Australian Study
Resources
On ATARMAXXING

New South Wales · HSC · Year 12

History Extension

HSC Year 12

Official curriculum and assessment

To start HSC History Extension revision, open the 2025 Main examination paper. Use the official resources below to choose a task, attempt it independently and check your response against the available assessment guidance. The practice sequence below explains how to turn that review into a focused next attempt. Confirm the paper’s course and syllabus year before using it.

Editorial guidance prepared .

How to practise this subject

These practice suggestions are editorial guidance from Australian Study Resources.

  1. Open the 2025 History Extension HSC examination, 1. Task focus — Evaluate one Australian historian's 2024 presidential-address view of what history is for (history's civic and public role, its past service to power, and the 'post-truth' era), using that passage and at least two other sources. Markers rewarded responses that evaluated this specific interpretation rather than the aims of history in general. Attempt it before consulting the marking guidance, then identify the evidence or working that supports your answer.
  2. Open the 2025 History Extension HSC examination, 2. Task focus — Judge how far a published claim that historians can draw ever-closer to truth through analysis applies to the methods of historians in the student's case study, with at least one area of debate. The source is withheld from NESA's public PDF for copyright. Markers wanted analysis of specific methods (selection of evidence, questions asked, feminist, comparative, demographic or interdisciplinary approaches), not context or purpose. Attempt it before consulting the marking guidance, then identify the evidence or working that supports your answer.
  3. Open the 2023 History Extension HSC examination, 1. Task focus — Evaluate the role of historiographical debate in approaches to constructing history over time, using two passages on counterfactual history (an interview with Niall Ferguson on choice and determinism, and a critique arguing counterfactuals are themselves constructed narratives) and at least two other sources. Attempt it before consulting the marking guidance, then identify the evidence or working that supports your answer.
  4. Record the specific point you missed, write a corrected response, and attempt another question that requires the same skill. Check older material against your current course before reusing it.

Plan your next practice session

Choose one response from your practice sequence. Identify its main claim, underline the evidence and explain how that evidence answers the question. Revise any claim that is broader than its support.

How to build an evidence-based paragraph — includes an original example and a downloadable worksheet.

Browse study discussions on ATARMAXXING

When asking for feedback, include the task, your attempted paragraph and the exact point you want clarified. Remove personal information before posting.