The Library of Competitions
Tian2 Editions
Volume I · MMXXVIDepartment of Physics
The Library of Competitions
Tian2 Editions
From the British Physics Olympiad's long-form derivations to the brand-new Berkeley Physics Tournament, the physics shelf collects every major paper a high-school student might sit between September and May.
Round 1 · Round 2 · BPhO Senior Challenge.
22 official sources tracked; Student and Advisor editions on file. The flagship long-form physics paper in the UK system.
40 MCQs · 45 minutes · Division 1 & 2.
The AAPT's annual high-school physics test. Past papers from 2007–2025 mapped; archive in progress.
Lab · Free-Response · GUTS.
UC Berkeley's brand-new (2026) team tournament. Five of the inaugural problem sets are already in the archive.
Two quizzes · 25 minutes each · Year 10.
The BPhO's entry-level paper, taken in school under timed conditions. Two delivery tracks — UK and Asia/SEED — documented separately.
Online round · Onsite round at Princeton.
Organized by Physics Unlimited (a non-profit of Princeton alumni). Migrated from a legacy host in 2025; archive recovery in progress.
2 hours · negative marking · classical mechanics.
Run by the University of Waterloo's Department of Physics & Astronomy since 1969. Past papers from 1969–1994 available as a paid bundle; post-1994 is the blocker.
A useful rule of thumb: the British Physics Olympiad is the single best-documented physics paper in this library. Three decades of past papers are public; the rubric is published; and the Round 2 problems read like miniature pieces of research — multi-part, asking you to derive rather than to identify.
For students newer to the genre, the AAPT PhysicsBowl is a gentler entry point: forty multiple-choice questions in forty-five minutes, scored by negative marking, with a clear distinction between Division 1 (younger / less coursework) and Division 2.
For students with a team and a willing teacher, the brand-new Berkeley Physics Tournament is worth a look. The 2026 problems are already published — and because the tournament is in its first year, the field is small.
Junior Physics Challenge → AAPT PhysicsBowl → BPhO Round 1 → BPhO Round 2 → Princeton (PUPC) → Sir Isaac Newton.
— The Editors