The 8-Week IGCSE Physics Revision Plan

Use this resource for The 8-Week IGCSE Physics Revision Plan alongside the current syllabus and original practice. It is designed to support active recall, marking and correction rather than passive rereading.

The plan has four stages:

1. verify the route and syllabus
2. repair weak outcomes and transferable skills
3. combine topics and practise the practical component
4. complete timed papers, correct errors and retest them

Schools teach topics in different orders. Use the current Cambridge IGCSE Physics 0625 syllabus and the student’s marked evidence rather than assuming that every student needs the same weekly sequence.

Before Week 1: establish the baseline

Confirm:

• Core or Extended route
• Paper 5 or Paper 6
• examination series and component codes
• current 2026 to 2028 syllabus
• latest complete or substantial marked work

Then classify every syllabus outcome:

• Red: not taught, forgotten or repeatedly wrong
• Amber: understood with prompts or only in familiar questions
• Green: answered independently in mixed work

Also classify lost marks by skill:

• knowledge
• concept
• equation selection
• algebra
• units
• graph or data
• practical reasoning
• command words
• timing

This baseline determines the weekly priorities.

Weeks 1 and 2: repair the foundations

Week 1: measurement, mechanics and mathematical method

Select the weakest required outcomes from:

• physical quantities and measurement
• speed and motion graphs
• mass, weight and density
• forces, moments and equilibrium
• work, power and energy transfer
• Extended momentum, energy and liquid-pressure calculations where applicable

Mathematics priorities may include:

• SI units and prefixes
• gradients
• rearranging equations
• significant figures
• ratios and proportionality

Tasks

• relearn two or three red outcomes
• complete original topical questions at increasing difficulty
• complete one motion or force graph task
• complete one practical measurement task
• mark every response and record the error type
• retry the weakest skill without notes after a delay

Self-check

Can the student:

• identify the required quantity before selecting an equation?
• convert units before substitution?
• calculate and interpret a graph gradient?
• distinguish mass and weight?
• write a specific practical improvement rather than “be more careful”?

Week 2: circuits and electrical reasoning

Select the weakest required outcomes from:

• charge and electric fields
• current, potential difference, e.m.f. and resistance
• series and parallel circuits
• electrical power and energy
• electrical safety
• diodes and LEDs for Supplement
• induction, motors, generators and transformers
• ideal-transformer power and transmission losses for Supplement

Tasks

• draw and interpret circuit diagrams
• practise ammeter-in-series and voltmeter-in-parallel reasoning
• complete one-step and multi-stage circuit calculations
• practise diode orientation and current-voltage behaviour if Extended
• complete one transformer question using the Core turns ratio
• add ideal-power or cable-loss work only for Supplement
• complete one Paper 5 or Paper 6 circuit task

Self-check

Can the student explain why a high transmission voltage reduces cable heating without saying electricity travels faster? Can they distinguish the Core transformer turns ratio from the Supplement ideal-power relationship?

Weeks 3 and 4: thermal, waves and practical control

Week 3: thermal physics

Required areas can include:

• particle model
• gas pressure
• Celsius-to-kelvin conversion
• $pV = \text{constant}$ for Supplement
• specific heat capacity for Supplement
• melting, boiling, condensation, solidification and evaporation
• thermal expansion
• conduction, convection and radiation

The current syllabus does not require a specific latent heat equation. Do not spend this week memorising removed content.

Tasks

• explain gas pressure using a complete particle chain
• convert Celsius and kelvin values
• complete $pV = \text{constant}$ only for Extended
• complete a specific heat capacity calculation only for Extended
• interpret one heating or cooling graph
• compare boiling and evaporation at the appropriate tier
• complete a thermal practical evaluation task

Self-check

Can the student separate Core and Supplement requirements? Can they explain evaporative cooling using the more energetic particles that escape and the lower average kinetic energy left behind?

Week 4: waves, light and sound

Required areas can include:

• wave speed
• transverse and longitudinal waves
• reflection, refraction and diffraction
• electromagnetic spectrum
• ray diagrams
• total internal reflection
• lenses and image properties
• sound and echoes
• refractive-index and critical-angle equations for Supplement

Tasks

• complete unit-conversion questions using $v=f\lambda$
• draw reflection, refraction and lens diagrams accurately
• practise electromagnetic-spectrum uses and hazards with property links
• complete one sound or echo calculation
• add refractive-index and critical-angle calculations for Extended
• complete one practical graph or measurement task connected to waves

Self-check

Can the student distinguish a definition, a diagram construction and a calculation? Can they state the conditions for total internal reflection without adding an equation where it is not needed?

Weeks 5 and 6: nuclear, space and mixed practice

Week 5: nuclear physics

Required areas can include:

• nuclear model
• isotopes and nuclide notation
• alpha, beta and gamma
• detection and background radiation
• safety and applications
• half-life
• fission and fusion for Supplement

Tasks

• balance decay equations using nucleon and proton numbers
• compare radiation by ionisation, penetration and deflection
• complete half-life questions from values and graphs
• subtract and restore background count where required for Supplement questions
• complete fission and fusion questions for Extended
• write one safety answer using time, distance and shielding in context

Self-check

Can the student balance both top and bottom numbers? Can they distinguish fission from fusion and explain why very high temperature is needed for fusion?

Week 6: space physics and mixed-topic repair

Required areas can include:

• Solar System
• gravitational fields and orbits
• the Sun, stars and galaxies
• light-years
• redshift and expanding-Universe evidence
• stellar evolution, CMBR and Hubble work for Supplement

Basic redshift and the expanding-Universe evidence chain are Core. Do not label the whole cosmology topic Supplement.

Tasks

• practise light travel-time calculations
• add orbital-speed calculations for Extended
• retrieve the Core Sun, galaxy and light-year facts
• explain the Core redshift-to-expansion chain
• add stellar life cycles and Hubble calculations for Extended
• complete one mixed set containing questions from Weeks 1 to 5
• use the mixed results to select the three final repair priorities

Self-check

Can the student explain redshift as an increased observed wavelength from a receding galaxy? Can an Extended student complete both stellar-life-cycle branches and use the Hubble relationship accurately?

Week 7: complete component practice

Sit one complete set for the actual route:

Core

• Paper 1
• Paper 3
• Paper 5 or Paper 6

Extended

• Paper 2
• Paper 4
• Paper 5 or Paper 6

Use the correct time limits and official mark schemes.

After each component:

1. record the raw mark
2. classify every lost mark
3. identify the three highest-impact repairs
4. complete targeted questions for those repairs
5. retry the failed skills without notes

Historical grade thresholds depend on the examination series and entry option.

Week 7 review questions

• Which component produced the greatest avoidable loss?
• Which topic recurred across components?
• Which transferable skill caused losses in several topics?
• Were blank questions caused by missing knowledge or time?
• Did previously corrected errors return?

The answers determine Week 8.

Week 8: targeted repair and stabilisation

Early week

Use the Week 7 evidence to repair:

• the three weakest outcomes
• the largest transferable skill gap
• the weakest practical or graph skill

For each priority:

1. relearn the exact point
2. complete original targeted questions
3. mark and explain the error
4. retry without notes
5. test it in a mixed question

Mid-week

Complete a second timed component or paper combination. Compare the error categories with Week 7.

Improvement means more than a higher total. Look for:

• fewer unit errors
• fewer blank questions
• clearer explanations
• stronger practical marks
• better timing
• fewer repeated mistakes after correction

Final days

• retrieve equations, units and definitions
• review Core and Supplement distinctions
• rehearse graph and practical-planning routines
• confirm timetable, component codes and permitted equipment
• use light correction-focused practice
• maintain sleep and recovery

Do not begin a large unrelated resource or memorise obsolete formulas.

How much work should be scheduled?

Set a sustainable number of sessions that allows each cycle to be completed:

learn → practise → mark → correct → retry

A short session that reaches the retry stage can be more useful than several hours of passive reading. Increase the workload only when the student can still mark and correct accurately.

A weekly template can include:

How should parents monitor the plan?

Ask for evidence:

• Which red outcomes became amber or green?
• Which error category decreased?
• Which corrected question was later answered independently?
• Is every required component being practised?
• Is the student using the current syllabus and equation list?
• Are historical thresholds being treated as context rather than a guarantee?

Avoid judging progress by hours completed or pages highlighted alone.

When should tutoring be considered?

Additional support may help when:

• the same misconception survives repeated correction
• the student cannot identify why a method is wrong
• mathematical gaps block several Physics topics
• practical and graph skills are consistently weak
• large untaught gaps remain
• paper practice produces no change in recurring errors

Eight-week completion checklist

• Route, practical component and syllabus cycle confirmed
• Every syllabus outcome classified
• Core and Supplement content separated accurately
• Current equations and units practised
• Removed latent-heat and magnification formulas excluded
• Diodes/LEDs and fission/fusion included for Extended
• Redshift and Kelvin Core content included
• Practical skills practised every week
• Original topic questions used for repair
• At least two rounds of timed component evidence collected
• Lost marks classified and corrected
• Corrected skills retested after a delay

The purpose of the eight weeks is not to tick every topic once. It is to turn current syllabus coverage and marked evidence into a controlled correction cycle before the examination.