Modern History: should I choose it?

What will I learn?

How will I be assessed?

Progression and companion subjects

No complete companion or exclusion review is attached to this profile. Check the official course-entry conditions, language eligibility and your school’s sequence before enrolling. Links between resource hubs show related learning; they do not establish a compulsory prerequisite.

Will I find it hard?

Difficulty depends on your experience, interests, teaching and assessment. These are our reflection prompts, not an official difficulty rating.

• Try explaining a case, source or argument with evidence. Does this type of writing interest you?
• Look at the amount of terminology, examples and source material in the sample rather than assuming the subject is easy.

Does it scale up or down?

Modern History, 2025. Table 6 of QTAC’s 2025 report publishes separate raw and scaled subject medians for General subjects with at least 50 students. Historical cohort data cannot predict your result or a future scaling direction.

Scaling is not a measure of difficulty or a guaranteed bonus. Prioritise content you can engage with and required subjects for courses you are considering.

Try a little of the subject

Australian Frontier Wars, 1788–1930s

This topic investigates armed conflict between First Nations peoples and the colonial soldiers, settlers and police who took their lands, from the arrival of the First Fleet at Warrane (Sydney Cove) in January 1788 to the end of the Caledon Bay Crisis in Arnhem Land in the early 1930s. Content note: the topic involves violence, and some sources name or picture First Nations people who have died. Follow community protocols and your school's guidance. A suggested aspect (the author's suggestion, not an official requirement) is the Black War in Van Diemen's Land (c. 1824–1832) , because it has a rich and strongly contested evidence base. Two systems of ideas met on the frontier (KK.1). First Nations Australia was made up of hundreds of distinct nations, each with its own law, language and responsibilities to Country, sustained for more than 60,000 years. Land was a relationship carrying spiritual, economic and kinship obligations, not a commodity to be sold. British colonisers brought ideas of Crown sovereignty, private property, Christian mission and a racial hierarchy that placed European society at the top. Britain took possession without treaties, acting as though the land could be claimed because its owners did not farm or govern in forms Europeans recognised. The High Court rejected that assumption, later labelled terra nullius , in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) in 1992. Perspectives were never uniform (KK.2, KK.3). Governors' instructions urged kindness while the same governments approved punitive expeditions. Settlers on isolated runs often felt fear and treated resistance as crime, while First Nations people experienced invasion, the loss of food and water, violence against women, and epidemic disease. Empathy means understanding these thoughts and feelings in context

Original practice question: Which idea best explains why Britain took possession of eastern Australia without negotiating treaties?

This is ATARMAxxing’s original sample learning material. It is not an official assessment task or a prediction of your school’s workload.

Explore the resources

Open the Modern History subject hub and free preview (opens in a new tab)

• Modern History — QCE Units 3 & 4 (opens in a new tab)

Core subject information and planning are free. Full study resources are optional.