UPCAT Science Review: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science

UPCAT Science Review: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science

Science is one of the four UPCAT subtests. It worries a lot of HUMSS, ABM and GAS applicants, who assume they can't compete with STEM-strand students. The gap is real but closable: most of what an entrance test can ask sits in the Grade 7–10 science you've already taken.

This post is the topic scope and study plan that the UPCAT pillar guide hands off to.

What UP publishes — and what it doesn't

UP lists Science as one of four subtests in a paper-based test that takes about five hours. It does not publish the number of science items, the time allotted, or how items are split between physics, chemistry, biology and earth science. Tables claiming "30% physics" or "genetics is 8 items" are guesses.

So cover all four sciences, lean on your Grade 7–10 curriculum as the scope, and practise reading questions carefully — many science items test whether you understand a concept, not whether you can grind a long calculation.

Physics

• Kinematics in one dimension: displacement, velocity, acceleration, free fall
• Newton's three laws on single bodies and simple systems
• Work, energy and power; conservation of mechanical energy
• Momentum and collisions at a conceptual level
• Circular motion: direction of centripetal force, what changes and what doesn't
• Simple machines and mechanical advantage
• Waves: frequency, wavelength, speed, reflection, refraction
• Sound and light at a conceptual level; the order of the electromagnetic spectrum
• Electricity: Ohm's law, simple series and parallel circuits
• Basic atomic and nuclear ideas: photons, radioactive decay

Chemistry

Reading the periodic table fluently pays off across the whole chemistry block.

• Atomic structure: protons, neutrons, electrons, isotopes, ions
• Periodic trends: atomic radius, ionisation energy, electronegativity, metallic character
• Bonding: ionic vs covalent, polar vs non-polar, simple Lewis structures
• Stoichiometry: the mole, molar mass, balancing equations, limiting reagent
• States of matter and the basic gas laws
• Solutions: solubility, molarity, mass percent, dilution
• Acids and bases: the pH scale, neutralisation, indicators
• Oxidation and reduction at a basic level
• Organic chemistry basics: hydrocarbons and common functional groups

Biology

• Cell structure and organelles; prokaryotes vs eukaryotes
• Diffusion, osmosis, active transport; mitosis and meiosis
• Photosynthesis and cellular respiration as inputs and outputs
• Mendelian genetics: monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, sex-linked traits
• DNA structure, transcription and translation at a high level
• Mutations and basic biotechnology vocabulary
• Human body systems at the level of what each one does
• Ecology: food webs, energy flow, the carbon, nitrogen and water cycles
• Evolution and natural selection
• Taxonomy basics

Punnett squares are worth practising until they're automatic.

Earth science

• Plate tectonics: boundary types and what each produces
• The rock cycle
• Layers of the Earth
• Atmosphere and weather: pressure systems, fronts, cloud types
• Weather vs climate; the greenhouse effect
• The water cycle, ocean currents and tides
• The solar system; phases of the moon, eclipses, and why we have seasons
• Stars and the basic stellar life cycle

Read earth-science questions carefully — a question framed as "weather" may really be testing a physics idea like convection.

A 12-week science plan

Five days a week, 45 minutes a day, 12 weeks.

STEM-strand applicants can compress weeks 1–9 and spend the saved time on more timed sets. If you're HUMSS, ABM or GAS, keep the full 12 weeks.

If you're not in STEM

1. Start with biology and earth science — they reward careful reading as much as background.
2. Do the conceptual chemistry before the calculations — periodic-table reasoning is open to anyone who learns the table.
3. Prioritise mechanics in physics — if you're short on time, it's the foundation the rest builds on.

Where Super Tutor fits

Super Tutor's UPCAT reviewer has separate biology, chemistry, physics and general science subjects, each chapter in 11 study formats — summaries, study notes, flashcards, concept maps, cheat sheets and more — with practice quizzes at three difficulty levels and full UPCAT mock exams. Stuck on a concept? Ask the AI tutor to explain it step by step. Start free — 5-day trial, no card needed.

What to read next

The UPCAT Math review guide covers the math subtest; the UPCAT Language and Reading review covers the verbal subtests. The UPCAT pillar guide ties all four together with a month-by-month schedule.