Which VCE Physics past paper do students score lowest on?

The 2024 Exam, averaging 58.6% across 4,090 marked attempts on AusGrader. The 2022 Exam is the highest on 69.9%.

Which VCE Physics dot points give the best return on revision time?

4.2.2.2 (2.7 marks at risk per 100), 3.1.2.3 (2.4 marks at risk per 100) and 3.3.1.2 (2.4 marks at risk per 100). Marks at risk combines a dot point's share of paper marks with the marks students drop on it, so it ranks by recoverable marks and not by score alone.

How many attempts is each VCE Physics figure based on?

26,453 marked attempts overall, with the per-row count shown in every table. Any cut below 50 attempts is withheld instead of published.

Do these averages show how the VCAA cohort performed?

No. They are AusGrader users' marked attempts, a self-selected group practising when they chose to and often without exam timing. They corroborate what VCAA publishes about this subject and do not replace it.

VCE Physics hardest topics

Across 26,453 marked attempts on AusGrader, VCE Physics students average 61.1% on questions taken from board external papers. Calculate is both the lowest scoring command verb on 48.4% and the costliest, because it carries 27.4% of the paper on its own. These are self-selected users practising when they chose to, not the VCAA cohort under exam conditions.

How to read these numbers

The figures are AusGrader users' marked attempts, not VCAA results. They corroborate what the board publishes about this subject and do not stand in for it.
Any cut with fewer than 50 attempts is withheld, which on this page is 4 papers, 1 subtopics, 14 dot points and 18 verbs. Every figure shown carries its attempt count.
Scores cover questions mapped to the VCE Physics study design from any board's external papers, which is why the sample is larger than the 11 VCAA papers alone. The paper table below is the exception and uses VCAA papers only.
Internal assessment and school-uploaded exams are excluded throughout, so these averages differ from the ones on VCE Physics performance stats, which count every attempt.

Score by past paper

Year	Exam	Average	Attempts
2025	Exam	60.5%	3,821
2024	Exam	58.6%	4,090
2023	Exam	64.1%	3,442
2022	Exam	69.9%	3,220
2021	Exam	61.3%	3,449
2021	Exam (NHT)	63.6%	53
2020	Exam	62.7%	3,988

The lowest average belongs to the 2024 Exam on 58.6% from 4,090 attempts, and the highest to the 2022 Exam on 69.9% from 3,220 attempts. A paper's average reflects both how hard it was and who chose to sit it, so treat the spread as a guide to which papers make demanding practice.

Score by question type

Question type	Average	Attempts
Short answer	52.0%	2,020
Multiple choice	63.4%	24,433

Score by unit

Unit	Average	Attempts
Unit 3: How do fields explain motion and electricity?	58.4%	16,892
Unit 4: How have creative ideas and investigation revolutionised thinking in physics?	66.0%	10,194

An attempt counts once per unit, so a question assessed across two units appears in both rows and the column adds to slightly more than 26,453.

The priority list: heavy topics with low scores

Topic	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
How do physicists explain motion in two dimensions?	23.8%	57.5%	6,854	10.1
How has understanding about the physical world changed?	29.0%	65.6%	8,722	10.0
How do things move without contact?	20.5%	59.3%	6,347	8.3
How are fields used in electricity generation?	17.3%	58.4%	4,474	7.2
How is scientific inquiry used to investigate fields, motion or light?	9.3%	68.8%	1,484	2.9

The topic list is close: 10.1 against 10.0 marks at risk separates first from second, so topic choice alone will not order revision. The dot-point list below spreads further.

The same cut at subtopic level

Subtopic	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
Newton’s laws of motion	15.5%	56.7%	4,986	6.7
Effects of fields	11.0%	58.9%	2,886	4.5
Generation of electricity	9.4%	58.4%	2,833	3.9
Relationships between force, energy and mass	8.3%	59.7%	2,293	3.3
Transmission of electricity	8.0%	58.5%	2,116	3.3
Application of field concepts	7.3%	56.4%	2,230	3.2
Light as a particle	7.6%	60.1%	1,863	3.0
Light as a wave	8.0%	69.6%	2,109	2.4
Scientific evidence	6.6%	64.3%	1,057	2.4
Similarities between light and matter	4.5%	63.3%	1,656	1.6
Einstein’s special theory of relativity	4.5%	67.3%	1,981	1.5
Fields and interactions	2.2%	63.0%	2,086	0.8
Matter as particles or waves	3.1%	74.7%	889	0.8
Relationship between energy and mass	1.2%	53.0%	548	0.6
Investigation design	2.4%	80.2%	426	0.5

The same cut at dot-point level

Dot point	Content	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
4.2.2.2	apply methods of organising, analysing and evaluating primary data to identify patterns and relationships including: the physical significance of the gradient of linearised data; causes of uncertainty; use of uncertainty bars; and assumptions and limitations of data, methodologies and methods	6.4%	58.4%	848	2.7
3.1.2.3	analyse transformations of energy between kinetic energy, elastic potential energy, gravitational potential energy and energy dissipated to the environment (considered as a combination of heat, sound and deformation of material) kinetic energy at low speeds: $E_k = \frac{1}{2}mv^2$ ; elastic and inelastic collisions with reference to conservation of kinetic energy; elastic potential energy: area under force-distance graph including ideal springs obeying Hooke’s Law: $E_s = \frac{1}{2}kx^2$ ; gravitational potential energy: $E_g = mg\Delta h$ or from area under a force-distance graph and area under a field-distance graph multiplied by mass	6.0%	60.1%	1,685	2.4
3.3.1.2	investigate and analyse theoretically and practically the generation of electromotive force (emf) including AC voltage and calculations using induced emf: $\varepsilon = -N\frac{\Delta\Phi_B}{\Delta t}$ , with reference to rate of change of magnetic flux; number of loops through which the flux passes; direction of induced emf in a coil	5.9%	60.1%	1,884	2.4
3.2.2.1	analyse the use of an electric field to accelerate a charge, including electric field and electric force concepts: $E = k\frac{Q}{r^2}$ and $F = k\frac{q_1q_2}{r^2}$ ; potential energy changes in a uniform electric field: $W = qV$ , $E = \frac{V}{d}$ ; the magnitude of the force on a charged particle due to a uniform electric field: $F = qE$	4.4%	56.8%	1,239	1.9
3.1.1.1	investigate and apply theoretically and practically Newton’s three laws of motion in situations where two or more coplanar forces act along a straight line and in two dimensions	4.4%	56.8%	1,635	1.9
4.1.2.2	analyse the photoelectric effect with reference to evidence for the particle-like nature of light; experimental data in the form of graphs of photocurrent versus electrode potential, and of kinetic energy of electrons versus frequency; kinetic energy of emitted photoelectrons: $E_{k\ \max} = hf - \phi$ , using energy units of joule and electron-volt; effects of intensity of incident irradiation on the emission of photoelectrons	5.0%	62.6%	991	1.9
4.1.1.6	explain the results of Young’s double slit experiment with reference to evidence for the wave-like nature of light; constructive and destructive interference of coherent waves in terms of path differences: $n\lambda$ and $\left(n + \frac{1}{2}\right)\lambda$ respectively, where $n = 0,1,2,\ldots$ ; effect of wavelength, distance of screen and slit separation on interference patterns: $\Delta x = \frac{\lambda L}{d}$ when $L \gg d$	4.8%	65.1%	496	1.7
3.1.1.5	investigate and analyse theoretically and practically the motion of projectiles near Earth’s surface, including a qualitative description of the effects of air resistance	3.7%	58.6%	935	1.5
3.2.3.2	model satellite motion (artificial, Moon, planet) as uniform circular orbital motion: $a = \frac{v^2}{r} = \frac{4\pi^2 r}{T^2}$	2.7%	47.2%	684	1.4
3.1.1.2	investigate and analyse theoretically and practically the uniform circular motion of an object moving in a horizontal plane: ( $F_{net} = \frac{mv^2}{r}$ ), including a vehicle moving around a circular road; a vehicle moving around a banked track; an object on the end of a string	3.1%	57.2%	718	1.3
3.2.2.2	analyse the use of a magnetic field to change the path of a charged particle, including the magnitude and direction of the force applied to an electron beam by a magnetic field: $F = qvB$ , in cases where the directions of $v$ and $B$ are perpendicular or parallel; the radius of the path followed by an electron in a magnetic field: $qvB = \frac{mv^2}{r}$ , where $v \ll c$	3.7%	67.3%	552	1.2
3.3.2.3	analyse transformer action with reference to electromagnetic induction for an ideal transformer: $\frac{N_1}{N_2} = \frac{V_1}{V_2} = \frac{I_2}{I_1}$	2.1%	54.7%	776	0.9
3.2.2.3	analyse the use of gravitational fields to accelerate mass, including gravitational field and gravitational force concepts: $g = G\frac{M}{r^2}$ and $F_g = G\frac{m_1m_2}{r^2}$ ; potential energy changes in a uniform gravitational field: $E_g = mg\Delta h$	2.2%	57.2%	1,158	0.9
3.1.2.1	investigate and analyse theoretically and practically impulse in an isolated system for collisions between objects moving in a straight line: $F\Delta t = m\Delta v$	1.8%	48.3%	205	0.9
4.1.2.1	apply the quantised energy of photons: $E = hf = \frac{hc}{\lambda}$	2.1%	57.5%	1,083	0.9
3.3.2.4	analyse the supply of power by considering transmission losses across transmission lines	3.4%	76.1%	277	0.8

Which command verbs cost the most marks

Verb	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
calculate	27.4%	48.4%	771	14.1
explain	14.9%	56.4%	351	6.5
justify	7.0%	54.7%	57	3.2
determine	5.6%	57.8%	282	2.4
show	4.4%	61.9%	64	1.7
describe	3.4%	59.1%	115	1.4

Calculate is both the lowest average at 48.4% and the costliest verb at 14.1 marks per 100, because it carries 27.4% of the paper. Each verb above is practised in the VCE Physics question bank, where the marking criteria show what VCAA expects the answer to do.

What this does not measure

Where to practise

Work the priority list from the top: How do physicists explain motion in two dimensions? and How has understanding about the physical world changed? first, then the dot points above. Each topic page holds real VCAA questions with marking criteria attached. For what the papers actually cover, read VCE Physics most tested topics.

Syllabus and assessment material referenced in this guide is reproduced by permission, © VCAA. See our VCAA licensing notice. The VCAA does not endorse or make any warranties regarding this study resource. VCE® is a registered trademark of the VCAA.