Exactly what SEAB prints inside your 2026 maths and science papers, reproduced in full, plus the surprises: A Maths gets the quadratic formula, E Maths does not, and Physics gets nothing at all.
By Marcus Toh · 2026-07-18
Before an exam it helps to know exactly what the paper will hand you and what it will not, because a formula you can look up is revised differently from one you must recall cold. This page reproduces, in full, what SEAB prints inside each 2026 O-Level maths and science paper, taken straight from the official syllabuses. Use the menu inside the resource below to jump to any sheet.
The short version is that maths students are handed a formula sheet, chemistry students are handed the Periodic Table, and physics and biology students are handed nothing. The detail is where the surprises live.
| Subject | What is printed in the paper |
|---|---|
| E Maths (4052) | A formula sheet: mensuration, trigonometry and statistics. No quadratic formula |
| A Maths (4049) | A fuller formula sheet, including the quadratic formula, binomial expansion and trig identities |
| Physics (6091) | Nothing. No formula sheet and no data booklet |
| Biology (6093) | Nothing printed. Like Physics, everything is recalled |
| Chemistry (6092) | The Periodic Table in Papers 1 and 2, and the Notes for Qualitative Analysis in the practical paper |
| Combined Science (5086 to 5088) | The Periodic Table plus the Colours of Some Common Metal Hydroxides data sheet in the theory papers |
First, the quadratic formula. A Maths prints it on the sheet, but E Maths does not, even though E Maths students use it constantly. If you sit E Maths, the quadratic formula is one you commit to memory, alongside Pythagoras' theorem and the angle properties, none of which are on the E Maths sheet either.
Second, Physics gives you nothing. There is no formula sheet and no data booklet, and the syllabus phrases almost every relationship as one you must "recall and apply". Biology is the same. So in both subjects, the equations and key figures come entirely from memory, which is why we have listed the core Physics relationships for you below.
Third, and least known, the "easier" subject sometimes hands you more. In the theory papers, a Combined Science student gets the Colours of Some Common Metal Hydroxides data sheet printed alongside the Periodic Table, while a pure Chemistry student gets only the Periodic Table and must recall those colours from memory. Pure Chemistry students do get the Notes for Qualitative Analysis, but only in the practical paper, not the written ones.
This is the actual formula sheet page from the 2026 SEAB syllabus, unchanged. Notice what is not on it: the quadratic formula, Pythagoras' theorem and the angle properties are all left for you to recall.
This is the actual A Maths sheet page from the 2026 SEAB syllabus. It is fuller, and it does print the quadratic formula, the binomial expansion and the full set of trigonometric identities.
Physics provides no formula sheet and no data booklet, and the syllabus phrases almost every relationship as one to "recall and apply". These are the core relationships to know cold. It is a starting set, not the complete syllabus, so learn the units alongside each one.
| Topic | Relationship |
|---|---|
| Speed | v = d / t |
| Acceleration | a = (v − u) / t |
| Resultant force | F = ma |
| Weight | W = mg |
| Density | ρ = m / V |
| Moment of a force | moment = F × d |
| Pressure | p = F / A and p = ρgh |
| Work done | W = Fd |
| Kinetic energy | Eₖ = ½mv² |
| Gravitational PE | Eₚ = mgh |
| Power | P = E / t |
| Ohm's law | V = IR |
| Electrical power | P = VI |
| Electrical energy | E = VIt |
| Wave speed | v = fλ |
This is the actual Periodic Table page from the 2026 SEAB Chemistry syllabus, printed in every Chemistry and Combined Science paper. Save it to your phone to zoom in on any element.