Physics A (H556) and Physics B, Advancing Physics (H557), set out paper by paper — plus the OCR and Ofqual sources confirming that only one of the two has a future.
Book a Free ConsultationOCR A-Level Physics is examined through two separate, separately accredited specifications: Physics A (H156 at AS, H556 at A-level) and Physics B, Advancing Physics (H157 at AS, H557 at A-level). OCR is withdrawing Physics B — final first-teach date September 2026, final AS assessment June 2027, final A-level assessment June 2028, with no resit opportunity afterwards. Physics A carries no such notice in any OCR or Ofqual document checked.
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Our expert OCR A-Level Physics tutors work with students on both routes — Physics A's content-led, module-mapped papers and Physics B's context-led papers that can each draw on any of the six modules — building every programme around the actual specification code a student has been entered for.
OCR's own qualification pages confirm the two routes and their codes directly: Physics A carries AS code H156 and A-level code H556, while Physics B, styled Advancing Physics, carries AS code H157 and A-level code H557. Physics A's own qualification page and Physics B's own qualification page each state their code, title and Ofqual qualification number in full. Both routes' current specifications sit in the 2015 reform wave: Ofqual's register lists an operational start date of 1 September 2015 for H556, the same wave that decoupled AS from A-level assessment for the sciences — Maths and Further Maths were decoupled two years later, in 2017, a different date that this page does not carry across. The current live documents are Physics A's specification, Version 3.0 (March 2026), and Physics B's, Version 2.9 (March 2026); both are for first assessment in 2017 and both introduce their route as running from September 2015.
Physics B is being withdrawn. OCR's own Physics B qualification page states plainly that OCR "will stop offering our AS Level and A Level Physics B (H157/H557) qualifications", and OCR's qualification-withdrawal register gives three specific dates: a final first-teach date of September 2026, a final AS assessment opportunity in June 2027 (QN 601/4744/1) and a final A-level assessment opportunity in June 2028 (QN 601/4745/3), with no resit opportunity after that final assessment. The clearest confirmation is regulatory rather than promotional: Ofqual's own register entry for H557 now carries an Operational end date and a Final certification date, both 31 August 2028 — two fields that H556's register entry simply does not carry. Physics A's own qualification page and specification were both searched in full for the words "withdraw" and "stop offering"; neither appears in either document.
Physics A's own specification-at-a-glance page sets out three written components. Modelling Physics (01) and Exploring Physics (02) are each worth 100 marks, run 2 hours 15 minutes and count for 37% of the full A-level; Modelling Physics draws on modules 1, 2, 3 and 5, while Exploring Physics draws on modules 1, 2, 4 and 6. Unified Physics (03) is worth 70 marks, runs 1 hour 30 minutes, counts for 26% and is explicitly synoptic across all six modules. A fourth component, the Practical Endorsement (04), carries no written exam and is reported separately from the A*-E grade (see below). Across the three written components, Physics A's specification sets overall Assessment Objective weightings of AO1 (demonstrating knowledge) at 31–34%, AO2 (applying knowledge) at 40–43% and AO3 (analysis, interpretation and evaluation) at 25–28%.
Physics B's own specification-at-a-glance page sets a differently shaped structure. Fundamentals of Physics (01) is worth 110 marks, runs 2 hours 15 minutes and counts for 41%; Scientific Literacy in Physics (02) is worth 100 marks, runs 2 hours 15 minutes and counts for 37%; Practical Skills in Physics (03) is worth 60 marks, runs 1 hour 30 minutes and counts for 22%. Unlike Physics A, where each paper is tied to a named subset of modules, Physics B's specification states plainly that "Components 01– 03 assess content from all six modules" — so no Physics B paper is confined to particular modules the way every Physics A paper is. The same specification frames the difference in approach directly: Physics A is described as "a content-led approach... divided into topics", while Physics B is "a context-led approach" in which "practical skills are embedded within the specification and learners are expected to carry out practical work in preparation for a written examination that will specifically test these skills" — which is also why Practical Skills in Physics exists as its own named paper on this route and has no equivalent on Physics A. Physics B's overall Assessment Objective weightings, reconstructed from the same specification's AO table, run to approximately AO1 30–35%, AO2 40–44% and AO3 25–28% — close to Physics A's split, though apportioned differently across the three components.
| Route | Paper | Marks | Duration | Weighting | Modules assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physics A (H556) | Modelling physics (01) | 100 | 2h 15m | 37% | 1, 2, 3, 5 |
| Physics A (H556) | Exploring physics (02) | 100 | 2h 15m | 37% | 1, 2, 4, 6 |
| Physics A (H556) | Unified physics (03) | 70 | 1h 30m | 26% | All six, synoptic |
| Physics B (H557) | Fundamentals of physics (01) | 110 | 2h 15m | 41% | All six |
| Physics B (H557) | Scientific literacy in physics (02) | 100 | 2h 15m | 37% | All six |
| Physics B (H557) | Practical skills in physics (03) | 60 | 1h 30m | 22% | All six |
Source: OCR's specification-at-a-glance pages for Physics A and Physics B. Both routes also carry a non-exam Practical Endorsement component (04), reported separately from the A*-E grade.
Studying Physics A, or the route OCR is withdrawing?
Our specialist OCR A-Level Physics tutors work through past-paper practice, module-by-module revision and the practical endorsement's PAG log with students on either route, so the programme matches the actual paper structure a student sits.
Both specifications set an identical minimum: assessment will include "at least 40% Level 2 (or above) mathematical skills for physics", stated in those words in Physics A's specification and confirmed by an identical sentence independently in Physics B's. Within that shared maths requirement, OCR marks some content in bold type in its mathematical-requirements table: "Skills shown in bold type will only be tested in the full A level course, not the standalone AS level course" — again identical wording in both specifications. That is a genuinely different mechanism from a tiering distinction: it separates content shared with the standalone AS from content examined only in the full A-level, not Foundation from Higher.
Every OCR Physics exam paper, on both routes, is issued with a Data, Formulae and Relationships booklet. Physics A's specification states plainly that "the data, formulae and relationships in this data sheet will be printed for distribution with the examination papers", identical wording independently confirmed in Physics B's specification. Not every equation sits on that sheet, though. OCR marks specific equations for compulsory recall with an explicit sentence in its own specification text — "Learners will also be expected to recall this equation" — attached to five named equations in Physics A's specification and eight in Physics B's. Net force (F = ma) and weight (W = mg) are two of the equations Physics A marks this way. Unlike a typeface convention, which a plain-text extraction can lose, this is a full sentence and survives intact in a text copy of the PDF — a more durable mechanism than the bold-only tier markers some other specifications rely on for the equivalent distinction.
OCR states that the Practical Endorsement framework is common across all three of its A-level science subject pairs — Chemistry A and B, Biology A and B, and Physics A and Physics B — and requires a minimum of 12 practical activities drawn from 12 named Practical Activity Groups (PAGs). For physics, those 12 PAGs are: Investigating motion; Investigating properties of materials; Investigating electrical properties; Investigating electrical circuits; Investigating waves; Investigating quantum effects; Investigating ionising radiation; Investigating gases; Investigating capacitors; Investigating simple harmonic motion; Investigative and Unscaffolded (Investigation); and Research skills. The same 12 PAGs, under the same names, apply to both Physics A and Physics B — only the specification-reference column differs between the two routes. Results are graded Pass or Not Classified against the criteria and reported separately on the certificate; OCR's specification is explicit that a learner's Practical Endorsement result "will not contribute to their overall qualification grade." One figure is worth naming because it does not exist in OCR's own documents: a rival guide to OCR Physics states that "at least 15% of A-Level marks test practical skills" as though it were a DfE or Ofqual rule. This page checked Physics A's specification and OCR's own cross-board AS/A-level Sciences assessment page directly for that figure and found it stated in neither, so it is not published here.
Our expert A-level physics tutors build every OCR Physics programme around the specification code a student is actually entered for — not a generic “A-level physics” syllabus that treats Physics A and Physics B as interchangeable. For a Physics B student, that means preparing all-modules papers rather than module-mapped ones; for a Physics A student starting in September 2026 or later, it means understanding a specification that, unlike Physics B, is not being withdrawn. Some of our OCR Physics families are also working with us on OCR A-Level Biology, which carries its own two-route structure and its own withdrawal notice on one of its two specifications.
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OCR's specification separates two questions that a landing page can blur into one. On territorial availability, section 3d states: "This qualification is available in England. For Wales and Northern Ireland please check the Qualifications in Wales Portal (QIW) or the Northern Ireland Department of Education Performance Measures..." On assessment language, section 3e states separately: "This qualification is available in English only. All assessment materials are available in English only and all candidate work must be in English." OCR's qualification landing page states only the section 3e sentence immediately after the spec code — read alone, that could be mistaken for an answer to the England-versus-Wales question rather than the language-of-assessment one. Ofqual's own register independently records the qualification's national availability as England, International.
Working out how close a mock result is to a real A-level grade?
Our OCR A-Level Physics tuition is built around each route's own boundary set and paper weighting, not a generic physics revision plan, so a student's practice reflects the paper they will actually sit.
Unlike AQA's A-level Physics, which splits its Paper 3 into five optional topics under one specification code and so publishes five separate boundary sets within a single route, OCR's Physics options run no equivalent Section-B-style choice. Instead OCR publishes two entirely separate overall boundary sets, one per route, from the same 270 raw marks. For June 2026, OCR's grade-boundaries document sets H556 (Physics A)'s overall boundaries at A* 207, A 178, B 151, C 124, D 97, E 70, U 0; H557 (Physics B)'s run A* 215, A 185, B 155, C 125, D 95, E 66, U 0 — an A* eight marks higher on the same 270-mark scale, and every boundary below it differing too. Both routes carry the same Total Qualification Time: 360 hours, matching 360 hours of guided learning.
| Grade | H556 (Physics A) overall / 270 | H557 (Physics B) overall / 270 |
|---|---|---|
| A* | 207 | 215 |
| A | 178 | 185 |
| B | 151 | 155 |
| C | 124 | 125 |
| D | 97 | 95 |
| E | 70 | 66 |
| U | 0 | 0 |
Source: OCR's June 2026 grade-boundaries document. Both overall totals are out of the same 270 raw marks.
OCR examines A-Level Physics through two separate, separately accredited specifications: Physics A, coded H156 at AS and H556 at A-level, and Physics B (Advancing Physics), coded H157 at AS and H557 at A-level. Both are confirmed on OCR's own qualification pages and independently on Ofqual's register. They are not tiers or options within one specification — each carries its own Ofqual qualification number, its own specification document and its own grade-boundary table, and OCR is withdrawing only one of the two.
Yes. OCR's own qualification page states it is stopping AS Level and A Level Physics B (H157/H557). The final first-teach date is September 2026, the final AS assessment opportunity is June 2027 and the final A-level assessment opportunity is June 2028, with no resit opportunity afterwards. Ofqual's own register for H557 now carries an Operational end date and a Final certification date of 31 August 2028, fields absent from Physics A's H556 entry — independent, regulator-level confirmation of the same withdrawal.
Physics A's three written papers are each tied to specific modules: Modelling Physics (01) and Exploring Physics (02) each draw on four of the six modules, and Unified Physics (03) is synoptic across all six. Physics B is structured differently — OCR's own specification states that Components 01 to 03, Fundamentals of Physics, Scientific Literacy in Physics and Practical Skills in Physics, each assess content from all six modules, so no Physics B paper is tied to a fixed subset.
At least 40% of the marks across both routes require Level 2 (or above) mathematical skills — OCR states this identically in both the Physics A and Physics B specifications. Within that requirement, OCR marks some content in bold type in its mathematical-requirements table, meaning it is tested only in the full A-level and not in the standalone AS — the same convention appears in both specifications.
Both routes share the same 12 Practical Activity Groups, and a student must complete a minimum of 12 practical activities drawn from them. OCR grades the endorsement Pass or Not Classified against separate practical criteria, reported independently on the certificate. OCR's own specification states a learner's Practical Endorsement result will not contribute to their overall qualification grade — it sits alongside the A*-E result, not inside it.
Yes, despite both routes being marked out of the same 270 raw marks overall. OCR's June 2026 grade boundaries set Physics A's (H556) A* at 207 and Physics B's (H557) A* at 215 — eight marks higher on the same 270-mark scale. Every grade boundary below A* differs too: A is 178 for H556 against 185 for H557, and E is 70 for H556 against 66 for H557.
OCR supplies a Data, Formulae and Relationships booklet with every exam paper, on both routes. But OCR also marks specific equations for compulsory recall — an explicit sentence reading “Learners will also be expected to recall this equation” appears next to five named equations in the Physics A specification and eight in Physics B's, each attached to an equation not otherwise printed on the data sheet.
OCR's own specification separates this into two questions. On territorial availability, section 3d states the qualification “is available in England”, directing readers to check Wales's and Northern Ireland's own frameworks separately. On assessment language, section 3e states it “is available in English only” and all candidate work must be in English. Ofqual's register separately records the qualification's national availability as England, International.
Leading Tuition's tutors work with both OCR Physics routes every week — Physics A's module-mapped papers and Physics B's all-modules structure — and with the practical endorsement both share. Rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 58 reviews, and 91% of our students go on to achieve their desired grades. See our wider guide to choosing between A-level physics exam boards and, for a September 2026 starter working out what the withdrawal means for their own timeline, our Year 12 OCR Physics guide.
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