QCE Units 3 & 4 · Queensland

General Mathematics Scaling QCE 2026: Raw to Scaled

QCE General Mathematics scales down in Queensland. General Mathematics scales down, and by a wide margin against Mathematical Methods. In QTAC's 2024 ATAR report the median raw result of 68 scaled to 60.48 out of 100.

What the 2024 QTAC report shows

Median raw 68 → median scaled 60.48

Subject results run 0–100. This is the median raw result and the median scaled result for the subject, not a fixed conversion — your own result is scaled by where it sits in the distribution. It describes the 2024 cohort. Scaling is recalculated every year, so it is not a prediction of what your result will do.

You can't change the scaling. You can change the raw mark.

Scaling is decided by your cohort, after the exam, and nothing you do moves it. The raw mark is the only part of this you control — and the General Mathematics hub is 20 full-length model exams with mark-by-mark answer guides, revision notes, practice questions and flashcards, built for exactly that.

Preview General Mathematics free →QTAC ATAR calculator

The hub shows a sample revision note extract, one full exam question with its worked answer and the complete list of every exam and note title — no account needed to look around. Unlocking General Mathematics for life is $20 once, or $50 for any three subjects. See what's included →

What General Mathematics actually asks of you

The external assessment covers Units 3 and 4 and contributes 50% of the subject result. Paper 1 contributes 30% and assesses simple familiar questions; Paper 2 contributes 20% and assesses complex familiar and complex unfamiliar questions. Each paper allows 5 minutes perusal and 90 minutes working time. Students may use a handheld QCAA-approved scientific calculator, and QCAA supplies the current formula book. Classroom CAS or spreadsheet demonstrations do not establish permission to use those tools in the external examination.

The General Mathematics exam is Thu 5 Nov 2026, PM session (90 mins + 5 mins reading/planning). Source: QCE timetable.

The 4 areas of study you are examined on

From the General Mathematics General Senior Syllabus 2025 v1.3 (for completion in 2026 or later).

Unit 1: Money, measurement, algebra and linear equations (school-based, not EA-examinable)
Unit 1 sets the arithmetic and algebra that later units assume you own. Consumer arithmetic covers percentages, rates, mark-ups and discounts, wages, taxation and currency conversion — the everyday finance that returns in Unit 4 as loans and annuities. Shape and measurement covers perimeter, area, surface area and volume, including composite solids and unit conversion, with attention to rounding and significant figures. Similarity and scale extend this into scale factors and scale drawings, and the different ways length, area and volume scale. The algebra topic covers substitution, rearranging formulas and solving equations, and the unit finishes with linear equations and their graphs: gradient, intercepts and reading a straight-line model in context. None of it is externally examined, yet almost every Unit 3 and 4 question depends on fluency in it.
In the exam: This unit is assessed at school only. Its content still decides marks in the external assessment indirectly, because errors in rounding, unit conversion, percentage change and formula rearrangement are the most common reason a correct method in Units 3 and 4 produces an incorrect final answer.
Where marks go missing: Rounding too early. Carrying a rounded intermediate value through a multi-step calculation pushes the final answer outside the accepted range, and the mark goes even though the method displayed on the page is completely correct.
Unit 2: Applications of linear equations and trigonometry, matrices and univariate data analysis (school-based, not EA-examinable)
Unit 2 applies the tools of Unit 1 and adds two new ones. Applications of linear equations cover simultaneous equations, piecewise models and break-even analysis, read from algebra and from graphs. Applications of trigonometry cover right-angled triangles, the sine and cosine rules, angles of elevation and depression, and bearings — the same techniques that return in Unit 3 as Earth geometry. Matrices are introduced as a way of organising and operating on data: order, addition, scalar multiplication, matrix multiplication and their use in contexts such as inventories and route counting, which underpins the network work of Unit 4. Univariate data analysis covers displaying and describing a single variable, including distribution shape, centre, spread, outliers and comparison between grouped data sets.
In the exam: Not externally examined. The trigonometry and matrix skills are the ones that resurface most visibly, in Earth geometry calculations and in network questions where a matrix representation of connections is expected, so this unit is worth revising before the external assessment rather than filing away.
Where marks go missing: Mixing up bearings and ordinary angles. A true bearing is measured clockwise from north and written as three digits, so an answer measured from the wrong reference direction follows an otherwise correct method to a wrong result.
Unit 3: Bivariate data and time series analysis, sequences and Earth geometry (EA-examinable)
Unit 3 is the first externally assessed unit and it leans heavily statistical. Bivariate data analysis covers scatterplots, the correlation coefficient, the least-squares regression line, interpretation of gradient and intercept in context, residual plots, and the difference between association and causation, including the role of a confounding variable. Time series analysis adds trend, seasonality and smoothing, using moving averages and seasonal indices to deseasonalise data and forecast, together with an honest account of how far a forecast can be trusted. Growth and decay in sequences covers arithmetic and geometric sequences and recurrence relations used to model population change, depreciation and repeated percentage change. Earth geometry closes the unit with latitude and longitude, great circle distances, and time zone calculations across the international date line. For the 2026 course, students calculate both r and r squared using technology and interpret the coefficient of determination.
In the exam: External assessment items in this unit mix computation with written interpretation. You are asked to fit and apply a regression line, comment on the strength and direction of an association, deseasonalise or forecast from a time series, generate terms from a recurrence relation, and calculate distance or local time between two named locations.
Where marks go missing: Interpreting the gradient of a regression line without units or context. Stating that the gradient is 2.4 earns nothing; the mark requires the change in the response variable per unit increase in the explanatory variable, named in the units of the question.
Unit 4: Investing and networking (EA-examinable)
Unit 4 has two distinct halves. The finance half covers loans, investments and annuities: simple and compound interest, effective annual rates, reducing balance loans, repayment schedules built from recurrence relations, annuities and perpetuities, and the effect of altering the repayment amount or the compounding frequency. Amortisation tables are read and completed rather than merely described. The networks half moves into graph theory: vertices, edges, degree, adjacency matrices, connected and planar graphs, and Euler and Hamiltonian paths and circuits. Decision mathematics then applies these, with minimum spanning trees for cheapest connection problems, shortest path for routing, and project networks with critical path analysis and float for scheduling. Both halves reward setting the problem up correctly, because the calculation that follows is usually short. Current scope specifies activity-on-arc critical path analysis and Hungarian algorithm minimisation and maximisation with square matrices up to 5 by 5.
In the exam: Finance questions require appropriate formulas or recurrence relations, correct period conversions and contextual conclusions. The external examination permits a QCAA-approved scientific calculator. Network tasks include paths, spanning trees, activity-on-arc scheduling and assignment problems, including Hungarian algorithm minimisation and maximisation up to 5 by 5.
Where marks go missing: Mismatching the interest rate to the payment period. A quoted annual rate used with monthly repayments, or a monthly rate left annual, produces a plausible-looking figure that then fails every subsequent part of the question.

Full General Mathematics study-design guide →

How scaling works in Queensland

In Queensland, QCAA reports a subject result out of 100 for each General subject. QTAC then applies inter-subject scaling before any ATAR is calculated. The method is equipercentile: QTAC compares how each subject's students performed across all their subjects, works out which results sit at the same position in each distribution, and maps subject results onto a common scale. The calculation runs iteratively, recomputing each student's average and each subject's scaled results until the numbers settle. QTAC then adds your best five scaled results to form a tertiary entrance aggregate, which is ranked statewide and reported as an ATAR. You must satisfactorily complete a QCAA English subject to be eligible, though it need not be one of your five.

Source: official QTAC scaling report (PDF). Last checked 2026-08-18.

What scaling is not

Scaling is not a difficulty rating and it is not a bonus. It compares how the students in one subject performed across every other subject they took, so a subject scales down because of its cohort, not because of the paper. The consequence is practical: you cannot scale your way out of a weak result. The only lever you control is the raw mark, and the fastest way to move that is full-length timed practice against the real exam format.

QCE General Mathematics practice exams QTAC ATAR calculator

Questions

Does QCE General Mathematics scale up or down?

General Mathematics scales down, and by a wide margin against Mathematical Methods. In QTAC's 2024 ATAR report the median raw result of 68 scaled to 60.48 out of 100.

How does subject scaling work in Queensland?

Should I choose General Mathematics because of how it scales?

Scaling adjusts a whole cohort, not one student, so choosing a subject you will struggle in because it scales up is usually a worse trade than doing well in one that scales down. Check the prerequisites for the course you want first, then your interest and workload, and treat scaling as a tie-breaker. Scaling is also recalculated every year, so the figures in any report describe a past cohort rather than the year you are sitting.