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Which A-Level H2 Physics topics come up most often?
We counted every question in 38 A-Level H2 Physics papers in Rae's library: 1116 questions across 24 topics. The most common single topic is Superposition, interference and diffraction, at 7.7% of all questions.
Every topic, ranked
| Topic | Questions | Share | Papers | Avg marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superposition, interference and diffraction | 86 | 7.7% | 31 | 2.3 |
| Gravitational fields and orbits | 67 | 6.0% | 31 | 2.4 |
| Electromagnetic induction and transformers | 67 | 6.0% | 29 | 2.5 |
| Kinematics and Newton's laws | 66 | 5.9% | 32 | 1.6 |
| Work, energy, power and fields concept | 63 | 5.6% | 29 | 1.6 |
| Electric fields, potential and capacitance | 57 | 5.1% | 29 | 2.2 |
| Simple harmonic motion and resonance | 56 | 5.0% | 32 | 2.9 |
| Circuits: resistance, resistivity, RC networks | 55 | 4.9% | 27 | 1.8 |
| Magnetic fields and forces on charges/currents | 54 | 4.8% | 30 | 2.4 |
| Forces, moments and equilibrium | 53 | 4.7% | 26 | 2.0 |
| Momentum and collisions | 52 | 4.7% | 25 | 1.9 |
| Uniform circular motion | 50 | 4.5% | 28 | 1.5 |
| Nuclear structure and radioactive decay | 50 | 4.5% | 28 | 2.0 |
| Wave properties and polarisation | 48 | 4.3% | 29 | 1.2 |
| Photon and wave-particle duality | 46 | 4.1% | 28 | 1.5 |
| Ideal gases and kinetic theory | 41 | 3.7% | 26 | 1.7 |
| Current, e.m.f. and a.c./d.c. supplies | 41 | 3.7% | 21 | 1.7 |
| Thermodynamics and heat transfer | 40 | 3.6% | 23 | 2.6 |
| Units, measurement uncertainty, vectors | 40 | 3.6% | 24 | 1.2 |
| Quantum wavefunctions and energy levels | 27 | 2.4% | 17 | 2.4 |
| Projectile motion under gravity | 26 | 2.3% | 18 | 2.6 |
| Nuclear reactions and binding energy | 23 | 2.1% | 13 | 3.5 |
| Data measurement, presentation and analysis skills | 6 | 0.5% | 5 | 1.5 |
| Practical planning and experimental design | 2 | 0.2% | 2 | 1.5 |
How to use this
Topic frequency is a guide to where revision time pays back, not a prediction. The three topics that appear most here (Superposition, interference and diffraction, Gravitational fields and orbits, Electromagnetic induction and transformers) are worth being fluent in, but a topic near the bottom of the table can still carry a whole question in any given year.
Method, and what this is not
These counts come from real A-Level H2 Physics papers held in Rae's library (papers dated 2020 to 2025), which include school preliminary papers as well as national papers. Each question is labelled with one topic. This is a count of what our library contains, not an official SEAB distribution, and it does not tell you what will be set in a future exam. Questions that could not be labelled with a single topic are excluded from the counts.
You are welcome to cite or link to this page. If you would like the underlying counts in another format, get in touch through the A-Level H2 Physics page.