DSE Physics Syllabus: Compulsory Topics, Electives and Exam Structure

The DSE Physics Syllabus is the curriculum framework behind one of the elective subjects in the Science Education Key Learning Area of the senior secondary curriculum. Public assessment rests on the Physics Curriculum and Assessment Guide (Secondary 4–6), prepared jointly by the Curriculum Development Council and the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. Candidates are expected to bring the knowledge they gained in junior secondary science, and the mathematics the subject demands is based mainly on the Compulsory Part of the DSE Mathematics curriculum. In other words, no extended mathematics module is a prerequisite for physics — but calculation and graph analysis have to be fluent.

In structure, physics is planned at about 250 hours, roughly 10% of the total senior secondary lesson time, and it divides into three parts. The Compulsory Part, about 184 hours, covers five topics that every candidate must study. The Elective Part, about 50 hours, offers four topics from which a candidate chooses two. A further 16 hours or so go to the Investigative Study, in which students use their physics knowledge to solve a substantial problem and present their work as a report.

Some of the content in the Compulsory Part is designated as extended material — uniform circular motion, gravitation, and electromagnetism topics such as Faraday’s law among them. None of it appears at junior secondary level, all of it leans on algebra and vectors, and it is usually the divide that students feel most sharply as Secondary 4 turns into Secondary 5. Schools may reorder teaching to suit their own circumstances, but the assessment requirements do not move with them.

On assessment objectives, the HKEAA expects candidates to: recall and understand the facts, concepts, models and principles of physics, and the relationships between topics; apply physics to explain phenomena and observations and to solve problems; show an understanding of the use of apparatus, methods of study and the treatment of errors; present information in tables, graphs and charts and convert between those forms; analyse and interpret data and draw conclusions; express arguments clearly, accurately and logically; and evaluate physics-related issues from ethical, moral, social, economic and technological perspectives.

Physics is a subject built in layers: Newton’s laws of force and motion run through projectile motion, circular motion and gravitation; conservation of energy holds up heat, electricity and nuclear energy; and the idea of a wave returns in quantum form in the Atomic World elective in Secondary 6. Skip a chapter and it will find you again later — in lost marks.

The Compulsory Part is made up of five topics that move from the macroscopic world of heat and motion down to the microscopic and atomic scale. The core learning focus of each is set out below, so that parents and students can check whether their notes are complete.

The Elective Part allows a degree of flexibility: two topics must be chosen from the four below. Do check what your own school actually offers and how it sequences them — some schools run only two or three of the four.

Public assessment in physics is made up of a public examination worth 80% and school-based assessment worth 20%. Paper 1 examines the Compulsory Part and carries 60% of the subject over 2 hours 30 minutes; Paper 2 examines the Elective Part and carries 20% over 1 hour. Under the HKEAA’s current physics assessment framework these weightings remain unchanged.

Paper 1 has two sections: Section A is multiple-choice and carries 21% of the subject, while Section B — short questions, structured questions and essay questions — carries 39%. Every question on the paper has to be answered, so there is no choice to fall back on, and skipping a topic means giving up its marks outright. Paper 2 covers the Elective Part only: each of the four elective topics is worth 10% of the subject, and candidates answer two of them for a combined 20%.

For school-based assessment, Secondary 5 candidates complete one practical assessment worth 6%, and Secondary 6 candidates complete one practical assessment worth 6% together with an Investigative Study, or an experiment with a detailed report, worth 8%; after moderation the component totals 20% of the subject. Private candidates do not complete school-based assessment, and their subject result is calculated from their performance in the public examination.

Physics questions test roughly three kinds of ability: knowledge and understanding, application and problem solving, and experimental work and data handling. Each is revised in a different way, and dividing time evenly across the three is usually the least efficient plan there is.

Knowledge and understanding — multiple-choice and short questions test definitions, units and the recognition of phenomena. These are the marks most easily trained back, provided the definitions and laws in the textbook are distilled into a single page of notes and answers are habitually written with the right units. Watch the pairs of ideas that look alike: temperature and internal energy, mass and weight, electric field and electric potential, momentum and kinetic energy are the classic traps.

Application and problem solving — structured questions usually ask for four steps: set up the situation, choose the law, substitute and calculate, then check the order of magnitude. The commonest error is reaching for a formula before working out which variable has changed. Wherever a graph appears, ask two questions first: what does the slope represent, and what does the area beneath it represent? The logic behind motion graphs, gas graphs and electricity graphs is one and the same logic.

Experimental work and data handling — this feeds both the experimental questions in Paper 1 Section B and the school-based assessment that carries 20%. The treatment of errors, significant figures, the expression of uncertainty and sensible suggestions for improving an experimental design all have to be answered in the language of physics rather than in vague phrases.

Finally, essay and explanation questions. Marking schemes have always rewarded a complete chain of cause and effect: state the cause, then the mechanism, then the observation. Explaining why the pressure of a gas falls as it cools, for example, means working through the drop in the average kinetic energy of the molecules, then the reduced frequency and force of their collisions with the walls, and only then the smaller force per unit area. Omit any one step and key marks go with it.

Physics is knowledge, but it is also a gateway and a proof of ability. Three practical considerations come up most often when students and parents weigh up the subject.

Results in physics are rarely separated by cleverness; they are separated by method. Six patterns come up again and again in tutoring.

• Formulae and units—learn the conditions of use and the unit of every formula together with the formula itself. Checking whether the order of magnitude is sensible after a calculation is the cheapest error trap there is.
• Reading graphs—when a graph appears, ask first what the slope and the area represent. Motion graphs, gas graphs and electricity graphs all answer to the same two questions.
• Errors and significant figures—experimental questions and school-based assessment carry serious weight, so the expression of uncertainty and the rules on significant figures need to be second nature.
• Structure in explanation questions—write the cause, then the mechanism, then the result, and avoid a bare conclusion. Marking schemes award marks step by step.
• Extended topics—uniform circular motion, gravitation and electromagnetic induction need dedicated practice time of their own; do not leave them to the second term of Secondary 6.
• Past papers and the examination report—the HKEAA examination report includes the marking scheme and commentary on candidates’ performance, and reflects what the examination actually rewards far better than any compiled notes circulating in the market.

Physics suits students who are curious about the principles behind phenomena, are willing to put in the time on quantitative practice, and have a secure foundation in mathematics. For a student aiming at engineering, science, medicine or information technology, physics is usually a subject worth the investment. Taken only to make up the number of electives, it is a subject in which confidence tends to collapse on the extended topics.

The question that comes up most often is how physics differs from the physics component of Combined Science. Combined Science is also planned at about 250 hours, but it has to cover the foundation topics of two science subjects at once. Physics taken on its own goes deeper and wider, and it adds both the Elective Part and the Investigative Study. A student aiming at an engineering, science or medical programme, or wanting to demonstrate a complete training in physics, is generally better served by the stand-alone subject; a student who would rather cover two science areas in fewer hours will find Combined Science more flexible.

As for whether an extended mathematics module is compulsory, the answer is no. Physics assessment rests on the techniques of the Compulsory Part of the mathematics curriculum. That said, students who also take Extended Module 2 handle vectors, circular motion and electromagnetism noticeably more smoothly, which is why so many science students choose that combination.

• Official sources—the Education Bureau’s Physics Curriculum and Assessment Guide (Secondary 4–6), prepared jointly by the Curriculum Development Council and the HKEAA, together with the HKEAA Physics assessment framework and the examination report with its marking scheme and commentary on candidates’ performance. Curriculum documents and the assessment framework are always more reliable than the notes circulating in the market.
• Further reading—the physics and science guides on this platform: IB Physics Syllabus (HL & SL), DSE Mathematics Syllabus, and IGCSE Chemistry Syllabus.
• Parent tip—physics marks are lost more often through a refusal to write out the steps than through not understanding, so checking that your child answers with full working, clear units and clear error statements is more effective than buying another set of practice books.

Note: The information above is for reference only. Please consult professional education institutions for details.

This article was initially drafted and organised with AI. Editor / Professor Chan Kwok-wai; Managing Editor / Kong Yee-leung