BPhO Round 1 Past Papers & Solutions
British Physics Olympiad Round 1
BPhO Round 1 past papers and mark schemes with worked solutions — extended mechanics, electricity, waves and astrophysics problems for A-Level physicists.
- Eligibility
- Year 13 (and able Year 12) students
- Format
- Two sections of long-answer physics problems (Section 1 short questions, Section 2 extended problems)
- Duration
- Approximately 2 hours 45 minutes
- Scoring
- Marked by written working; certificates awarded from Participation up to Top Gold
BPhO Round 1 asks A-Level physicists to do something the A-Level rarely does: carry an unfamiliar situation through several stages of reasoning without being told which equation to use. The physics content is largely school content, but the questions are long, the algebra is symbolic, and the marks are in the working. Past papers are the entire preparation strategy — the paper's style is so distinctive that a term of ordinary A-Level revision will not prepare you for it, while five past papers will.
BPhO Round 1 past papers and solutions by year
Every link below opens the official BPhO PDF directly. Sit the paper timed, mark it against the solutions, then read the extended solutions once you have written up your own attempt.
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What the paper tests
Mechanics
Electricity & magnetism
Waves & optics
Thermal & gas physics
Astrophysics & estimation
Symbolic algebra
Where it leads: High scorers are invited to BPhO Round 2 and, from there, the UK team selection for the IPhO. See our coaching programme.
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Past papers show you the gap; a mentor closes it. Our BPhO Round 1 mentors are medal winners who walk through every solution 1-to-1, then set targeted practice on the archetypes you lost marks on.
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Frequently asked questions
- Where can I find BPhO Round 1 past papers and solutions?
- The British Physics Olympiad publishes past papers and full mark schemes on its own website. We link to that official archive and provide mentor-led walkthroughs of the extended Section 2 problems rather than re-hosting the papers.
- How should I prepare for BPhO Round 1?
- Sit complete past papers under timed conditions, then compare your working line by line with the official mark scheme. Most lost marks come from switching to numbers too early rather than from missing physics.
- Do I need knowledge beyond A-Level for BPhO?
- Not formally — the paper is built on A-Level content — but comfort with calculus, symbolic manipulation and estimation makes the extended problems far more approachable.