Physics › Past papers › Cambridge International 9702 › Paper 3: Advanced Practical Skills
Cambridge International 9702 Paper 3: Advanced Practical Skills
Practical work and structured questions on the practical skills in the Practical assessment section. The context of the questions may be outside the syllabus content.
9702/3 · 2 hours · 40 marks · 11.5% of the A-level. Cambridge International AS & A Level Physics 9702, Syllabus for 2028, 2029 and 2030, Version 1, published September 2025; for examination from 2028, printed page 11, retrieved 21 August 2026 (https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/744626-2028-2030-syllabus.pdf)
What is on it
An AS paper that also counts towards the A Level, and a timetabled, laboratory-based practical paper. “Paper 3 consists of two questions, each of 1 hour and each of 20 marks.” The two questions are set in different areas of physics, and no prior knowledge of the theory is required.
Question 1 is an experiment requiring you to collect data, plot a graph and draw conclusions. Question 2 requires you to collect data and draw conclusions, and may or may not include plotting a graph; its experimental method is deliberately inaccurate, and you are required to evaluate it and suggest improvements.
Minimum mark allocations for Question 1 are 7 for manipulation, measurement and observation, 6 for presentation of data and observations, and 4 for analysis, conclusions and evaluation. The remaining 3 marks are spread across those skills and the spread may vary from paper to paper.
No content unit maps to this paper: its context “may be outside the syllabus content”. Work from the practical guides and the maths bridge.
The other papers
- Paper 1: Multiple Choice9702/1 · 1 hour 15 minutes · 40 marks · 15.5% of the A-level
- Paper 2: AS Level Structured Questions9702/2 · 1 hour 15 minutes · 60 marks · 23.0% of the A-level
- Paper 4: A Level Structured Questions9702/4 · 2 hours · 100 marks · 38.5% of the A-level
- Paper 5: Planning, Analysis and Evaluation9702/5 · 1 hour 15 minutes · 30 marks · 11.5% of the A-level
Past papers for this component
Every link goes to Cambridge’s own copy. Each series also has a page of its own carrying the other components and anything published for the series as a whole.
June 20243 files
Everything Cambridge published for June 2024.
- June 2024 Question Paper 31Question paper
- June 2023 Mark Scheme Paper 31 (listed under June 2024)Mark scheme
- June 2024 Confidential Instructions Paper 31Confidential instructions
2022 specimen papers3 files
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