Physics Practical File and Viva: Where Internal Marks Go
Marks that do not depend on performing under time pressure, and are given away for exactly that reason.
Updated 20 September 2026 · Delhi Home Tutor
The physics practical component assesses several things separately — the experiment performed, the record, the file, the viva and usually a project or activity. Students prepare for the first and are surprised by how much of the total sat in the others. It is the most controllable part of the subject and the most reliably neglected.
| Class | 11 and 12 |
|---|---|
| Subject | Physics |
| Assessed separately | Experiment, record, file, viva, activities |
| Most neglected | The file and the activities |
| Check | The current scheme for your child’s session |
| Enquiries | 9212149491 |
What the file is judged on
- Every prescribed experiment present, dated and in order.
- Genuine readings, including the ones that did not agree. Uniform perfect data reads as invented.
- Correct structure — aim, apparatus, theory, procedure, observation table, calculation, result, sources of error.
- Calculations shown, not just results, exactly as in the written paper.
- Graphs drawn properly where the experiment calls for one — scaled, labelled, with a best-fit line rather than dot-to-dot.
Graphs are where physics files lose marks most often. Axes unlabelled, scales chosen so the points bunch into a corner, and a line drawn through every point rather than a best fit. Each is visible instantly and each is easy to get right once someone has said so.
The viva, which is predictable
Questions come from the experiments in the student’s own file: why this apparatus, what does this graph’s slope represent, what were the main sources of error, what would change if a variable were altered. A student who performed the experiments attentively and wrote their own entries can answer all of them.
An hour spent going through the file — stating the aim, principle and key result of each experiment in one sentence — covers most of what will be asked.
Sources of error are worth taking seriously
They appear in the file and in the viva, and students routinely write generic answers — "human error", "instrument error" — that earn little. Specific, plausible sources tied to the actual experiment score properly, and thinking about them also improves the experiment itself.
Why this matters most for the students who neglect it
These marks do not require solving unfamiliar problems in three hours. For a student who finds the theory paper hard, the practical component is where a solid score is genuinely achievable through diligence. It is also, unhelpfully, the part such a student is most likely to leave until it is too late to do well.
Questions parents ask
Where do we find the current mark split?
The school will have the scheme for your child’s board and session. It is revised periodically, so ask rather than assume.
Can the file be caught up at the end?
It can be written and it will read as written at the end. Weekly entries are both better and less work.
How do we prepare for the viva?
An hour with the file, stating aim, principle and result for each experiment. That covers most of it.
Does a home tutor help with practicals?
With theory, graphs, calculations, error analysis and viva preparation, substantially. The bench work belongs at school.
Need a Physics Tutor?
One-to-one physics tuition at home or online for Classes 11 and 12, with the practical tracked through the term.
Call / WhatsApp 9212149491