OCR runs two physics A-Levels. Physics A (H556) is the conventional specification, organised into six modules from development of practical skills through to particles and medical physics. Physics B, Advancing Physics (H557), teaches the same physics through contexts and applications, and is assessed with a noticeably different style of question.

Physics A is assessed by three papers: Modelling Physics, Exploring Physics, and Unified Physics, the last of which is synoptic across the whole course and includes the multiple choice section. Students often find Unified Physics the hardest paper on any board, because questions deliberately cross module boundaries — a single question may require mechanics, fields and materials together.

Curriculum Breakdown

Important Topics

Foundations & Practical Skills — Quantities, units, uncertainty, and the twelve practical activity groups.
Forces & Motion — Kinematics, Newton's laws, momentum, work, energy, power and materials.
Electrons, Waves & Photons — Charge, circuits, waves, superposition and quantum physics.
Newtonian World & Astrophysics — Thermal physics, ideal gases, circular motion, SHM, gravity and cosmology.
Particles & Medical Physics — Capacitors, electric and magnetic fields, nuclear physics and medical imaging.
Modelling & Mathematics — Applying mathematical models to physical systems and evaluating them.
Unified Synoptic Physics — Questions that cross module boundaries and combine several topics.

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