How to Revise for Physics GCSE

You don’t need to revise everything

In my experience teaching and tutoring GCSE Physics, the most common revision mistake students make is thinking that they have to revise everything. You have learned a lot over the two years that you have been studying GCSE Physics, and there is simply not enough time to go over it all. You need to prioritise. 

Make a list of the topics and sub-topics and rate each one with a traffic light system. Green for feeling most confident, red for feeling least confident. You need to target your revision on your red topics first, then amber, and then you can recap your green topics if you have time. 

If you’re not sure which topics you know, you can use flashcards, revision notes, topic questions, or past papers to assess your understanding of different topics. 

An overview of the topics and subtopics for each GCSE exam board can be found using the following links:

• AQA GCSE Physics topics and subtopics

• Edexcel GCSE Physics topics and subtopics

• OCR Gateway Physics topics and subtopics

• WJEC GCSE Physics topics and subtopics

Create a revision timetable

Your revision timetable needs to be realistic to be achievable. Find out the dates of your exams and work backwards from there. 

• How many weeks do you have between now and your exams? 

• How many hours of revision time do you have per week for GCSE Physics, taking into account all your other subjects?

• Do you have any time during the school day for revision?

• What other activities do you need to schedule in? 

It is important that you achieve a good work-life balance while you are revising. Firstly, the lead-up to exam season is a stressful time, and you need to look after your physical and mental well-being. Secondly, balance is important because your brain needs time away from studying to process and file all the information you are pouring into it. 

Your revision timetable should include periods of study and rest breaks in between. The length of each study session is dependent on how long you can focus efficiently. For most people, this is between 20 and 40 minutes. 

You can learn more about creating a revision timetable and see examples in the article GCSE revision timetable.

Focus on key concepts

Understand core topics

The arrangement of the content within topics will be slightly different depending on which exam board you are studying. However, there are seven main topics in GCSE Physics.

• Energy

• Motion and forces

• Waves

• Matter

• Electricity

• Magnetism and electromagnetism

• Space

Each of these topics can be broken down into smaller subtopics, and each subtopic can be broken down into smaller specification points. 

The specification points can be found in the exam board specifications, but they are intended for teachers, so they tend to use jargon and don’t include everything you need to know. 

Each individual specification point is covered in the Save My Exams Revision Notes. Our Revision Notes are written by experienced teachers and examiners and contain all the information that you could be assessed on in your GCSE Physics exam.

During your revision, you should focus on the topics you are least confident in. 

However, the major topics are where the majority of the marks will be awarded in an exam paper. It is likely that there would only be one question per exam paper on the smaller topics, like space and electromagnetism, but there may be multiple questions on the larger topics, such as energy, waves, motion and forces. So, if you find that you have lots of topics to revise, concentrate on the larger topics where the majority of the marks will be gained. 

Practice core skills

Although there are equations and certain definitions that you need to memorise for your GCSE Physics exam, the vast majority of the marks will be awarded for your understanding of key concepts and your skill in applying your understanding to different situations. So part of your revision should include recall, but the majority of your revision should be practising the skills needed to answer the questions. 

You can do this by using the Save My Exams Topic Questions or the collections of Past Papers that we offer for every exam board.

It is very likely that you will be asked to plot a graph in at least one of your GCSE Physics exams. So, as part of your revision, you need to make sure you are comfortable with the skills required to do this. You can find out everything you need to know about graphs in the article Graph skills in GCSE Physics.

Physics can be a difficult subject to learn, and there are a lot of common misconceptions that students pick up along the way. Check out the article How to tackle misconceptions in GCSE Physics to make sure you don’t have any!

Use flashcards and mind mapping 

Flashcards are great for aiding recall. They are the perfect way to learn all those equations, definitions, values, and units that you do need to remember for your exam. You can test yourself, or you can get a family member or friend to test you. When you are sure that you know a specific item, you can remove that flashcard from the deck. It is a great feeling to see your deck shrink over the course of your revision journey. For more information about using flashcards, check out the article, How do I use flashcards for revision?

Mind mapping is a great way to visually organise information. The process of creating a mind map forces you to think about the relationships between separate pieces of information, so it is a fantastic tool for revision. Mind mapping is an active process where your brain has to do work on the information. Active revision processes strengthen the connections your brain makes between different pieces of information. This aids recall and actually reduces the number of separate items that your brain needs to remember. For a more in-depth look at mind mapping, check out the article Revision mind maps: your key to exam success.

Practise regularly with past papers

Solve practice questions

In my experience of taking hundreds of students through their GCSE Physics revision, the second most common mistake that students make is not prioritising time to practise exam questions. 

You do need to know the content before you can really answer exam questions, but the recall aspect is just the first part of the revision process. You need to practise the application of that knowledge. 

In your exam, you may need to merge two different equations that you have never used before in that way. You may need to apply your understanding of conservation of energy to a situation involving conservation of mass. You may be asked to apply Newton’s first law of motion to a moments problem, or to use what you know about nuclear fission to explain why a nuclear power plant is more suitable for a specific location. The exam questions are designed for you to have to think about the content you have learned in new ways. You do not know exactly what you will be asked, so the only way to prepare for this is by practising similar questions. 

At Save My Exams, our Topic Questions have been written in an exam board specific style by experienced teachers and examiners to allow you to practise the skills you need in order to answer those unseen exam questions. 

Conduct mock exams

As the final stage of your revision, you need to practise actually sitting the exam. 

Ideally, you need a past paper that you have not seen before. Set your timer to the allocated time, and do the whole paper from start to finish under exam conditions. That means no notes and no breaks (unless you are entitled to breaks in your exam). 

You need to experience the level of concentration required to sit an entire exam paper; you need to experience the cramp in your pen hand; and you need to practise using the equation sheet if you have one in your exam. 

To help you keep up your pace while sitting an exam paper, here are a few tips:

• Aim for one minute per mark. If an exam question is worth 2 marks, it should take you 2 minutes to complete.

• As soon as the time starts, spend 60 seconds looking through the paper to check if you have many large mark calculations, graph plotting, or practical-based questions that will take longer than the average minute per mark.

• If you don’t know the answer to a question or can’t immediately think of it, move on to the next question and come back to it later. Your brain will continue to work on the problem as you focus on the next question.

• If some information seems to be missing from a calculation, check the previous question parts; you have probably already calculated the value.

• After you have finished all your questions, go back to any that you passed over. If there is still time left, go back and check any calculations or questions you were unsure about as if you were the examiner, making sure that all the points are clear enough to be awarded a mark. Use all the time you have to gain all the marks you can. 

• Don’t second-guess yourself. 90% of the time, your first instinct will be correct. But if there were areas you were not sure of, they are worth taking a second look at. Everyone makes mistakes, and if you catch them before the time is up, you can score yourself a few extra marks. 

Memorise key physics formulae

Which equations you need to know and which will be given to you in the exam vary by exam board. You can find out which equations are given to you by looking at the equation sheet. These are downloadable from the links below:

• AQA GCSE Physics equation sheet

  • Provided for you in the exam

• Edexcel GCSE Physics equation/formula sheet 

  • Contained within the exam paper either at the front or back 

• OCR Gateway GCSE equation sheet

  • Provided for you in the exam

• WJEC GCSE equation sheet

  • Contained within the exam paper at the front

All other equations included in the specification you will need to be able to recall. You will also need to recall the units for all of the quantities in all the equations in the specification.

For more information about using equation sheets successfully in your exam, check out the article, AQA GCSE Physics equation sheet.

Using technology for revision 

It is true that social media can be a distraction when you are trying to revise, and if you tend to lose hours every time you open TikTok or Instagram, then it can be beneficial to avoid social media during your allocated study time. 

However, social media can be a great way to share study techniques and discover new ways of revising. Check out these articles for revision tips from real students and how teachers are using these techniques: GCSE Science revision tips: student led blog and GCSE revision tips: student led blog. 

Our teachers here at Save My Exams post regularly on TikTok with revision tips and subject-specific revision hacks. We’d love to hear how you are using social media to help you revise, using @savemyexams on TikTok, Instagram, X, and savemyexams on Facebook.

Maintain motivation and well-being

Everyone around you wants you to do your very best in your exams. Sometimes this can translate into a feeling of pressure for students. Exam season and the revision period leading up to it can be a very stressful time, so it is vital that you look after your physical and mental well-being. 

You do need to dedicate a sensible amount of time to studying for your exams, but you also need to balance this with down-time doing things you enjoy. 

Scheduling time into your revision timetable for TV, gaming, sports, and seeing friends is a great way to make sure you are striking the right balance. Use your down-time as a reward for completing your study sessions to keep you motivated. 

Set up group study sessions so you can revise with friends, either in person or online. Choose a study-buddy who wants to get the work done as much as you do so that you can keep each other focused and motivated. 

Sleep is vital during your revision period, and even more so during the exam season. Sleep is when your brain organises and stores all the information it has processed during the day. Make sure you are getting enough sleep so that your brain can function optimally for your revision sessions. If you wake up feeling drained, then you are not getting enough sleep. You should  aim for 8–10 hours per night to make sure you are fully rested.

The night before any exam should be a period of rest and relaxation. No cramming. Your only job is to distract yourself from the nerves you may be feeling about the impending exam. Eat a good meal, watch your favourite TV show, and get an early night. 

On the day of the exam, eat a good breakfast; you will need the energy. Do some gentle exercise to get the blood flowing to your brain. Listen to a motivating song and get your head in the game. Give yourself a little pep talk; you are ready, you can do this!

Key takeaways

• Prioritise what you need to revise

• Focus on understanding rather than recall

• Practice exam questions and exam papers

• Look after your physical and mental well-being

Additional reading

• How to get all 9s in your GCSEs: our top tips to smash your exams

• Time management for students

• Don’t panic! The ultimate guide to when to start your GCSE revision

• How to make a GCSE revision timetable

• How to supercharge your GCSE revision with flashcards

Here at Save My Exams, we develop high-quality, affordable revision resources; consider signing up for a Save my Exams subscription to help you get the most out of your revision. We support over 1.5 million students each month in preparing for their exams and achieving successful results, we’d love to help you too.