IGCSE and A-level Physics: how an Italian student prepares

A student who comes from an international school with a physics assignment in hand often says the same thing to me: “the book is different, the way of answering is different, I don’t know what they really want from me”. They are right. IGCSE and A-level Physics do not only ask for different content from Italian high school — they ask for a different way of writing an answer, with precise rules on significant figures, units and keywords that in Italian schools simply do not exist.

I will explain how the two exams are structured, what changes compared with Italian high school, and how I organise preparation with the students I work with.

IGCSE Physics: the structure

The IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) is the exam that closes the first cycle, usually around age 16. Physics is typically organised as follows (the exact names of the papers vary slightly between boards — Cambridge, Edexcel — but the logic is the same):

• Main theory paper (Core or Extended, depending on the level chosen): short-answer questions and problems, on the whole programme of the year — mechanics, electricity, waves, energy, matter, basic atomic physics.
• Multiple-choice paper: closed questions, often used to test broad coverage of the syllabus in a short time.
• Practical component: either a proper practical exam in the laboratory (Paper 5, “Practical Test”), or a written paper that simulates the practical experience (“Alternative to Practical”, Paper 6) when the school cannot organise the lab exam for all students.

The choice between Core and Extended is the first decision to understand well: Core covers a narrower syllabus and limits the maximum grade obtainable, Extended covers the whole syllabus and opens up the highest range of grades (needed to go on to A-level Physics afterwards). If the aim is to reach A-level, Extended is almost always the right choice.

A-level Physics: the structure

A-level is a linear exam over two years (what used to be split into AS in the first year and A2 in the second is now, in most boards reformed from 2015 onwards, assessed all together at the end of the second year, although many schools still run an “internal AS” as a mock at the end of the first year for organisational reasons). The syllabus includes:

• Mechanics: kinematics, dynamics, momentum, energy and work.
• Matter: properties of materials, deformation, density.
• Waves: mechanical and electromagnetic waves, interference, diffraction.
• Electricity: circuits, resistance, Kirchhoff’s laws in the A-level version.
• Nuclear and particle physics: radioactive decay, the basic standard model.
• Fields: gravitational, electric, magnetic — more extensive than is normally seen in Italian high school in the same year.
• Astrophysics or modern physics (optional, depending on the board): often an elective module in the final year.

The final exams are typically 3 written papers, distributed across mechanics/matter/waves, electricity/fields/nuclear physics, and a paper that integrates the whole syllabus with longer, synthesising questions.

The “practical endorsement”: separate from the A-level grade proper, it is a pass/fail assessment of the lab skills built up over the two years (correct use of equipment, data collection, handling of uncertainty). It neither raises nor lowers the letter grade, but appears as a separate statement on the certificate, and some universities explicitly require it for admission to science courses.

What really changes compared with Italian high school

This is the part that surprises families most, because it is not a problem of a syllabus “further ahead or further behind” — it is a problem of answering habits.

Significant figures and data handling

In Italian high school the number of decimal places in a numerical result is rarely assessed systematically. In IGCSE and A-level, by contrast, it is an explicit marking criterion: a correct result written with too many or too few significant figures compared with the starting data loses marks, even if the reasoning is right. The practical rule: the final result is rounded to the number of significant figures of the least precise input value, never more.

The “command words”

Exams in English use a vocabulary of verbs with a precise technical meaning, different from everyday language:

• State: give the fact or the formula, without explanation. One sentence, not an argument.
• Describe: say what happens, without explaining why.
• Explain: say what happens and why, with an explicit causal mechanism.
• Deduce: use the data or information given in the problem to reach a conclusion — it is not enough to recall a rule, it must be applied to the specific case.
• Calculate: show the numerical working, not just the result.
• Suggest: there is no single “right” answer in the book — a plausible line of reasoning is required, often about a situation not seen before.
• Sketch: a qualitative drawing (shape, trend), not a graph to scale.

A student who answers an “Explain” question with the same sentence they would use for “State” systematically loses marks, even knowing the physics perfectly.

Experimental uncertainty

In the Italian lab, measurement error is often a theoretical aside. In IGCSE and above all in A-level it is a skill to be demonstrated actively: propagation of uncertainty through a calculation, percentage uncertainty, and the ability to say which of two possible instruments gives a more precise measurement and why.

Two worked examples, with the logic of the mark scheme

Example 1 — IGCSE style: series circuit

Question. A resistor of $R_1=12\Omega$ and a resistor of $R_2=8\Omega$ are connected in series to a $10V$ battery. Calculate the current in the circuit.

Working, following the logic of the mark scheme:

1. Method (1 mark): recognise that in series the resistances add up — $R_{tot}=R_1+R_2=20\Omega$.
2. Applying the formula (1 mark): $I=\frac{V}{R_{tot}}$.
3. Numerical calculation (1 mark): $I=\frac{10}{20}=0.5$.
4. Unit of measurement (1 mark, often forgotten): $I=0.5A$.

A candidate who writes only "$0.5$" with no unit typically loses the last mark, even with the calculation perfect — it is one of the commonest ways in which a student who is good at maths loses marks in IGCSE physics.

Example 2 — A-level style: free fall with uncertainty

Question. In a laboratory experiment, a student measures the fall time of a ball from a height $h=(1.20\pm 0.01)m$, obtaining $t=(0.49\pm 0.02)s$. State two assumptions made in this experiment, and deduce whether the calculated value of $g$ is consistent with the accepted value of $9.81m/s^2$.

Working.

First the two assumptions required (state, so short sentences, without developing them): air resistance is neglected; the ball starts from rest (zero initial velocity).

Calculation of $g$ from $h=\frac{1}{2}g{t}^2$:

Now the percentage uncertainty, propagated from the data (the relative uncertainty on $t^2$ is double that on $t$):

So $\Delta g\approx 0.9m/s^2$, and the measured value is $g=(10.0\pm 0.9)m/s^2$.

Deduce (you must conclude explicitly, not leave the calculation to speak for itself): the accepted value $9.81m/s^2$ falls within the interval $9.1$–$10.9m/s^2$, so the result is consistent with the accepted value, within experimental uncertainty.

This is the biggest difference from an equivalent Italian assignment: it is not enough to calculate $g$, you have to quantify how far the number can be trusted and say so explicitly in a concluding sentence.

Italian ↔ English glossary, 15 terms that keep coming back

The timeline of the year

IGCSE (typically a two-year course): first year on the Core/Extended programme, with end-of-year tests that guide the final choice of level; second year concentrated on the remaining syllabus and on the practical component, with the final exams in May-June.

A-level Physics (two-year course): first year (often still called “AS” internally, even though it is not separately certified in many boards) on mechanics, matter, waves and basic electricity; school mocks at the end of the first year or in January of the second; second year on fields, nuclear physics and the optional module, with the practical endorsement collected continuously across both years (it cannot be made up at the last moment); final exams in May-June of the second year.

How we work

In the first lesson we look at an assignment or a lab experiment already set by the school, and the student and I solve it together, in Italian and in English. This immediately separates the two things that are otherwise confused: if the physical concept is clear but the answer loses marks on form (significant figures, units, the command word ignored), we work on form; if the concept is not yet solid, we work on that — with the same method as derivatives and functions used in maths, applied to physics.

For the full physics programme there is the physics page; if the school is international and the difficulty is more the language than the subject, the page on international schools explains how we separate the two from the very first lesson.

On uncertainty and significant figures I have written two guides that are valid for these exams too: measurement errors and propagation and measurements and significant figures. If on the same path you have to choose the maths programme, there is IB Maths AA or AI. To practise the concepts you can use the simulated high-school tests: they are in Italian and do not train command words, but the physics underneath is the same.

Lessons are online, one-to-one: you will find up-to-date rates and packages on the pricing page. Payment is offline, after the lesson. The first 30-minute introductory call is free: write to me from the contact page.