Specialist Mathematics · 2006–2025 · every published VCAA paper
634 questions where half the state or fewer earned full marks.
Twenty years of VCAA Specialist Mathematics examinations, ranked by VCAA's own published percentages. Each one carries the examiner's commentary and the question as it was printed.
Questions graded1,428
Separators (≤50%)634
Of every question set44%
Question images1,428
Exam years20
634 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
Discrete mathematics
50%
Functions, relations and graphs
45%
Algebra, number and structure
39%
Calculus
48%
Space and measurement
45%
Data analysis, probability and statistics
37%
Year by year · separator share of that paper
200671 questions
49%
200769 questions
48%
200873 questions
60%
200971 questions
48%
201066 questions
44%
201162 questions
39%
201268 questions
51%
201369 questions
45%
201470 questions
30%
201574 questions
36%
201668 questions
43%
201769 questions
57%
201873 questions
47%
201972 questions
42%
202065 questions
38%
202175 questions
52%
202266 questions
48%
202385 questions
40%
202480 questions
44%
202582 questions
29%
The twelve hardest questions ever set
by share of the state with full marks| Question | Topic | Worth | Full marks | Band | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Exam 2 Section B Q2d | Algebra, number and structure | 2m | 1% | Brutal | |
| 2017 Exam 2 Section B Q4f | Algebra, number and structure | 1m | 1% | Brutal | |
| 2020 Exam 2 Section B Q3eii | Functions, relations and graphs | 2m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2019 Exam 2 Section B Q4e | Space and measurement | 2m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2018 Exam 1 Q10 | Space and measurement | 5m | 2% | Brutal | |
| 2021 Exam 2 Section B Q4e | Space and measurement | 3m | 3% | Brutal | |
| 2021 Exam 2 Section B Q5d | Space and measurement | 3m | 3% | Brutal | |
| 2019 Exam 2 Section B Q1e | Calculus | 2m | 3% | Brutal | |
| 2008 Exam 1 Q10c | Algebra, number and structure | 4m | 3% | Brutal | |
| 2024 Exam 2 Section B Q3e | Calculus | 2m | 4% | Brutal | |
| 2014 Exam 1 Q7a | Functions, relations and graphs | 1m | 4% | Brutal | |
| 2010 Exam 2 Section B Q3a | Calculus | 3m | 5% | Brutal |
Open the full table to see any of them with its question image.
The areas of study
what each one asks, every year- Discrete mathematicsInduction, contradiction, contrapositive, counter-examples, divisibility and number.5 separators / 10 questions
- Functions, relations and graphsRational and reciprocal graphs, inverse circular functions, conics, parametric curves.103 separators / 227 questions
- Algebra, number and structureComplex numbers in every form, de Moivre, roots of unity, regions of the complex plane.90 separators / 228 questions
- CalculusImplicit differentiation, substitution and parts, volumes, arc length, differential equations.158 separators / 329 questions
- Space and measurementVectors, resolutes, planes and lines, kinematics, dynamics, momentum and projectiles.240 separators / 531 questions
- Data analysis, probability and statisticsLinear combinations, the sample mean, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing.38 separators / 103 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.