Ask any O-Level Physics student where they bleed marks, and it is rarely the calculations. It is the wordy questions. The ones that say "explain", "describe", or "state and explain". Students know the physics, write a sentence that feels right, and still get one mark out of three. Here is why that happens, and the structure that fixes it.
Why "explain" questions are really testing you
An "explain" question is not asking you to describe what happens. It is asking you to link a cause to an effect using a physics principle. The mark scheme almost always wants three things, and it awards a mark for each:
- The observation (what happens)
- The principle (the named law or concept behind it)
- The link (a "because" or "therefore" that connects the two)
Miss the link, and you cap yourself at partial marks no matter how much you write.
The structure: claim, principle, because
Train yourself to answer in this shape every single time:
[What happens]. This is because [named principle], so [the causal link].
That "because" is doing the heavy lifting. It forces you to connect the idea instead of just listing facts.
A worked example
Question: A metal block feels colder to the touch than a wooden block at the same temperature. Explain why.
A weak answer: "Metal is colder than wood." That is wrong on two counts. They are the same temperature, and it describes nothing.
A full-mark answer:
The metal feels colder because metal is a better conductor of heat than wood. It conducts thermal energy away from your hand faster, so your hand loses heat more quickly and registers the sensation of cold.
Notice the shape: observation, named principle (conduction), then the "so" that links them.
The words that earn marks
Examiners mark against a keyword list. In thermal physics, they want conduction, convection, radiation, thermal energy (not "heat energy" loosely). In electricity, they want potential difference, current, resistance, used precisely. Vague words like "energy" or "power" on their own often score nothing. Learn the exact term for each topic and use it.
Common traps to avoid
- Do not describe when asked to explain. "The needle moves to the right" describes. "The needle moves because a current is induced by the changing magnetic field" explains.
- Do not contradict the question. If the stem says "at the same temperature", never write "because it is colder".
- Match the number of marks to the number of points. A three-mark question wants three distinct ideas. If you have written one long sentence, you are probably missing two marks.
How we drill this at Dojo
In a Dojo Physics class, you do not just learn the content once. You mark your own answers against the real Cambridge mark scheme, spot exactly where the "because" was missing, and rewrite it until the structure is automatic. That is the difference between knowing the physics and scoring the physics.
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