CUET UG 2027 / Physics syllabus

CUET UG 2027 · Paper 322

CUET Physics Syllabus 2027: Units, Chapters and Books

The official CUET UG Physics syllabus (paper 322), unit by unit, with the book chapter each unit comes from, links to our class 12 notes for every chapter, what changed from 2025 to 2026, and where to practise.

Practise CUET Physics in the Study OS Official NTA syllabus PDF

2027 status: NTA has not released the CUET UG 2027 syllabus. This page shows the official CUET UG 2026 Physics syllabus, the latest available, and will be updated when NTA publishes the 2027 version.

CUET Physics at a glance

Paper code: 322 (Physics)
Questions: 50 multiple-choice questions, all compulsory
Time: 60 minutes
Marking: +5 for a correct answer, minus 1 for a wrong answer; 250 maximum
Syllabus: 9 units, 14 chapters in our chapter map

How the CUET Physics paper is structured

CUET Physics (paper 322) is class 12 only, in nine units that follow the CBSE class 12 Physics syllabus: electrostatics, current electricity, magnetism, electromagnetic induction and AC, electromagnetic waves, optics, dual nature, atoms and nuclei, and electronic devices.

The units map to the 14 chapters of the rationalised NCERT Physics class 12 book, and every chapter below links to our class 12 notes for it.

CUET Physics syllabus, unit by unit

Unit titles and topics as printed in NTA’s CUET UG 2026 syllabus PDF.

Unit 1

Electrostatics

Electric charges, Conservation of charge, Coulomb's law-force between two-point charges, forces between multiple charges; superposition principle and continuous charge distribution, electric dipole.
Electric potential, potential difference, electric potential due to a point charge, a dipole and system of charges; equipotential surfaces, electrical potential energy of a system of two-point charges and of electric dipole in an electrostatic field.
Electric field, electric field lines electric field due to a point charge, electric field due to a dipole, torque on a dipole in an uniform electric field.
Electric flux, statement of Gauss's theorem and its applications to find field due to infinitely long straight wire, uniformly charged infinite plane sheet and uniformly charged thin spherical shell (field inside and outside).
Conductors and insulators, free charges and bound charges inside a conductor. Dielectrics and electric polarization, capacitors and capacitance, combination of capacitors in series and in parallel, capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with and without dielectric medium between the plates, energy stored in a capacitor.

Unit 2

Current Electricity

Electric current, flow of electric charges in a metallic conductor, drift velocity, mobility and their relation with electric current; Ohm's law, V-I characteristics (linear and non-linear), electrical energy and power, electrical resistivity and conductivity, temperature dependence of resistance, Internal resistance of a cell, potential difference and emf of a cell, combination of cells in series and in parallel.
Kirchhoff's rules, Wheatstone bridge.

Unit 3

Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism

Concept of magnetic field, Oersted's experiment. Biot - Savart law and its application to the current carrying circular loop.
Ampere's law and its applications to infinitely long straight wire. The solenoid, force on a moving charge in uniform magnetic and electric fields.
Force on a current-carrying conductor in a uniform magnetic field, force between two parallel current-carrying conductors-definition of ampere, current loop as a magnetic dipole and its magnetic dipole moment, torque experienced by a current loop in uniform magnetic field.
Moving coil galvanometer- its current sensitivity and conversion to ammeter and voltmeter.
Bar magnet, bar magnet as an equivalent solenoid, magnetic field lines, magnetic field intensity due to a magnetic dipole (bar magnet) along its axis and perpendicular to its axis, torque on a magnetic dipole (bar magnet) in a uniform magnetic field.
Magnetic properties of materials- Para-, dia- and ferro - magnetic substances with examples, Magnetization of materials, effect of temperature on magnetic properties.

Unit 4

Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents

Electromagnetic induction; Faraday's laws, induced emf and current; Lenz's Law, Self and mutual induction.
Alternating currents, peak and rms value of alternating current/voltage; reactance and impedance; LCR series circuit, phasors, resonance, power in AC circuits, power factor, wattless current.
AC generator, Transformer.

Unit 5

Electromagnetic Waves

Concept of displacement current.
Electromagnetic waves, their characteristics, and their transverse nature.
Electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays) including elementary facts about their uses.

Unit 6

Optics

Reflection of light, spherical mirrors, mirror formula, refraction of light, total internal reflection and optical fibers, refraction at spherical surfaces, lenses, thin lens formula, lens maker's formula, magnification, power of a lens, combination of thin lenses in contact, refraction and dispersion of light through a prism.
Optical instruments: Microscopes and astronomical telescopes (reflecting and refracting) and their magnifying powers.
Wave front and Huygen's principle, reflection and refraction of plane waves at a plane surface using wave fronts.
Proof of laws of reflection and refraction using Huygen's principle.
Coherent sources and interference of light, Young's double slit experiment and expression for fringe width.
Diffraction due to a single slit, width of central maxima.

Unit 7

Dual Nature of Matter and Radiation

Matter waves-wave nature of particles, de-Broglie relation.
Dual nature of radiation, Photoelectric effect, Hertz and Lenard's observations; Einstein's photoelectric equation-particle nature of light. Experimental study of photoelectric effect.

Unit 8

Atoms and Nuclei

Alpha-particle scattering experiment; Rutherford's model of atom; Bohr model of hydrogen atom, Expression for radius of an orbit, velocity and energy of electron in an orbit, hydrogen line spectra (qualitative treatment only).
Composition and size of nucleus, atomic number, atomic mass number, isotopes, isobars and isotones, nuclear force, Mass-energy relation, mass defect; binding energy per nucleon and its variation with mass number; nuclear fission, nuclear fusion.

Unit 9

Electronic Devices

Energy bands in conductors, semiconductors and insulators (qualitative ideas only).
Intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, p-type and n-type, p-n junction Semiconductor diode its I-V characteristics in forward and reverse bias.
Application of junction diode -diode as a rectifier.

Chapter map

Each row is one chapter of study, with the book it comes from. Where a syllabus topic is missing from that book, the row says so. Every NCERT chapter links to our class 12 notes for it.

Electric Charges and FieldsNCERT Physics Part I Class 12, chapter 1Class 12 notes
Electrostatic Potential and CapacitanceNCERT Physics Part I Class 12, chapter 2Class 12 notes
Current ElectricityNCERT Physics Part I Class 12, chapter 3Class 12 notes
Moving Charges and MagnetismNCERT Physics Part I Class 12, chapter 4Class 12 notes
Magnetism and MatterNCERT Physics Part I Class 12, chapter 5Class 12 notes
Electromagnetic InductionNCERT Physics Part I Class 12, chapter 6Class 12 notes
Alternating CurrentNCERT Physics Part I Class 12, chapter 7Class 12 notes
Electromagnetic WavesNCERT Physics Part I Class 12, chapter 8Class 12 notes
Ray Optics and Optical InstrumentsNCERT Physics Part II Class 12, chapter 9Class 12 notes
Wave OpticsNCERT Physics Part II Class 12, chapter 10Class 12 notes
Dual Nature of Radiation and MatterNCERT Physics Part II Class 12, chapter 11Class 12 notes
AtomsNCERT Physics Part II Class 12, chapter 12Class 12 notes
NucleiNCERT Physics Part II Class 12, chapter 13Class 12 notes
Semiconductor Electronics: Materials, Devices and Simple CircuitsNCERT Physics Part II Class 12, chapter 14Class 12 notes

What changed from 2025 to 2026

2026 realigned to the current CBSE/NCERT rationalised Class 12 syllabus: topics dropped from NCERT (radioactivity, polarisation, scattering, eddy currents, LC oscillations) were removed; net scope is now a strict subset of the rationalised NCERT books.

Added

Bohr model: expressions for radius, velocity and energy of electron in an orbit; hydrogen line spectra (qualitative)
Nuclear force; atomic number, atomic mass number
Experimental study of photoelectric effect
Magnetization of materials, effect of temperature on magnetic properties
Intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, p-type and n-type, p-n junction
Phasors, power factor
Width of central maxima (single slit diffraction)

Removed

Eddy currents
LC oscillations (qualitative)
Combination of a lens and a mirror
Scattering of light (blue sky, red sun at sunrise/sunset)
Polarisation, plane polarised light
Radioactivity - alpha, beta and gamma particles/rays and their properties
'Straight solenoid' under Ampere's law reworded to 'The solenoid'

Reworded

Young's double hole -> double slit
Kirchhoff's laws -> Kirchhoff's rules
'Need for displacement current' -> 'Concept of displacement current'

Compared against NTA’s CUET UG 2025 syllabus PDF. When the 2027 syllabus is out, this section will compare 2027 with 2026.

Books to study from

NCERT Physics Part I class 12 (chapters 1 to 8)
NCERT Physics Part II class 12 (chapters 9 to 14)

NCERT books are on ncert.nic.in; NIOS course material is on nios.ac.in.

Practise CUET Physics chapter by chapter

The Study OS CUET track follows the chapter map above. Choose Physics as one of your papers, revise a chapter, then test it with exam-style questions and read the explanation after every answer.

Practise CUET Physics

Frequently asked questions

What is the exam pattern of the CUET Physics paper?

CUET UG Physics (paper code 322) has 50 compulsory multiple-choice questions to be answered in 60 minutes. A correct answer earns 5 marks and a wrong answer costs 1 mark, so the paper is out of 250. This is the CUET UG 2026 pattern; NTA has not announced any change for 2027.

Has NTA released the CUET Physics syllabus for 2027?

Not yet. The syllabus on this page is the official CUET UG 2026 Physics syllabus, which is the latest one NTA has published. This page will be updated when the 2027 syllabus is released.

Which books should I study for CUET Physics?

Study from: NCERT Physics Part I class 12 (chapters 1 to 8); NCERT Physics Part II class 12 (chapters 9 to 14).

What changed in the CUET Physics syllabus?

2026 realigned with the rationalised NCERT book: radioactivity, polarisation, scattering, eddy currents and LC oscillations were removed; Bohr model expressions and p-n junction basics were added. This compares the 2025 and 2026 syllabi; the 2027 syllabus is not out yet.

Is radioactivity in the CUET Physics syllabus?

No. The 2026 syllabus removed radioactivity (alpha, beta and gamma decay), along with polarisation, scattering of light, eddy currents and LC oscillations.

Does CUET Physics include class 11 chapters?

No. The 2026 CUET Physics syllabus is class 12 only.