Mathematical Methods · 2006–2025 · every published VCAA paper
779 questions where half the state or fewer earned full marks.
Twenty years of VCAA Mathematical Methods and Mathematical Methods (CAS) examinations, ranked by VCAA's own published percentages. Each one carries the examiner's commentary and the question as it was printed.
Questions graded1,504
Separators (≤50%)779
Of every question set52%
Question images1,504
Exam years20
779 separators by severity band
Brutal under 10%Severe 10–24%Hard 25–39%Tricky 40–50%
A separator is a question where the percentage earning full marks is 50 or less — the question the middle of the cohort did not get out. For multiple choice, the percentage who chose the correct option. The band names are this site's, not VCAA's.
Where the marks are lost · separator share by area
Functions, relations and graphs
46%
Algebra, number and structure
60%
Calculus
52%
Data analysis, probability and statistics
55%
Year by year · separator share of that paper
200673 questions
41%
200771 questions
63%
200859 questions
56%
200966 questions
50%
201070 questions
49%
201172 questions
56%
201274 questions
49%
201371 questions
62%
201476 questions
58%
201577 questions
47%
201675 questions
51%
201778 questions
55%
201880 questions
51%
201983 questions
46%
202081 questions
56%
202179 questions
54%
202279 questions
43%
202379 questions
54%
202483 questions
53%
202578 questions
45%
The twelve hardest questions ever set
by share of the state with full marks| Question | Topic | Worth | Full marks | Band | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Exam 1 Q9ci | Functions, relations and graphs | 2m | 1% | Brutal | |
| 2019 Exam 1 Q8c | Functions, relations and graphs | 2m | 1% | Brutal | |
| 2011 Exam 2 Section B Q4f | Calculus | 2m | 1% | Brutal | |
| 2024 Exam 1 Q5b | Functions, relations and graphs | 2m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2021 Exam 2 Section B Q2f | Calculus | 4m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2021 Exam 2 Section B Q4h | Data analysis, probability and statistics | 2m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2021 Exam 2 Section B Q5g | Functions, relations and graphs | 1m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2020 Exam 2 Section B Q5h | Functions, relations and graphs | 1m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2017 Exam 2 Section B Q2h | Functions, relations and graphs | 2m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2017 Exam 2 Section B Q4h | Functions, relations and graphs | 2m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2017 Exam 2 Section B Q4iii | Functions, relations and graphs | 1m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2016 Exam 2 Section B Q4fii | Algebra, number and structure | 2m | 2% | Brutal |
Open the full table to see any of them with its question image.
The areas of study
what each one asks, every year- Functions, relations and graphsDomain and range, transformations, inverses, composites, hybrid functions, asymptotes.233 separators / 502 questions
- Algebra, number and structureSolving equations, parameters and the number of solutions, index and log laws, algorithms.113 separators / 187 questions
- CalculusDifferentiation and its rules, tangents, stationary points, antidifferentiation, area.234 separators / 450 questions
- Data analysis, probability and statisticsProbability, discrete and continuous random variables, binomial and normal, sample proportions.199 separators / 365 questions
How to use this
- Work the separator table filtered to your weakest area, hardest-first. These are the questions that decide a study score. Opening a row shows the question and how the state went; the answer stays hidden until you ask for it, so attempt it before you reveal it.
- Read the exam craft page 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.