← PhysicsPhysics ATAR Year 12 — teaching from 2026
The current 2026 cover specifies 10 minutes reading and 180 minutes working. All 11 short-response, six problem-solving and two comprehension/data-analysis questions are compulsory. Section raw marks are 54, 84 and 40 (178 total); their examination weights are 30%, 50% and 20%. Raw marks are not percentage weights.
Past papers on this subject span more than one syllabus. Papers written under an older one still work as practice, but the units and content areas they test have changed — the index labels every paper with the syllabus it was set under.
Earlier syllabus — check alignment with 2026 course · 2020–2025Current Year 12 syllabus for teaching from 2026; no completed 2026 examination yet · 2026–present
The units and content areas, one by one
Each area below lists the concepts named in the syllabus, what the SCSA exam asks of them, and the mistake that most often costs marks.
- Unit 3 — Gravity and relativity
- Unit 4 — Electromagnetism and modern physics
Area 1 of 2
Unit 3 — Gravity and relativity
Inquiry, equilibrium, circular and projectile motion, gravitational fields and orbits, special and general relativity.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 10 points
- Inquiry skills: measurement, uncertainty and graphs
- Static equilibrium and centre of mass
- Uniform circular motion
- Banked and vertical circular motion
- Gravitational fields and potential energy
- Projectile motion
- Satellites and Kepler's third law
- Special relativity foundations
- Relativistic time, length and velocity
- General-relativity evidence and applications
What the exam asks
Resolve forces and motion, derive and apply models, interpret evidence and uncertainty, and explain relativistic observations.
Where marks go missing
Measure orbital distance from the centre, distinguish apparent weight from gravity, and identify proper time from the event locations.
Area 2 of 2
Unit 4 — Electromagnetism and modern physics
Electric and magnetic fields, motors, induction and transmission, waves, quantum evidence, atomic and particle models, and cosmology.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 10 points
- Electric fields, force and potential
- Magnetic fields and magnetic force
- DC motors and torque
- Induction, Lenz's law and back emf
- Generators, transformers and power transmission
- Particle accelerators and relativistic energy-momentum
- Electromagnetic waves and interference
- Black-body radiation and photons
- Photoelectric effect, spectra and Bohr model
- Matter waves, particles and cosmology
What the exam asks
Calculate and explain interactions, interpret experimental data and spectra, and evaluate evidence for competing physical models.
Where marks go missing
Keep charge signs, field directions and energy changes consistent; intensity and photon energy are different quantities.
Common questions
Are multiple-choice questions part of the official Physics paper?
No. The 48 multiple-choice practice items support retrieval and concept checking; full practice examinations follow the official written section model.
Which materials are permitted?
The current cover permits up to three calculators without capacity to create or store programs or text, plus the listed drawing tools. The official formulae and data booklet is supplied; check the current cover for the complete list.
Can older official papers be used unchanged?
Older papers are useful practice but predate the 2026 course changes. Check each question against the current syllabus and use its own matching key and raw marks.
Practise it against the real thing
Knowing the syllabus is the first half. The other half is seeing how SCSA actually asks it — every official paper for Physics is indexed by the same areas above.
Past papers by topic →Physics practice exams →