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TCE · TCE Level 3 · official past papers

TCE Modern History past exams 2021–2025, by year and topic

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ATARMAxxing indexes 5 official TASC Modern History papers from 2021 to 2025, with 36 questions mapped to 3 topics. Every paper opens on the TASC website.

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HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023) · 2023–currentHSM315117 Version 3 (2022–2023; USA earlier/later split 1917–1932 / 1932–1945 in the 2022 paper) · 2022–2022HSM315117 Version 2b (to 2021; Russia periods 1917–1941 / 1941–1953) · 2021–2021

TCE Modern History exams by year: official papers & marking guidance

Past exams indexed: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021. Open the official TASC papers, with marking guidance where available.

YearStudy designOfficial paper(s)Marking guidance
2025 TCE Modern History examHSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper ↗Marking guidance ↗
2024 TCE Modern History examHSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper ↗Marking guidance ↗
2023 TCE Modern History examHSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper ↗Marking guidance ↗
2022 TCE Modern History examHSM315117 Version 3 (2022–2023; USA earlier/later split 1917–1932 / 1932–1945 in the 2022 paper)TASC exam paper ↗Marking guidance ↗
2021 TCE Modern History examHSM315117 Version 2b (to 2021; Russia periods 1917–1941 / 1941–1953)TASC exam paper ↗Marking guidance ↗

5 official papers across 5 years (2021–2025), 5 with marking guidance, published by TASC. These span more than one study design; the most recent is HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023). Earlier papers may cover material that has since changed.

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Section A — Modern Western Nations in the 20th Century · 12 mapped questions

USA 1917–1945

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 160 marksA 1932 Roosevelt statement calling on business and finance leaders to cooperate for the common good is the stimulus; candidates outline and assess the main drivers and impacts of social, economic and political change in the USA in either 1917–1932 or 1933–1945.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 160 marksRoosevelt's 'one third of a nation' remark on poverty: assess how far poverty drove change in 1917–1932 or 1933–1945, whether other factors mattered more, and briefly how well governments addressed America's divisions.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 160 marksA Roosevelt statement that progress is measured by providing enough for those who have little: assess whether governments in 1917–1932 or 1933–1945 did so, through the drivers of change.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Australia 1918–1949

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 260 marksA John Curtin statement that workers' wartime sacrifices were met with only partly kept promises in an unequal society frames an essay on the main drivers of social, economic and political change in either 1918–1939 or 1939–1949.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 260 marksA proposition that Anzac-fostered national pride blocked meaningful change; candidates judge whether it fairly describes social, economic and political developments in 1918–1939 or 1939–1949.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 260 marksA proposition that Australia was a conservative nation that deliberately changed little: assess its accuracy for 1918–1939 or 1939–1949 through the drivers, nature and impact of change.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Germany 1918–1945

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 360 marksAn Ian Kershaw judgement that Hitler would have stayed a nobody without the conditions created by defeat, revolution and humiliation; candidates assess the changes, their drivers and impacts and the validity of the claim for 1918–1933 or 1933–1945.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 360 marksA June 1919 German newspaper editorial calling for vengeance over Versailles: assess how far the humiliation of defeat was the major driver of social, economic and political change in 1918–1933 or 1933–1945.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 360 marksA Douglas Newton phrase describing Germany's path from hope to horror: judge its validity for 1918–1932 or 1933–1945 through the drivers, nature and impact of change.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Russia and the Soviet Union 1917–1953

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 460 marksA Martin Malia interpretation that Bolshevism was a genuine workers' movement later distorted by Stalin; with reference to Stalin's influence on domestic policy, candidates assess the drivers of change in 1917–1929 or 1929–1953.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 460 marksZbigniew Brzezinski's contrast of Lenin's USSR as a religious revival and Stalin's as a prison: discuss and assess the nature and impact of change in 1917–1929 or 1929–1953.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section A Question 460 marksLenin's definition of revolution as smashing and replacing the old state machine: assess how far Soviet leaders implemented it in 1917–1929 or 1929–1953 and the significance of other forces of change.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Also in this topic: USA 1917–1945 (1917–1932 / 1933–1945): internal divisions, Prohibition and the Jazz Age, the Depression and New Deal, foreign policy and isolationism, the war effort and the atomic bomb · Australia 1918–1949 (1918–1939 / 1939–1949): 1920s priorities and soldier settlement, the Depression, foreign policy, the war effort, post-war reconstruction, communism and the 1949 election · Germany 1918–1945 (1918–1933 / 1933–1945): Weimar democracy and its failure, the Nazi rise to power, the Nazi state, antisemitism and the Holocaust, war and defeat · Russia and the Soviet Union 1917–1953 (1917–1929 / 1929–1953): 1917 revolutions and civil war, the Stalin–Trotsky struggle, NEP, Five Year Plans, collectivisation and famine, the Terror, WWII — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

Section B — Modern Asian Nations in the 20th Century · 12 mapped questions

Japan 1931–1952

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 560 marksDescribe Japan's internal divisions and external challenges in 1931–1941 or 1941–1952, then judge whether its challenges came from domestic issues or from external factors beyond its control.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 560 marksDescribe Japan's internal divisions and external challenges, then critically assess the view that its challenges were mainly of its own making rather than external, for 1931–1941 or 1941–1952.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 560 marksDescribe Japan's internal divisions and external challenges, then assess the role and impact of at least two significant individuals and/or groups in the chosen period.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

India 1930–1984

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 660 marksDescribe India's internal divisions and external threats in 1930–1947 or 1947–1984, then judge whether external challenges shaped India and its domestic policy more than internal issues.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 660 marksDescribe India's internal divisions and external threats, then critically assess whether internal challenges mattered more than external threats in shaping India in the chosen period.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 660 marksDescribe India's internal divisions and external threats, then assess the role and impact of at least two significant individuals and/or groups in the chosen period.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Indonesia 1942–1975

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 760 marksDescribe Indonesia's most significant internal divisions and external threats in 1942–1965 or 1965–1975, then examine whether Sukarno's or Suharto's leadership had more impact than those external threats.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 760 marksDescribe Indonesia's internal divisions and external threats, then critically assess whether its strategic location made external threats more important than internal challenges.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 760 marksDescribe Indonesia's internal divisions and external threats, then assess the role and impact of at least two significant individuals and/or groups in the chosen period.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

China 1935–1976

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 860 marksDescribe China's most significant internal divisions and external threats in 1935–1949 or 1949–1976, then assess whether Mao's leadership had more impact than the external threats.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 860 marksDescribe China's internal divisions and external threats, then critically assess the view that internal chaos had far more impact than external threats in the chosen period.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section B Question 860 marksDescribe China's internal divisions and external threats, then assess the role and impact of at least two significant individuals and/or groups in the chosen period.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Also in this topic: Japan 1931–1952 (1931–1941 / 1941–1952): Manchuria, expansion and the Co-Prosperity Sphere, Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War, defeat, Occupation, the Security Treaty · India 1930–1984 (1930–1947 / 1947–1984): civil disobedience, the 1935 Act, Partition, the constitution and Nehru, Indira Gandhi, wars with Pakistan and China, the 1974 nuclear test · Indonesia 1942–1975 (1942–1965 / 1965–1975): Japanese occupation, independence struggle, Guided Democracy, the PKI and army, Confrontation, 1965–1966 killings, the New Order, East Timor · China 1935–1976 (1935–1949 / 1949–1976): the Long March and Yan'an, war with Japan, the Civil War, early reforms and Hundred Flowers, Korea, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

Section C — The Changing World Order, 1945–2010 · 12 mapped questions

C1 The Cold War

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 960 marksA John Lewis Gaddis claim that the capitalist side learned from history better because it never committed to one fixed theory of history; candidates test it against the origins and course of the Cold War using at least three specific incidents and differing interpretations.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 960 marksA Gaddis observation that both superpowers were born in revolution and held universalist ideologies: assess it as an explanation of the origins and course of the Cold War using at least three incidents and historians' opinions.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 960 marksThe Revisionist view that US expansionism and Soviet weakness make the USA responsible: assess its fairness for the origins and course of the Cold War using at least three incidents and historians.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

C2 Australia's Engagement with Asia

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 1060 marksAl Grassby's 1973 vision of a diverse, multicultural Australia by 2000 is the stimulus; candidates explain how relations with one Asian country changed since 1945, judge the vision's reality in the context of the White Australia Policy's demise, and use historians' interpretations.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 1060 marksHow relations between Australia and one of China, India, Indonesia, Japan or Vietnam changed since 1945, and how historians and commentators explain those changes.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 1060 marksWith one of China, India, Indonesia, Japan or Vietnam, discuss how that nation's changing characteristics since 1945 influenced its relations with Australia, using evidence and interpretations.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

C3 Terrorism

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 1160 marksDrawing on David Rapoport's view of 9/11 as the most destructive and most consequential day of terrorism, leading to the War on Terror, candidates evaluate the changing nature and intended outcomes of terrorism since WWII using events and commentators.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 1160 marksA proposition that 'terrorism' is a label used to denounce opponents: discuss how terrorists' nature, methods and motivations changed since WWII and briefly assess whether terrorism is merely a label.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 1160 marksDiscuss the origins and changing nature of terrorism as a political, ideological and economic weapon since WWII, and briefly assess the impact of the USA's War on Terror, using events and commentators.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

C4 Migration

  • 2025HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 1260 marksA UN 2024 migration report statistic on the long-run growth in international migrants is the stimulus; candidates evaluate it through the consequences of population movements 1945–2010, assessing causes and impacts with historians' interpretations.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 1260 marksAssess whether the factors causing movements of people changed significantly from 1945 to 2010 and assess major impacts of those movements on the Western world, with historians' and commentators' interpretations.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023HSM315117 — current for 2026 (course Version 4a; External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3, March 2023)TASC exam paper Section C Question 1260 marksThrough displacement caused by conflict and persecution, assess the major consequences of the movement of peoples 1945–2010, with interpretations from commentators and historians.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Also in this topic: Overview: blocs, decolonisation, the rise of Asia, peace and security, globalisation and migration · C1 The Cold War: origins, crises, proxy wars, détente, the arms and space races, Australia's role, the end of the Cold War and historiography · C2 Australia's Engagement with Asia: Australia and one of China, India, Indonesia, Japan or Vietnam since 1945; the White Australia Policy; alliances and trade · C3 Peace, Conflict and the Nature of Terrorism: changing nature of terrorism since 1945, 9/11, the War on Terror and responses to 2010 · C4 Patterns of Migration: frameworks, displacement 1945–1975 and 1975–2010, consequences for Australia, Britain and the Commonwealth — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

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