HSC Visual Arts past exams 2016–2025, by year and topic

HSC AOS1 — Practice in Artmaking, Art Criticism and Art History · 23 mapped questions

Also in this topic: Social structures, positions, actions and sequences shaping choices and judgements · Practice in art criticism: speculating about meaning and building critical narratives · Practice in art history: locating works in significant histories · The 12 expressive forms and their conventions · 2D, 3D, 4D and time-based works, including architecture and designed objects — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

HSC AOS2 — The Conceptual Framework: Agencies in the Artworld · 19 mapped questions

Also in this topic: The artist as agency: assigned and assumed roles across time and place · The artwork as agency: material, virtual, physical and symbolic properties · Collaborative and collective authorship · Distinguishing the world as an agency from the cultural frame — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

HSC AOS3 — The Frames · 18 mapped questions

Also in this topic: Revisionist histories and the critique of canon, genius and the masterpiece · How each frame reorders the relationships between the four agencies · Layering or comparing two or more frames on one artwork — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

The rest of the syllabus

Question-level mapping for these areas is still being verified. Every official paper covering them is in the year table above.

• HSC AOS4 — Case Studies in Art Criticism and Art History — A minimum of five case studies of 4–10 hours in the HSC course · Australian, other-region and globalised artistic practice · Contemporary and historical contexts · Re-examining or comparing a case from a different frame or critical focus · Named art critics and art historians as supporting evidence · Exhibitions, biennales and site visits as evidence · Reading unseen plates and other supplied source material under time pressure · Writing concisely and presenting an informed point of view · NESA command words: Describe, Explain, Analyse, Compare, Discuss, Evaluate, Investigate, Examine, Explore · Mark allocation and timing strategy across Sections I and II
• HSC AOS5 — The Body of Work and the Visual Arts Process Diary — Coherence and a consistent point of view across the body of work · Conceptual strength and meaning within and between works · Selection of an expressive form · Technical accomplishment, refinement and sensitivity to intention · The Visual Arts Process Diary as evidence of sustained, adapted practice · Differentiating the Preliminary and HSC diaries · Submission requirements: size, weight, duration and prohibited materials · Copyright, appropriation and current exclusions · Safe working practices