Official curriculum and assessment
To start QCE Ancient History revision, open the 2025 External 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.
- 2025 External examination paper (PDF)
- 2025 External examination marking guidance (PDF)
- 2025 External examination examiner feedback (PDF)
- 2024 External examination paper (PDF)
- 2024 External examination marking guidance (PDF)
- 2024 External examination examiner feedback (PDF)
How to practise this subject
These practice suggestions are editorial guidance from Australian Study Resources.
- Choose a current course task with this focus: digging up the past — nature and range of primary/secondary, ancient/modern, and archaeological sources. Identify a source’s origin, purpose and historical context. Use a specific detail to explain its value for the question being asked.
- Choose a current course task with this focus: social, political and economic institutions surrounding a selected key ancient personality. Compare two accounts of an event. Explain what they corroborate, where they diverge and what other evidence would help resolve the difference.
- Choose a current course task with this focus: assyria — from Tiglath-Pileser III to the fall of the empire. Develop an argument about cause, change or significance. Select dated evidence and explain how it supports each part of your judgement.
- 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.