Don't panic.
A Level Physics questions are designed to make you think.
When you get stuck, don't immediately look at the answer. Ask yourself:
What information have I been given?
What am I trying to find?
Which area of Physics does this relate to?
Can I draw a diagram?
Do I know an equation containing these quantities?
What units have I been given?
Learning how to get yourself unstuck is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.
6. Start practising exam questions early
Please don't wait until Year 13 to start doing proper exam questions.
And don't wait until the week before an end-of-topic test either.
Exam technique in Physics is something you build gradually.
When you finish a small section of a topic, try a few questions on it.
Initially, you might need your notes beside you.
That's fine.
Then try similar questions without them.
The important thing is to get used to turning your knowledge into answers.
Physics is not a subject where simply reading your notes repeatedly is likely to produce the results you want.
You need to do Physics.
That means calculations, explanations, diagrams, graphs and plenty of questions.
7. Don't obsess over your percentage in every test
This can be particularly difficult for high-achieving students.
You may have been used to scoring 80%, 90% or more at GCSE.
Then your first A Level Physics test comes back and the percentage is much lower than you expected.
Before deciding that everything has gone horribly wrong, look at the bigger picture.
Was the test difficult? What did the rest of the class score? Which questions did you lose marks on? Was it a Physics problem, a maths problem or an exam-technique problem?
A test should give you information about what you need to improve.
Use it diagnostically rather than emotionally.
The important question isn't simply:
“What percentage did I get?”
It is:
“What can I learn from the marks I lost?”
8. Take practical work seriously
Practical lessons can sometimes feel like a break from the “real” Physics.
However, in order to be an A/A* student, you need to be comfortable with measurements, uncertainties, graphs, gradients, experimental methods, variables and evaluating results.
When you carry out an experiment, don't just follow the instructions and wait for the lesson to end. Think about what you are doing.
Why are you taking that measurement?
Why are you repeating it?
What are the biggest sources of uncertainty?
How could you improve the method?
What should the graph look like?
Students who engage properly with practical work usually find practical and data-analysis questions much easier later on.
9. Ask for help before a small gap becomes a big one
Physics builds.
A small misunderstanding can sometimes sit unnoticed for weeks before suddenly causing problems in another topic.
If there is something you don't understand, ask. Go back through the example. Try another question. Find another explanation.
Whatever you do, don't simply decide that you'll “come back to it later”.
Later has an unfortunate habit of becoming the night before an exam.
There is absolutely nothing unusual about needing something explained more than once in Physics.
Sometimes you simply need to hear the same idea presented in a different way before it clicks.
10. Consistency beats cramming
You don't need to spend every evening studying Physics. In fact, I wouldn't recommend it.
What works much better is doing a manageable amount regularly.
Go over your classwork.
Practise a few questions.
Fix mistakes from previous work.
Keep your maths skills sharp.
Make sure you understand one topic before allowing three more to pile on top of it.
Twenty or thirty focused minutes several times during the week can be far more valuable than suddenly trying to do five hours of Physics the night before a test.
A Level Physics is a two-year course.
Finally – you don't need to be brilliant at A Level Physics in September
This is something I wish more students understood. You are not supposed to arrive in Year 12 already able to do A Level Physics - that's why you're taking the course.
You need reasonable GCSE foundations, a willingness to practise and the confidence to keep going when something doesn't make sense immediately.
There will probably be lessons where you feel fantastic. There will also be lessons where you leave wondering what on earth just happened. Both are part of learning Physics.
The students who eventually become excellent at A Level Physics are not always the students who find everything easy from the beginning.
Very often, they are the students who keep asking questions, keep practising and gradually become better at solving problems. So if you've just started A Level Physics this September, give yourself time.
You might be surprised by how much you can improve over the next two years.
Need some extra support with A Level Physics?
At Physics Mastery Academy, I specialise in helping A Level Physics students build a genuine understanding of the subject and develop the problem-solving and exam skills needed to turn that understanding into marks.
I am a qualified Physics teacher with over 15 years' teaching experience and experience as an AQA Physics examiner.
Alongside tuition, students can also use the A Level Physics Library on the Physics Mastery Academy website to access topic-by-topic support and exam practice throughout the course.
If you're beginning A Level Physics this September, now is the perfect time to build strong foundations – before small gaps have the chance to become bigger ones.
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