Competitions · Physics · Isaac Physics
Isaac Physics, the Cambridge physics marathon.
Not an exam - a three-month marathon on Cambridge’s own physics platform, scored on how many problems you solve and how hard they were. Sixty students are invited to Cambridge at the end of it.
At a glance
What the challenge is.
Isaac Physics is a learning and assessment platform officially supported by the University of Cambridge. The marathon is a timed challenge run on it, brought to China in 2023 through a partnership with the UK committee.
- What it is
- A three-month challenge conducted entirely on the Isaac Physics platform, not a sitting
- How it is scored
- On the number of problems completed and their difficulty, combined with periodic assessments across the three months
- Who can enter
- High-school students in any year. Attending the summer school additionally requires being 16 by the stated date
- Format
- Individual, answered online
- Where
- On the Isaac Physics platform
- Language
- English
- The platform
- Officially supported by Cambridge and used by more than 500,000 students at over 4,000 schools worldwide
- Its standing
- Isaac Physics ranks near the top of the extracurricular resources recommended by Cambridge and Oxford
- What top finishers get
- Sixty students are invited to a training camp at the University of Cambridge the following July
- Cycle
- Registration in the autumn, the challenge from December to March, invitations in April, the camp in July
How it differs
Three months of work, not ninety minutes.
Almost everything else on this site is a paper sat on one day. This is a sustained effort measured over a term, which changes who it suits.
Consistency beats a good day
Because the score accumulates across three months, a single strong session counts for little and a weak week is recoverable. It rewards a habit rather than a performance.
Difficulty is weighted, not just volume
Solving many easy problems is not equivalent to solving fewer hard ones. The assessment combines how much you completed with how demanding it was.
You are learning while you compete
The platform carries hints and explanations alongside the problems, so working through the challenge is also working through A-Level physics. The two are not separate activities.
Which suits a different student
A candidate who does not perform well under exam pressure but works steadily has a genuine advantage here that no timed paper offers them.
The platform
What Isaac Physics is outside the competition.
The marathon is a challenge layered on a resource that exists year-round, and the resource is arguably the more useful part.
Cambridge-supported and widely used
The platform is officially supported by the University of Cambridge and used by over half a million students at more than four thousand schools. In the UK it is near-universal in A-Level teaching.
A measurable effect on results
The organisers report that 44% of students who practise on the platform achieve an A or A* in A-Level physics - a figure worth knowing whether or not you enter the competition.
Three difficulty levels
Content runs from introductory through proficient to competition level, so a student can start wherever they are and keep going. It is designed for ages 11 upward.
Aligned to A-Level
The material follows the A-Level physics syllabus closely, with hints and explanations built in. Time spent here is time spent on the qualification as well as on the challenge.
The Cambridge camp
Sixty places, and one date to check.
The camp is what the challenge is aiming at for most entrants, and it carries an age requirement separate from the competition itself.
Sixty students, invited
Only sixty of all entrants are invited. Invitations go out in April, after the challenge closes in March.
Inside Cambridge
The camp runs at the University of Cambridge with access to its laboratories, taught by award-winning university lecturers, and covers quantum mechanics among other topics.
The age rule is separate
Entering the challenge is open to any high-school year, but attending the camp requires having turned 16 by the date the organisers set. Check it before planning around the camp.
And the gap is long
The challenge ends in March, invitations arrive in April and the camp is in July. A family needs that whole period in view when deciding to enter.
Preparation
How Hanlin supports an Isaac Physics entry.
There is no paper to revise for. What matters is how a student uses three months of platform time.
Building the weekly habit
A three-month accumulation rewards regular sessions far more than intensive bursts. The plan is a sustainable weekly rhythm from December, not a push in March.
Moving up the difficulty tiers
Because difficulty is weighted, staying comfortable costs score. Students are moved deliberately from introductory through proficient toward competition-level problems.
Using the hints properly
The platform explains as well as tests. Reading the explanation after a wrong answer is where the learning sits, and it is the step most students skip.
Tracking against the assessments
Periodic assessments across the three months feed the final result. Treating those as checkpoints rather than interruptions keeps the effort pointed the right way.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for Isaac Physics at Hanlin is taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
Programme formats
Five ways this is taught.
Group size is the whole difference between these. It decides how much of the tutor's attention a student gets and how far the course can bend to them, so it is worth choosing rather than accepting.
| Format | Group size | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | One student | Content, pace and emphasis set by what this student actually needs rather than by a syllabus. The only format that can be rebuilt mid-course. |
| Small group | Three to eight | Opens at three. Frequent discussion, and the tutor can slow down or move on according to what the group has absorbed. Most students chasing a higher award are taught in this one. |
| Class | Eight to twelve | Taught by the subject lead or a medal coach. Less back-and-forth, so it suits a student who will say when something is unclear. |
| Large class | Ten to twenty | For students in the middle of the placement range, and a way to try a competition before committing. Students often move to a small group or to one-to-one afterwards. |
| Past-paper class | No cap | Past papers worked through in sequence in the weeks before the sitting. Free to students already enrolled. |
Course length for Isaac Physics is set after a placement paper. The gap between where a student is and what the paper asks for is what the course has to close, and that gap is not the same for two students in the same year group.
How it runs
Six steps, four people on your side.
The same process for every student, so that nothing depends on one tutor remembering to do it.
Step 1Pre-course assessment
A placement paper before anything is booked, so the course tier is chosen on evidence rather than on a year group.
Step 2Tutor matching
A subject tutor is matched to the result, and their full background is provided before you agree to it.
Step 3Plan and group
A study group opens with four people on one student: the tutor, a planner, a supervisor and an academic manager.
Step 4Scheduled teaching
The teaching office sets the timetable around the competition date and school term, and teaching begins.
Step 5After-class reports
What was covered, and how the student handled it, reported after every lesson.
Step 6Homework follow-up
The teaching assistant and the form teacher both check that homework is done, which is where most preparation quietly fails.
Free resource pack
Past papers and preparation pack
The same material our own Isaac Physics students work from. Scan the code, say what you need, and an advisor sends it.
Tell an advisor which competition and year group, and the material comes back the same day. Free, and you do not have to enrol in anything. If we do not already hold what you need, we will go and find it.
- PDFPast papers, every year the organiser has released
- PDFWorked solutions, where the organiser publishes them
- PDFThe syllabus on one page - every topic, and how heavily it is examined
- PDFEntry checklist and the dates for the current cycle
Teaching team
Who would teach it.
Three of the twenty-two tutors on the published Hanlin roster - the ones whose subject this is.
Huang
A College Board-accredited AP teacher. Read mathematics and physics in Southeast University's honours programme, took a master's in aerospace engineering at George Washington University under the lead of NASA's Sigma programme, and a second master's in robotics and AI at Melbourne. Five years teaching international curricula and competitions.
Ding
Master's in physics from Brown University after the physics honours programme at Central China Normal University, with a Berkeley BISP exchange. Two years as a graduate teaching assistant, then teaching alongside Professor Enrico Pajer (cosmology) and Professor Anastasia Romanou (exoplanets). College Board-accredited.
Lu
Master's in astrophysics from UCL after an astronomy degree at Xiamen University. In international education since 2019, teaching for logical structure and framework first - efficient methods and flexible problem-solving over rote coverage.
Where it is taught
Hanlin learning centres.
Teaching runs from Hanlin's own centres in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou, and online for students elsewhere.
Talk to an advisor
Everything Hanlin does for Isaac Physics, in one conversation.
Entry, planning, coaching and the past papers. An advisor will tell you which of these a student actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.
Competition entry and planning
Which competitions suit this student, in what order, and by when - then we handle the registration, including the ones that can only be entered through a school or a centre.
Competition coaching
Taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
International curriculum tutoring
IB, AP, A-Level, IGCSE and the US high school curriculum, taught alongside school and timed around the exam calendar.
Competition past papers, free
A large library of past papers, mark schemes and syllabus breakdowns across every competition on this site. No charge and no enrolment.
Scan to add an advisor
Say which competition or course you are asking about. Replies in Chinese or English.
Or call +86 21 6352 6630FAQ
Isaac Physics, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
Is this an exam?
No. It is a three-month challenge conducted on the Isaac Physics platform. Your score comes from how many problems you complete, how difficult they were, and periodic assessments across the period.
Who can enter?
High-school students in any year. Attending the Cambridge summer school afterwards additionally requires having turned 16 by the date the organisers specify.
What is the Isaac Physics platform?
A learning and assessment platform officially supported by the University of Cambridge, used by more than 500,000 students at over 4,000 schools. Its content follows the A-Level physics syllabus and carries hints and explanations.
Does using the platform actually help?
The organisers report that 44% of students who practise on it achieve an A or A* in A-Level physics. It is also among the extracurricular resources Cambridge and Oxford recommend most highly.
What happens if I do well?
Sixty students are invited to a training camp at the University of Cambridge the following July, with access to its laboratories and teaching from university lecturers.
When does the challenge run?
Registration opens in the autumn and closes in early December. The challenge runs from mid-December to mid-March, invitations go out in April, and the camp is in July.
What difficulty is it?
The platform runs from introductory through proficient to competition level, so a student can enter at their own level and progress. Harder problems are worth more.
Do I need to be good under exam pressure?
Less than anywhere else on this site. Because the score accumulates over three months, steady work counts for more than performance on a single day.
Related
The rest of the British physics route.
What students entering Isaac Physics commonly also sit.
Isaac Physics enquiries
Three months of steady work, not one hard morning.
This challenge rewards a habit rather than a performance, and sixty entrants reach Cambridge at the end of it. Tell us the student’s year group and an advisor will set out the December start and the age rule for the camp.