The 2026 O/L Science paper is on Wednesday, 16 December 2026. Here is exactly when each part starts, what Paper I looks like, and what to do with the three days before it.
Date and time
- Paper II, 08:30 – 11:40
- Paper I (MCQ), 13:00 – 14:00
Times are from the Department of Examinations' official time table, issued on 6 October 2026. See the full O/L 2026 time table for every other subject.
What Paper I looks like
Paper I is the multiple-choice paper: four numbered options per question, one correct. In the 13 sittings we hold (2013 to 2025), each Paper I carried 38 to 40 questions that we could reproduce faithfully. This year it is a separate one-hour sitting in the afternoon, after the three-hour Paper II.
The topics that have been asked almost every year
If you only look at one list in the last three days, make it this one. Each topic appeared in nearly every sitting we hold.
- ප්රභාසංශ්ලේෂණය6/13
- මවුල සංකල්පය5/13
- ප්රවේණික ආබාධ3/13
- ආලෝක වර්තනය3/13
- තරල පීඩනය3/13
- ද්විපද නාමකරණය3/13
- පාරිසරික පිරමිඩ3/13
- ප්රවේග-කාල ප්රස්තාර3/13
- බහිස්ස්රාවය3/13
- විද්යුත් චුම්බක ප්රේරණය3/13
- වෙන් කිරීමේ ක්රම3/13
- සම්ප්රයුක්ත බලය3/13
The last three days
Three days before: Sunday 13 December
One full past Paper I on the clock, from a year you have not done. Mark it and write down every miss.
Two days before: Monday 14 December
You sit Mathematics that day. Give it your full attention, and keep Science to one evening hour on the topic list above: nothing new, and early to bed.
The day before: Tuesday 15 December
You sit the technology and practical subjects (ICT, Agriculture, Health and others), if you take one that day. Give it your full attention, and keep Science to one evening hour on the topic list above: nothing new, and early to bed.
Other papers fall in the days just before Science, so the real last push is earlier: do your final full Science paper on the last free day before them, not the night before.
In the hall
- Paper I starts at 13:00, after three hours of Paper II. Eat, drink water, and spend the break away from the Paper II answers.
- Sixty minutes for forty questions is ninety seconds each. Do every question you can answer in one read first, then come back for the calculations.
No calculators and no correcting fluid in any O/L paper this year, and a phone in the hall is an offence that can be punished. Leave it at home. The full list is in the exam day checklist.
A real Paper I question, to warm up
කොපුල් සෛල ආලෝක අණ්වීක්ෂය යටතේ නිරීක්ෂණය කළ විට දැකිය හැකි ඉන්ද්රියිකාවක් වන්නේ
- Aගොල්ගි සංකීර්ණය ය.
- Bමයිටොකොන්ඩ්රියම ය.
- Cන්යෂ්ටිය ය.
- Dරයිබොසෝම ය.