Matura Physics exam-day guide
Matura Physics · Prepare for the day ahead.
Your checklist
Photo ID accepted by the exam centre
Bring the original document (national ID card or passport - confirm with your school which are accepted). A photocopy or expired document is usually not enough, and you may be refused entry without valid ID.
Admission slip / candidate code if issued
Confirm with your school whether you must bring a printed admission slip or whether the school supplies your candidate code and desk number on the day. Check that your name, level and subject are printed correctly.
Two black or blue ballpoint pens
Written answers, including final results, must be legible and in ink. Bring a spare; gel pens that smudge or run out mid-paper cost you time and clarity.
Pencil, eraser, sharpener and a 30 cm ruler
Pencil is for diagrams, graphs and sketch work; the ruler matters for axes, ray diagrams, vectors and force arrows. Freehand axes and arrows are a common source of lost points.
Simple scientific calculator (non-programmable)
Confirm the permitted calculator type with the provider before the exam. Programmable, graphing or internet-capable calculators are normally banned, and a forbidden device can void your paper.
Wristwatch (no smart functions)
There is normally no clock you can rely on seeing from your seat, and phones are not accessible. A plain analogue or basic digital watch lets you keep to your time plan.
Know your room, entry time and route
Check the building, room number and reporting time the day before. Aim to be at the door 30–45 minutes early; candidates arriving after the paper has started may not be admitted - confirm the exact cut-off with your school.
Practise with the official formula and constants sheet
The exam provider supplies a formula/constants sheet; you do not need to memorise everything on it. Use the same sheet in your final practice papers so you know exactly where each formula sits and what is missing from it.
Water in a clear bottle and a small snack
Keep it simple and quiet to open. Check whether drinks are allowed at your desk at all - rules vary by centre, so confirm rather than assume.
Transparent pencil case or bag
Many centres require see-through storage so invigilators can check equipment quickly. Confirm the local rule; if in doubt, bring pens loose.
Phone switched off and left at home or handed in
Any phone or smart device within reach during the exam is normally treated as a serious breach, even if unused. Decide now where it will be, so you are not improvising at the door.
A one-page personal error log
Write down your five most frequent mistakes (missing units, wrong significant figures, unlabelled graph axes, sign errors, skipping the 'show that' algebra) and read it once on the morning of the exam instead of new material.
Plan the day
Do one full past paper under real conditions: same duration, same formula sheet, no phone, no notes, writing in pen. Mark it strictly against the official mark scheme, then build an error log of every lost point by category (unit, algebra, graph, wording, timing). Do not start new topics now; consolidation pays far better than fresh material.
Work only on your error log. Re-do the specific task types that cost you points: graph plotting with labelled axes and units, reading gradients and intercepts, uncertainty and significant figures, and multi-step mechanics or circuit problems. Rehearse the phrasing of explanation questions - state the principle, then apply it to the situation, then give the conclusion.
Light revision only: read the formula sheet end to end and note what is and is not on it. Pack your bag (ID, pens, pencil, ruler, calculator, watch, water), confirm room and reporting time, and set two alarms. Sleep a full night - a rested candidate gains more marks than one extra hour of cramming.
Eat a proper breakfast, leave early, and arrive 30–45 minutes before the start. Hand in or switch off your phone before entering the building. Once seated, put ID and pens on the desk, check the paper has all pages and all tasks printed, and read the instructions on the front cover carefully before writing anything.
Read the whole paper before solving anything. Mark each task with a quick difficulty rating and its point value, then build a time budget proportional to points, reserving the final 15 minutes for checking. Start with the tasks you know you can complete - this banks marks and settles nerves.
Show every step: method marks are awarded even when the final answer is wrong. Write the formula, substitute with units, then give the result to a sensible number of significant figures with a unit. Draw diagrams with a ruler, label axes with quantity and unit, and sketch the shape of graphs before plotting points. If a task stalls, leave a clear gap and move on.
Stop solving new tasks. Check that every task has an attempt, that each final answer has a unit and correct significant figures, that graphs are labelled, and that nothing was written in the wrong answer space. Guard against transcription slips in powers of ten and in sign conventions.
Rules to check
Bring valid photo ID; invigilators may check it against the list. If your document is missing or expired you may be refused entry, so confirm the accepted documents with your school well before the exam day.
Phones, smartwatches, earbuds and any internet-capable device must be switched off and out of your reach for the whole session. Possession during the exam is normally treated as a breach of conduct, even if the device is never used.
Use only the permitted equipment: pens, pencil, eraser, ruler, a simple non-programmable calculator and the formula sheet supplied by the provider. Confirm calculator rules and any allowances (for example for candidates with adjusted conditions) with your school in advance.
Write answers in ink in the designated spaces; keep pencil for diagrams and graphs. Work outside the marked areas, or on loose sheets, is generally not marked - if you run out of space, ask the invigilator for guidance.
You may ask the invigilator about missing pages, illegible print or administrative matters, but not about the physics content of a task. Talking to other candidates during the session is prohibited.
Leaving the room during the exam is normally restricted to exceptional situations and may be escorted. Confirm the centre's exact procedure beforehand, and use the toilet before the paper starts.
Scoring rewards correct method as well as correct answers: a clearly shown, physically sound derivation gains partial credit even with an arithmetic slip, while a bare correct number with no working can lose method marks. Missing or wrong units cost points.
Marking is carried out by externally appointed examiners against a published mark scheme, and results and appeal deadlines are set by the national examination board. Confirm the dates and the appeal procedure through your school rather than relying on rumour.