Printed study guides are a big part of Year 11 and 12 in Australia. Cambridge Checkpoints, Excel Success One, A+ and the ATAR Notes books all fill school booklists and cost real money once you multiply by five or six subjects. This post looks at what each one actually sells, what you can get free instead, and where paying still makes sense. Some of the free options are ours, so we say so up front, and we try to be fair about where a book is the better choice.
Disclosure: this post is written by AusGrader, which is one of the free alternatives listed. We have described each paid guide using publicly listed product details at the time of writing. Prices change and editions are updated every year, so check the publisher or your retailer before you buy. If anything is out of date, please reach out and we will correct it promptly.
The Short Answer
Yes, you can replace most of what a paid study guide gives you with free resources. The exam boards publish the core of it themselves: past exams, marking guidelines or criteria, and examiner commentary. A lot of what a guide resells is that material, sorted, tidied up and printed.
What the boards do not give you is three things: questions sorted by topic, worked answers on every question, and feedback on your own answer. Those are the real gaps a paid guide fills, and they are the ones worth finding a free source for.
The rest of this post goes through the main printed guides one at a time. For the marking side in particular, see our guide on how to mark your own practice exams.
What Paid Guides Actually Sell
Most printed guides bundle some mix of the following.
- Curated past questions. Official exam questions, usually grouped by topic so you can drill one area at a time.
- Worked or suggested answers. A model response written by a teacher or marker, so you can see what a full-mark answer looks like.
- Condensed notes. Summaries, glossaries and diagrams that boil the syllabus down to something you can revise from.
- Sample or trial papers. Extra practice papers written by the publisher, in the style of the real exam.
- A physical object. A book you can annotate, carry and put on your desk without a screen.
None of these is a bad thing to pay for. The point is that several of them are available free, and it helps to know which ones before you spend $150 or more across a full subject load.
The Free Toolkit
- Your board's website. VCAA publishes past exams and examiner reports. NESA publishes past HSC papers and marking guidelines. QCAA publishes past papers and marking guides. SCSA publishes past WACE exams and marking keys. These are the primary sources, and every paid guide is built on them. The downside is that they are PDFs by year, not sorted by topic, and the answers are marking schemes rather than model responses.
- ATAR Notes forums. ATAR Notes has large, active free forums where students and past students answer questions, share resources and discuss subjects. Quality varies by thread, but for getting unstuck on a specific point it is hard to beat.
- YouTube and Khan Academy. A lot of good, free video teaching exists for the sciences and maths in particular. It will not be perfectly matched to your syllabus, so check anything important against your course documents.
- AusGrader, for the subjects we cover. Official past exam questions from VCAA, NESA, QCAA and SCSA, filterable by topic, with sample answers, the official marking criteria and multiple-choice explanations, all free. Our subject study guides are free too. AI grading of your own typed or handwritten answer is live: your first 10 are free, then it is a $100 one-time pass for 2026 ($50 in NSW). Self-marking is coming soon.
Where AusGrader's free coverage applies today
- QCE (19 subjects): Accounting, Agricultural Science, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Digital Solutions, Economics, Engineering, General Maths, Geography, Health, Legal Studies, Marine Science, Methods, PE, Physics, Psychology, Specialist and Study of Religion.
- VCE (14 subjects): Accounting, Biology, Business Management, Chemistry, Economics, Food Studies, General Maths, HHD, Legal Studies, Methods, PE, Physics, Psychology and Specialist.
- WACE (12 subjects): Biology, Business Management and Enterprise, Chemistry, Economics, Geography, Human Biology, Maths Applications, Methods, Specialist, PE Studies, Physics and Psychology.
- HSC: Biology, Chemistry and Physics only, today.
Every "free on AusGrader" claim in this post applies to that list and nothing wider. Browse the VCE, HSC, QCE and WACE hubs to check your subject.
1. Cambridge Checkpoints
What it is: past exam questions sorted by topic, with suggested responses and short study notes.
Boards: VCE, HSC and QCE. We could not find a WACE series.
Price: around $28 to $35 per subject at the time of writing.
Free equivalent: your board's past papers for the raw questions, and AusGrader for topic-sorted questions, sample answers and marking criteria in the subjects listed above.
Where it still adds value: it is a tidy, well-edited book that many schools put on their booklists, so your teacher may set questions from it. It is also one of the few options for English and for HSC subjects beyond the sciences today.
Our verdict: a good book, and worth buying if you study best on paper or your school uses it. If you only want the questions, answers and criteria, you can get them free. Full detail in AusGrader vs Cambridge Checkpoints.
2. Excel Success One HSC
What it is: a Pascal Press book of 2019 to 2025 HSC papers with worked answers written by HSC markers. The 2026 editions cover Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths Advanced, Maths Standard 2 and Maths Extension 1.
Boards: HSC only.
Price: around $43.95 per title at the time of writing.
Free equivalent: NESA publishes the past papers and marking guidelines free. For HSC Biology, Chemistry and Physics, AusGrader has the questions by topic with sample answers and the official marking criteria, free. HSC Maths is not on AusGrader yet.
Where it still adds value: worked answers written by markers for every paper, in one book, are genuinely useful, especially for HSC Maths, which we do not cover today.
Our verdict: for HSC Maths it is a sensible buy for now. For HSC Biology, Chemistry and Physics, the free route covers the same ground. See AusGrader vs Success One HSC.
3. Excel Study Guides
What it is: content notes plus sample HSC papers from Pascal Press, covering English, Maths, PDHPE and the histories among others.
Boards: mainly HSC.
Price: around $41 to $44 at the time of writing.
Free equivalent: the NESA syllabus documents and past papers are free. For HSC Biology, Chemistry and Physics, AusGrader's free study guides and past questions cover how each subject is assessed and what the exam rewards.
Where it still adds value: a single book of organised notes for subjects we do not cover yet, including HSC English, PDHPE and the humanities.
Our verdict: useful if you want condensed notes in print for a subject outside our current HSC coverage. For the three sciences, you can skip it. We have not written a head-to-head comparison for this one.
4. A+ Study Notes and Practice Exams
What it is: a Cengage range of Study Notes (summaries, glossaries and concept maps), Practice Exams (topic tests, full exams and worked solutions) and Study Guides.
Boards: mostly a VCE range, with some QCE and HSC titles.
Price: no current price is published, so check your retailer.
Free equivalent: VCAA past exams and examiner reports are free. For the VCE and QCE subjects listed earlier, AusGrader has topic-sorted past questions with sample answers and marking criteria, plus free study guides in place of printed summaries.
Where it still adds value: concept maps and glossaries are a good fit for visual learners, and the publisher-written practice exams give you extra full papers in the exam style once you have used up the real ones.
Our verdict: worthwhile if you want printed summaries or extra practice papers. Not essential if your goal is topic practice on real questions. We have not written a head-to-head comparison for A+.
5. ATAR Notes Books and ATARNotes+
What it is: ATAR Notes books, plus ATARNotes+, a digital pass with notes, lectures, flashcards, Neap trial exams and an optional AnswerBot that explains content but does not mark your answers. ATAR Notes also runs big free forums.
Boards: strongest in VCE, with HSC and QCE material as well.
Price: books around $32 to $42, and an ATARNotes+ one-time pass from around $59 for 3, 6 or 12 months, at the time of writing.
Free equivalent: the ATAR Notes forums are free, as are board papers. AusGrader covers practice questions, answers and criteria for the subjects listed earlier.
Where it still adds value: curated notes, lectures and trial exams from experienced students and teachers, in one place.
Our verdict: a solid option if you want notes and trials in a single pass. See AusGrader vs ATARNotes+ for the detail.
6. Creelman Exam Questions (WACE)
Creelman is the printed question bank many WACE students use. We cover it in AusGrader vs Creelman.
Summary: Paid Guides and Free Equivalents
| Guide | Boards | Price | Free equivalent | Paid still adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge Checkpoints | VCE, HSC, QCE | Around $28 to $35 per subject | Board papers + AusGrader (listed subjects) | Print, school booklists, English |
| Excel Success One HSC | HSC | Around $43.95 | NESA papers + AusGrader (HSC Biology, Chemistry, Physics) | Marker-written worked answers, HSC Maths |
| Excel Study Guides | Mainly HSC | Around $41 to $44 | NESA documents + AusGrader guides (HSC sciences) | Printed notes for English, PDHPE, humanities |
| A+ (Cengage) | Mostly VCE, some QCE and HSC | Check your retailer | Board papers + AusGrader (listed subjects) | Concept maps, extra practice papers |
| ATAR Notes / ATARNotes+ | Mainly VCE, plus HSC and QCE | Books around $32 to $42, pass from around $59 | ATAR Notes forums + AusGrader (listed subjects) | Curated notes, lectures, trial exams |
| Creelman Exam Questions | WACE | See comparison post | SCSA papers + AusGrader (WACE subjects listed) | See comparison post |
Where a Paid Guide Is Still Worth It
- You study best on paper. A book you can scribble in, with no notifications, is a real advantage for some students.
- You want curated notes. Someone else has already decided what matters and condensed it. That saves time, and it is what you are paying for.
- English. We do not cover English today, so a printed guide or another English-specific resource is the sensible choice for now.
- HSC Maths. Worked answers from HSC markers, like those in Success One, are valuable and we do not offer HSC Maths yet.
- Your school's booklist. If your teacher sets work from a particular book, buy it. Being on the same page as your class is worth more than the saving.
Roadmap: HSC is Biology, Chemistry and Physics today, and we are expanding it to Maths, English, HSIE and PDHPE. English for VCE, HSC and WACE arrives in 2027. Until then, treat anything in this post about English or HSC Maths as a reason to keep a paid guide on your list.
For tool-by-tool comparisons by board, see our roundups for VCE, HSC, QCE and WACE.
FAQs
Are there free alternatives to Cambridge Checkpoints?
Yes. Your board publishes past exams and marking guidance free, and AusGrader offers topic-sorted past questions, sample answers and official marking criteria free for the VCE, QCE, WACE and HSC subjects it covers. The book still has value if you want print or need English.
Is there a free version of Success One HSC?
Not an exact copy. NESA publishes the past papers and marking guidelines free, and AusGrader has HSC Biology, Chemistry and Physics questions with sample answers and marking criteria. For HSC Maths, the marker-written worked answers in Success One are still hard to replace for free.
Are paid study guides worth it?
Sometimes. They are worth it if you like print, want curated notes, need a subject that free tools do not cover well, or your school uses a particular book. They are less worth it if you mainly want past questions, answers and criteria, which are available free for many subjects.
Is AusGrader free?
The past questions, sample answers, official marking criteria, multiple-choice explanations and study guides are free for the subjects covered. AI grading of typed or handwritten answers is live: your first 10 are free, then it is a $100 one-time pass for 2026 ($50 in NSW). Self-marking is coming soon.
Does AusGrader cover English?
Not yet for VCE, HSC and WACE. English for those boards is coming in 2027. Until then, a printed English guide or an English-specific resource is a reasonable purchase.
Try the Free Route First
Before you buy a guide, see whether your subject is covered free.
- Official past questions by topic from VCAA, NESA, QCAA and SCSA, with sample answers and marking criteria, free for the subjects covered.
- Free subject study guides at /guides.
- AI grading, live now, for typed and handwritten answers. Self-marking coming soon.
Find your board: VCE, HSC, QCE or WACE. Free to start, with 10 graded questions included and no credit card required.
The Bottom Line
Paid study guides are good products, but much of what they contain is available free. Start with your board's papers and the free tools above, work out which of the three gaps (topic sorting, worked answers, feedback on your own answer) is hurting you, and spend money only where it fills a real gap. For English, HSC Maths, print and school booklists, a paid guide is often the right call.