Higher exam guide
Higher Physics
Course code C857 76 · Specification Version 4.1, September 2026 · valid from 2026–27
Your 2027 exam
- Question paper
- – BST
Published national times, in UK local time. Confirm your personal timetable, room and any assessment arrangements with your school or college. Coursework deadlines are set by your centre.
- Results day
- National contingency day
Qualifications Scotland timetable · Version 02, August 2026 · checked .
What changed for 2027?
For 2027, the former two papers are replaced by one 2-hour-30-minute paper. The assignment is now scaled to 33 marks. Older past papers use a different format.
How the exam is marked
163 course marks after scaling
Question paper
130 marks
80% of the course result
2 hours 30 minutes
One sitting: Section 1 has 20 multiple-choice marks; Section 2 has 110 marks for written responses. Both sections share the total time.
Assignment
20 marks
Scaled to 33 course marks · 20% of the course result
8 hours (max 2 hours for the report)
Investigation and report, marked by Qualifications Scotland.
Course areas and revision checklist
Use this summary alongside the full official specification. ScotSpark practice covers selected skills, not every item below; your teacher can help you fill the gaps.
Our dynamic Universe
- Motion: equations and graphs
- Forces, energy and power
- Collisions, explosions and impulse
- Gravitation and projectiles
- Special relativity
- The expanding Universe
Particles and waves
- Forces on charged particles
- The Standard Model
- Nuclear reactions
- Inverse square law
- Wave-particle duality
- Interference
- Spectra
- Refraction of light
Electricity
- Monitoring and measuring AC
- Current, potential difference, power and resistance
- Electrical sources and internal resistance
- Capacitors
- Semiconductors and p-n junctions
Exam technique
- The 2027 question paper has 130 marks in one sitting. Allow time for both the multiple-choice and written-response sections.
- Write the relationship, substitute, then give the answer with units.
- Open-ended questions reward clear physics reasoning, not a single correct answer.
Version 4.1, September 2026 · checked . Qualifications Scotland replaced SQA in February 2026; official documents may still use the SQA name. Check for later updates and confirm arrangements with your teacher.