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WACE Physics · Year 12

WACE Physics: what actually gets examined

Every question from 4 official SCSA papers, coded by unit, topic and marks — so you can decide what to revise from evidence rather than a feeling.

4 SCSA papers, 2022–2025 · 207 questions · 744 marks

Three topics carry 85% of the marks in WACE Physics, Wave particle duality and the quantum theory, Gravity and motion and Electromagnetism are where the paper spends its marks. Start there.

Counted from 4 official SCSA Physics papers (2022–2025). 207 questions, 744 marks. Nothing estimated.

5 of 5topics in every paper on file
248marks in the single biggest topic
50%indicative share per unit, from teaching time

The key words that carry the paper

Share of written-response questions by SCSA key word, matched against SCSA's own Glossary of key words. Revising the content without revising the directive is how marks get lost. The lower / middle / higher grouping is ours — SCSA publishes the list but does not band it. Based on the 41% of written responses that open with a listed key word; the rest open with wording outside it, such as a direct question.

Calculate56% · 47qlower order
Explain15% · 13qmiddle order
Other14% · 12q
Describe6% · 5qlower order
Determine5% · 4q
Discuss4% · 3q

Lower orderMiddle orderHigher order

Each tile is one key word; its size is that key word's share of written-response questions that open with one. The smallest 7 are grouped as Other: Show 1% · 1q, State 1% · 1q, Complete 2% · 2q, Define 2% · 2q, Derive 2% · 2q, Identify 2% · 2q, List 2% · 2q.

Where the marks sit

Each unit with its topics underneath. The bar is that topic's share of its own unit, and the chip says how many of the papers on file examined it.

Unit 3: Gravity and electromagnetism

382 marks

50% indicative share, inferred from equal teaching time — not a published mark weighting

Gravity and motion Every paper 212 marks

53 questions · 55% of this unit

Electromagnetism Every paper 170 marks

50 questions · 45% of this unit

Unit 4: Revolutions in modern physics

362 marks

50% indicative share, inferred from equal teaching time — not a published mark weighting

Wave particle duality and the quantum theory Every paper 248 marks

69 questions · 69% of this unit

Special relativity Every paper 75 marks

22 questions · 21% of this unit

The Standard Model Every paper 39 marks

13 questions · 11% of this unit

Across 4 papers the units carried 382, 362 marks — against an indicative 50% share each, inferred from equal teaching time (SCSA: the notional time for the pair of units is 110 class contact hours). The SCSA Physics ATAR Year 12 Syllabus (edition in force for the 2022–2025 examinations) publishes no mark weighting; the counted share is the only measured figure.

How each topic gets asked

The 5 biggest topics, by the shape of the questions actually set on them. Revising the content without revising the directive is how marks get lost — the key words below are SCSA's own, counted from the papers.

Wave particle duality and the quantum theory

Unit 4: Revolutions in modern physics · 248 marks across 69 questions

Asked as Short answer ×51 · Extended response ×18

SCSA key words Calculate ×8 · Explain ×7 · Describe ×2 · Define ×2 · Derive ×1 · Identify ×1 · Discuss ×1 · Show ×1 · Complete ×1 · List ×1

Gravity and motion

Unit 3: Gravity and electromagnetism · 212 marks across 53 questions

Asked as Short answer ×34 · Extended response ×19

SCSA key words Calculate ×16 · Explain ×1 · Discuss ×1 · Derive ×1 · Complete ×1

Electromagnetism

Unit 3: Gravity and electromagnetism · 170 marks across 50 questions

Asked as Short answer ×39 · Extended response ×11

SCSA key words Calculate ×14 · Explain ×4 · Discuss ×1 · Describe ×1 · State ×1 · Determine ×1

Special relativity

Unit 4: Revolutions in modern physics · 75 marks across 22 questions

Asked as Short answer ×18 · Extended response ×4

SCSA key words Calculate ×9 · Explain ×1 · Determine ×1

The Standard Model

Unit 4: Revolutions in modern physics · 39 marks across 13 questions

Asked as Short answer ×11 · Extended response ×2

SCSA key words Determine ×2 · Describe ×2 · List ×1 · Identify ×1

What the markers wanted

School Curriculum and Standards Authority publishes examination reports after each paper. This is our reading of the 2022–2025 feedback, in our words, grouped by unit and cited to the year and question it was seen in. It describes what markers rewarded in papers already sat; it does not predict the next one. The originals are linked below.

Across the paper

  • Rearranging an equation to isolate the unknown is a marked step every year; the panel reported it done poorly in 2022, 2024 and 2025, including fractions with unlike denominators subtracted term by term.
  • Resolve forces into components on a free-body diagram and choose the trigonometric function deliberately; adding two perpendicular vectors as if they lay along one line cost marks in 2022.
  • Marks are paid for a visible method, so write each step in order, state the formula used and strike through discarded working; every panel from 2022 to 2025 reported illegible or unordered solutions.
  • Significant figures follow the measurements, not the wording of the question: keep an estimate to two figures, carry uncertainty into calculated results, and note that 2024 Q10 caught candidates who did not apply this.
  • In a data-processing question, read the supplied equation as a straight line and say what its gradient and intercept stand for; in 2024 most candidates forced it into a familiar form and lost the intercept's meaning.
  • Explanation questions were the weakest part of every paper from 2022 to 2025: plan the key physics concepts, then write them in a logical order; a correct calculation does not replace the reasoning asked for.
  • Deriving a result from first principles, without numbers, was singled out in 2023, 2024 and 2025 as a skill candidates lacked; practise building an expression step by step rather than recalling a final formula.
  • In the comprehension section, read the whole passage before any question: panels in 2022 and 2024 traced lost marks to candidates who skimmed to the diagrams or hunted for answers question by question.

Unit 3: Gravity and electromagnetism

Better responses

  • Writing down which force supplies the centripetal force, such as setting it equal to the gravitational pull, told the 2022 markers the physics behind the numbers and could earn a mark on its own.
  • Static equilibrium answers that used the printed diagram to lay out the forces and their positions showed the 2023 panel how the solution was reached; marks follow that visible reasoning.

Where marks were lost — and how to keep them

  • Isolating mass from the radius of a charged particle's path in a magnetic field: the 2022 panel found this particular rearrangement done poorly, with the quantities ending up in the wrong places.
  • Where tension and weight act at an angle, the centripetal force is their vector sum; 2022 responses that simply subtracted one from the other were marked as treating two-dimensional vectors as collinear.
  • Explaining the device actually in the question: in 2022 many described a split-ring commutator when asked about an AC generator, and the 2023 panel again warned against answering a similar question from memory.
  • Giving a plain statement of Lenz's Law: 2023 Q7 asked for a short description of a very familiar law and produced one of the lowest means in its section.
  • Equilibrium was one of the concepts the 2022 problem-solving section exposed as weak; treat it as a full balance of forces and torques rather than a single remembered equation.

Seen in 2023 Q7.

Unit 4: Revolutions in modern physics

Better responses

  • Special relativity was the best-handled problem-solving work of 2024: Q14 returned the highest mean in its section and the panel judged the topic now well understood.

Where marks were lost — and how to keep them

  • Describing how the photoelectric effect works in a few plain steps: 2023 Q6 set that familiar task and drew one of the lowest means in the short-response section.
  • Defining a black body: the 2024 panel listed this among the basic definitions candidates could not give, alongside trigonometry and algebraic manipulation.
  • Interpreting relativistic effects correctly, in particular that an object's total energy and its momentum both grow as its speed increases; the 2025 panel asked teachers to stress this.

Seen in 2024 Q14, 2023 Q6.

2025 SCSA examination report →2024 SCSA examination report →2023 SCSA examination report →2022 SCSA examination report →

How the paper is built

Marks by question format across the same 4 papers.

Short answer 448109 / 126 / 115 / 98 per paper
Extended response 29675 / 61 / 67 / 93 per paper

The rest moves around: short answer ran 109, 126, 115, 98 marks and extended response ran 75, 61, 67, 93 marks. 4 papers is not enough to call that a trend.

Every question, by topic

All 207 questions from the 4 papers, listed under the topic each was coded to — year, question number, marks as printed on the paper, key word and format — with SCSA's own copy of the paper linked on every row. The questions themselves are read there, not here. Open a unit to see its list.

Unit 3: Gravity and electromagnetism103 questions · 382 marks · show

Gravity and motion · 53 questions, 212 marks

Electromagnetism · 50 questions, 170 marks

Unit 4: Revolutions in modern physics104 questions · 362 marks · show

Wave particle duality and the quantum theory · 69 questions, 248 marks

Special relativity · 22 questions, 75 marks

The Standard Model · 13 questions, 39 marks

The papers this is counted from

School Curriculum and Standards Authority publishes every paper and its marking guidelines. These links go to SCSA's own copies — read the questions there.

2022 SCSA paper · 184 marks →2023 SCSA paper · 187 marks →2024 SCSA paper · 182 marks →2025 SCSA paper · 191 marks →

These are the external examination papers. They are not the whole subject: Physics is also assessed by school-based assessment set and marked by your school, which SCSA does not publish — so nothing on this page covers that part of your result.

Study Physics on Revizi

WACE Physics TopicsWACE Physics PracticeWACE Physics Study NotesWACE Physics Past PapersWACE Past Exam PracticeWACE Exam PracticeWACE Flashcards HubAll WACE Questions by TopicQuestions by Topic — all curricula

Frequently Asked Questions

Which WACE Physics topics come up every year?

5 of the 5. Every topic marked "Every paper" above was examined in all 4 papers on file. That describes the papers analysed, not a prediction — examiners set each paper fresh.

Which WACE Physics unit is worth the most marks?

Unit 3: Gravity and electromagnetism 382, Unit 4: Revolutions in modern physics 362 marks across the 4 papers analysed. The syllabus publishes no mark weighting for them; the indicative share on this page is inferred from equal teaching time (SCSA: the notional time for the pair of units is 110 class contact hours), and the counted share is a different measure.

What is the biggest single topic in WACE Physics?

Wave particle duality and the quantum theory, with 248 of the 744 marks counted across 4 papers.

How was this analysed?

Every question in 4 official SCSA WACE Physics papers (2022–2025) was counted against the SCSA Physics ATAR Year 12 Syllabus (edition in force for the 2022–2025 examinations): its mark value, its format and its key word, and the unit and topic it assesses. Marks are reconciled against each paper's own stated total.

Are the exam questions reproduced here?

No. School Curriculum and Standards Authority owns the papers. This page publishes counts and links to SCSA's own copy of each paper so you can read the questions at the source. The analysis is ours; the papers stay with SCSA.

Does this predict what will be in my exam?

No, and it is not meant to. It describes what has been set. Examiners write each paper fresh and can weight a neglected topic heavily, which is why every topic is listed here, including the ones examined least.

Can I see which WACE Physics questions were set on each topic?

Yes. Every question from the 4 papers is listed above under the topic it was coded to, with its year, question number, marks and key word, and a link to SCSA's copy of that paper. The question itself is read there, not here.

What did the SCSA markers say about WACE Physics?

School Curriculum and Standards Authority publishes marker feedback after each paper. The "What the markers wanted" section above is our reading of it across 4 years, in our words, grouped by unit and cited to the year and question it was seen in, with the originals linked.

Coded against the SCSA Physics ATAR Year 12 Syllabus (edition in force for the 2022–2025 examinations). Where a question is coded to more than one topic its marks are split evenly, so topic totals within a unit can round a mark or two above the unit total. A topic is marked "Every paper" when it appears in all 4, "Most papers" when it is missing from one, and "Comes and goes" when it is missing from more — the one-paper tolerance absorbs a single coding miss rather than publishing it. Last updated 2026-09-01 · Exam papers © School Curriculum and Standards Authority, linked at source.