VCE Physics Past Exams (Science)
VCE Physics is examined in a single 2.5-hour end-of-year exam set and marked by the VCAA, covering the Units 3–4 content on fields, motion, and how new understanding of the physical world is developed.
The current study design's Units 3–4 were implemented in 2024, so the fully-matching papers are 2024 onward.
Check the study design. A new Physics study design is first examined in the 2028 VCE exam. Past exams from 2027 and earlier are on the previous study design - still useful for exam technique, but confirm the content against the current study design. Papers from 2028 onward match the new design.
Official Physics VCE exams & examiners' reports (2024–2025 (current study design))
VCAA publishes the past VCE exams and the examination reports for Physics on its own site. They are the real exam questions - sit them under timed conditions, then read the report for what examiners looked for.
What's on the Physics exam?
The paper combines multiple-choice with short-answer and extended calculation and explanation questions, using the provided formula sheet. Marks are won on clear multi-step working and on explaining physical reasoning.
Timed practice on the real papers builds the calculation speed and the habit of showing method the VCAA report rewards.
How to use the past exams
Sit each Physics exam in one timed session (VCAA papers include a 15-minute reading period), then mark it against the External Assessment Report for that year - VCAA's report is the examiners' commentary, with sample answers and the mistakes the state cohort repeated.
VCAA also posts the examination specifications and a sample exam on the study page - good for seeing the exact format before you start. The paper, the report and the sample exam all download from the official VCAA page linked above.
Practice Physics beyond the past exams
Once you've worked through the VCAA papers, keep going with Polarbear - free VCE practice exams and AI exam-cram that generates fresh questions on the exact topics you're weakest on, grounded in the VCE Physics study design.
Physics past exams FAQ
Source: VCAA's official Physics past examinations. VCE exams are © Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority - Polarbear links to the official exams rather than rehosting them, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the VCAA.