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AS PHYSICS INDUCTION INFORMATION
There is some preparatory work to be completed during the holidays, before the start of the AS course. You should do this in the last week or so of the holidays; it will remind you of some basic GCSE equations that you will meet again in the first few weeks of the AS course.
You will be studying the OCR board Advanced Subsidiary course 3883 specification A (to be followed in due course by Advanced or A2 course 7883).
AS examination comprises:
| Forces and motion | 30% of AS | (15% of A2) |
| Electrons and photons | 30% of AS | (15% of A2) |
| Waves | 20% of AS | (10% of A2) |
| Practical | 20% of AS | (10% of A2) |
Module 2821: Forces and Motion (to be examined in January)
Module 2822: Electrons and Photons (to be examined in June)
Module 2823 Component 01: Wave Properties (to be examined in June)
The second part of module 2823 is the practical component, which we intend to assess with a separate practical exam in June (rather than go for continuously assessed coursework).
Theory examinations
Each of modules 2821 and 2822 will be a 1 hour 30 minute written examination: 75 marks of “structured” questions; 15 marks requiring more “extended” responses (during which “the quality of written communication will be assessed”). All questions are compulsory.
Module 2823 component 01 will consist of a 1 hour examination: 60 marks of compulsory structured questions, but some “may require more extended writing”.
Practical examination
The new practical skills largely match the GCSE AT1 criteria (although skill O has been replaced with skill I for “implementing”). Skills P and A each have a maximum of 8 marks; skills I and E each have a maximum of 7 marks.
The practical examination will test skill P separately to the other skills, by giving you a problem to plan in advance of the rest of the exam (on a date to be decided by the examination board). Your work must be handed in on or before the date of the rest of the exam (to be sent off with the other practical papers). The specification says that you should probably be given “between 7 and 10 days” to finish it.
The remaining three skills will be assessed in a 1 hour 30 minute practical session. The experiment will not be identical to the one used in the planning exercise, so problems in your planning should not hamper you here. The practical will be “in the same general context”, however.
Module availability and retakes
All modules are available in either of the January or June sessions.
Each module can be re-sat only once; the better result will count.
Text Books
We will supply you with a textbook (University of Bath Science 16 – 19 Physics) to use during this course. It is quite user-friendly (compared to some texts) and we will expect you to read relevant chapters as part of your weekly preps. Should you really wish to buy a back-up textbook, then we recommend Jim Breithaupt: Advanced level Physics. (If you find a better one, please let us know.)