2026 HSC Business Studies Exam: What to Learn From Last Year's Mistakes

Median HSC mark in 2025: 75/100.

20,452 students. Average: approximately 74.8/100. 62.4% scored below 80. 88.2% scored below 90.

These are final HSC marks, including school assessment and exam results, not raw exam scores. Source: UAC statistics.

Open the 2025 official exam and 2025 marking guidance through our past-paper index. Use the 2025 row: "Exam" opens the paper and "Marking guidance" opens NESA's page with the marking guidelines and feedback.

Where marks were lost in 2025

Q22(b): Justifying product strategies. 4 marks.

Where students went wrong. They didn't clearly connect their product strategies to a competitive advantage.

What they should have done. Explain why each strategy would make customers choose this business over competitors.

Example: Stronger bottle seals would reduce leaks, making the product more reliable and giving customers a reason to choose it over competing bottles.

Outline two strategies: 2/4. Justify one and outline one: 3/4. Justify both: 4/4. Both strategies needed a justification.

Q23(a): Interpreting the expense ratio. 2 marks.

Where students went wrong. They struggled to interpret the ratio using the supplied data.

What they should have done. Calculate it, compare it and explain what it indicated.

$210,000 ÷ $700,000 × 100 = 30%.

Example: Expenses consumed 30 cents of each sales dollar. The ratio was above the previous year's 23.3% and the industry average of 20%, indicating poorer expense efficiency.

Writing 30% alone doesn't explain the business's performance.

Q23(c): Global influences and solvency. 4 marks.

Where students went wrong. They made general statements instead of explaining how global financial influences affected solvency.

What they should have done. Explain how each of two influences could affect the business's ability to meet long-term financial obligations.

Example: Higher international interest rates could increase repayments on variable-rate overseas debt. If earnings cannot cover these repayments over time, the business's long-term financial viability is threatened.

Identifying two influences earned 2/4. Explaining both effects on solvency earned 4/4.

Q25: Analysing the Gantt chart. 20-mark report.

Where students went wrong. They described the chart without properly explaining its purpose or scheduling problems. Recommendations also lacked clear links to cost leadership.

What they should have done. Use specific tasks and dates to explain the operational consequences.

Example: Manufacturing was scheduled for November, before factory construction in December. Without another production facility, this sequence could delay production or create additional costs.

Explain how the chart helps managers schedule tasks and identify dependencies. For recommendations, show how the proposed strategy reduces costs for this business.

The chart was one component of the report, not worth 20 marks by itself.

Q26: Target markets and marketing strategies. 20 marks.

Where students went wrong. They omitted elements, confused people with customers and confused physical evidence with branding or packaging. NESA specified "employees and not customers".

What they should have done. Explain how the target market affects all four elements: e-marketing, people, processes and physical evidence.

Example: A hotel targeting business travellers could train reception employees to handle late arrivals efficiently. Fast service suits travellers with limited time.

That explains people. Separate explanations were still needed for the other three elements.

Q27: Liquidity and profitability strategies. 20 marks.

Where students went wrong. They described strategies without connecting them to objectives, covered too few strategies and mentioned case studies without applying them.

What they should have done. Explain multiple strategies for each objective, supported by relevant case-study evidence.

Example for liquidity: Collecting receivables sooner brings cash into the business earlier, helping it meet short-term obligations.

Example for profitability: Reducing material waste lowers production costs and can improve profit margins if prices and quality are maintained.

Those examples cover one strategy per objective. Students needed broader coverage, with each strategy's effect explained.

Students answered Q26 or Q27, not both.

Sources and next steps

Sources: NESA's 2025 examiner feedback, marking guidelines and exam paper. The examples above are my explanations, not quoted model answers. Question averages weren't published in the feedback, so the marks show allocations and marking criteria, not average marks lost.

Our HSC Business Studies hub has revision notes, practice questions and practice exams if you need more work on these topics. The 2026 exam predictors sort official past questions by topic, and AI marking for Business Studies is free for every account until Sunday 1 November 2026 if you want an extended response checked against the criteria before the exam. I run ATARMAXXING.

This post first appeared on r/ATARMAXXING.