GCSE Physics 8463/1F Paper 1 - June 2023 Examination Report

Sep 5, 2026

June 2023 GCSE Physics 8463/1F Paper 1 provides an examiner report assessing student performance across low and standard demand questions. It highlights strengths, including effective grade 1–3 equation handling and successful discrimination on specific items, while identifying recurring issues such as handwriting that hinders marking and misconceptions in calculations and conceptual reasoning. The report breaks down performance by question, noting common incorrect answers and areas needing improved understanding.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

General

Levels of demand

Question 1 (Low Demand)

Question 2 (Low Demand)

Question 3 (Low and Standard Demand)

Question 4 (Low and Standard Demand)

Question 5 (Low Demand)

GCSE PHYSICS 8463/1F Paper 1 Report on the Examination 8463/1F June 2023 Version: 1.0 Further copies of [this Report are available from aqa.org.uk](this Report are available from aqa.org.uk) [Copyright](Copyright) © 2023 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. AQA retains the copyright on all its publications. However, registered schools/colleges for AQA are permitted to copy material from this booklet for their own internal use, with the following important exception: AQA cannot give permission to schools/colleges to photocopy any material that is acknowledged to a third party even for internal use within the centre. REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – GCSE PHYSICS – 8463/1F – JUNE 2023 General Grade 1-3 calculation questions were well answered, where the equation is always given and students will not be required to rearrange the equation. Grade 4-5 calculation questions were answered more successfully this year as all students had an Equations Sheet with all the equations printed on it. At grade 4-5 students are expected to be able to either rearrange an equation or convert a unit, so it is beneficial for students to be able to quickly identify if the units given in a question are correct for the use in the equation. Question 10.5 discriminated well between students of different abilities and was generally well attempted. Handwriting continues to be a problem for a large number of students, making it very difficult for examiners to read what has been written. Levels of demand Questions are set at two levels of demand on this paper: • Low demand questions are targeted at students working at grades 1‒3. • Standard demand questions are targeted at students working at grades 4‒5. A student’s final grade, however, is based on their attainment across the qualification as a whole, not just on questions that may have been targeted at the level at which they are working. Question 1 (Low Demand) 01.1 Students were very successful with 91 % of students scoring a mark. Common incorrect answers were ‘open circuit’. The state of the switch (open / closed) was ignored in this question. 01.2 34% of students scored 1 mark , while 39 % scored 2 marks. Current was a more common correct answer than potential difference. 01.3 Only 5% of students scored 3 marks for identifying the effect of increasing the resistance,, with 47% of students scoring 2 marks and 34 % of students scoring 1 mark. 01.4 90% of students answered this calculation correctly, scoring 2 marks. 01.5 87% of students answered this calculation correctly, scoring 2 marks. 01.6 16% of students scored 2 marks, while 51 % of students scored 1 mark. Most students answers appeared to be based on guesswork rather than recognising the general trend for each graph. 01.7 42% of students correctly identified the type of error. REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – GCSE PHYSICS – 8463/1F – JUNE 2023 Question 2 (Low Demand) 02.1 47% of students correctly identified the particle. 02.2 86% of students scored 2 marks on this calculation question. 02.3 57% of students correctly identified the charges. 02.4 75% of students correctly identified the description of the force. 02.5 78% of students identified the correct alpha particle. 02.6 39 % of students answered correctly. ‘Tiny spheres’was enough to score the mark for students who could not manage to write all 6 words. 02.7 23 % of students identified the correct model. Question 3 (Low and Standard Demand) 03.1 29% of students scored 2 marks, while 27 % of students scored 1 mark for this question about isotopes.. 03.2 51% of students knew what half-life means. 03.3 77 % of students correctly identified the least stable isoptope. 03.4 Students found this question difficult with only 38% scoring 2 marks and 21% scoring 1 mark for this question about irradiation and contamination. 03.5 68% of students identified the purpose of the sticky floor. 03.6 72% of students scored 2 mark

FAQs

What guidance does the report give about levels of demand on GCSE Physics 8463/1F Paper 1?

The paper contains low demand questions for grades 1–3 and standard demand questions for grades 4–5. Final grades depend on overall attainment across the qualification, not only on the targeted level of questions.

What recurring problem did examiners report with student responses?

Handwriting continued to be a problem for many students, making it difficult for examiners to read what was written.

How did students perform on calculation questions where an equations sheet was provided?

For grade 4–5 calculations, students answered more successfully because all equations were printed on the Equations Sheet. The report also notes that grade 4–5 students are expected to rearrange equations or convert units.

Sep 5, 2026

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