CSCA Physics Syllabus 2026 — Every Topic That Can Appear

Who Needs CSCA Physics?

Physics is an optional subject on the official list: whether you need it depends on your university and major. Applicants to science-related majors (science, engineering, computer science, agriculture, medicine) must take at least one of Physics and Chemistry, according to the CSC guidance published on the Shanghai government's study portal; for any other major, check your target programme's admission brochure before committing months to it.

This guide lists every topic in the official syllabus (2025 edition), across its five modules, and where students reliably lose points.

Paper Format

• 48 questions in 60 minutes — about 75 seconds per question.
• Marked out of 100, reported separately from your other subjects.
• Available in both Chinese and English.
• No calculator. Expect numbers chosen to work out cleanly by hand — if an answer is coming out ugly, check the working.

Module 1 — Mechanics

The longest module of the syllabus (six of its eighteen points), and the foundation for much of the rest.

• Kinematics in one and two dimensions
• Projectile motion
• Newton's three laws
• Friction and normal forces, including inclines
• Work, energy and the work-energy theorem
• Conservation of energy
• Momentum, impulse and collisions
• Circular motion
• Gravitation and orbital problems
• Simple harmonic motion: springs and pendulums, period, amplitude, forced oscillation and resonance
• Mechanical waves: v = λf, transverse and longitudinal waves, wave graphs, interference and standing waves

Newton's second law, projectile motion, energy conservation and momentum are the core of the module, with circular orbits and gravitation alongside them. See the Mechanics module.

Module 2 — Electromagnetism

The syllabus lists electrostatics (Coulomb's law, field strength, potential), DC circuits (Ohm's law, series and parallel), magnetic fields (magnetic induction, Ampère force, Lorentz force) and electromagnetic induction (Faraday's and Lenz's laws).

• Electric charge and Coulomb's law
• Electric fields and electric potential
• Capacitors and stored energy (not named in the syllabus, but part of the textbook electrostatics chapter)
• DC circuits, Ohm's law and internal resistance
• Magnetic fields and the force on charges and currents
• Electromagnetic induction and Faraday's law
• Lenz's law and its applications
• Beyond the syllabus, for depth only: Kirchhoff's rules, Ampère's circuital law, AC circuits and transformers

Whenever a source has internal resistance, the terminal voltage is emf minus I times r, not simply the emf. Resistors and capacitors combine in mirror-image ways — learn the pair together. See the Electromagnetism module.

Module 3 — Thermodynamics

The syllabus lists three points: the kinetic theory of gases, the ideal gas equation of state, and the first law of thermodynamics. Most problems are energy bookkeeping.

• Temperature scales and the three modes of heat transfer
• Thermal expansion, including bimetallic strips and expansion gaps
• Calorimetry, specific heat capacity and the method of mixtures
• The ideal gas law and the three simple gas laws
• The First Law of Thermodynamics and the four standard processes
• PV diagrams and work as area under the curve
• Phase changes and latent heat
• Kinetic theory and root-mean-square speed
• Beyond the syllabus, for depth only: the Second Law and entropy; heat engines, refrigerators, efficiency and the Carnot limit

Two habits carry this module: convert every temperature to Kelvin before you start, and identify which quantity the process makes zero. The Thermodynamics module works through each process type.

Modules 4 and 5 — Optics and Modern Physics

Optics covers geometrical optics (laws of reflection and refraction) and physical optics (interference and diffraction); Modern Physics covers the photoelectric effect, atomic structure and the fundamentals of nuclear physics.

• Reflection and mirrors
• Refraction, Snell's law and total internal reflection
• Interference and the double-slit experiment
• Diffraction
• Wave properties of light
• Beyond the syllabus, for depth only: lenses and image formation (the syllabus names only the laws of reflection and refraction)
• The photoelectric effect
• Atomic spectra and energy levels
• Nuclear physics basics: decay types, half-life, mass-energy

In refraction problems, measure every angle from the normal, not from the surface, and write n₁ sin θ₁ = n₂ sin θ₂ before substituting. See the Optics & Waves and Modern Physics modules.

How the Marks Are Spread

The CSCA does not publish how many questions come from each module, and no past papers have been released, so any percentage you see online is a guess. As a guide to effort only: Mechanics has six of the syllabus's eighteen points, Electromagnetism four, Thermodynamics and Modern Physics three each, and Optics two.

Where Marks Are Actually Lost

• Unit conversion. Millimetres left in a formula expecting metres, Celsius left in a formula expecting Kelvin, litres left in a formula expecting cubic metres. Convert everything in one pass at the start.
• Sign conventions. Work done by a gas versus on a gas; the signs of Q and W in the first law (ΔU = Q + W, with W the work done on the gas); the direction of an induced current.
• Skipping the diagram. A free-body diagram, a circuit sketch or a ray diagram takes seconds and prevents the errors that cost minutes.
• Not sanity-checking. Is the final temperature between the two starting temperatures? Does the refracted ray bend towards the normal on entering the optically denser medium? These checks catch most arithmetic slips.

How to Prepare

Start with Mechanics — it is the longest module of the syllabus and the concepts recur throughout Thermodynamics and Electromagnetism. Then take Electromagnetism, then Thermodynamics, then Optics and Modern Physics.

All five modules are free on CSCA.HELPCSCA by Foorsa, each with worked examples, formula sheets and common-mistake warnings, and you can sit a full-length timed practice exam when you want to know where you really stand.