IGCSE Physics 0625 paper structure

• Paper 1, Multiple Choice (Core): 40 marks, 45 minutes, 30% of the grade.
• Paper 3, Theory (Core): 80 marks, 1 hour 15 minutes, 50%.
• Paper 5, Practical Test (40 marks, 1 hour 15 minutes) or Paper 6, Alternative to Practical (40 marks, 1 hour): 20%.

• Paper 2, Multiple Choice (Extended): 40 marks, 45 minutes, 30%.
• Paper 4, Theory (Extended): 80 marks, 1 hour 15 minutes, 50%.
• Paper 5, Practical Test (40 marks, 1 hour 15 minutes) or Paper 6, Alternative to Practical (40 marks, 1 hour): 20%.

Tip: Extended covers all the Core content plus the Supplement. You need the Extended route for grades A* to B.

Multiple choice and theory papers test knowledge with understanding (about 63%) and handling information and problem-solving (about 37%). The practical papers test experimental skills only.

The multiple-choice paper has four options per question. The theory paper mixes short answers, structured questions and calculations.

The syllabus has six topic areas. Their approximate share of the theory and multiple-choice marks:

• Motion, forces and energy: about 34% (Core), 32% (Extended)
• Thermal physics: about 16% (Core), 15% (Extended)
• Waves: about 18% (Core), 17% (Extended)
• Electricity and magnetism: about 24% on both routes
• Nuclear physics: about 5% (Core), 7% (Extended)
• Space physics: about 3% (Core), 5% (Extended)

Tip: These shares are our planning estimates, not official figures. Motion and electricity together are over half the marks.

Paper 6 draws mainly on motion and forces, electricity, thermal physics and waves. Expect to read scales, record results in tables, plot graphs, find gradients, and suggest improvements to experiments.

Free lessons: Reading scales and measuring instruments · Graphs and gradients