Cambridge Checkpoints vs ATARMAxxing
Cambridge Checkpoints pricing checked August 2026, from Cambridge Checkpoints’s own site. Prices change — if the figures here no longer match theirs, believe theirs.
Cambridge Checkpoints is on more Year 12 booklists than anything else in this comparison, and there is a good reason for it: the questions inside are real past exam questions, licensed from the assessment authorities. If your priority is authentic past questions in a printed book you can write on, that is exactly what it sells.
As at August 2026 it is A$34.95 for a Units 3 & 4 book and A$29.95 for Units 1 & 2. You mark your own work against the supplied answers, which is a genuinely different product from what we sell: ATARMAxxing is A$20 once per subject and gives you 20 original full-length model exams, each with a mark-by-mark answer guide that shows where every mark is awarded, plus notes, practice questions and flashcards.
So the honest framing is not "which is better" — it is what you want. Real past questions, self-marked, in print, or a larger volume of original exams with marking detail, online, kept for life. Many students use both.
Side by side
Cambridge Checkpoints figures as at August 2026. ATARMAxxing figures are our current published offer.
| Cambridge Checkpoints | ATARMAxxing | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | A$34.95 for Units 3 & 4; A$29.95 for Units 1 & 2. One book, one subject. | A$20 one subject, A$50 three subjects, A$60 five subjects. One-time payment. |
| What the questions are | Real past exam questions licensed from the assessment authority. | Original full-length model exams written to the current study design or syllabus, plus links to every official past paper. |
| Marking | Self-marked against the supplied answers. No feedback. | Self-marked too, but against a mark-by-mark answer guide that shows where each mark is awarded. |
| Number of full-length exams | Varies by title; the book is built around past papers and topic-by-topic questions. | 20 full-length model exams per subject. |
| Revision notes | Summary material is included alongside the questions. | About 120 pages across 20 note sets, included. |
| Flashcards | Not part of the book. | 60 flashcards, included. |
| Format | Printed book, with digital access included by the publisher. | Online only. Nothing is posted to you. |
| How long you keep it | The book is yours permanently. | Lifetime. One payment, no renewal, no expiry. |
| Buying five subjects | Five Units 3 & 4 books at A$34.95 each is A$174.75. | A$60 for five subjects. |
| Try before you buy | Sample pages are published by the publisher. | Preview everything in every subject free, no card. |
Where Cambridge Checkpoints is better
No product wins on everything, and a comparison that pretends otherwise is not worth reading. Here is what Cambridge Checkpoints genuinely does better than we do.
- The questions are the real thing — past exam questions licensed from the assessment authority, not written in-house. Nothing substitutes for that if authenticity is what you want.
- It is on school booklists across the country, so your teacher is likely to set work from it and your class will be working from the same book.
- It is a printed book. You can annotate it, work on paper the way you will in the exam, and revise with no screen.
- Decades of continuous publication behind it and a publisher your school already trusts.
- At A$29.95 to A$34.95 it is inexpensive for a single subject if the past questions are all you need.
Where ATARMAxxing is better
- A$20 a subject, and A$60 for five — less than two Checkpoints books.
- 20 full-length model exams per subject on top of the official past papers, so you do not run out of timed practice.
- Mark-by-mark answer guides, so you can see which specific marks you dropped rather than just whether the final answer matched.
- Notes, practice questions and flashcards are in the same A$20, so a subject is covered end to end.
- Lifetime online access with an ATAR tracker across every subject you own.
Our exams are original full-length model exams written to the public study designs and syllabuses — they are not past papers. Every subject hub also links to the official VCAA, NESA or QCAA past papers, which those authorities publish free.
Cambridge Checkpoints vs ATARMAxxing — your questions
How much is Cambridge Checkpoints?
As at August 2026 it is A$34.95 for a Units 3 & 4 title and A$29.95 for Units 1 & 2, per subject. Check the publisher's own page before you buy, as prices change between editions.
Does Checkpoints mark my work?
No — you mark your own answers against the solutions supplied in the book. ATARMAxxing is also self-marked, but each model exam comes with a mark-by-mark answer guide that shows how the marks are allocated, which makes it clearer where you actually lost them.
Are Checkpoints questions real past exam questions?
Yes. That is its central strength — the questions are licensed past exam questions from the assessment authority. ATARMAxxing exams are original model exams written to the current study design or syllabus; every subject hub also links to the official VCAA, NESA or QCAA past papers, which those authorities publish free.
Should I buy Checkpoints or ATARMAxxing?
If you want authentic past questions in a printed book you can annotate, buy Checkpoints. If you want a large volume of extra full-length exams with mark-by-mark guides, plus notes, questions and flashcards for A$20 a subject, use ATARMAxxing. They are not really substitutes, and using both is a common and reasonable choice.
Is there a cheaper way to get five subjects?
Five Units 3 & 4 Checkpoints books are A$174.75 at August 2026 pricing. Five ATARMAxxing subjects are A$60 as a single one-time payment. That is a fair comparison on price, but not on content type — only one of them contains licensed past questions in print.
Decide for yourself
You do not have to take our word for any of this. Preview a subject free — the notes, a full exam and the flashcards — without entering a card, and compare it against whatever else you are considering.