TCE Modern History course document — modules explained
TASC Modern History Level 3 asks how the twentieth-century world was made and remade: what drove change inside Western nations between the wars, how Asian nations met internal divisions and external threats, and how historians argue about the world order after 1945. The written examination is three extended essays, one from each section, each rated against TASC's A+ to z criteria rather than marked. This resource is original, built by ATARMAxxing from TASC's published course document, specifications, past papers and assessment reports, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by TASC.
HSM315117 Modern History Level 3 course document, Version 4a (accreditation renewed without amendment on 25 September 2025; current for 2026), read with the HSM315117 External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3 (March 2023) · guide last reviewed . Always check the current course document on the TASC site ↗.
HSM315117 Modern History Level 3 course document, Version 4a (accreditation renewed without amendment on 25 September 2025; current for 2026), read with the HSM315117 External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3 (March 2023)
The external written examination runs for 3 hours of working time with 15 minutes of preparation time beforehand, during which you may take notes on the paper provided and highlight key words but may not start your answers. There is no information sheet. The paper has twelve questions in three sections and you answer one from each, as an extended essay in its own answer booklet, spending about 60 minutes on each. Section A (Questions 1–4) offers one question each on the USA, Australia, Germany and Russia/the Soviet Union, and Section B (Questions 5–8) one each on Japan, India, Indonesia and China; in both you write on either the earlier or the later period of your chosen country, not both. Section C (Questions 9–12) offers one question each on the Cold War, Australia's Engagement with Asia, Peace, Conflict and the Nature of Terrorism, and Patterns of Migration, and every question requires interpretations from named historians and commentators. Section A is rated on Criteria 3, 4 and 5, Section B on Criteria 3, 4 and 6, and Section C on Criteria 3, 4 and 7; the three sections carry equal weight. TASC does not publish a mark or percentage for the exam. ATARMAxxing's practice papers use an indicative 180-mark scheme (60 per section) purely as a study allocation mapped onto those criteria — it is not TASC's grading method, and every practice paper and marking guide says so.
Past papers on this subject span more than one course document. Papers written under an older one still work as practice, but the modules they test have changed — the index labels every paper with the course document it was set under.
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
The modules, one by one
Each area below lists the concepts named in the course document, what the TASC exam asks of them, and the mistake that most often costs marks.
Section A — Modern Western Nations in the 20th Century
Section B — Modern Asian Nations in the 20th Century
Section C — The Changing World Order, 1945–2010
Historical skills and essay technique
Area 1 of 4
Section A — Modern Western Nations in the 20th Century
You study one of the USA (1917–1945), Australia (1918–1949), Germany (1918–1945) or Russia and the Soviet Union (1917–1953), each split into an earlier and a later period. The focus is the drivers of social, economic and political change — war and its aftermath, economic crisis, ideology, leadership, fear and division — and the nature and impact of that change on different groups. You should be able to explain democracy and totalitarianism as political systems and at least one ideology as it played out in your country. Exam questions usually give a stimulus quotation and ask you to judge it, so the skill is building an argument about relative significance, not retelling events.
What the course document lists under this area · 4 points
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
Section B — Modern Asian Nations in the 20th Century
You study one of Japan (1931–1952), India (1930–1984), Indonesia (1942–1975) or China (1935–1976), again in an earlier or later period. Every recent question asks you to describe the nation's internal divisions and external threats and then make a judgement: were the challenges self-made or external, which mattered more, what did leaders and groups contribute, and how did ideology, the political system and nationalism shape the responses? Strong answers keep internal and external threats distinct, explain why the nation responded as it did, and cover the whole chosen period.
What the course document lists under this area · 4 points
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
A short overview of the post-1945 world (blocs, decolonisation, Asia's rise, globalisation, migration and refugee crises) frames a deep study of one topic: the Cold War, Australia's engagement with one Asian nation, the changing nature of terrorism, or patterns of migration. Criterion 7 makes this the historiography section: you must present the arguments of named historians and commentators, explain the evidence and context behind them, and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. The course stops at 2010.
What the course document lists under this area · 5 points
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
Criteria 3 and 4 apply in every section. TASC's assessment reports repeatedly reward a clear thesis that answers the question and stimulus, topic sentences that carry the argument, precise evidence (dates, events, statistics, sources) and historians' views woven into the reasoning. They penalise narrative recounts, pre-prepared answers, and essays organised mechanically into political, social and economic paragraphs. Formal conventions matter: third person, past tense, accurate names and spelling.
What the exam asks
Where marks go missing
Common questions
Is the TASC Modern History exam marked out of a total?
No. Every criterion is rated on TASC's extended scale from A+ to z, and you receive A, B, C, t or z for Criteria 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. The 180 marks on ATARMAxxing practice papers are an indicative study allocation (60 per section, because the sections carry equal weight), not TASC's method.
How many questions do I answer?
Three: one extended essay from each of Sections A, B and C, chosen from four questions in each section, each in a separate answer booklet. Allow about 60 minutes per essay.
Do I write about both periods of my country?
No. In Sections A and B you choose either the earlier or the later period and write only on that. State your period in the introduction and cover the whole of it, keeping earlier background to a sentence or two.
Do I have to agree with the stimulus quotation?
No. The 2025 assessment report says candidates do not have to agree with the quote; the strongest responses evaluated its accuracy and often disagreed in part or in full. What matters is a clear, sustained thesis supported by specific evidence.
How many historians should I quote?
There is no minimum, and no in-text referencing is needed. Markers reward historians whose views are explained in context and used to advance your argument. In Section C, discussing differing interpretations is essential: the 2024 report says essays using only one interpretation were penalised. Encyclopedias, Alpha History and textbook authors do not count as historians.
Which Section C topic should I prepare?
Your school chooses one topic for depth study. Recent papers have always offered one question on each of the four topics, so any of them can be answered, but you only need to prepare the one you studied, alongside the Overview.
When is the 2026 exam?
TASC's 2026 written exam timetable lists Modern History (HSM315117) on Thursday 19 November 2026 in the afternoon session (1.30 pm start), 3 hours. Check TASC's timetable page for any updates.
Practise it against the real thing
Knowing the course document is the first half. The other half is seeing how TASC actually asks it — every official paper for Modern History is indexed by the same areas above.