When I studied for my Applied Physics degree there were exams twice a year to weed out those who couldn't hack it but these exams could contain questions on abs

When I studied for my Applied Physics degree there were exams twice a year to weed out those who couldn't hack it but these exams could contain questions on absolutely anything that was part of the whole course. However the class of one's degree (first, second, etc.) depended only on the finals and the oral examination of the final year experimental work. The intermediate examinations counted for nothing except to justify your continued study. On demand learning doesn't work in such an environment you have to have simultaneously a broad and a deep understanding of the system of physics not just isolated bits of it.