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2026 HSC Community and Family Studies exam: What to learn from last year's mistakes
Hi all, in preparation for the upcoming exam, here's what to learn from last year's mistakes.
Exam: Tuesday 3 November 2026, 9:25 am to 12:30 pm. All times are NSW local time.
The 2025 paper was 100 marks: 20 multiple choice, 55 compulsory short-answer marks and a 25-mark option.
The questions below are all from the compulsory section: Q21 (4 marks), Q22 (5), Q23 (6), Q24 (5) and Q25 (7).
NESA does not publish question averages. It does identify where students gave general knowledge instead of answering the particular graph, group or research scenario.
1. Q21: Explain both advantages and limitations of quantitative data
Where students went wrong
Students named advantages and limitations without explaining them or using quantitative examples. Some only covered one side.
What they should have done
Numerical responses allow comparisons across participants and can be displayed in a graph, making patterns easier to identify. But a rating alone does not explain why someone answered that way, and fixed choices can miss experiences outside those options. Use a concrete example: a five-point satisfaction rating is easy to compare but does not reveal the reason for dissatisfaction. Cover more than one advantage and limitation.
2. Q22: Use both age and gender in the graph
Where students went wrong
Students gave general reasons for caring instead of using the displayed data, or addressed age without gender.
What they should have done
The feedback identifies females aged 60–69 at about 22% in the graph and females as the leading primary carers in every age group. Quote the relevant values or trends, then offer a plausible reason for each. Retirement or part-time employment may affect availability to care, while older partners may care for each other. Distinguish the graph’s evidence from your explanation; the graph itself does not prove why people became carers.
3. Q23: Connect a community organisation to rights
Where students went wrong
Responses described general community help, used a government body instead of the required organisation, or discussed needs without linking them to rights.
What they should have done
Name a relevant community organisation and explain its action. The marker feedback gives Matthew Talbot Hostel as an example supporting people experiencing homelessness with essentials such as shelter and safety. Explain the right being supported and how the organisation’s service or advocacy contributes. Do not treat any helpful activity as a complete explanation of advocacy.
4. Q24: Justify each improvement to the research process
Where students went wrong
Students suggested changes such as more questionnaires or a quiet room without explaining how those changes improved the research.
What they should have done
Connect the change to the issue in the scenario. A fairer sample reduces selection bias. Consistent written instructions make administration more consistent. Questions aligned with the research aim support validity. Privacy during completion helps protect participants and can make honest responses more likely. Explain these separately: reliability, validity and ethics are related but not interchangeable labels.
5. Q25: Make service access specific to rural and remote families
Where students went wrong
Students listed location, staffing or opening hours without explaining how those features affected this group’s access.
What they should have done
A specialist located far away creates travel time and cost, which can make attendance harder for a family managing work and care. Limited staffing can mean fewer appointments or longer waits. In a small community, concerns about confidentiality can discourage use of a service. For each point, connect the service feature to access and the consequence for the family. Avoid an answer that would read exactly the same if the group name were changed.
Source: NESA 2025 Community and Family Studies exam, marking guidelines and feedback.
Use the Community & Family Studies hub and past papers and marking guides alongside this.
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