Texas Physics CBE Guide — Physics Credit by Examination with TEKS Practice (TEC §28.023 / §74.24)

Physics has always been the wall in the Texas high-school science sequence — the class students postpone, the class that later delays Pre-Calculus and Calculus, and the class most families ask us about first when their student is running behind or trying to accelerate. Physics is now our sixth exam-aligned subject on Texas CBE, sitting alongside Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, and Pre-Calculus.

This guide walks through everything a Texas family should know before scheduling a Physics Credit by Examination — the legal framework, what the TEKS Physics blueprint covers, how to think about timing, and where our Physics 1A and 1B lessons fit into a realistic three-week study plan. Free sample questions are available at the bottom without signup.

Two legal routes to a Physics CBE in Texas

Every Physics CBE in Texas runs under one of two legal frameworks, and knowing which route applies to your student changes both the passing bar and the paperwork.

1. Acceleration route — Texas Education Code §28.023. The student has not taken a Physics course for credit at their school. They demonstrate mastery on a proctored Credit by Examination administered by their district (or an approved provider such as UT High School), and if they score 80% or higher, they receive the credit on their transcript without enrolling in the class. This is the classic acceleration story: skip Physics and move on to Pre-Cal, AP, or dual credit sooner.
2. Credit Recovery route — 19 TAC §74.24. The student did take Physics (or an equivalent course) but did not receive credit. They can attempt Credit by Examination at a lower passing bar of 70%. This is the credit-recovery lane, and it is often the more overlooked side of the program.

Both routes are administered as proctored sessions by the district’s assessment office (not the physics teacher’s classroom), and a student may attempt a CBE for a specific high-school course no more than two times under 19 TAC §74.24. That two-attempt ceiling is the single most important reason to prepare thoughtfully rather than book the test blind.

What the TEKS Physics blueprint actually tests

Texas high-school Physics is defined by the TEKS (§112.39) and the UT High School Physics 1A / 1B blueprint used across many Texas districts. Our lessons are organized in exactly the two-semester structure the exam uses:

Physics 1A (semester A) — Mechanics & Thermodynamics

1. Scientific Processes & Measurement — SI units, significant figures, error, graphical analysis.
2. Motion in One Dimension (Kinematics) — displacement, velocity, acceleration, kinematic equations.
3. Newton’s Laws & Force Applications — free-body diagrams, friction, tension, normal force, inclines.
4. Gravitation & Fundamental Forces — universal gravitation, orbital motion, the four fundamental interactions.
5. Energy, Work, Power & Momentum — work-energy theorem, conservation, elastic vs. inelastic collisions.
6. Thermodynamics — heat vs. temperature, specific heat, phase change, laws of thermodynamics.

Physics 1B (semester B) — Electromagnetism, Waves & Modern Physics

7. Electric Force, Fields & Coulomb’s Law — Coulomb’s law, electric fields, potential.
8. Circuits & Ohm’s Law — series/parallel resistance, Kirchhoff’s rules, power.
9. Magnetism & Electromagnetic Induction — magnetic force, right-hand rule, Faraday’s law, transformers.
10. Waves, Sound & Optics — transverse/longitudinal waves, interference, reflection, refraction, lenses.
11. Atomic, Nuclear & Quantum Physics — photoelectric effect, atomic models, radioactive decay chains, half-life.

Each lesson is TEKS-tagged, includes an interactive concept explanation with SVG diagrams, and links directly into CBE-style practice questions written for the same standard the exam scores against. Every question is independently authored and modeled after the official CBE format — Texas CBE™ is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Texas Education Agency, UT High School, or any school district.

A realistic three-week study plan

Physics is not a memorization subject, so cramming rarely works. The pattern that produces the highest CBE pass rates in our data is a three-week focused sprint anchored to the two-semester structure:

• Week 1 — Physics 1A conceptual pass. Read all six 1A lessons (kinematics through thermodynamics) at reading speed. Do not try to memorize equations yet. The goal is a clean mental map of what each unit is really about — for example, that Newton’s laws are three claims about how forces relate to acceleration, not eighteen problem types.
• Week 2 — Physics 1B conceptual pass + 1A CBE-style practice. Read the five 1B lessons (electric force through modern physics) at the same pace, while starting timed sets of 1A practice questions. Missed questions become your study list — they always outperform re-reading.
• Week 3 — Full-length practice + weak-spot repair. Do at least one full-length practice under exam conditions per semester, score by TEKS domain, and spend the last few days repairing the two weakest domains. Time on the strongest domains has near-zero marginal value.

Because CBE is a mastery test, not a competition, the studying that moves scores is not "more hours" — it is "more coverage of the units you got wrong." Our full-length mock exams score by TEKS domain so you can see exactly where the last percentage points come from.

Why not skip preparation?

A single failed CBE retake at a district test center runs $50 to $150 in fees plus the schedule cost of an unused two-attempt slot under §74.24. Our full-year Physics access is normally $29.99, and we are running a $10 launch discount — $19.99 — as a limited-time offer while Physics is new on the platform. The math there is not really a pricing decision. It is what "time is an asset" looks like when a semester of classroom instruction can be compressed into three weeks of focused prep, and when a passing score protects the two-attempt window.

Try Physics before you buy

Every Texas CBE subject offers free sample questions with no signup. The Physics sample set covers a spread of TEKS domains — kinematics, energy, circuits, waves, atomic — so a student can quietly check where they are before committing to anything.

Before you register

Physics CBE windows, forms, and accepted providers vary by district. Start with the campus counselor — they have the current schedule for your ISD, know whether the district administers its own §28.023 test or routes students to UT High School under §74.24, and can flag any deadline you would otherwise miss. Our role is the preparation. Their role is the schedule and paperwork. Both matter.

Independently authored practice, TEKS-aligned coverage, and a three-week plan that respects the two-attempt ceiling — that is the whole product. Physics is now live at texascbe.com/subjects/physics.

Legal note. Texas CBE™ is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), UT High School (UTHS), The University of Texas at Austin, or any school district. All practice questions are independently authored and modeled after the official Credit by Examination format for educational preparation purposes only. Policies, passing thresholds, and accepted providers may vary by district — always verify with the campus counselor.