SPM Physics Practical 2026 (Paper 3): The Experiments, Animated, and Where the Marks Go

In the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) Physics practical, you find out the experiment when you walk into the lab. It is set out on the bench, and you have 45 minutes to run it and write it up.

That can feel like a lottery. The marking, though, follows a pattern. We read nine trial and state-module papers from 2025 and 2026, each with its marking scheme, and Lembaga Peperiksaan's own sample practical.^[1] No two papers used the same experiment, yet all nine gave most of their marks for the same few skills.

Seven practical experiments play below as short animations, so you can watch what each one measures and how its graph builds. After that we go through the paper part by part, with the wording the schemes accepted.

What is the SPM Physics practical?

The SPM Physics practical, also called Paper 3, Kertas 3 Fizik or the ujian amali Fizik, is the hands-on part of SPM Physics. Its paper code is 4531/3.^[2]

You get one structured question worth 15 marks. You carry out the experiment yourself, record what you measure, and answer questions on your own results. Lembaga Peperiksaan lists a single skill area for it, science process skills, so it tests how you measure and handle data more than what you remember.

Your answer script goes to Lembaga Peperiksaan together with the subject supervisor's report. If you get stuck, you may ask the chief practical invigilator for a hint, but any help is reported to the examiner, and Lembaga Peperiksaan's instructions warn that a few marks may be deducted for it.

When is the SPM Physics practical in 2026?

This year's Physics practical is on Monday, 16 November 2026, in four sessions. Your school or exam centre will tell you which session is yours.^[3]

In the lab, the first five minutes are the apparatus check and the other 40 are yours for the experiment. Candidates in sessions 1 to 3 then wait in a quarantine room until 11:45 am.

Bring a scientific calculator, which is allowed, and carry your pens and pencil loose: the timetable's rules bar pencil cases and bags from the exam lab, along with phones and notes of any kind. Answers go in black or blue ink, and pencil is allowed for diagrams. Be at the report-in room 10 minutes before your slot.

Missing the practical counts as being absent for the whole of SPM Physics, so treat it like a written paper. Papers 1 and 2 follow on Thursday, 3 December 2026; our SPM 2026 timetable lists every paper.

What should you do in the first five minutes?

The paper opens with a candidate checklist (senarai semak calon). In the first five minutes you tick off each item of apparatus, read the question and plan the experiment. Most of the trial papers add "You are not allowed to work with apparatus in the first five minutes", so plan now and leave the measuring until the five minutes are up.

1. 1 Tick every item on the checklist
2. 2 Find the two variables in the aim
3. 3 Draw the table's headings, with units
4. 4 Note the five values you will set

Eight of the nine papers gave you the five values of the manipulated variable, such as depths of 10.0 to 18.0 cm or object distances of 15.0 to 35.0 cm. Only one left students to choose them. So the first column of your table is usually given; your job is to measure the second one well.

Which experiments can come out in the SPM Physics practical?

Lembaga Peperiksaan does not publish a list. The paper can set any Form 4 or Form 5 experiment, and no official source says which experiments came out in past years.

What we do know is the shape every practical takes. Lembaga Peperiksaan's own sample hangs a bottle from a rubber band and fills it with water, 50 g at a time. Every trial paper, too, changes one quantity, measures another and plots one against the other.

1Rubber band2Liquid pressure3Heating water4Charles' law5Convex lens6Wire thickness7Pendulum

Experiment 1 of 7

A rubber band and a bottle of water

Lembaga Peperiksaan's own sample practical

Variables

Manipulated

Mass of water, m

Responding

Extension of the rubber band, x

Fixed

Original length of the rubber band, l₀

The graph

Plot

x against m

The line

Straight, through the origin

Write

x is directly proportional to m.

Gradient

The sample asks for it and names it k, for 2 marks.

Watch outRead l only once the pin stops moving, then work out x = l − l₀ for every row. The table alone carries 6 of the sample's 15 marks.

Experiment 1 of 7

The rubber band is Lembaga Peperiksaan's sample. The manometer, the heating water, Charles' law, the lens and the wire all came from the trial papers. The pendulum did not appear in them, but it is Experiment 1.1 in the Form 4 textbook, and its graph needs the same skills.

Beyond the trials, the KSSM textbooks set out 16 investigations of the same shape, and any of them could turn up on the day.^[4]

The textbooks also have experiments that work out a single value, such as the specific heat capacity of water or the specific latent heat of ice. Those do not have the table-and-graph shape that every paper we read was built on.

Where do the 15 marks go?

We sorted all 135 marks in the nine schemes by the skill each one rewards. 82 of them (61%) went to the table, the graph and reading the graph. Plotting the graph alone took 33.

Both years 2025 papers 2026 papers

View as table View as chart

Table and graph : 82 marks, 61%

82 marks 61% 61 marks 58% 21 marks 70%

1. Plotting the graph 33 Plotting the graph: 33 marks. 2025 papers: 27, 2026 papers: 6.
2. Recording data in a table 28 Recording data in a table: 28 marks. 2025 papers: 21, 2026 papers: 7.
3. Reading the graph: relationship, gradient, values 21 Reading the graph: relationship, gradient, values: 21 marks. 2025 papers: 13, 2026 papers: 8.

Planning the investigation : 37 marks, 27%

37 marks 27% 31 marks 30% 6 marks 20%

1. Stating variables 15 Stating variables: 15 marks. 2025 papers: 11, 2026 papers: 4.
2. Hypothesis, inference and observation 14 Hypothesis, inference and observation: 14 marks. 2025 papers: 12, 2026 papers: 2.
3. Writing the procedure, labelling the set-up 8 Writing the procedure, labelling the set-up: 8 marks. 2025 papers: 8, 2026 papers: 0.

Physics reasoning : 16 marks, 12%

16 marks 12% 13 marks 12% 3 marks 10%

1. Predictions 7 Predictions: 7 marks. 2025 papers: 5, 2026 papers: 2.
2. Definitions and physics reasons 6 Definitions and physics reasons: 6 marks. 2025 papers: 5, 2026 papers: 1.
3. Precautions 3 Precautions: 3 marks. 2025 papers: 3, 2026 papers: 0.

Where the 135 marks went

Skill	2025 papers	2026 papers	Total
Table and graph	61	21	82
Plotting the graph	27	6	33
Recording data in a table	21	7	28
Reading the graph: relationship, gradient, values	13	8	21
Planning the investigation	31	6	37
Stating variables	11	4	15
Hypothesis, inference and observation	12	2	14
Writing the procedure, labelling the set-up	8	0	8
Physics reasoning	13	3	16
Predictions	5	2	7
Definitions and physics reasons	5	1	6
Precautions	3	0	3
Total	105	30	135

2025 papers

2026 papers

Total

Source: Afterkelas analysis of nine SPM Physics Paper 3 trial and state-module papers and their marking schemes, 2025 and 2026.

Precautions earned only 3 of the 135 marks, and only three papers asked for one. Physics reasoning as a whole, such as a prediction or a reason, earned 16.

These are trial papers, not the real SPM. Experienced teachers set them to the SPM format, and two of the schemes swapped the axes their own questions asked for. Treat them as a guide to how marks are given; none of them is Lembaga Peperiksaan's own scheme.

How do you answer each part of Paper 3?

The parts come in much the same order in every paper. For each one, here is the rule first, then what the schemes accepted.

1. Variables

The rule: name the manipulated variable (what you change), the responding variable (what you measure) and, if asked, the fixed variable (what you keep the same), each with its symbol. Name a quantity you can measure, not an object.

In the papers: Kelantan's 2025 paper opened with a lorry loaded with sand. Its scheme rejected "mass of sand" as the manipulated variable, because the experiment changed the mass of plasticine. It also rejected "inertia" as the responding variable, because what you measure is the period, T.

2. The table

The rule: head every column with the quantity or its symbol and its unit, such as l / cm. Give every reading to the same number of decimal places, and check that the values rise or fall the way the physics says they should.

In the papers: Lembaga Peperiksaan's sample gave 6 of its 15 marks to the table, with a column for the length l and another for the extension x = l − l₀. In the trials, recording the data was worth 2 to 5 marks. Kelantan's 2025 scheme checked each column's decimal places on its own: t to one, T to two and T² to four.

Worked columns, such as T², 1/u or Δθ, can each carry a mark of their own. Selangor's 2025 lens paper gave 2 of its 4 table marks to the 1/u and 1/v columns.

3. The graph

The rule: plot the graph the way the question words it, so "D against h" puts D on the y-axis and h on the x-axis. Then work through the seven things the schemes tick.

1. 1 Both axes labelled The right quantity on each axis: y against x, as the question words it.
2. 2 Units on both axes For example h / cm and D / cm.
3. 3 A uniform scale Equal steps along each axis, at values that are easy to plot.
4. 4 Three or four points right Melaka allowed half a small square either way.
5. 5 All five points right This earns the second tick for the points.
6. 6 A line of best fit Straight and smooth, with the points balanced on both sides.
7. 7 The graph's size At least 5 by 4 big squares of 2 cm.

Source: the graph rubrics in the nine trial schemes. Seven of the nine had the size tick.

The ticks then turn into marks. Kelantan's 2026 graph was worth 3: seven ticks earned 3 marks, four to six earned 2, and one to three earned 1. SBP's and Selangor's 2025 graphs were worth 5: seven ticks earned 5, and five or six earned 4.

4. The relationship

The rule: read the relationship off the shape of your own line. A straight line through the origin means "directly proportional". A straight line that misses the origin means "increases linearly".

Melaka 2025 asked State the relationship between d and h based on your graph.

Answers the scheme rejected 0 marks

1. No mark: d is proportional to h.
2. No mark: d ∝ h, with no words
3. No mark: h is directly proportional to d.
4. No mark: The higher the h, the greater the d.

"Directly" left out, the symbol on its own, the variables swapped, and an answer worded like the hypothesis.

Answers the scheme accepted 1 of 1 mark

1. Earns a mark: Through the origin: d is directly proportional to h.
2. Earns a mark: Straight but not through the origin: d increases linearly with h.

The responding variable first, then the manipulated one, in words that match your line.

A line that slopes down needs "decreases": Selangor's lens scheme wanted "1/v decreases linearly with 1/u".

5. The gradient

The rule: draw a large right-angled triangle on your line, at least 8 cm by 8 cm, read both sides off the scales, and give the answer with its unit.

In the papers: only 3 of the nine papers asked for a gradient, each for 2 marks. Kelantan's 2026 scheme wanted the triangle drawn on the graph, the values put into the formula, and an answer of 4.20 °C per minute, with a unit and at least two decimal places. Terengganu's wanted the unit ohm, because the gradient of V against I is the resistance.

6. Reading a value off the graph

The rule: when a question asks for a value from your graph, draw the dashed lines on the graph, from the axis to your line and across to the other axis.

In the papers: three papers asked for this, for 2 marks each. Melaka's scheme withheld the value mark when the line had not been extended on the graph. Two of the three asked for a value outside the range you measured, so the line had to be extended first.

7. Precautions and predictions

The rule: a precaution says what you did and the error it prevents. A prediction usually needs one word, plus a reason if the question asks for one.

In the papers: the schemes accepted reading a scale with your eye perpendicular to it, to avoid parallax error (Kelantan 2025, MRSM 2025, Melaka 2025), stirring the water so it heats evenly (MRSM), and repeating the experiment and taking the average (Melaka). Seven of the nine papers had a "what if" question, such as a thicker lens or a longer wire, answered in one word: increases, decreases or unchanged.

Where do students lose marks in the Physics practical?

Going by how the nine schemes give marks, these habits cost the most.

Two of the schemes put their axes the opposite way to their own question. On the day, follow the question's wording: the first quantity it names goes on the y-axis.

How should you prepare for the practical in the last two weeks?

With the practical on 16 November, there is time to practise each part a few times. Work by skill: the experiment will be new on the day, but the table, the graph and the relationship will feel familiar.

1. 1 Learn the parts that repeat: variables, table, graph, relationship
2. 2 Name the variables of each experiment above, out loud
3. 3 Draw one full graph a day and check it against the seven ticks
4. 4 Sit one trial practical in 40 minutes, then mark it with its scheme

If you only have time for one thing, make it the graph. It carried 33 of the 135 marks in the papers we read, more than any other single part.

How can Afterkelas help with the SPM Physics practical?

Practical marks often slip away on details that are hard to see in your own work, such as a unit missing from a heading, or "proportional" where the scheme wants "directly proportional".

At Afterkelas (afterkelas.com), our tutors mark practical answers tick by tick, the way the schemes do, then plan 1-to-1 classes around the parts costing you marks.

You do not need to know where your marks are going before you contact us. Message us on WhatsApp with the subject, and we will help work out the rest. Parents are welcome to get in touch on their child's behalf.

Frequently asked questions

How many marks is the SPM Physics practical?

The SPM Physics practical (Paper 3, 4531/3) is worth 15 marks. It is a 45-minute test: 5 minutes to check the apparatus and plan, then 40 minutes to carry out the experiment and answer.

When is the SPM Physics practical in 2026?

On Monday, 16 November 2026, in four sessions between 7:30 am and 1:00 pm. Your exam centre assigns your session. Physics Papers 1 and 2 follow on Thursday, 3 December 2026.

Can I answer the Physics practical in English?

Yes. The paper is bilingual, and Lembaga Peperiksaan's sample paper says answers may be written in Bahasa Melayu or English.

Which experiment will come out in the SPM 2026 Physics practical?

Lembaga Peperiksaan does not announce it, and the paper can set any Form 4 or Form 5 experiment. The nine trial papers we read each used a different one, but all of them gave their marks for the same skills: the variables, the table, the graph and the relationship.

Does Afterkelas offer help with the SPM Physics practical?

Yes. Afterkelas tutors can mark a student's practical answers the way the schemes do, find where marks are being lost and plan focused 1-to-1 classes. You can start at afterkelas.com.

One last thing

The practical is the shortest Physics paper, and its marking repeats from one paper to the next. The seven graph ticks and the wording for the relationship apply to whatever experiment is on the bench, so learn those two by heart.

The Chemistry practical is the next day. If you take both, our guide to answering SPM Chemistry Paper 3 works the same way. Good luck on 16 November.