Which GCSE Physics revision app should I use?
There is no single best app for everyone. The right one matches your course, makes you answer questions, and is one you will keep opening. These five checks will help you choose, whichever app you pick.
1. Does it match your exam board, course and tier?
Several exam boards set GCSE Physics in England. Each has its own specification, its own keywords and its own list of practicals.
GCSE Physics covers more physics than GCSE Combined Science, and Higher tier adds content that Foundation students are not examined on. An app that does not know your board, course and tier may test you on things you do not need, and can miss things you do.
2. Does it make you answer, and tell you why straight away?
Reading notes again feels like revision, but answering questions shows you what you really know. Look for an app that makes you answer, tells you at once whether you are right, and explains the physics when you are not.
A large review of ten study techniques rated practice testing and spreading your practice out over time as the two most useful, and rereading and highlighting as low utility. (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013, Psychological Science in the Public Interest)
3. Does it cover your practicals?
Every GCSE Physics course has a set list of practicals your exam board expects you to know, and exam questions ask about their methods, results and errors. Check that an app covers your own board's list, not just the topics.
4. Is it honest about grades?
No app can know your grade. A good one can give an estimate from your practice and says plainly that it is an estimate. Be wary of anything that promises you a grade.
5. What is free, and what does it cost?
Many good revision resources are free. Before you pay for anything, check what you get for free, whether you pay once or every month, and whether adverts get in the way.
Where Upthrust fits
Upthrust is made by a practising GCSE and A level physics teacher in England. It is a revision app for GCSE Physics and the physics in GCSE Combined Science, for four of the GCSE Physics courses taught in England, at Foundation and Higher tier. The topics page shows which.
When you start, you choose your exam board, your course and your tier. From then on, Upthrust shows only what is on your course, in your own board's words.
Up to 117 short lessons across 10 topics. Each lesson is a run of questions: you tap, drag, sort or type an answer, find out straight away whether it is right, and can open a "Why?" that explains the physics.
Each exam board's page lists every practical on that board's list, with the lessons that cover it.
As you practise, Upthrust gives an estimate of your grade: an estimate from practice, never a prediction.
Every lesson and the grade estimate are free. You can also buy one extra, once, in the phone app. It is not a subscription, and it lasts until GCSE results day. There are no adverts.
See every topic and exam board page
Where other options fit
- Upthrust is only for GCSE Physics. For chemistry, biology and your other subjects, you will need other resources.
- If you learn best by watching, free video lessons are a good partner to any question app.
- Your exam board's published past papers and mark schemes are the closest thing to the real exam. Use them, especially in the last few months before your exams.
- Your school's textbook or revision guide is written for your course, and your teacher knows which topics you find hardest.
You do not have to pick just one. An app is good for short, regular practice in between the others.