Physics A Level

Applications Open - 27th November 2025

Applications Close - 30th January 2026

Entry Requirements: Please refer to our website

How to apply: Please apply via Applicaa -

For Internal Students: Follow the link you have been sent by the school regarding your options.

For External Students: Please complete the application link below:

https://invictagrammar.applicaa.com/sixthform

Physics Students will develop essential knowledge and understanding in Physics and, where appropriate, the applications of Physics, and the skills needed for the use of this in new and changing situations. They will also develop mathematical skills to explain the quantitative nature of Physics together with practical skills and an understanding of the link between theory and experiment. They will acquire sufficient understanding and knowledge to become confident citizens in a technological world and be able to take, or develop an informed interest in matters of scientific importance. As a result they will be able to recognise the usefulness and limitation of scientific methods and to appreciate how they can be applied in other disciplines and in everyday life and develop an appreciation of how Physics has developed and is used in present day society. Ultimately they will be able to show the importance of Physics as a human endeavour which interacts with social, philosophical, economic, industrial and environmental matters.

An A Level in Physics is a very useful qualification. It can be used as an entry point into a whole variety of careers not all of which are directly associated with Physics. As a working physicist you may find yourself: trying to predict the stock market in the City, testing satellites for space missions, developing new materials for industry, developing new electronic devices and components, working within medical Physics in a hospital, teaching the next generation of physicists in a secondary or primary school, trying to predict the next major earthquakes to hit San Francisco, Japan, or Birmingham, developing flight simulation software, optimising industrial manufacturing or transformation processes, developing a new measurement instrument, performing materials testing and characterisation for special applications, launching a new software company or product, performing urban planning and optimisation. In other words the skills developed will be useful in almost any career.

The subject is a linear course with three final assessment papers at the end of the course. Students will either study AS Physics or A Level Physics. Students will carry out practical endorsements throughout the two-year course, but this will only be endorsed on the two-year A Level course. This endorsement will be an overall pass or fail grade is awarded through internal teacher assessment, the grade of which will appear on the student’s certificate.

A love of both Physics and Mathematics is required for the course, alongside a natural curiosity to explain how the world around us behaves on both the macroscopic and microscopic level. You should have a very strong mathematical astuteness as the mathematical demand of the Physics A Level is much higher than you would have experienced at GCSE.

Practical: Practical Skills Endorsement

Examinations
Paper 1: Modelling Physics
2 hour 15 minutes
37%
Paper 2: Exploring Physics
2 hour 15 minutes
37%
Paper 3: Unified Physics
1 hour 30 minutes

7/above in Physics or Combined Science; and a grade 7 in Mathematics.