Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics

Introduction to the examination and

changes to the syllabus
The Cambridge International Examinations Physics
examination a students perspective

You should find out from your teacher which examination you will take and when. The following
details refer to the latest syllabus, but it is important that you refer to the syllabus for the year in
which you are taking the examination, in case details change.
If you are entered for the Advanced Subsidiary (AS) Physics examination, then you will take three
papers, Papers 1, 2 and 3, in a single examination series in either June or November, or in March for
candidates in India.
After your AS level examination, you may, if you wish, continue to study physics and then take the
full Advanced Level Physics qualification. If you do this, your AS level marks in Papers 1, 2 and 3 are
carried forward and you take two more papers, Papers 4 and 5, in a single session. Your final grade
for the full A level is based on all of the papers you have taken, Papers 1 to 5.
However, you may take the complete Advanced Level Physics qualification in a single examination
series. In this case you take all the five papers in one single session. This may not be as hard as you
think, as some of the questions in Papers 4 and 5 rely on material taught for the previous papers and
you will be much more experienced when answering Papers 1, 2 and 3 if you take them later. On the
other hand, there are fewer papers to take in any single series if you take the AS level examination
before the final two papers.
The coursebook is divided into two sections to help you prepare for the AS level and the full A level
separately, but you will need to know all the material from the AS level when you take Papers 4 and 5.

Details about the papers

Paper

How long is
the paper and
with how many
marks?

What is in the paper?

What is the
paper worth
for the AS level
exam?

What is the
paper worth
for the full A
level exam?

Paper 1

1 hour and
15minutes

This paper has 40 multiple choice

questions, each with four options and
based on the AS syllabus. You answer
all the questions on an answer grid.

31%

15.5%

This paper has a variable number

of structured questions of variable
value. You answer all the questions
and write on the question paper.

46%

23%

Multiple
choice
Paper 2
AS structured
questions

40 marks
1 hour and
15minutes
60 marks

Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics Cambridge University Press 2014

Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics

Paper 3

2 hours

Practical test

40 marks

Paper 4

2 hours

A level
structured
questions

100 marks

Paper 5

1 hour and
15minutes

Planning,
analysis and
evaluation

30 marks

You carry out practical work

under timed conditions, with two
experiments from different areas
of physics, using the apparatus for
each experiment for 1 hour. The
experiments test your practical
skills rather than theory and may be
based on physics not included in the
syllabus content. You write on the
question paper itself.

23%

11.5%

This paper has a variable number

of structured questions of variable
mark value. All questions are based
on the A level syllabus content, but
knowledge of AS level content is
assumed for this paper. You answer
all the questions and write on the
question paper.

38.5%

This paper has two questions, each

worth equal marks and based on the
practical skills of planning, analysis
and evaluation. You are tested on
these skills rather than on your
knowledge of any theory; the context
of the questions may be outside of
the syllabus content. You answer both
questions on the question paper itself.

11.5%

Changes for the 2016 syllabus

You should make sure that you use the correct syllabus for the session that you are taking the
examination. You will find the syllabus on the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) website at
www.cie.org.uk, or you should ask your teacher.
For 2016 examinations, there were a number of changes made to the syllabus. It may be important
that you know about these changes.

Changes to the examinations

The main change to the examinations themselves is that in Paper 4 there is now only one section. For
examinations taken before 2016, Paper 4 contained two sections, with section B based on applications
of physics. Although these applications are largely still in the syllabus, they are now more closely
related to the appropriate area of physics. For example, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is
now part of the section on magnetic fields, rather than being in a separate applications section called
Remote sensing. Questions on these applications may appear at any place within Paper 4.
The second edition of the coursebook now incorporates many of these applications alongside the
appropriate topic, rather than as a separate section.

Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics Cambridge University Press 2014

Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics

Changes to the syllabus

New material in the 2016 syllabus
The 2016 syllabus includes some new material, with the introduction of extra topics:

the Doppler shift for a moving source of waves

basic ideas about fundamental particles such as quarks and neutrinos
the band theory of energy levels in solids
the derivation of the Hall voltage
the derivation and use of the equation I = nAvq for current-carrying conductors
the conservation of momentum applied to problems in two dimensions.

Minor additions or clarifications

There have been some clarifications and minor additions:

sources of energy loss in a transformer

the effect of internal resistance of a source of e.m.f. on the terminal p.d.
capacitance applied to both isolated conductors and parallel plate capacitors
the charge on a sphere and the mass of a sphere to be taken at its centre
thermistor thermometers rather than resistance thermometers
the definition of the radian
the introduction of the Boltzmann constant into the kinetic theory of gases.

Material moved from AS to A level

The following have been moved from AS to A level:

the concept of internal energy and the simple kinetic model for solids, liquids and gases
the difference in structure and density related to the spacing, ordering and motion of molecules
Brownian motion
the temperature characteristic of a thermistor
thermistors and light-dependent resistors in potential dividers providing a p.d. dependent on
temperature and illumination
simple nuclear reactions and nuclear equations
the spontaneous and random nature of nuclear decay.

Material removed from the syllabus

The following material has been removed from the syllabus:

the structure of crystalline and non-crystalline solids

distinguishing between the processes of melting, boiling and evaporation
the forceextension graphs for typical ductile, brittle and polymeric materials, including an
understanding of ultimate tensile stress
polarisation as a phenomenon associated with transverse waves
Millikans experiment and the evidence for quantisation of charge
the need for remote sensing in medicine
the mobile-phone system, the public switched telephone network and the mobile phone handset.

All of these changes have been incorporated, where necessary, into the coursebook.
Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics Cambridge University Press 2014