VCE exams cheat sheet: AI analysis reveals common questions, mistakes and themes in Victorian year 12 papers
AI analysis spanning five years of VCE exams reveals the common questions, topics and traps in Victoria’s most popular courses. Here’s the inside info to give year 12s an edge.
Exclusive AI analysis by The Herald Sun has revealed the common questions, mistakes, themes and topics of the five most popular VCE exams.
Using the latest technology recommended by teachers and tech experts, a thorough analysis of the past five years of English, general mathematics, psychology, business management, and biology exams and reports was performed, determining what students need to know before they sit their final exams.
The aim – to determine what students need to know before they sit their final exams, based on what’s likely to be included and common errors in previous years.
On October 28, over 45,000 students will kick off VCE with their English exams.
This is what the technology of the future recommends students do to prepare for the grand finale, including specific tips for the exams and how to use AI to ace their studies.
AI EXAM INSIGHTS: New South Wales HSC | Queensland QCAA | South Australia SACE (coming soon)
VCE English tips
An AI analysis of half-a-decade of English exam reports identified students commonly reverted to pre-learned or recycled responses that did not properly address prompts.
It also found markers punished students for simply recounting texts or providing a plot summary rather than diving into the analysis required.
“The reports consistently highlight that while most students understood their texts and the general ideas, they failed to shape that knowledge to the precise requirements of the prompt,” the AI said.
In the analysis of language in section C, AI noted students often identified what the writer said, but failed to explain why or how the language was used.
The AI encouraged students to “judiciously choose” precise language when responding to prompts and rely on quality rather than quantity.
“Assessors reward the judicious choice of material rather than the sheer volume of retelling the story,” it said.
AI found the most common question for section A invited students to “discuss” their text, while in section C all argument topics related to “community disputes and local issues”.
Section B changed in 2024 from a comparative analysis to a creative text, so an AI analysis could not be performed.
VCE general mathematics tips
According to an AI analysis of the past five years of VCE general mathematics exam reports, the most common errors students made were premature or incorrect rounding and lost method marks by failing to clearly show their calculations.
AI found the latter cost students easy marks, especially if they made a simple error in their calculations, such as lost zeros or swapped digits.
Students were encouraged to take “extreme care” when transcribing information from their calculator to their exam paper and to be clear with their calculations.
Across five years of past exam papers, noting the 2023 change in curriculum, AI identified the most common questions asked.
According to the analysis, questions relating to descriptive statistics had the highest frequency, with over 42 questions across the five years.
Matrix algebra and graph theory questions also appeared over 30 times.
Bivariate data analysis was the overall most heavily assessed task, according to the AI analysis.
“When tackling bivariate analysis, remember your three Cs: context, calculation, and caution,” the AI said.
VCE psychology tips
By analysing five years of past VCE psychology exam reports, AI found one of the “major pitfalls” of students was offering a simple definition of a key term rather than explaining the term.
“Students commonly write an accurate psychological definition, but fail to explicitly link it back to the scenario or question,” the AI said.
“This is perhaps the most critical error.”
Students also commonly mistook scientific terms, specifically variables, leading to marks lost.
AI encouraged students to “contextualise everything” so that short-answer and extended responses link their own understanding to the question.
An analysis of the past five years of papers identified questions about specific neural structures and functions, as well as conditioning and scientific skills as the highest frequency multiple choice questions.
In section B, students were most frequently required to demonstrate their understanding and application of key science skills – a crucial component of the curriculum.
“For section B especially, a generic definition of a term is never sufficient,” AI said.
“Every explanation of a model, theory, or intervention must directly reference the specific individual, situation, data, or symptoms provided in the scenario.”
VCE business management tips
AI identified a “major weakness” students consistently demonstrated across the past five years of business management exams as failure to apply content to case studies provided.
“Application, not recitation: Move beyond memorised content by applying your understanding and skill set accurately and relevantly to the case studies and scenarios provided to achieve higher marks,” the AI said.
“Simply using the business name is not sufficient for application; the concept must be specifically linked to the scenario details.”
AI found students also frequently misunderstood command terms in questions, failing to “compare”, “analyse” or “justify” when asked to.
Across the past five years, AI identified questions relating to management styles and skills, interpretation of business data (e.g. KPIs) and application of change models as very high frequency, appearing in all five past papers.
Students were reminded to pay close attention to what the question is asking them to do (e.g. “justify”, “compare”, etc) and respond accordingly.
VCE biology
AI analysed five years of VCE biology exam reports, finding markers consistently reminded students to use their reading time effectively, especially for section B.
“Use the reading time not just to read, but to formulate your success,” the AI said.
Students were also criticised for frequently confusing command terms (e.g. “justify”, “compare”, etc) and regurgitating pre-learned answers rather than responding to the specific question.
AI encouraged students to be precise and accurate when using biological terminology and avoid confusing key terms.
An analysis of the past five years of exams identified questions relating to DNA and biotechnology, protein synthesis and photosynthesis as being the most common multiple choice questions.
For short-answer and extended response questions, bioethics and social implications were the most frequent topics.
Overall, AI reminded students to be precise and contextual in their responses and avoid pre-learned answers.
How to use AI to ace your exams
Practice makes perfect.
Teachers and experts say AI can be harnessed to produce the perfect practice exams and questions as well as provide targeted feedback.
Australian Professional Teachers Association president and principal Karen Yager said AI has revolutionised the way students can prepare for exams.
Ms Yager suggested students use free AI tools like Google’s Notebook LM to generate relevant practice questions.
To do this successfully, students should load VCE curriculum documents. past exams and reports to programs such as Notebook LM to familiarise the program with exam content and prompt practice questions, Ms Yager said.
Murdoch University associate professor of education Dr Natasha Rappa said large language models (LLM) could be used to provide targeted feedback to students in the style of a real VCE marker.
She also encouraged students to use AI to “consolidate and organise” their notes.
“If students are visual learners, they could get the LLM to organise the notes in different formats such as tables and mind maps,” Dr Rappa said.
“If they find it easier to learn through listening, they could get the LLM to read their notes to them (Notebook LM can even generate a podcast from your notes).”
“LLM can be used to identify general patterns in exam questions, so that once the general types of questions are identified for a given topic, students can ensure that they get sufficient practice completing these different types of exam questions.”
Dr Rappa did caution students to check for accuracy of AI responses with their teacher.
Do you have any exam tips for Year 12 students across the country? Email education@news.com.au to share your wisdom.
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Originally published as VCE exams cheat sheet: AI analysis reveals common questions, mistakes and themes in Victorian year 12 papers
