Wiktionary's definition of "bookwork" is accurate: "The act of memorising information; used attributively to describe or denote questions that test information

Wiktionary's definition of "bookwork" is accurate: "The act of memorising information; used attributively to describe or denote questions that test information learned rather than requiring additional thought." It notes that the definition is "chiefly University of Cambridge", which I didn't realise. Perhaps it is indeed a physics/maths thing.