For any of your HSC Physics exams, all your questions will come from the syllabus — difficult, intermediate or easy.
This means that the secret to succeeding in your HSC study was given to you in the first week of Year 12 — you just have to make good use of the HSC Physics syllabus!
We’ve broken down 5 steps to effectively study for HSC physics, by using your NESA Physics syllabus.
So let’s get started!
Step #1: Write Your Notes Using the HSC Physics Syllabus Dot Points
Step #2: Use the Traffic Light System
Step #3: Try Question Types from Each Syllabus Point
Step #4: Take Note of the HSC Physics Syllabus Connections
Step #5: Don’t Forget Your Practicals!
Step #1: Write Your Notes Using the HSC Physics Syllabus Dot Points
A lot of HSC physics students question how they can possibly write notes for the subject.
True to its wacky nature, the best studying for HSC Physics will mix strategies from content-heavy sciences like Biology and logic-based subjects like Mathematics.
Using your HSC Physics syllabus in your study includes two strategies:
- Structuring your notes based on the dot points
- What content you include in your notes
As a brief rundown, the NESA Physics syllabus contains 4 modules:
It’s a good idea to make distinct sections in your notes so you can thoroughly cover each of these modules and all the topics under them.
This will help you now with organisation and linking modules together — in the future, you can rest assured that you’ll be prepared for everything you need to know for your exams!
Remember, each module will have a few subtopics.
For example, Module 5: Advanced mechanics has a subtopic labelled ‘Circular Motion.’
At the start of this subtopic, you are given inquiry questions which can be extremely useful for your notes as they help you articulate the main ideas that capture that topic!
Below is an example of the inquiry question for circular motion!
To answer this, you should talk about centripetal force, acceleration and work into consideration to give you an answer that captures all the concepts taught under this topic!
Now, under the subtopic title and your inquiry question, your HSC physics syllabus will give you a nice breakdown of every concept you need to know for that specific module area!
These ‘subtopics’ are what you should be using to write up your notes!
If you were writing your notes for the subtopic below, you should write information including the work formula, and the main components of circular motion, which should ideally give rise to the concept in this syllabus point!
Step #2: Use the Traffic Light System
The Traffic Light system is another great way to take advantage of your HSC Physics syllabus and make sure that you know everything that you need to know for your Physics exam!
The Traffic Light system involves coding each dot point with your level of understanding. Like a traffic light, highlight your subtopics with these colours:
- Green: ‘I know this well’
- Orange: ‘I’m pretty sure I’ve got this, but I’m still uncertain about some things’
- Red: ‘What is that?’
This helps build a visual representation of what you do and don’t know, allowing you to focus on your weak areas before your exams!
In an ideal situation, everything in your syllabus will be green before you sit an exam!
If you find yourself with numerous red highlights, consider reaching out to our expert HSC Physics tutors to support you with your studies at our Hornsby or Castle Hill campus, or tutoring in your home or online across NSW!
Step #3: Try Question Types from Each Syllabus Point
Physics includes theory and also an equal (maybe even heavier) weight on Maths!
To ensure that you are understanding the best of both worlds, get exposure to Physics questions for all areas of your syllabus!
Take a look at our comprehensive Master List of HSC Physics Past Papers here!
For further resources, take a look at your Physics textbook and on useful websites such as acehsc which have a bunch of school trial papers for you to practice with!
Note: Physics questions tend to be trickier than most subjects – especially those in the multiple choice section.
Step #4: Take Note of the HSC Physics Syllabus Connections
When doing some practice questions for Physics, you’ll start to notice that the trickier, heavier weighted questions will involve concepts from multiple modules.
Band 6 students and those who’ll ace these questions will think critically and creatively on how to integrate these mix of ideas!
For example, you could get a question that involves an integration of circular motion and the motor effect.
To prepare for multiple-module questions, make sure that you look through the notes that you have created under each of your syllabus dot points and annotate how they might connect with one another!
Step #5: Don’t Forget Your Practicals!
When you look through your HSC Physics syllabus, you’ll notice that there are some interesting dot points that look something like this:
These dot points are often the ones that students neglect and forget about, but can be really useful in building your scientific skills and improving your conceptual understanding on specific topics!
By paying attention to these dot points, you’ll be prepared for the practical-based questions you will get in the HSC Physic exams which might ask you to interpret some data, draw a graph or perhaps come up with a method for a specific experiment!
Looking to ace Chemistry too? Check out these 5 Study Techniques for HSC Chemistry that will set you ahead!
Looking for some extra help with HSC Physics?
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Yasmin Hasan is a current first year psychology student at UNSW. She loves making art, playing piano or reading in her spare time. She graduated from high school in 2021 so her memories of her own high school experience are still quite fresh. She would love to use her own experiences to help other students build their confidence and improve in their academics!
