CCEA A-level Physics: units, practical assessment and 2027 dates

CCEA A-level Physics: the specification

CCEA first taught GCE Physics in September 2016, with AS awards from 2017 and A level awards from 2018 (version 2, October 2017). The AS is 40% of the A level. Each practical unit has two one-hour components: a short-task test of practical skills and a paper that analyses experimental results.

CCEA A-level Physics units

The experiment list in the specification names the experiments that the AS 3A short tasks are based on, so use it as a checklist. CCEA morning papers normally start at 9.15am. Dates are from CCEA's final GCE timetable; see the CCEA A-level timetable 2027. See our CCEA A-level Physics data sheet guide for what the data and formulae sheets hold.

Worked example in CCEA Physics style

Circular motion. A 800 kg car takes a bend of radius 30 m at 12 m/s. The centripetal force is mass times speed squared over radius:

The friction between the tyres and road must supply at least this force towards the centre of the bend.

CCEA A-level Physics grades

Physics grades come from adding the six units' uniform marks. The AS gives A to E, and the A level A* to E, with an A* for an A overall and 90% of the A2 uniform marks. The A2 papers total 60% of the A level, so Year 13 decides the top grade. A-level grades explained sets this beside other boards.

Use the daily papers as short timed mocks for CCEA A-level Physics

The tracks are A-level Physics Year 1 and Year 2. Each daily paper is a short mock of 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks, not a CCEA paper.

• What it covers well: forces, energy, circuits, waves, materials, circular motion, simple harmonic motion, thermal physics, fields, capacitors and nuclear physics.
• What it does not cover: the practical components of AS 3 and A2 3, and the data analysis papers. Use CCEA past papers for them.

Time a daily paper for the calculations, and use CCEA past practical papers for data analysis, which no short mock reproduces.

Exam answers

There are no official or past paper answers here. When you finish a daily paper and mark it, the answers and a worked mark scheme for that paper appear alongside it.

Common mistakes in CCEA A-level Physics

• Treating practical units as extras. They are 20% of the A level.
• Using the wrong sheet. The AS and A2 papers each have their own data and formulae sheet.
• Forgetting units on force, energy and charge answers.
• Not showing a substitution before the answer.

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