General Mathematics · 2006–2025 · every VCAA paper with a published result
921questions where half the state or fewer earned full marks — of 2,179 that were graded. Every cell below is one of them, in the order it was asked; every column is one paper. The darker the cell, the fewer got it right.
921 of 2,179 · the hardest is 2018 Exam 2 Q3e at 2% · hover a cell, click to open it
Questions graded2,179
Separators (≤50%)921
Of every question set42%
Under 10%67
Papers40
Exam years20
The twelve hardest questions ever set
N° is the catalogue number: N°0001 is the hardest question VCAA has published in this subject- N°00012018 Exam 2 Q3e2%
- N°00022022 Exam 2 Q3d2%
- N°00032008 Exam 2 Q1+23%
- N°00042011 Exam 2 Q2a+2b+2c+2d3%
- N°00052013 Exam 2 Q3a-3bii3%
- N°00062019 Exam 2 Q3e3%
- N°00072024 Exam 2 Q2b3%
- N°00082007 Exam 2 Q44%
- N°00092013 Exam 2 Q5a+5b4%
- N°00102014 Exam 2 Q1di-1eii4%
- N°00112014 Exam 2 Q3a+3b4%
- N°00122015 Exam 2 Q2di-3b4%
Year by year
separator share of each paper200678 questions
45%
200793 questions
47%
200893 questions
48%
200993 questions
40%
201093 questions
44%
201186 questions
42%
201292 questions
47%
2013101 questions
49%
2014106 questions
46%
201599 questions
35%
2016130 questions
38%
2017128 questions
38%
2018132 questions
36%
2019134 questions
37%
2020170 questions
38%
2021133 questions
55%
2022134 questions
43%
202396 questions
46%
202496 questions
39%
202592 questions
38%
The areas of study
what each one asks, every year- Data analysisDistributions, boxplots, association, least squares, residuals, transformations, time series.176 separators / 544 questions
- Recursion and financial modellingRecurrence relations, depreciation, compound interest, loans, annuities, amortisation.95 separators / 194 questions
- MatricesOrder and elements, products, inverses, transition matrices, steady state, Leslie matrices.140 separators / 327 questions
- Networks and decision mathematicsGraph terminology, Euler, spanning trees, flow, allocation, project networks, crashing.144 separators / 329 questions
How to use this
- Open the wall. Drag the scale at the bottom to your line — 25%, say — and what stays is the shape of the questions the state could not do. Click any cell for the question as it was printed and how the state went; the answer stays hidden until you ask for it, so attempt it first.
- Collect the ones you want and export them: two PDFs, questions and solutions, numbered together.
- Read exam craft before you write another practice paper. More marks are lost to rounding, to not showing working, and to answering a question VCAA did not ask than to not knowing the mathematics.
- Learn the wording bank. VCAA reuses the same sentence frames year after year, and for the big ones the examiner reports prescribe the answer almost word for word.
- Read anatomy of a separator and new separator ideas.
- Use the NHT list for extra practice once you have run out of November papers.