OCR A-Level Physics A Active Recall Guide (H556)
OCR · A-Level
OCR A-Level Physics A Active Recall Guide
Every topic of specification H556 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 1,862 questions across 25 topics and 156 subtopics, covering all six modules with no optional content left out.
- OCR
- A-Level
- Specification H556
- 1,862 questions
Guide overview All 25 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
OCR A-Level Physics A is assessed by three written papers at the end of Year 13. Modelling Physics and Exploring Physics are 2 hours 15 minutes and 100 marks each, worth 37 per cent apiece, and each opens with a 15 mark multiple choice section. Unified Physics is 1 hour 30 minutes and 70 marks, worth 26 per cent, and connects content that was taught separately.
There is no optional content on this specification. All twenty-five topics are compulsory, which means the recall load is fixed and known from the first day of Year 12. What varies between students is how much of it they can produce with the book shut.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paper 1 Modelling Physics |
Draws on modules 1, 2, 3 and 5 — the practical skills, foundations, forces and motion, and the Newtonian world and astrophysics Multiple choice section followed by structured and extended-response questions Section A is 15 marks of multiple choice; section B is 85 marks of structured, calculation, practical and extended-response questions |
2 hours 15 minutes | 100 marks | 37% |
|
Paper 2 Exploring Physics |
Draws on modules 1, 2, 4 and 6 — electrons, waves and photons, and particles and medical physics Multiple choice section followed by structured and extended-response questions Section A is 15 marks of multiple choice; section B is 85 marks of structured, calculation, practical and extended-response questions |
2 hours 15 minutes | 100 marks | 37% |
|
Paper 3 Unified Physics |
Draws on all six modules and connects them Structured questions and extended response, including synoptic questions spanning several topics Assesses the ability to bring together content that was taught separately |
1 hour 30 minutes | 70 marks | 26% |
|
H556/04 Practical Endorsement |
Assessed by the centre across the required practical activities Reported separately as a pass and does not contribute to the A-level grade |
Completed during the course | Reported separately | — |
What is in the guide
All 25 topics
Every topic has its own page with its subtopics, what it covers and sample questions.
Sample questions
Taken from the guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Planning an experiment
Why is it necessary to identify variables that must be controlled when planning an experiment?
Show the answer
Identifying control variables ensures that only the independent variable affects the dependent variable, making the results valid and allowing cause-and-effect relationships to be established. -
Analogue and digital measuring instruments
Name an analogue instrument suitable for measuring angles.
Show the answer
A protractor. -
Physical quantities, estimation and unit conversions
In the expression '9.81 m s⁻²', which part is the unit?
Show the answer
m s⁻² -
Systematic and random errors
Can systematic errors be reduced by repeating measurements and calculating an average?
Show the answer
No, systematic errors cannot be reduced by repeating measurements and averaging because they shift all readings by the same amount in the same direction. -
Scalars and vectors
Is energy a scalar or vector quantity?
Show the answer
Energy is a scalar quantity. -
Displacement, speed, velocity and acceleration
How does average speed differ from instantaneous speed?
Show the answer
Average speed is calculated over an entire journey using total distance and total time, whereas instantaneous speed refers to the speed at one specific moment. -
Newton's second law and weight
What is the weight of an object?
Show the answer
The weight of an object is the gravitational force acting on it. -
Work done and conservation of energy
In the equation W = Fx cos θ, what does the angle θ represent?
Show the answer
θ is the angle between the force vector and the displacement vector.
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Look inside
Questions for a subtopic print together and the answers for that section print after them.
- Practical Skills in the Written Papers86
- The Practical Endorsement82
- Physical Quantities and Units38
- Making Measurements and Analysing Data26
- Nature of Quantities25
- Motion54
- Forces in Action64
- Work, Energy and Power42
- Materials57
- Newton’s Laws of Motion and Momentum43
- Charge and Current32
- Energy, Power and Resistance115
- and 13 more
- Name one type of analogue apparatus that can be used to measure length or distance.
- Give an example of analogue apparatus used to measure pressure.
- How does interpolation improve readings taken from an analogue scale?
- What digital instrument is used to measure electric current?
- Which digital instrument can measure electrical resistance directly?
- What analogue apparatus is commonly used to measure temperature in a physics laboratory?
- Name an analogue instrument suitable for measuring angles.
- State a digital instrument that can be used to measure time.
- Name a digital instrument suitable for measuring voltage.
- A ruler or metre rule (also acceptable: tape measure, vernier calipers with analogue scale).
- A Bourdon gauge or a manometer.
- It allows the observer to estimate a reading to a fraction of the smallest scale division, giving greater precision than simply reading to the nearest marked division.
- A digital ammeter or a digital multimeter set to current mode.
- A digital multimeter (set to resistance/ohms mode) or a digital ohmmeter.
- A liquid-in-glass thermometer (e.g. mercury or alcohol thermometer).
- A protractor.
- A digital stopwatch or a digital timer.
- A digital voltmeter or a digital multimeter set to voltage mode.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
I do OCR Physics. Is this the right specification?
OCR runs two A-Level Physics specifications. This guide is Physics A, H556. The other is Physics B, Advancing Physics, H557, which teaches physics through contexts and is organised completely differently.
The code is on your exam timetable and on the front of most endorsed textbooks. If yours says H557 you need the Physics B guide instead.
Does it cover all six modules?
Yes. 25 topics across the six modules, 156 subtopics, 1,862 questions. Modules 1 and 2 are the practical skills and the handling of physical quantities that the rest assumes, and both are in the guide because both are examined on the written papers.
The full topic list is here, grouped by module.
Is the Practical Endorsement in it?
The Endorsement itself, H556/04, is marked by your teacher across the course and reported separately as a pass, so it is not examined and not in the guide.
Practical work is also examined on all three written papers, and that content is in the guide as two topics: Practical Skills in the Written Papers, 86 questions, and The Practical Endorsement, 82 questions, covering apparatus, technique, uncertainty and the analysis of results.
What about the maths?
The mathematical requirements are examined throughout rather than as a separate paper, and they are in the guide where they belong: logarithms in radioactive decay and capacitor discharge, gradients and areas under graphs, the small angle approximation, radians in circular motion and oscillations, and the handling of uncertainty and significant figures.
OCR A-Level Physics A Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.