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Are papers in Physics&Maths Tutor reflective of the difficulty of A level?

I am about to start y12 in September and my A levels are maths, physics, chemistry and biology. Many are telling me A level physics are very hard before I start, but after doing some paper in PMT I find them not as hard as I expected at all.
Is it because the papers are not quite reflective of the difficulty of A level? Or is the topic I chose, nuclear physics, relatively easy? What is the most difficult topic? Thank you:smile:
Original post by Morgania
I am about to start y12 in September and my A levels are maths, physics, chemistry and biology. Many are telling me A level physics are very hard before I start, but after doing some paper in PMT I find them not as hard as I expected at all.
Is it because the papers are not quite reflective of the difficulty of A level? Or is the topic I chose, nuclear physics, relatively easy? What is the most difficult topic? Thank you:smile:

Id say PMT is a very useful website, that I've used throughout year 12 and 13, one thing to note is that most of the content on PMT is old specification, and the new specification is noticeably harder, but nonetheless PMT is still a great resource.

Also note that there is a crossover between A level and gcse, but most of the questions on PMT in the a level section will be inaccessible to you at this point, as you haven't learnt the content yet, so you may have been lucky to pick a topic/exam board that you already know how to answer some questions.

Yes id say Physics is a hard subject, but if you revise and take it seriously its not too bad at all, at GCSE I thought I wouldn't enjoy it so much, but its a great subject.
Original post by liketorun
Id say PMT is a very useful website, that I've used throughout year 12 and 13, one thing to note is that most of the content on PMT is old specification, and the new specification is noticeably harder, but nonetheless PMT is still a great resource.

Also note that there is a crossover between A level and gcse, but most of the questions on PMT in the a level section will be inaccessible to you at this point, as you haven't learnt the content yet, so you may have been lucky to pick a topic/exam board that you already know how to answer some questions.

Yes id say Physics is a hard subject, but if you revise and take it seriously its not too bad at all, at GCSE I thought I wouldn't enjoy it so much, but its a great subject.

Thanks a lot for replying!:smile: I wonder if the new specification is those starts from 2015? Or is there a newer specification?
What questions on physics and maths tutor are you looking at? Some of them are from the old spec (or the spec before the old spec - and I'm pretty sure some questions are pulled from papers from the 90s) and will be easier than new spec questions largely.
Original post by _gcx
What questions on physics and maths tutor are you looking at? Some of them are from the old spec (or the spec before the old spec - and I'm pretty sure some questions are pulled from papers from the 90s) and will be easier than new spec questions largely.

In the section of physics revision there is a subsection called 'A level from 2015', and I chose the exam board of AQA. I am not quite sure if that is newest section or not.
Original post by Morgania
In the section of physics revision there is a subsection called 'A level from 2015', and I chose the exam board of AQA. I am not quite sure if that is newest section or not.

Yeah I think those questions are mostly from the older specs. (if you're talking about questions by topic)

Regardless - you're definitely doing well if you can answer a lot of these now. You can expect the actual A-levels to be a bit harder and a bit more emphasis on application, but you definitely won't be thrown in the deep end. Don't rely on those though.

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