AS-Level Physics (2027 exam) – Term 3a (April 2027)

Important note

Do not purchase Term 3a if the student intends to study for the full A-Level (purchase Term 3b instead)! Term 3a is for students taking the AS-Level exam.

Course Overview

Terms 1 to 3a of this course cover the full content of the OCR A specification for AS-Level Physics. PX AS-Level Physics is a one-year course and assumes that GCSE-level Physics and Maths have already been achieved.

Terms 1 and 2 of this course are also terms 1 and 2 of PX A-Level Physics and are required before undertaking terms 3b to 6 of PX A-Level Physics.

For a student of average ability, this course will require about 7.5 hours of self-study each week in addition to the 2.5 hours of lessons. Students who are not taking A-Level Maths are likely to require more self-study time.

At AS-Level, the assessment of practical skills is by written exams only. At A-Level a separate practical endorsement can be taken. This is advisable if the student wishes to study science at university. Parents will need to arrange for this.

Course Method

The lessons are live, interactive sessions where questions may be asked.

The lessons are not recorded unless there is a prior arrangement made for an unavoidable absence, such as an exam clashing with a lesson.

Homework is set each week from the textbook which needs to be procured in advance (A-Level Physics for OCR A: Year 1 & 2 Student Book with Online Edition; CGP Product Code: PRATB72; ISBN: 9781789086690). Usually, the homework is to study the pages in the textbook in advance of studying them together in the next lesson and to consolidate what was learnt in the previous lesson. By working in this way, students can study at their own pace. During the lessons the Teacher goes over the content from the prepared pages, often incorporating additional online resources.

The weekly homework email contains links to any online resources used in the previous lesson. Students should use this to consolidate what was covered in the lesson. Some of the science videos contain interactive questions at the end, which are automatically marked. As part of the consolidation process, students should ensure that they can answer these questions correctly.

The teacher of this course reviews, but does not mark homework, believing that it is much better for the students to mark their own work from mark schemes, which are provided. This gives the students immediate feedback on anything they have got wrong so that they can then work out how to get the correct answer or improve their answer. For the longer questions they can check which points gain marks and also make notes of points which they missed. This method of working allows students to monitor their own progress and ensure that they have mastered each topic. It requires a certain maturity on the part of the students, but home-educated students should be capable of this. Learning to assess one’s own work and progress is excellent training for university and real life.

Course Details

Term 3a comprises two weekly lessons over 4 weeks. One lesson lasts 90 minutes and the other 60 minutes.

Term 3a covers:

• Module 4.5: Quantum Physics
• Revision and Consolidation.

This PX Classroom is held on Tuesdays at 10am until 11.30am and on Thursdays at 9am until 10am (London time zone) starting from Tuesday 13th April 2027. The last lesson is due to be on 6th May 2027.