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What this standard actually asks for

Three criteria, three verbs

The three criteria for this standard use three specific verbs, and everything about how you write depends on which one you are aiming for.

Grade	The standard's wording	What that looks like
Achieved	Relate the key physics ideas to the selected context	Name the physics that applies here, and say where in the context it applies
Merit	Explain how or why the key physics ideas relate to the context	Give the mechanism — the causal chain from the physics to the observed feature
Excellence	Link key physics ideas together to provide a coherent picture of the physics relevant to the context	Show how two or more ideas interact to produce the behaviour of the whole system

This is the phrase that decides Excellence, and it is often misread as "cover more topics".

A coherent picture is one explanation in which the parts depend on each other, not several correct explanations placed side by side.
Test your report with this question: if I deleted one of my physics ideas, would the rest still make sense on its own?
- If yes, you have a list.
- If no — if the second idea is needed to explain something the first leaves unexplained — you have a coherent picture.

AS91169 at Level 2 asks for the physics relevant to a context. AS91522 asks for the application of physics to a context. In practice:

The physics must be at curriculum Level 8 — the content of the Level 3 course. Explaining a context using only Level 2 mechanics will not reach the standard, however well written.
Quantitative application is expected where the context allows it. A calculation using real values from the context is the clearest evidence of application.
The context can be technological, biological or astronomical — astronomy is available at Level 3 and is not at Level 2.

Level 2 idea	Its Level 3 counterpart
Momentum in a straight line	Momentum in two dimensions; circular motion and centripetal force
Simple wave behaviour	Standing waves, resonance, beats, the Doppler effect
Ohm's law and simple circuits	AC circuits, reactance, phasors, RC time constants, induction
Energy transfer	Simple harmonic motion; energy in oscillating systems
Alpha, beta, gamma decay	Photons, energy levels, mass–energy, relativity

The physics you use for this standard must be different from the physics you use for AS91527 (the socio-scientific issue). Both standards are worth 3 credits and both are about applying physics outside the classroom — but they must draw on different content.
Plan the two together at the start of the year so you do not have to rewrite one of them.

The three criteria for this standard use three specific verbs, and everything about how you write depends on which one you are aiming for.

Grade	The standard's wording	What that looks like
Achieved	Relate the key physics ideas to the selected context	Name the physics that applies here, and say where in the context it applies
Merit	Explain how or why the key physics ideas relate to the context	Give the mechanism — the causal chain from the physics to the observed feature
Excellence	Link key physics ideas together to provide a coherent picture of the physics relevant to the context	Show how two or more ideas interact to produce the behaviour of the whole system

This is the phrase that decides Excellence, and it is often misread as "cover more topics".

A coherent picture is one explanation in which the parts depend on each other, not several correct explanations placed side by side.
Test your report with this question: if I deleted one of my physics ideas, would the rest still make sense on its own?
- If yes, you have a list.
- If no — if the second idea is needed to explain something the first leaves unexplained — you have a coherent picture.

AS91169 at Level 2 asks for the physics relevant to a context. AS91522 asks for the application of physics to a context. In practice:

The physics must be at curriculum Level 8 — the content of the Level 3 course. Explaining a context using only Level 2 mechanics will not reach the standard, however well written.
Quantitative application is expected where the context allows it. A calculation using real values from the context is the clearest evidence of application.
The context can be technological, biological or astronomical — astronomy is available at Level 3 and is not at Level 2.

Level 2 idea	Its Level 3 counterpart
Momentum in a straight line	Momentum in two dimensions; circular motion and centripetal force
Simple wave behaviour	Standing waves, resonance, beats, the Doppler effect
Ohm's law and simple circuits	AC circuits, reactance, phasors, RC time constants, induction
Energy transfer	Simple harmonic motion; energy in oscillating systems
Alpha, beta, gamma decay	Photons, energy levels, mass–energy, relativity

The physics you use for this standard must be different from the physics you use for AS91527 (the socio-scientific issue). Both standards are worth 3 credits and both are about applying physics outside the classroom — but they must draw on different content.
Plan the two together at the start of the year so you do not have to rewrite one of them.