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Physics Gives You Nothing: The Paper Has No Formula Sheet, and That Changes the Revision

Unlike Maths, the Physics syllabus provides no formulae in the exam. What 6091 does give you, what must live in memory, and how to build the list without drowning in it.

By Marcus Toh · 2026-02-20

  • The hard truth: The 6091 syllabus contains no provision of formulae in the exam papers, unlike Mathematics
  • What it gives instead: A syllabus summary of key quantities, symbols and units, the revision skeleton
  • The papers: 40 MCQs at 30%, an 80 mark structured paper at 50%, the practical at 20%

What the paper does and does not provide

Both Maths syllabuses state that relevant formulae will be provided. Search the Physics 6091 syllabus for the same promise and it is simply not there: no formula list accompanies the papers. What the syllabus does publish is a Summary of Key Quantities, Symbols and Units, the official map of every quantity a candidate must command, which makes it the honest skeleton for a self built formula list.

How to build the list without drowning

  1. Work topic by topic from the syllabus outcomes, writing each equation the outcomes require, in symbols, with units, because the units are half the marks in show your working questions.
  2. Group by family, not by chapter. The motion equations, the energy family, the electricity family, grouped equations reinforce each other and expose the patterns that make them memorable.
  3. Rehearse by use, not by recital. One problem per equation per week beats chanting the list, because the exam tests selection, which equation fits this scenario, more than recall itself.
  4. Keep the list to one page and carry it everywhere. The constraint forces compression, and compression is understanding.

We keep the compiled visual versions of every provided sheet, and the note on what Physics withholds, in the formula sheet collection, and the exam's other half, the 40 mark practical, rewards an entirely different kind of preparation.

Podsee's Take

Students discover Physics gives them nothing at the worst possible moment, in a prelim, mid question, reaching for a sheet that does not exist, and the panic that follows costs more marks than the missing equation did. So the first job is simply knowing the rule early, which this post has now done for your child, and the second is refusing the wrong conclusion, because the answer to no formula sheet is not more memorising, it is better organising.

Here is what three years of tutoring has shown me: the students who cope are never the ones with the best memories, they are the ones whose one page list is arranged in families they understand, so each equation props up its neighbours. Build that page in February, use it all year, and by October the list is not something your child remembers, it is something they know, the way they know their own address, and the exam hall holds no surprises.

FAQ

Does Chemistry give anything in the paper?

Yes: the 6092 papers include a printed copy of the Periodic Table in both theory papers, so Chemistry's data is given while Physics's equations are not, a difference worth knowing when planning revision across the two sciences.

What choice exists in the Physics papers?

Only Paper 2's Section B, two questions answer one, worth 10 marks. The 40 multiple choice items and Section A's 70 marks, including the 8 to 12 mark data based question, are all compulsory.

When are the 2026 Physics papers?

Per the timetable, 6091 sits Paper 2 on 29 October and Paper 1 on 6 November 2026, with practical schedules running earlier in October.

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Sources

  • SEAB — Physics Syllabus 6091, examined in 2026: https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/334/42ee79d0-bb13-43f5-94ab-629729f88aa0/6091_y26_sy.pdf
  • SEAB — Chemistry Syllabus 6092, examined in 2026 (Periodic Table provision): https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/334/19dfb9f9-b3ce-4609-a3cf-5d30052317f5/6092_y26_sy.pdf
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