Reaction to 2026 Leaving Certificate Physics (Higher Level) by Pat Doyle, Physics teacher at The Institute of Education.
The exam opens with a selection of questions that students will find very fair. There was nothing here that will strike them as being overly novel or challenging, particularly if they revised the previous exams. Where challenges did appear, they were mitigated by choice. So, if a student was surprised to see two of the mechanics experiments appear (though they did last year too) or where somewhat thrown by the need to sketch a graph in Q1 (v), they had the ability to navigate to more familiar options.
However moving into Section B, students will find that each question had a twist. Q6 is normally very popular with students but they will be challenged a bit more than in previous years. For example, part (c)’s request to “describe an experiment to demonstrate Archimede’s principle” will require them to think a little more laterally about the material. Those hoping to quickly rattle off a definition will have to really parse through the question to get full marks. Students who also do Applied Maths tend to favour Q7 on mechanics, but the question setter has been careful to calibrate that overlap and remind them that this is a Physics paper. As such, the question begins conventionally but moves to Sound in part (vii), meaning that 18% of the available marks lay in a different topic.
The next two questions were very fair but still might cause the overhasty student to stumble. Q8 on Light starts with a nice preamble from “Let there be light” by Montwell and Breslin, before proceeding along standard lines of enquiry. To conclude this question students will again need to describe an experiment, this time for transverse waves. There are two experiments in this area of the course on waves but only one applies here and so if a student missed “transverse”, 16% of that question could be instantly unavailable. Q9 on Sound production is also a fair question, but the inclusion of wind instruments won’t be popular with students. While the theory necessary for wind instruments is no more complicated than that for violin, students often struggle to fully visualize the column of air as clearly as the vibrating string.
Q10 was a full question on capacitors, which are leaving the course this year. It is unusual to see a full question on capacitors but as this is its final year it is clearly given centre stage for its swan song. In contrast Q11 was mixed bag of topics ranging from cathode ray tubes (the kind from old boxy television sets), colours and magnetism. For the latter, the inclusion of a “derive the formula” question and the debut appearance of Fleming’s left-hand rule will be off-putting for some.
The final trio of questions will be largely familiar from past papers, again with little twists to make the H1s stand out. For example students will have needed to do some additional maths to get the half-life of polonium-210. But Q13 on the home of the future was a collection of conventional questions paired with a slightly novel (if not wordy) scenario. Q14 was another mixed bag question which will be particularly popular with those who covered Applied Electricity in class.