OCR GCSE Physics equation sheet 2027: What you get and what you must memorise

If you're sitting OCR GCSE Physics in 2027, the first thing worth knowing is that OCR provides a supplementary equation sheet with every physics paper. On 5 May 2026, Ofqual confirmed that the equation and formulae sheets will continue for the lifetime of the current GCSE Mathematics, Physics and Combined Science specifications. In practice, that means you walk into the exam with every equation you need printed on a separate insert. Our complete GCSE formula sheets guide covers what each board provides.

There's a wrinkle. OCR runs two separate GCSE Physics specifications: Gateway Science A (J249) and Twenty First Century (J259). They cover the same physics content, but the equation lists are not identical. The specification splits them into recall and select-and-apply lists, with Twenty First Century listing a few extra items as separate entries where Gateway folds them in. This guide walks through both.

It's also worth flagging that the content tables in both OCR specifications still describe which equations students must 'recall' and which they must 'select and apply'. The Ofqual provision overrides that framing for exam day, but the spec text hasn't been rewritten.

Under the current Ofqual provision, OCR issues a supplementary equation sheet with every GCSE Physics paper, including the combined-science physics papers. The sheet is a separate insert given to you alongside the question paper at the start of the exam. You can write on it, you can keep it next to you throughout, and a fresh copy is provided to every candidate.

The sheet lists the equations from the OCR content tables, so you don't have to recall them from memory on exam day. Ofqual's May 2026 decision confirmed the provision continues for the lifetime of the current OCR specifications.

For the exact 2027 PDF, check OCR's assessment-resources page for your specification (J249 or J259) and download the version labelled for your exam year.

OCR Gateway lists its physics equations in section 5d of the specification. The spec splits them into 'recall and apply' and 'select and apply', with Higher-tier-only items flagged. Under the current provision, every item in both lists appears on the sheet you sit with. Verify the current year's provision against OCR's Gateway assessment-resources page before your exam.

Equation reference codes for Gateway all begin with PM. Don't swap them with the Twenty First Century codes (P-numbers), they're specification-specific.

OCR Twenty First Century lists its equations under section 5h, with its own numbering system (P1.3.6, P4.2.1 and so on). The content is physics-equivalent to Gateway, but the structure of the list differs slightly. Twenty First Century breaks a couple of relationships out as separate entries where Gateway folds them in.

Two visible differences from Gateway: Twenty First Century lists V = W/Q (potential difference as energy per charge) and P = E/t as explicit recall items, where Gateway folds the equivalents into E = QV and P = W/t. Twenty First Century also lists change in momentum as Δp = Ft (impulse) in the select-and-apply column, where Gateway treats this via the generic p = mv on the Higher tier.

The equation sheet gives you the formula. It does not do the physics for you. There's a list of things OCR still expects you to bring from your own revision, and losing marks on these is one of the easier things to avoid.

Units are the big one. Mass goes in kilograms, distance in metres, time in seconds, temperature change in degrees Celsius or kelvin. If you leave numbers in grams or centimetres, your answer will be out by a factor of 1,000 or 100 and the mark scheme will punish it. Unit conversions are expected knowledge, not something the sheet reminds you of.

Rearranging is the next one. The sheet gives V = IR; the question might want R, so you need to write R = V/I before substituting numbers. The sheet gives v² − u² = 2as; a question looking for u will need you to rearrange carefully, taking the square root at the end. Doing this on paper is more reliable than doing it in your head.

A few relationships live elsewhere in the specification and aren't boxed on the equation sheet. T = 1/f (period from frequency) is embedded in the wave content. The idea that distance equals the area under a velocity-time graph is a method, not a formula, so it won't be printed as one. Half-life for radioactive decay is treated verbally and in graphs rather than as a 'given' equation. Build these into revision alongside the sheet, not as an afterthought.

If a teacher told you 'the OCR physics sheet' as if there's one document, that's a shortcut. The two OCR GCSE Physics specifications publish separate sheets with different section labels. The underlying physics is close to identical, but a handful of structural choices make the lists feel different.

The underlying physics content for GCSE is close to standardised across boards, but the sheets differ in small ways. AQA (specification 8463) also lists its equations on one sheet, and labels Higher-tier-only equations in the same format OCR does. Edexcel's sheet mirrors AQA's structure closely.

If you're switching schools or using cross-board resources, two practical rules help. First, don't practise with another board's sheet in front of you, the ordering and the exact wording differ, and familiarity with your own board's layout saves time on exam day. Second, Combined Science students on any board get a shorter list than triple-science students, so a resource flagged as 'OCR Physics' may include equations you'll never meet.

Having the equations in front of you is not the same as being quick with them. Students who treat the sheet as 'open it when stuck' lose time that students who use it from question one don't.

Print OCR's current PDF for your specification and physically slot it next to every past paper you sit at home. The physical act of looking across to the sheet, then back to the question, is a habit worth building before exam day. Highlight the three or four equations your target topics lean on most heavily, forces and electricity for Gateway Paper 1, waves and energy for Paper 2, so you can find them quickly.

Always write the equation out before substituting. Even with the sheet available, examiners award a method mark for the correct equation set up in the correct form. Students who go straight from the question to the arithmetic sometimes drop that mark on arithmetic they later get wrong, when they could have banked it on the equation step.

Rearrange explicitly, in writing. The sheet gives you one form of each equation. Questions want the subject you need, which is often not the one printed. Writing out R = V/I or h = GPE/(mg) on paper before the numbers go in is slower than doing it in your head, but it's much more reliable under exam pressure.

Memorise the short ones anyway. F = ma, V = IR, W = mg, Q = It, v = fλ, p = mv, six of the most common. The sheet is a backup for the longer or more awkward equations; fluency on the short ones saves seconds per question across a full paper. Our grade-9 GCSE Physics guide covers equation fluency and the exam-technique patterns that go with it.

If your revision runs on structured lessons rather than reading the spec cover to cover, Cognito's OCR Gateway Physics course and OCR Twenty First Century Physics course walk through every equation on your sheet with worked examples. For each one, you get a short video explaining what the equation describes physically, a sample question that uses it, and a quiz block to check you can rearrange it in both directions.

The combined-science counterpart is covered under the same course area, with the separate-science-only equations clearly flagged so you don't waste time on content outside your paper. If you're starting equation revision from scratch two months before the exam, the course-by-topic structure is the fastest way to get fluent, and you can slot your actual exam sheet alongside it as you work.