A LEVEL

PHYSICS
GETTING STARTED
Lewis Matheson

ALevelPhysicsOnline.com Physics Online

WELCOME TO A LEVEL PHYSICS
Physics is one of the top ten most popular choices at A Level and is highly
regarded by both universities and employers.

The jump from GCSE to A Level can be challenging. There is more time
studying the subject each week, new and difficult content and a greater
reliance on you working independently. But it is also more rewarding, and you
will understand the science to a greater depth and explore new areas that
have not been covered before.

Before you start the course it is worth having a look at some of the videos I
have put together that introduce each topic.

ALevelPhysicsOnline.com/introduction-to-a-level-physics

I have made hundreds of videos and other resources including workbooks

that you will find helpful throughout the course. Explore the website and
subscribe on YouTube to stay up-to-date with the latest material.

Finally, make sure you have a 30 cm clear ruler and a protractor – these will
make your lessons so much easier!

Lewis

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QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK
Here are some questions you should ask your teacher, so you have a good
understanding of what help and support is available to you:

 Which exam board am I studying?

 What will the end of unit tests be like?

 When will the mock exams be in Year 12?

 Will there be real AS exams at the end of Year 12?

 What data are the UCAS predicted grades based on?

 What textbooks and revision guides do I have to buy?

 Are there any extra old textbooks I could borrow from school?

 Are there extra revision sessions or support outside of lesson time?

 Is there a School Subscription to A Level Physics Online.com – if so, what

are the login details?

Username: _______________________________

Password: _______________________________

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ADVICE FROM STUDENTS
I asked some students who had recently completed Year 12 and 13 for their
advice. This is what they shared:

Firstly, thank you for everything you do to help students. I’ve just finished A Levels and
have been watching your videos for the past two years and they have helped me
tremendously, so thank you so much.

My advice to students starting A Levels this year: make sure you really focus at the
start of the year. I started making revision material (flashcards, mind maps) from day
one and I would constantly go over them right from the start of year 12.

This helped me so much when I got to year 13 because I was already confident that
I knew all the year 12 content. It also made exam revision a whole lot easier as well.

I would definitely recommend making sure to keep up with all independent learning
and homework from the start, otherwise, it will build up and become
unmanageable.

Start revision as soon as possible and make the most out of every lesson.

Amber

Confidence is key.

Just like everything else in life, self-belief will take you a lot further than doubt. Be
competitive with yourself and don’t let a tricky concept or question beat you.

Haydn

If you don't understand something, go on YouTube and find some explanations or

solved practice problems until you can figure any question out yourself.

If you're still not confident, ask your teachers.

Make physical notes on the general theory and of the questions you got wrong so
that you have all you revision in one place to review before the exams.

And make sure you review all class work - ask for help as soon as you need it instead
of going home not knowing the how/why for a question.

Anna

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I think one of the most important sites that students can use is Isaac Physics. This is
because the content at A level is very mathematical, and there are hundreds of
questions on Isaac Physics designed to test each topic. The site varies in difficulty,
there are Practice questions, which range in difficulty from 1-3, and Challenge
Questions, also scaled 1-3.

Throughout Year 12 I did as many challenge questions as I possibly could. These are
often at a standard above A level but in my opinion, going above and beyond
what is usually assessed is very beneficial for developing your physics skills. As was the
case with AQA 2023 exams, the questions were often very challenging and used
strange contexts which threw a lot of students off. If you get used to answering
harder questions earlier on in the course, I believe you will be more prepared for the
final A level exams.

In preparation for my topic tests or end of years, as well as the final exams I would
target revision for topics that I struggled on first. Usually, I would attempt a question
pack from Physics and Maths Tutor, then see how I feel about it. It’s important to
mark as you go so you don’t get into the habit of answering questions with a
definition that is slightly wrong ( practise makes permanent rather than perfect…).
Don’t look at the markscheme as you do it though, it’s very easy to convince yourself
that you know an answer when you don’t! If I struggled with a certain topic then I
would refer to my notes from school and watch a Physics Online video to refresh my
knowledge.

It is also really important to note where you are going wrong when you get feedback
on any tests. Don’t just tell yourself that you understand it if you don’t, be proactive
in improving (ask a teacher, refer to a video). If you are doing anything in physics
that requires more knowledge and definitions, as is the case with AQA Astrophysics,
flashcards can be very helpful. I used an Anki deck with pretty much every single
previous question and markscheme answer. I tried to go through this deck every day
in the lead-up to my exams. There are some definitions that come up every year or
so, so flashcards can be helpful for this.

Esme

Ask as many questions as possible!

Asking questions helps secure your knowledge and you should never sit struggling
with something if it can be resolved. There is more independence with A Levels - it is
your responsibility to ensure you’re doing enough studying. Try and spend some extra
time (three times a week) doing some form of revision to ensure you understood
everything you learnt that week and also practise questions to enhance this. Looking
back on my experience, I wish I did more physics questions, as I didn’t enjoy doing
them so would try and put them off - but I realised a couple of months before my
exam the value of doing them and I wish I realised earlier.

Good luck to everyone with your A Level journey :)

Georgia

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I am an A level physics student who just finished year 12 and is about to go into year
13.

1. This one is obvious but do not expect A Level Physics to be anything like GCSE, this
may be unavoidable or really difficult for some, but it is very important that you stray
away from the GCSE mindset ASAP as doing so will allow you to more quickly adopt
the mindstyle of an A level student (the kind of mindstyle with more discipline,
resilience and independence - key characteristics which are essential to do well).

2. This one is linked to my first tip and can be applied to all subjects but do be aware
of 'the jump'. The dreaded 'jump' from GCSE to A level is no joke and it can really
mess you up in the first couple of weeks of your A level physics journey. This is why
you want to stray away from the GCSE mindset as soon as you can because the
faster you do that, the sooner you will start to become familiar with the difficulty of A
level physics (or any subject for that matter).

3. Read up on the specification and check some past papers. Now you may not
understand much of but reading up on it is a good idea so then you have some
partial idea of what is coming up. Also, taking a look at past papers is also a good
idea so then you can familiarise yourself with the structure of a past paper (e.g. what
is the highest mark question or how long is the paper or how many marks is the
paper), it is little things like that that can give you quite a sizeable advantage when
you start A level physics (again this can applied to all subjects and make sure you
check the specification / exam board that your sixth form or college uses).

4. Be wary of the maths. Regardless of exam board / specification, A level physics is

40% maths (almost half). If you really despise maths then maybe A level physics may
not be for you and perhaps biology or chemistry may be a better option
(unfortunate but it is better than suffering and hating 40% of a subject).

5. Optional tip here but if you can then I would highly recommend picking A level
maths alongside A level physics. As mentioned previously, A level physics has 40%
maths and also A level maths has a 'mechanics' module which deals with kinematics
and Newton's laws (which you also learn in physics). Also, physics has some A level
maths content (e.g. logs and exponentials when doing nuclear physics or
capacitors). Lastly, for any engineering courses, maths is an absolute requirement
alongside physics (depending on the university).

The best way I can sum it up is this, Physics is an Oreo and maths is a nice cold glass
of milk and picking both is like dipping the Oreo into that milk and devouring it
(cringy analogy I know but it works).

Konrad

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1) After each lesson, complete the notes for that lesson, then do the Isaac Physics
questions and then do exam questions. Don't pile everything up until half term when
you will do your notes, because that half term will never come.

2) Don't pick physics without maths, and if you do, make sure you spend 2 or 3 hours
a week working on some basic AS maths and maybe a little bit of A level. This will
100% help when learning and remembering equations, explanations and definitions
in year two. It is a lot easier to make links, for example when doing induced EMF, by
knowing that each graph is differentiated to get to the next one, you can memorise
one graph easily and just quickly sketch the rest. I did pick maths, but many in my
class didn't and really struggled with it.

3) Make sure you do all the exam papers at least 2 or 3 times each before your
exams, and space them out by about 4 weeks.

4) Do all the exam question packs on Physics and Maths Tutor. Start with the smaller
packs which are set per specification point, and then do the big one once you
have finished an entire module.

5) Ask your teachers for help!!!!!!

6) Practical write ups - get them done immediately after you have finished your
practical, within 48 hours at the most, and keep a small notebook on hand to make
rough notes whilst you are doing your practical so you can make amendments to
your method and write an analysis etc.

7) Use online videos. For Physics, use A Level Physics Online, TL Physics for quick
summaries and conciseness, and then use Mr Turnbull Physics playlists to use as more
of a lesson which is really detailed BTW. All three saved my life. For practicals, using
Malmesbury Education, and A Level Physics shorts (Science Shorts YT Channel). For
any parts of the maths bits you do not understand, use TL Maths it's the best there is.

8) Use large diagrams to help. A3 diagrams of nuclear reactors, which you can draw
yourself, is the best. It helps you to memorise. Use colour to fill in parts, make it look
nice and you will remember it better. Label it with detailed explanations for each
part. Rutherford scattering experiment is also a great one to do as an A3 diagram.
Also, try and draw a massive particle tree. Make a massive A2 poster, it will cover
majority of the topic. And it means you don't need to go through loads of notes to
revise. Have everything on it (quark compositions, hadron, leptons, baryons, mesons,
strangeness, all the conservation rules, and the key interactions as well).

9) For every hour of lesson time you have, spend at least another hour of
independent work, do this for all your subjects. For Physics, maybe do 1.5 hours
independent for every hour of lesson time.

I can guarantee by doing all this from day one, your exam will be super easy. I saw it
first-hand. I should have followed all of these tips I was given and I definitely would
have gotten an A or A*. Don't be lazy - keep persevering. Don't give up. You can do
it.

Dawood

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There is more content than GCSE and more detail to learn. Take it slowly and don't
panic. If you don't understand in class, don't worry. Come back to it later.

Make use of A level textbooks, websites and teachers. Try to revise as you go along-
even if you've only done a few topics. Don't leave revision to the weeks before the
exam as they go so quickly! Find a way that works for you, such as flashcards,
revision notes, videos or mind maps.

As you get closer to exams, use past papers to prepare and get used to the
questions. There is much more equation work, calculation and rearranging than
GCSE, so this is a good thing to practice, as well as topics you find hardest.

I found questions by topic (such as those on Physics and Maths Tutor and Isaac
Physics) helpful.

Martha

Thank you for all your support, you have been amazing!

I learnt about you quite late in my A levels but better late than never. I started my A
levels with an open mind and a positive attitude, coming from a different country
with a hybrid curriculum (Nigerian and British) was something to think about as the
change took time adjusting to, but I didn’t worry too much.

I had always loved physics so I started off doing great and loving the subject, but as I
got deep into Year 12 I felt like I was struggling to find my feet. I wasn’t doing as
great as I usually did and it scared me, so I looked for advice everywhere: my
teachers, online resources, former A level students but I realised it could only do so
much. I went back to the drawing board and began thinking about what went
wrong and how I could improve. I realised my study technique needed tweaking, I
felt like it was too late but I started anyway by doing more past papers, watched
YouTube videos (Physics Online of course, and others) and I was finally getting a
hang of it, I still wasn’t where I wanted to be but I was happy I was making progress.

Year 13 was overwhelming and I was drowned in all the university and exam
preparations that I was close to giving up. With the right support and resources I
pushed through to the end. Deep down I wish I had started planning from the get
go but I learnt from that.

My advice to anyone doing A level Physics and A levels in general is to start from
somewhere. Nothing is ever perfect in the beginning, but don’t forget you are as
important as your grades. Take time for yourself and learn about you (study
techniques, skills, strengths etc), find a good balance then eventually you’ll find your
feet and roll with it.

Past papers will be your best friend, wish I had known that sooner.

Good luck and all the best!

Fareedah

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ADVICE FROM TEACHERS
I asked on Twitter (X) for some advice from fellow teachers. This is what they
said:

Advice for students who are about to start A Level Physics (from a teacher):

- Be prepared to do a lot of maths, it’s the tool that physicists use to describe the
universe. You don’t have to be the best mathematician in your school or college but
if you are confident with the maths you need for A level you will be ok. Practise is the
best way to build that confidence.

- What other A Levels are you going to do? If you are not doing maths, why not? Are
your A level choices the right ones for what you want to do? Look at university
requirements for the courses you might be interested in. Medicine needs Chemistry
and two other decent STEM A Levels. Engineering needs Maths.

- Join the IOP (Institute of Physics) - it’s free for students.

- Be prepared to work, at school and at home, A Levels are not GCSEs! I have met
many students who did no/the least amount of work at GCSE and then came a
cropper at A Level because they are so much harder. It caught me out too!

- Be prepared to do one of the most interesting, rewarding, useful and fun A levels
there is.

If you have 5 hours of contact time, then you should allocate at least the same
amount of time for private study including homework. Store your notes electronically
using apps like Goodnotes or Notability. This allows you to edit your notes more
efficiently.

Do loads of practice questions, once you have completed a topic. If you don't
understand something, ask your teacher!

Checking your work doesn't mean glancing over it, it means going back and
checking every single step of a calculation or reading your answer to a written
question out loud and thinking about if there's a better way to phrase it or if there are
more scientific words you can use.

Truly master the specification. Go through it and make sure that you can explain
each and every bit of it.

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Trig should be immediate to see which to use, practise as many questions as
possible. Do the same number of hours outside the classroom as inside it. Ask for help
if you need it!

Spend time before each topic reviewing the GCSE content that links to it, making
sure you really understand it, so that you can build on that knowledge.

Remember physics is really applied math so work on trig, algebra and logs.

An hour in the classroom - an hour out of it studying. You should go over last lessons
notes and questions, questions from the textbook, recap previous topics. Don’t just
complete work that is set.

Read around the subject and try to find out more about just why physics can
connect you with wonder and also be so brilliantly useful, e.g. combatting the
climate crisis. The more you can do this, the more point there is in gaining mastery
and knowing stuff.

Take this test: You have to be able to say YES to the question “Do I REALLY
understand that word / phrase / sentence“.

If you can honestly say “yes” then that piece has won a place in your notes.

If it’s a “no” then you have to work on it or see the teacher.

Don’t be scared to ask questions in class. Just because everyone ‘appears’ to be

getting it, they probably aren’t.

And practise your algebra!

Practise, practise, practise. Be proactive with finding online instruction and using
multiple resources to follow up on lessons - one lesson with the teacher and one text
book wil not be enough to really grasp the difficult concepts.

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Master rearranging equations, trig, vectors and unit prefixes early on.

Memorise definitions (and keep a record) when introduced to new terminology.

Get to grips with ways of determining uncertainty quickly and try to apply to all
practical work.

List knowns/ unknowns and sketch diagrams / annotate Qs when problem solving.

Familiarise yourself with layout of formulae booklet and keep copy in folder/notes.

File notes/work as you go.

Plan out written explanations and think in bullet points.

Schedule study period time.

Ask Qs.

Literally scribble down notes in class then rewrite them up with a textbook. Time in
class should be spent probing a teachers mind of understanding you do not get, not
spending excessive time making notes pretty.

Play around with your calculator.

Find out what ALL the buttons do, read the instructions if you need to!

Pay attention to units. Every last term of every equation on both sides must be
dimensionally correct and uniform. Check it. It will save you pain.

Don't just think physics is putting numbers in equations, understand the concepts too.
Learn key vocab and practise solving problems. Lay out maths in a logical order and
learn algebraic manipulation. So often I see maths just plastered willy-nilly going in
diagonal directions.

Practising questions is the most important thing you can do. There are loads of
condensed revision notes available. Use these, annotate them and then… practise
more questions.

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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
These are the resources used by the students in this guide. It’s worth spending
some time looking at the sites to see what they offer and where everything is.

A Level Physics Online

Videos and resources organised for the entire course

Isaac Physics

Thousands and thousands of questions

Physics & Maths Tutor

Revision packs with exam questions for each topic

SudoStudy

Multiple choice questions by topic

Anki

For revising flashcards

Physics Online (YouTube)

Stay up-to-date with my latest videos

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A LEVEL DAILY WORKOUT
I have written a series of books that will take you all the way through A Level
Physics and I guarantee that by completing a few questions every day you will
become a lot more confident with your understanding (ultimately leading to
better exam results).

Available from Amazon – get started this week!

ALevelPhysicsOnline.com/daily-workout

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