Which H2 Physics chapters actually get examined? A heat map of every paper since 2010
By StudySzn · · 4 min read
Most students revise Physics chapter by chapter, in syllabus order. But the exam doesn’t give every chapter the same weight. So we went through every question in the 2010–2025 A-Level papers (all 16 years, 805 questions), checked each one against the original paper, and counted the marks per chapter.
The short answer
A full set of papers adds up to about 191 marks a year. On average, these five chapters carry the most:
- 1.Circuits — 15.4 marks a year (8% of the paper)
- 2.Quantum Physics — 13.7 marks a year (7% of the paper)
- 3.Nuclear Physics — 12.8 marks a year (7% of the paper)
- 4.Superposition — 12.5 marks a year (7% of the paper)
- 5.Gravitational Fields — 11.8 marks a year (6% of the paper)
The first four (Circuits, Quantum Physics, Nuclear Physics and Superposition) add up to about 29% of all marks. At the other end, projectile motion (2.9), circular motion (4.8) and collisions (5.4) bring in the fewest marks a year.
Only 2 of the 20 chapters ever skipped a year, so don’t read “low” as “safe to ignore”. The biggest single-year swing was quantum physics in 2018, worth 35 marks on its own.
Try it yourself
Pick the years and the paper you care about. Click any cell to see the exact questions behind it. Your choices stay in the page link, so you can send a view to a friend.
Topic heat map
Marks per chapter per year. Darker means more marks.
| Chapter | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Avg / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.9 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 10.3 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 10.6 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 8.2 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 2.9 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 5.4 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 4.8 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 11.8 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 11.1 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 5.5 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 12.5 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 5.6 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 7.8 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 10.9 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 15.4 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 9.3 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 8.4 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 13.7 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 12.8 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| Outside the 2026 chapter list | |||||||||||||||||
| 7.7 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| 1.3 /yr | |||||||||||||||||
| Total marks | 192 | 192 | 192 | 192 | 190 | 192 | 192 | 190 | 190 | 190 | 190 | 190 | 190 | 190 | 190 | 190 | |
Most examined first
Average marks over the selected years
Yearly mix by topic area
- Mechanics
- Waves
- Thermal
- Electricity & Magnetism
- Modern Physics
- Other
How this is counted
Each question’s marks go to the chapter it tests; when a question mixes topics, its marks are split part by part. Every question was checked against the original scanned paper (updated 2026-10-07). Paper 4 (practical) isn’t included.
Paper 3 Section B. Students answer only some of these questions (one of two from 2017, two of three before). “As attempted” counts each by the fraction a student answers, so a paper adds up to 80 marks. “Every question” counts them all in full.
Older papers (2010–2016, 9646). Mapped onto the 2026 chapters. Marks for topics no longer in the syllabus sit in their own row. Practical-skills marks (uncertainties, graph analysis) are counted under Measurement in some years and under “Data & skills” in others, depending on the question.
What changed after 2017
The syllabus changed in 2017, and the mix of marks moved with it. Comparing 2010–2016 with 2017–2025, using only marks on current chapters:
- Quantum Physics went up from 6% to 9% of marks.
- Wave Motion went up from 2% to 4% of marks.
- Circuits came down from 10% to 7%.
- Oscillations came down from 8% to 5%.
If you’re sitting the paper soon, lean on the recent years: use the “Last 5” button in the tool above.
How to use this when you revise
- Start with the heavy chapters. If you only have a week, get circuits, quantum physics and gravitational fields solid first.
- Look at your paper, not just the whole set. Switch to Paper 2 or Paper 3 to see where the long questions come from.
- Don’t skip the small ones. Projectile Motion averages 2.9 marks a year, but it was worth 8 in 2014.
- Then practise. Pick a chapter and do real questions from it in the student question bank (enrolment required).
How we counted
Each question’s marks go to the chapter it tests. When a question mixes topics, the marks are split part by part. For Paper 3, students only answer some of the Section B questions, so those are counted by the share a student actually attempts (you can switch this off in the tool). Topics that are no longer in the syllabus get their own row instead of being squeezed into a chapter. This covers past papers only, so it’s a guide to the exam, not a prediction of next year’s.
Put the guide into practice
Download a free weekly revision planner. Pick a topic, attempt a timed question, record your mistakes, and schedule a second attempt. Our guides, planner and heat maps are free to use without an account.
Download the revision planner (CSV)Open in Excel or Google Sheets. Use one row per study session.
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