Modern History HSC exam 2025: Niche question on Japanese ambitions challenges students
The secret diaries of a German Jew and an exhibition curated by Hitler’s favourite artist were among the sources on which students were quizzed in this year’s Modern History HSC exam.
The secret diaries of a German Jew and an exhibition curated by Hitler’s favourite artist were among the sources on which students were quizzed in this year’s Modern History HSC exam.
Section one of the four-part paper assesses the “core” or common unit studied by all candidates, centred on “Power and Authority in the Modern World” between 1919 and 1946.
Hannah Bowley, a Modern History teacher at Marist Catholic College in North Sydney, said this year’s common questions were “quite straightforward” but niche.
In one question, students were asked to “account for the perspective” of Victor Klemperer, a German of Jewish descent who lived in Dresden during the period of Nazi rule, with reference to a secret diary entry dated December 3 1938.
“Every day brings new restrictions,” he wrote.
Another question referred to a photograph of queues to enter the ‘Degenerate Art’ exhibition – Entartete Kunst – held by the Nazi Party in Munich in 1937.
Meanwhile a six-mark prompt on “Japan’s ambitions in the Asia−Pacific” – which is “quite a small part of the syllabus” Ms Bowley said – was particularly challenging.
“An unfortunate but inevitable part of Modern History is that (students) can’t put to use all of the knowledge that they have,” she said.
The second, third and fourth sections delve into specific nations, conflicts and time periods, with up to nine elective options in each section.
Students at Marist Catholic College elected to study Russia and the Soviet Union for their “national study”, conflict in Europe from 1935 to 1945 for “peace and conflict” and the South African Apartheid for “change in the modern world”.
Throughout the three-hour exam Marist student Tyler Sestito kept a good-luck charm in his pocket – a chilli-shaped Italian talisman known as a ‘cornicello’.
It may have proved its effectiveness, with the 17-year-old describing the paper as “a relief”.
“I enjoyed the Modern History exam, it’s definitely a lot better than I thought it was going to be,” he said.
“Modern History is a very content-heavy subject, but it’s also about being historically-minded.
“If you can see the chronology of how everything comes together … then it works more naturally in your head.”
The questions in each section were “pretty standard” Tyler’s classmate Charles Conlon said.
“We’ve done quite a few past papers, so all pretty comfortable with the questions so there was nothing that really jumped out at me and surprised me.”
The final question, broken down into three parts worth five, eight and 12 marks respectively, proved more challenging than the rest however.
“The apartheid section was pretty tough for us,” Henry Burn said, and classmate Lucas Schwarz agreed.
“You do it at the end of the year, so there’s bits of (the unit) that you push to the side, and a few of those questions were, for me personally, parts that I hadn’t really focused on too much for my study,” Mr Schwarz added.
Originally published as Modern History HSC exam 2025: Niche question on Japanese ambitions challenges students
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