All VCE, HSC & QCE past papers by subject →

HSC · HSC Year 12 · official past papers

HSC Physics past exams 2016–2025, by year and topic

The official NESA exams, marking guides and examiner reports we index, organised by topic and subtopic and labelled with the study design it was written under. Open the official paper, work the question in your own workspace, or bring a tutor into it live.

Index last synced 19 August 2026.

Papers, marking guides and examiner reports open on the official NESA website — they stay official and up to date. Question descriptions below are our own; we never republish exam content. Prefer to be walked through it? See the tutor directory →

Not sure what a topic below is actually meant to cover? Read the syllabus for Physics, area by area →

ATARMAxxing indexes 20 official NESA Physics papers from 2016 to 2025, with 40 questions mapped to 4 topics. Every paper opens on the NESA website.

Try a worked Physics question

The hub has an original model-exam question with its worked answer and a sample revision note, free to preview. The official papers below remain free on the exam authority's website.

Preview the worked question →

Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017) · 2019–2027Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2002, discontinued) · 2002–2018

HSC Physics exams by year: official papers & marking guidance

Past exams indexed: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016. Open the official NESA papers, with marking guidance where available.

Year	Study design	Official paper(s)	Marking guidance
2025 HSC Physics exam	Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)	Exam ↗ · Marking guidelines ↗	—
2024 HSC Physics exam	Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)	Exam ↗ · Marking Guidelines ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2023 HSC Physics exam	Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)	Exam ↗ · Marking Guidelines ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2022 HSC Physics exam	Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)	Exam ↗ · Marking Guidelines ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2021 HSC Physics exam	Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)	Exam ↗ · Marking Guidelines ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2020 HSC Physics exam	Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)	Exam ↗ · Marking Guidelines ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2019 HSC Physics exam	Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)	Exam ↗ · Marking Guidelines ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2018 HSC Physics exam	Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2002, discontinued)	Exam ↗ · Marking Guidelines ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2017 HSC Physics exam	Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2002, discontinued)	Exam ↗ · Marking Guidelines ↗	Marking guidance ↗
2016 HSC Physics exam	Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2002, discontinued)	Exam ↗ · Marking Guidelines ↗	Marking guidance ↗

20 official papers across 10 years (2016–2025), 9 with marking guidance, published by NESA. These span more than one study design; the most recent is Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017). Earlier papers may cover material that has since changed.

Browse by topic

Pick a topic, open the exact question in the official paper, then work it in your own workspace — or hand the question straight to a live tutor session.

Module 5: Advanced Mechanics · 8 mapped questions

Projectile Motion

2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q327 marksCombined circular-motion and projectile-motion problem: locate a launched ball's landing position relative to a rotating disc's launcher.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Circular Motion

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q11 markMultiple choice: identify the direction of net force on an object in uniform circular motion.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q304 marksExplain the effect on forces acting on an object in a rotating cylinder when the rotation period is halved.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Motion in Gravitational Fields

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q256 marksDerive Kepler's third law relationship from gravitational force, then use a moon-system period-radius graph to calculate a planet's mass.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q314 marksCompare maximum projectile height under uniform versus radial gravitational field models, including energy changes.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q11 markMultiple choice: identify why gravitational field strength on a spacecraft changes with altitude.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q237 marksMulti-part: gravitational force on a space telescope, minimum photon energy detectable, and exoplanet temperature from peak emission wavelength (Wien's law).Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q349 marksMulti-part orbital mechanics problem: qualitative energy analysis, a 'show that' kinetic-energy calculation, and explaining a satellite's subsequent trajectory after an engine burn.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Module 6: Electromagnetism · 10 mapped questions

Charged Particles, Conductors and Electric and Magnetic Fields

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q287 marksMulti-part electron-deflection problem through a charged parallel-plate field: derive acceleration, vertical displacement, then final screen position.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q243 marksCalculate the magnetic field strength needed to keep a moving electron on a given circular path.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

The Motor Effect

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q216 marksTorque calculation on a spanner and explanation of two ways to increase torque in a simple DC motor.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q296 marksDesign a wiring configuration for unequal currents in two current-carrying rods, then evaluate a claim about which rod's magnetic force causes the observed displacement.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q101 markMultiple choice: compare force and torque on a current loop in a magnetic field across two orientations.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Electromagnetic Induction

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q337 marksAnalyse the motion and energy transformations of a swinging magnet pendulum and a nearby free-spinning aluminium can (eddy-current braking scenario).Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q285 marksTransformer voltage calculation and explanation of why primary current changes when a parallel load is switched in.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q308 marksAnalyse eddy-current and induced-emf behaviour of a complete ring versus a split ring near a changing electromagnet field, including a maximum induced emf calculation.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Applications of the Motor Effect

2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q254 marksDescribe the function of a split-ring commutator in a DC motor and explain why torque falls as rotational speed increases (back-emf).Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q315 marksCompare eddy-current braking acceleration-time graphs for a roller coaster entering a magnetic brake at two different speeds.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Module 7: The Nature of Light · 10 mapped questions

Light: Wave Model

2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q294 marksExplain why intensity drops when unpolarised light from an incandescent lamp passes through a polarising filter.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Light: Quantum Model

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q161 markMultiple choice: use a photoelectric-effect graph for four metals to determine which emit photoelectrons at a given photon frequency.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q248 marksDetermine a star's surface temperature and an absorption-line frequency from a hydrogen absorption spectrum, then explain the physical process producing absorption spectra.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q328 marksExtended response analysing how evidence from at least three light-matter interaction experiments contributed to understanding of physics.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q71 markMultiple choice: compare de Broglie wavelengths of a proton and neutron travelling at equal speed.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q151 markMultiple choice: identify photoelectric-effect evidence consistent with Einstein's photon model.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Light and Special Relativity

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q121 markMultiple choice: identify the graph relating a moving rod's speed to its length-contracted measured length.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q201 markMultiple choice: compare tick rates of three atomic clocks in different orbital reference frames under special relativity.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q263 marksQualitatively explain, from both the muon's and Earth's reference frames, why cosmic-ray muons reach Earth's surface despite their short half-life.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q223 marksTime dilation calculation for light pulses emitted from a spacecraft moving at 0.9c, as measured by an Earth observer.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Also in this topic: Electromagnetic Spectrum — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

Module 8: From the Universe to the Atom · 12 mapped questions

Origins of the Elements

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q225 marksInterpret a Hubble-style recessional velocity vs distance graph and describe how galaxy recessional velocities were determined.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q91 markMultiple choice: predict how a black-body radiation curve changes at a lower temperature.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q201 markMultiple choice: select the velocity-distance graph consistent with an accelerating universe expansion.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q215 marksIdentify variables determining stellar luminosity and compare two stars' properties on a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q278 marksExplain how stellar spectra reveal composition and temperature, then explain and sketch how a spectral line changes due to stellar rotation (Doppler broadening).Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Structure of the Atom

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q239 marksExplain the role of paraffin in Chadwick's neutron-discovery experiment, how it changed the atomic model, and how de Broglie's hypothesis addressed limitations of the Bohr-Rutherford model.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Properties of the Nucleus

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q71 markMultiple choice: find the ratio of parent to daughter isotope atoms after two half-lives of alpha decay.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q41 markMultiple choice: calculate remaining mass of a radioactive sample after three half-lives.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q263 marksMass-defect calculation to find energy released in a given nuclear fusion/transmutation reaction.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Deep Inside the Atom

2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q31 markMultiple choice: identify a fundamental particle in the Standard Model of matter.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2024Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q277 marksIdentify quark composition of pions produced in a proton-antiproton annihilation, calculate energy released per pion, and resolve a superluminal-velocity prediction using relativistic mechanics.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
2023Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (2017)Exam Q339 marksExtended response justifying how subatomic particle-field and particle-particle interactions have advanced understanding of matter, citing relevant experiments.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Also in this topic: Quantum Mechanical Nature of the Atom — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

Work a question with a tutor

If a HSC tutor is listed for Physics, the question you pick is attached when you book and loads into a shared live workspace — the tutor sees your working as you type, on a video call beside the official paper.

See Physics tutors →