ReviZi logo ReviZi

HSC Modern History · Year 12

HSC Modern History: what actually gets examined

Every question from 5 official NESA papers, coded by section, topic and marks — so you can decide what to revise from evidence rather than a feeling.

5 NESA papers, 2021–2025 · 249 questions · 500 marks

20 of the 30 topics in HSC Modern History were examined in every paper on file, and the 4 sections carry almost identical weight. There is nothing here you can safely skip — the question is what order you revise in.

Counted from 5 official NESA Modern History papers (2021–2025). 249 questions, 500 marks. Nothing estimated.

20 of 30topics in every paper on file
41marks in the single biggest topic
25%indicative share per section, from teaching time

The key words that carry the paper

Share of written-response questions by NESA key word, matched against NESA's own Glossary of Key Words. Revising the content without revising the directive is how marks get lost. The lower / middle / higher grouping is ours — NESA publishes the list but does not band it. Based on the 54% of written responses that open with a listed key word; the rest open with wording outside it, such as a direct question.

Evaluate25% · 34qhigher order
Describe24% · 32qlower order
Assess18% · 24qhigher order
Explain18% · 24qmiddle order
Account for8% · 11qhigher order
Other7% · 9q

Lower orderMiddle orderHigher order

Each tile is one key word; its size is that key word's share of written-response questions that open with one. The smallest 4 are grouped as Other: Compare 1% · 1q, Contrast 1% · 1q, Outline 1% · 1q, Discuss 5% · 6q.

Where the marks sit

Each section with its topics underneath. The bar is that topic's share of its own section, and the chip says how many of the papers on file examined it.

Core Study: Power and Authority in the Modern World 1919–1946

125 marks

25% indicative share, inferred from equal teaching time — not a published mark weighting

The impact of the Nazi regime on life in Germany Most papers 41 marks

6 questions · 33% of this section

The rise of the Nazi party and Hitler in Germany and the collapse of the Weimar Republic Comes and goes 22 marks

3 questions · 18% of this section

The various methods used by the Nazi regime to exercise control Most papers 16 marks

3 questions · 13% of this section

The ambitions of Germany in Europe and Japan in the Asia-Pacific Comes and goes 16 marks

2 questions · 13% of this section

The role of prominent individuals in the Nazi state Comes and goes 10 marks

1 question · 8% of this section

An overview of the peace treaties which ended World War I and their consequences Comes and goes 6 marks

2 questions · 5% of this section

An overview of the features of the dictatorships that emerged in Russia, Italy, Japan Comes and goes 5 marks

1 question · 4% of this section

The intentions and authority of the League of Nations and the UN Comes and goes 5 marks

1 question · 4% of this section

Opposition to the Nazi regime Comes and goes 3 marks

1 question · 2% of this section

The conditions that enabled dictators to rise to power in the interwar period Comes and goes 2 marks

1 question · 2% of this section

The initial consolidation of Nazi power 1933–1934 Not in these papers — marks

Not separately identified in the papers on file

The nature of Nazi ideology Not in these papers — marks

Not separately identified in the papers on file

National Studies

125 marks

25% indicative share, inferred from equal teaching time — not a published mark weighting

Students answer one of these 8 options — “Attempt ONE question from Questions 5–12”. Each option is listed with the marks it carried for the students who chose it; its divided share of the section is the smaller figure beneath.

Australia 1918–1949 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 16 marks as a divided share of this section

China 1927–1949 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 16 marks as a divided share of this section

India 1942–1984 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 16 marks as a divided share of this section

Indonesia 1945–2005 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 16 marks as a divided share of this section

Japan 1904–1937 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 16 marks as a divided share of this section

Russia and the Soviet Union 1917–1941 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 16 marks as a divided share of this section

USA 1919–1941 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 16 marks as a divided share of this section

Iran 1945–1989 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 16 marks as a divided share of this section

Peace and Conflict

125 marks

25% indicative share, inferred from equal teaching time — not a published mark weighting

Students answer one of these 6 options — “Attempt ONE question from Questions 13–18”. Each option is listed with the marks it carried for the students who chose it; its divided share of the section is the smaller figure beneath.

Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

Conflict in the Pacific 1937–1951 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

Conflict in Europe 1935–1945 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

The Cold War 1945–1991 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

Conflict in the Gulf 1980–2011 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

The Arab–Israeli Conflict 1948–1996 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

10 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

Change in the Modern World

125 marks

25% indicative share, inferred from equal teaching time — not a published mark weighting

Students answer one of these 6 options — “Attempt ONE question from Questions 19–24”. Each option is listed with the marks it carried for the students who chose it; its divided share of the section is the smaller figure beneath.

Pro-democracy Movement in Burma 1945–2010 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

15 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

The Cultural Revolution to Tiananmen Square 1966–1989 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

15 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

Civil Rights in the USA 1945–1968 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

15 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

The Changing World Order 1945–2011 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

15 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

The Nuclear Age 1945–2011 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

15 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

Apartheid in South Africa 1960–1994 Every paper 25 marks per paper if chosen

15 question parts across 5 papers · 21 marks as a divided share of this section

Across 5 papers the sections carried 125, 125, 125, 125 marks — against an indicative 25% share each, inferred from equal teaching time (NESA: 30 indicative hours for each of the four Year 12 topics). The NESA Modern History Stage 6 Syllabus (2017) publishes no mark weighting; the counted share is the only measured figure. National Studies, Peace and Conflict and Change in the Modern World are option sections: a student answers one of the 8, 6 and 6 options offered respectively, so each option's marks are divided across its section. Every option is shown with two figures — that divided share, and the marks it carried for the students who chose it (25 per paper).

How each topic gets asked

The 6 biggest topics, by the shape of the questions actually set on them. Revising the content without revising the directive is how marks get lost — the key words below are NESA's own, counted from the papers.

The impact of the Nazi regime on life in Germany

Core Study: Power and Authority in the Modern World 1919–1946 · 41 marks across 6 questions

Asked as Short answer ×3 · Extended response ×3

NESA key words Evaluate ×1 · Account for ×1 · Contrast ×1

The rise of the Nazi party and Hitler in Germany and the collapse of the Weimar Republic

Core Study: Power and Authority in the Modern World 1919–1946 · 22 marks across 3 questions

Asked as Short answer ×1 · Extended response ×2

NESA key words Account for ×1

Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979

Peace and Conflict · 21 marks across 10 questions

Asked as Extended response ×10

NESA key words Assess ×2

Conflict in the Pacific 1937–1951

Peace and Conflict · 21 marks across 10 questions

Asked as Extended response ×10

NESA key words Assess ×3

Conflict in Europe 1935–1945

Peace and Conflict · 21 marks across 10 questions

Asked as Extended response ×10

NESA key words Assess ×2

The Cold War 1945–1991

Peace and Conflict · 21 marks across 10 questions

Asked as Extended response ×10

NESA key words Assess ×2

What the markers wanted

NSW Education Standards Authority publishes per-question marking feedback after each paper. This is our reading of the 2021–2025 feedback, in our words, grouped by section and cited to the year and question it was seen in. It describes what markers rewarded in papers already sat; it does not predict the next one. The originals are linked below.

Across the paper

  • Markers repeatedly flagged essays prepared for an earlier or neighbouring question and reshaped to fit; the argument has to be built around this paper's directive verb and key words.
  • A judgement stated in the opening and echoed in the conclusion did not count as sustained. Markers looked for it in each topic sentence, with the evidence in that paragraph tied back to it.

Core Study: Power and Authority in the Modern World 1919–1946

Better responses

  • Judged a source's value by weighing its author, purpose, intended audience and historical moment together, instead of summarising what the extract says.
  • Explained why a source holds its view by tracing it to the writer's position and circumstances, whether a minister speaking to the press or a private diarist writing in secret.
  • Read propaganda posters and staged photographs as deliberate constructions, using their composition to show how a regime built its image and controlled its people.
  • Wove short, chosen quotations from the sources into an argument that ran on their own knowledge of the period, adding evidence the extracts did not contain.
  • In the extended core question, set the line of argument out at the start and tested the statement across several groups and spheres, such as workers, women, youth, religion and the arts.

Where marks were lost — and how to keep them

  • Assessing rather than describing: source questions were often answered with a paraphrase of the extract when the directive asked for a judgement about value or perspective.
  • Offering more than one value and more than one limitation, and tying each to the precise wording of the question rather than to the source in general.
  • Matching the response to the directive, whether contrast, account for or assess, and noticing when a question does not ask for the source at all or asks for two sources together.
  • Keeping to the exact frame of the question: geographical rather than economic consequences, territorial aims rather than ambitions in general, events inside the stated dates.
  • Backing each point with a named specific, such as a treaty clause, a law, a film or a programme, in place of vague words like big or great, and using historical terminology throughout.

Seen in 2025 Q3, 2025 Q4, 2024 Q2, 2024 Q3, 2023 Q4, 2022 Q3, 2021 Q2, 2021 Q4.

National Studies

Better responses

  • Committed to a verdict on the extent or significance asked about and carried it through every paragraph, weighing the named factor against rival explanations in a reasoned counterargument.
  • Ranged across the whole span of the national study, so a question running to 1937 or 1941 drew on the 1920s and the late 1930s alike rather than stopping after one decade.
  • Separated an ideology from the leader associated with it, and disapproval from open opposition, so the concept named in the question was analysed rather than assumed.
  • Interpreted the evidence in their own voice, showing cause and consequence, rather than piling up historians' quotations as a stand-in for a judgement.
  • Named policies, agencies, treaties, people and dates precisely, giving an agency its full title before the acronym, and deployed that detail as proof for a claim rather than as a list.

Where marks were lost — and how to keep them

  • Turning a chronological account of a leader's rise or a regime's policies into an evaluation; markers saw accurate narratives that never engaged with the extent, significance or success asked about.
  • Dealing with the factor the question names before broadening to others, and answering on one leader when only one was asked about rather than drifting into a comparison.
  • Keeping evidence inside both the option and its syllabus dates, leaving out survey-period material, the core study and content from other topics that markers flagged as out of scope.
  • Making the causal link explicit, such as how an ideology shaped a policy or how an economic shock fed a political shift, rather than mentioning the concept once and then narrating events.
  • Shaping the response to this question rather than refitting an essay written on impacts on groups, the power struggle or reforms under a different ruler.

Seen in 2025 Q10, 2024 Q9, 2024 Q10, 2023 Q6, 2023 Q11, 2022 Q9, 2021 Q10, 2021 Q12.

Peace and Conflict

Better responses

  • Engaged with the quotation or statement head on, judging how far it holds and using it as the spine of the argument rather than as a springboard into a prepared essay on the topic.
  • Framed battles, offensives and crises by their consequences for the course of the war, connecting each event to what it made possible or impossible afterwards instead of retelling it.
  • When ranking causes or turning points, gave a clear verdict on which mattered most, then related the alternative factors back to the one the question named.
  • Attached each piece of evidence to the claim it supported with an explicit connecting phrase, so no fact sat beside an assertion unexplained.
  • Covered the full span the question stipulated, from its starting date onward, drawing examples from across the period rather than clustering them in a few famous years.

Where marks were lost — and how to keep them

  • Telling the peace and conflict option apart from the core study: in most years markers saw Power and Authority material carried into questions about the war in Europe.
  • Keeping wars, leaders and events straight; confusing the facts or significance of one conflict with another undercut otherwise sound arguments.
  • Judging rather than listing: giving reasons why both sides mattered, or causes in date order, is not the same as deciding which was more significant.
  • Balancing the response across the question's scope instead of dwelling on one dramatic event, such as the atomic bombs or Pearl Harbor, in isolation.
  • Holding a position even when arguing that factors were of equal weight, and sustaining it to the end rather than asserting it only at the start.

Seen in 2025 Q15, 2024 Q14, 2024 Q17, 2023 Q16, 2022 Q15, 2022 Q18, 2021 Q13, 2021 Q16.

Change in the Modern World

Better responses

  • In the short describe part, gave concise and precisely chosen detail, such as legislation, named groups, dates and statistics, and left out neighbouring content the question had not asked for.
  • In the explain part, signposted the source by name when drawing on it and blended brief phrases from it with their own knowledge rather than lifting whole passages.
  • In the extended part, gave a quantified judgement on the extent or significance asked about, using words like substantial, moderate or limited, and kept it visible in every paragraph.
  • Handled both halves of a two-sided question together, for example a policy and the response it provoked, or effects at home and effects abroad, rather than developing only one.
  • Used the source in the extended response selectively to strengthen a judgement, while drawing most of the evidence from their own knowledge across the whole period of the option.

Where marks were lost — and how to keep them

  • Describing when asked to describe: a bare outline, a list, or a retelling of what happened fell short of the directive verb in the shorter parts.
  • Answering the event or role actually named, not its lead-up or aftermath; markers flagged responses that recounted what came before or after, or an earlier phase of the movement.
  • Staying inside the option's dates and the group or aspect the question names, rather than drifting into other leaders, other decades or other affected groups.
  • Using the source as support rather than as the answer; restating it, analysing its value when not asked, or making an implied reference without naming it all cost marks.
  • Choosing several well-selected examples over one or two, with names, dates and organisation titles accurate, and the specific body named rather than a broad label.

Seen in 2025 Q20, 2025 Q21, 2024 Q22, 2024 Q23, 2023 Q20, 2023 Q23, 2022 Q24, 2021 Q21.

2025 NESA marking feedback →2024 NESA marking feedback →2023 NESA marking feedback →2022 NESA marking feedback →2021 NESA marking feedback →

How the paper is built

Marks by question format across the same 5 papers.

Short answer 254 / 7 / 3 / 4 / 7 per paper
Extended response 47596 / 93 / 97 / 96 / 93 per paper

The rest moves around: short answer ran 4, 7, 3, 4, 7 marks and extended response ran 96, 93, 97, 96, 93 marks. 5 papers is not enough to call that a trend.

Every question, by topic

All 249 questions from the 5 papers, listed under the topic each was coded to — year, question number, marks as printed on the paper, key word and format — with NESA's own copy of the paper linked on every row. The questions themselves are read there, not here. Marks here are as printed and every question is listed once, so these totals sit a little apart from “Where the marks sit” above, by design: there, a question coded to more than one topic has its marks split evenly, and a question offered as one of several choices counts for its share of the paper rather than its printed marks. Open a section to see its list.

Core Study: Power and Authority in the Modern World 1919–194619 questions · 125 marks · show

The impact of the Nazi regime on life in Germany · 5 questions, 38 marks

The rise of the Nazi party and Hitler in Germany and the collapse of the Weimar Republic · 3 questions, 22 marks

The various methods used by the Nazi regime to exercise control · 3 questions, 19 marks

The ambitions of Germany in Europe and Japan in the Asia-Pacific · 2 questions, 16 marks

The role of prominent individuals in the Nazi state · 1 question, 10 marks

An overview of the peace treaties which ended World War I and their consequences · 1 question, 4 marks

An overview of the features of the dictatorships that emerged in Russia, Italy, Japan · 1 question, 5 marks

The intentions and authority of the League of Nations and the UN · 1 question, 5 marks

Opposition to the Nazi regime · 1 question, 3 marks

The conditions that enabled dictators to rise to power in the interwar period · 1 question, 3 marks

  • 2022Q13 marksExplainShort answershared with 1 other topicNESA paper →
National Studies80 questions · 2000 marks · show

Australia 1918–1949 · 10 questions, 250 marks

China 1927–1949 · 10 questions, 250 marks

India 1942–1984 · 10 questions, 250 marks

Indonesia 1945–2005 · 10 questions, 250 marks

Japan 1904–1937 · 10 questions, 250 marks

Russia and the Soviet Union 1917–1941 · 10 questions, 250 marks

USA 1919–1941 · 10 questions, 250 marks

Iran 1945–1989 · 10 questions, 250 marks

Peace and Conflict60 questions · 1500 marks · show

Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979 · 10 questions, 250 marks

Conflict in the Pacific 1937–1951 · 10 questions, 250 marks

Conflict in Europe 1935–1945 · 10 questions, 250 marks

The Cold War 1945–1991 · 10 questions, 250 marks

Conflict in the Gulf 1980–2011 · 10 questions, 250 marks

The Arab–Israeli Conflict 1948–1996 · 10 questions, 250 marks

Change in the Modern World90 questions · 750 marks · show

Pro-democracy Movement in Burma 1945–2010 · 15 questions, 125 marks

The Cultural Revolution to Tiananmen Square 1966–1989 · 15 questions, 125 marks

Civil Rights in the USA 1945–1968 · 15 questions, 125 marks

The Changing World Order 1945–2011 · 15 questions, 125 marks

The Nuclear Age 1945–2011 · 15 questions, 125 marks

Apartheid in South Africa 1960–1994 · 15 questions, 125 marks

The papers this is counted from

NSW Education Standards Authority publishes every paper and its marking guidelines. These links go to NESA's own copies — read the questions there.

2021 NESA paper · 100 marks →2022 NESA paper · 100 marks →2023 NESA paper · 100 marks →2024 NESA paper · 100 marks →2025 NESA paper · 100 marks →

These are the external examination papers. They are not the whole subject: Modern History is also assessed by school-based assessment set and marked by your school, which NESA does not publish — so nothing on this page covers that part of your result.

Study Modern History on Revizi

HSC Modern History TopicsHSC Modern History PracticeHSC Modern History Study NotesHSC Modern History Past PapersHSC Past Exam PracticeHSC Trial Exam PracticeHSC Short Answer PracticeHSC Flashcards HubAll HSC Questions by TopicQuestions by Topic — all curricula

Frequently Asked Questions

Which HSC Modern History topics come up every year?

20 of the 30. Every topic marked "Every paper" above was examined in all 5 papers on file. That describes the papers analysed, not a prediction — examiners set each paper fresh.

Which HSC Modern History section is worth the most marks?

Core Study: Power and Authority in the Modern World 1919–1946 125, National Studies 125, Peace and Conflict 125, Change in the Modern World 125 marks across the 5 papers analysed. The syllabus publishes no mark weighting for them; the indicative share on this page is inferred from equal teaching time (NESA: 30 indicative hours for each of the four Year 12 topics), and the counted share is a different measure.

What is the biggest single topic in HSC Modern History?

The impact of the Nazi regime on life in Germany, with 41 of the 500 marks counted across 5 papers.

How was this analysed?

Every question in 5 official NESA HSC Modern History papers (2021–2025) was counted against the NESA Modern History Stage 6 Syllabus (2017): its mark value, its format and its key word, and the section and topic it assesses. Marks are reconciled against each paper's own stated total, and where a section offers a choice the alternatives share that section's marks rather than each claiming them.

Are the exam questions reproduced here?

No. NSW Education Standards Authority owns the papers. This page publishes counts and links to NESA's own copy of each paper so you can read the questions at the source. The analysis is ours; the papers stay with NESA.

Does this predict what will be in my exam?

No, and it is not meant to. It describes what has been set. Examiners write each paper fresh and can weight a neglected topic heavily, which is why every topic is listed here, including the ones examined least.

Can I see which HSC Modern History questions were set on each topic?

Yes. Every question from the 5 papers is listed above under the topic it was coded to, with its year, question number, marks and key word, and a link to NESA's copy of that paper. The question itself is read there, not here.

What did the NESA markers say about HSC Modern History?

NSW Education Standards Authority publishes marker feedback after each paper. The "What the markers wanted" section above is our reading of it across 5 years, in our words, grouped by section and cited to the year and question it was seen in, with the originals linked.

Coded against the NESA Modern History Stage 6 Syllabus (2017). Where a question is coded to more than one topic its marks are split evenly, so topic totals within a section can round a mark or two above the section total. A topic is marked "Every paper" when it appears in all 5, "Most papers" when it is missing from one, and "Comes and goes" when it is missing from more — the one-paper tolerance absorbs a single coding miss rather than publishing it. Last updated 2026-09-01 · Exam papers © NSW Education Standards Authority, linked at source.