Examiner Tips for O Level Physics (5054)

How to Use These Tips

These tips highlight some common mistakes made by students. They are collected under

various subheadings to help you when you revise a particular topic.

General Advice

• There is no escaping it; thorough and careful revision is the best way to prepare for a

physics examination.

• Make your revision productive by making it interesting and fun. Make notes, revision

cards or mind maps. Revision should be an active process, i.e. you should be ‘doing

things’, not just sitting and reading a book.

• Do not try to learn it all in one go! Take regular breaks and review what you have

learnt regularly.

• Learning equations is essential; put them on small pieces of paper and stick them on

your mirror so you will see them every morning, then revise with a friend so you can

test each other.`

• Try explaining the physics of a topic to a friend – as if you were a teacher!

• Working through past paper questions is then the best way to complete your revision.

This helps you to know the type and style of questions to expect in the examination.

• Try timed questions so you can learn to answer quickly.

• Make sure you get your answers checked so you know you are doing the right things!

Spelling

The spelling of technical terms is important, so make sure your writing is legible as well

as spelt correctly. Some words are very similar, such as reflection and refraction. If the

examiner cannot tell which one you have written, then you will lose the mark. Make a list

of technical terms and definitions in each section of the syllabus, checking the spellings

carefully.

General Tips

In O Level Physics examinations you have to be able to complete a variety of tasks;

always read the question carefully to make sure you have understood what you are

expected to do.

In descriptive answers, you should:

• check the number of marks available and make sure you give sufficient points.

• plan your answer first so that you don’t repeat yourself or contradict yourself.

• read your answer through carefully afterwards to check you have not missed out

important words.

• use sketches and diagrams wherever you can to help your explanation.

• add labels when referring to a diagram, e.g. point X, so that you can refer to it

easily in your explanation. This can save many words and much confusion.

In numerical answers, you should:

• quote any formulae you are going to use.

• show clearly all the steps in your working.

• check the units are consistent, e.g. if the distance is given in km and the speed in

m/s, then you must convert the km to m.

• be careful when you are converting minutes and seconds: 1 minute 30 seconds is

not 1.3 minutes and 150 seconds is not 1.5 minutes. These are common

mistakes, so always double check any conversion of units of time.

• state the answer clearly at the end.

• give your answer as a decimal to an appropriate number of significant figures

unless specifically asked to give the answer as a fraction.

• check that you have given the unit on your final answer.