Advanced Higher Physics: the shorter 2027 exam, the project and practice questions

The Advanced Higher Physics exam in 2027

That's 174 marks in all. The figures are from the course specification valid from session 2026 to 2027, and the date from the 2027 timetable. Qualifications Scotland cut the paper from 155 marks and 3 hours after a survey of learners and teachers. The content and the project are unchanged. The course is worth 32 SCQF credit points.

The project: you plan and carry out your own investigation, keep a daybook of your research, experiments and data, and write it up as a report. The specification expects about 10 to 15 hours of experimental work.

What Advanced Higher Physics covers

• Rotational motion and astrophysics: kinematics with calculus, angular motion, rotational dynamics and moment of inertia, gravitation, general relativity and stellar physics.
• Quanta and waves: quantum theory, particles from space, simple harmonic motion, waves, interference and polarisation.
• Electromagnetism: electric and magnetic fields, capacitors and inductors in circuits, and electromagnetic radiation.
• Units, prefixes and uncertainties: throughout, and in the project.

Advanced Higher Physics grade boundaries

In 2026, on the old format, out of 160 (the 155-mark paper scaled to 120, plus the project scaled to 40), an A needed 107, a B 89, a C 72 and a D 54. Of the 2,060 candidates, 27.3% got an A (course report 2026). The 2027 total is 174, so those numbers won't carry over. As a guide, the grading system aims for a C at about 50% and an A at about 70%.

Advanced Higher Physics practice questions

We wrote these for this guide. Take G as 6.67 × 10⁻¹¹ N m² kg⁻² and c as 3.00 × 10⁸ m/s.

1. Kinematics with calculus

Question: an object's displacement is s = 2t³ − 5t metres. Find its velocity and acceleration at t = 2 s. Answer: v = ds/dt = 6t² − 5, which is 19 m/s at t = 2. a = dv/dt = 12t, which is 24 m/s². Differentiate once for velocity and twice for acceleration.

2. Rotational dynamics

Question: a flywheel with moment of inertia 0.40 kg m² starts from rest under a constant torque of 2.0 N m. Find its angular velocity after 4.0 s and its rotational kinetic energy then. Answer: α = T ÷ I = 2.0 ÷ 0.40 = 5.0 rad s⁻². ω = αt = 20 rad s⁻¹. E_k = ½Iω² = ½ × 0.40 × 20² = 80 J.

3. Simple harmonic motion

Question: a mass on a spring oscillates with a period of 0.50 s and an amplitude of 0.030 m. Find its maximum speed. Answer: ω = 2π ÷ T = 12.6 rad s⁻¹. The maximum speed is at the centre: v = ωA = 12.6 × 0.030 = 0.38 m/s. Watch it in the Pendulum and SHM simulator.

4. RC circuits

Question: a 470 μF capacitor charges through a 10 kΩ resistor. Find the time constant. Answer: t = RC = 10 × 10³ × 470 × 10⁻⁶ = 4.7 s. Convert the prefixes before multiplying: microfarads and kilohms are the usual trap.

5. Stellar physics: the Schwarzschild radius

Question: find the Schwarzschild radius of a black hole with a mass of 2.0 × 10³⁰ kg, about one solar mass. Answer: r_s = 2GM ÷ c² = 2 × 6.67 × 10⁻¹¹ × 2.0 × 10³⁰ ÷ (3.00 × 10⁸)² = 2.96 × 10³ m, about 3 km. Try finding an event horizon in our Black Holes course and press Mark.

Common Advanced Higher Physics mistakes

From the 2026 course report:

• Explanations below Advanced Higher level, for example how a bright interference fringe forms, or what a relationship implies.
• Weak improvements to experiments: say exactly how a change reduces the absolute uncertainty.
• Motors and circuits: few could show the forces on a coil or explain a protective diode's role.
• Thin underlying physics in the project: relationships stated without defining quantities or units, and derivations copied with errors. Explain the physics yourself, with diagrams.
• Unclear procedures: use labelled diagrams or photographs of your own apparatus so someone could repeat it.

Use a daily paper as a short timed prelim

Today's Advanced Higher Physics paper covers circular motion, simple harmonic motion, gravitational fields and orbits, electric and magnetic fields, capacitors and electromagnetic induction. It also includes thermal physics, ideal gases and nuclear binding energy, which aren't in Advanced Higher Physics, and it doesn't cover rotational dynamics, general relativity, stellar physics, quantum theory, interference or polarisation. Use it alongside the official past papers, remembering that papers before 2027 are longer. For prelim dates, see our prelims guide.

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