GCSE Physics mock paper: a short timed mock exam every day

What today's physics mock paper is

Each tier gets a new paper every day. It has 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks, and the suggested time works out at about 1.1 minutes a mark, so 30 to 40 minutes. The questions are original, written in the style of AQA, Edexcel and OCR, and none of them come from an exam board paper. You answer on screen, with an equation sheet and a calculator in the paper's top bar.

Anyone can sit the paper for free. With a Uni-Sine plan, pressing Finish marks every part straight away against its mark scheme, with a comment on each mark you dropped, and you can print the paper with its mark scheme to sit it at a desk.

How it compares with the real GCSE Physics papers

So a daily paper is about a third of one real paper, at the same pace: AQA and Edexcel give 105 minutes for 100 marks, and OCR 105 minutes for 90. Every board sets both papers at Foundation, which leads to grades 1 to 5, and Higher, which leads to grades 4 to 9. Sit the tier you are entered for.

What the physics mock covers

Questions come from the whole course, so one paper can mix topics from AQA Paper 1 (energy, electricity, particles, atoms) and Paper 2 (forces, waves, magnetism, space). Foundation covers energy and efficiency, simple circuits, density, radiation, forces and motion, waves and magnets. Higher adds specific heat capacity, mains electricity, half-life, momentum, stopping distances, the motor effect and space physics.

How to sit it as a physics mock exam

1. Clear the desk: a pen, a calculator and nothing else. Open the equation sheet from the top bar. The real papers come with one in 2027.
2. Start the clock and work straight through. It turns red once you pass the suggested time.
3. Show every step of a calculation: the equation, the numbers in it, then the answer with its unit. Working can earn marks even when the final answer is wrong.
4. Mark it, then read the mark scheme for every part where you lost marks, and note the topic.
5. Fix one topic before tomorrow's paper. Work through the Electricity course or the Laws of Motion course, or check your working with the Kinetic Energy, Wave Speed and Half Life calculators.

Free GCSE Physics past papers and mock papers

For full-length practice, past papers and mark schemes are free from AQA, Edexcel and OCR. Pearson keeps its newest papers for teachers, so that schools have at least one paper to use as a mock, and releases most papers to students once they are nine months old.

For the equation sheet, exam dates and grade boundaries, read our GCSE Physics guide. For when mocks happen and whether they count, see the GCSE mocks guide.

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