Specialist Mathematics · 2006–2025 · every VCAA paper with a published result
634questions where half the state or fewer earned full marks — of 1,428 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.
634 of 1,428 · the hardest is 2017 Exam 2 Section B Q4f at 1% · hover a cell, click to open it
Questions graded1,428
Separators (≤50%)634
Of every question set44%
Under 10%30
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°00012017 Exam 2 Section B Q4f1%
- N°00022019 Exam 2 Section B Q2d1%
- N°00032018 Exam 1 Q102%
- N°00042019 Exam 2 Section B Q4e2%
- N°00052020 Exam 2 Section B Q3eii2%
- N°00062008 Exam 1 Q10c3%
- N°00072019 Exam 2 Section B Q1e3%
- N°00082021 Exam 2 Section B Q4e3%
- N°00092021 Exam 2 Section B Q5d3%
- N°00102014 Exam 1 Q7a4%
- N°00112024 Exam 2 Section B Q3e4%
- N°00122010 Exam 2 Section B Q3a5%
Year by year
separator share of each paper200671 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 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
- 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.