Which Pure Physics chapters actually get examined? A heat map of every O-Level paper since 2015
By StudySzn · · 4 min read
The short answer: over the 11 years from 2015 to 2025, the O-Level Pure Physics chapters that carried the most marks were Dynamics (10.4 marks a year), General Wave Properties (9.6 marks a year), Light (9.5 marks a year), Energy (9.3 marks a year) and D.C. Circuits (8.7 marks a year). Together the first four are about 32% of the 120 marks in a year. We went through every question, checked what each part tests, and counted the marks per chapter.
The chapters that carry the marks
- 1.Dynamics — 10.4 marks a year (9% of the paper)
- 2.General Wave Properties — 9.6 marks a year (8% of the paper)
- 3.Light — 9.5 marks a year (8% of the paper)
- 4.Energy — 9.3 marks a year (8% of the paper)
- 5.D.C. Circuits — 8.7 marks a year (7% of the paper)
At the other end, radioactivity (2.3), magnetism (2.3) and electromagnetic spectrum (2.5) bring in the fewest marks a year. Don’t read “low” as “safe to skip”: all but 2 chapters came up in every single year, and the biggest single-year swing was general wave properties in 2022, worth 20 marks on its own.
Radioactivity is new. It only appears from 2024: 10 marks in 2024 and 15 marks in 2025. Its low average over the whole set comes from the years before the chapter was examined, so look at the 2 most recent years for it, not the average.
How the marks are counted
Paper 1 is 40 multiple-choice questions. Paper 2 ends with an either/or question where candidates answer one of two alternatives, so each alternative counts at half, and a year adds up to 120 marks. The syllabus changed in 2024 (Radioactivity is new content from that year), so the presets in the tool below let you compare the new syllabus with the papers before it. The practical paper isn’t included. Each question’s marks go to the chapter it tests, and when a question mixes topics, the marks are split part by part.
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 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Avg / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.9 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 6.5 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 10.4 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 4.7 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 6.5 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 9.3 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 3.9 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 3.3 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 7 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 9.6 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 2.5 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 9.5 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 4.6 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 6 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 8.7 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 6.3 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 2.3 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 4.7 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 6.1 /yr | ||||||||||||
| 2.3 /yr | ||||||||||||
| Outside the current chapter list | ||||||||||||
| 2 /yr | ||||||||||||
| Total marks | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | |
Most examined first
Average marks over the selected years
Yearly mix by topic area
- Mechanics
- Thermal physics
- Waves & light
- Electricity
- Magnetism & induction
- Radioactivity
- 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 classified from the paper itself, not from tags (updated 2026-10-10). The practical paper isn’t included.
Paper 2 either/or. The last Paper 2 question offers two alternatives and candidates answer one. “As attempted” counts each alternative at half, so a year adds up to 120 marks (40 for Paper 1 and 80 for Paper 2). “Every question” counts both in full.
How closely each year was checked. 2015–2025 were checked against the original scanned papers.
Syllabus change in 2024. Radioactivity is examined only from 2024. Older papers also asked some things today’s syllabus no longer covers (such as thermometer calibration); those marks sit in their own row, not in a chapter.
What changed with the 2024 syllabus
Comparing 2015–2023 with 2024–2025, using only marks on current chapters:
- Radioactivity went up from 0% to 10% of marks.
- Electromagnetic Spectrum went up from 2% to 5% of marks.
- General Wave Properties came down from 9% to 5%.
- Current of Electricity came down from 6% to 3%.
If your paper is 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 dynamics, waves and d.c. circuits solid first.
- Look at your paper, not just the whole set. Switch between Paper 1 and Paper 2 to see which chapters are tested by multiple choice and which by longer structured questions.
- Don’t skip the small ones. Radioactivity averages 2.3 marks a year, but it was worth 15 in 2025.
- Then practise. Pick a chapter and do real questions from it in the StudySzn question bank.
How we checked it
Every question was classified from the paper itself, not from tags. The 2015–2025 papers were checked against the original scans. The other years were checked against the question text and diagrams in our question bank, because we didn’t have a scan of those papers. 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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