Which topic carries the most marks in the QCE Agricultural Science external exam?

Animal production B carries 30.9% of the marks across the 12 QCAA papers from 2020 to 2025, ahead of Evaluation of an agricultural enterprise’s sustainability on 23.7%.

How are marks split between question types in the QCE Agricultural Science exam?

Short answer carries 64.9% of the marks, extended response carries 18.8% of the marks and multiple choice carries 15.8% of the marks, measured across 12 papers and 695 marks from 2020 to 2025.

Has the topic balance changed in recent QCE Agricultural Science papers?

Yes. Evaluation of an agricultural enterprise’s sustainability moved up 5.0 percentage points, Plant production B moved up 4.6 percentage points and Enterprise management moved down 12.3 percentage points between the 2020 to 2022 and 2023 to 2025 papers.

How many past papers is this QCE Agricultural Science analysis based on?

12 QCAA external papers from 2020 to 2025, covering 221 questions and 695 marks. 0.0% of those marks carry no dot-point mapping and sit outside the percentages.

QCE Agricultural Science most tested topics

Across the 12 QCAA Agricultural Science external papers from 2020 to 2025, Animal production B carries 30.9% of the marks against 6.6% for Agricultural enterprises B, so the paper rewards Animal production B more than any other topic. At dot-point level 4.2.1.2 carries 8.3% of paper marks, and five of the 91 dot points that the board assesses externally have not appeared in one of these papers. Every percentage below covers the 100.0% of marks that map to a syllabus dot point.

Computed from 12 QCAA Agricultural Science external papers, 2020 to 2025: 221 questions, 285 question parts and 695 marks.

Unit, topic and dot-point shares below are of the 695 marks that map to a dot point, so each of those tables adds to 100%. 102 of the 285 parts are assessed against more than one dot point, and their 326 marks are divided evenly between the dot points they cover.

What these papers are

Year	Paper	Questions	Marks
2025	Paper 1	24	54
2025	Paper 2	11	68
2024	Paper 1	23	48
2024	Paper 2	10	70
2023	Paper 1	27	47
2023	Paper 2	11	57
2022	Paper 1	27	53
2022	Paper 2	10	68
2021	Paper 1	28	60
2021	Paper 2	10	55
2020	Paper 1	30	64
2020	Paper 2	10	51

Marks by unit

Unit	Share of marks
Unit 3: Agricultural production	57.9%
Unit 4: Agricultural management	42.1%

Marks by topic

Topic	Share of marks	Papers it appears in	Years
Animal production B	30.9%	12 of 12	6 of 6
Evaluation of an agricultural enterprise’s sustainability	23.7%	12 of 12	6 of 6
Plant production B	20.4%	12 of 12	6 of 6
Enterprise management	18.4%	12 of 12	6 of 6
Agricultural enterprises B	6.6%	12 of 12	6 of 6

Marks by subtopic

Each topic above breaks into the subtopics below, in the same order.

Subtopic	Share of marks	Papers
Animal health	9.8%	10 of 12
Animal nutrition	9.4%	8 of 12
Animal growth and development	8.5%	10 of 12
Animal ethics and welfare	3.2%	8 of 12
Environmental factors	14.2%	10 of 12
Financial factors	6.4%	10 of 12
Social factors	3.2%	3 of 12
Plant production	12.2%	12 of 12
Plant health	4.6%	7 of 12
Plant reproduction and breeding	3.6%	8 of 12
Decision-making in property management	9.4%	8 of 12
Data for decision-making	9.0%	12 of 12
Science understanding	6.6%	12 of 12

Marks by dot point

Dot-point numbers and wording are QCAA's own. Where a dot point is written as a list, its items run together here separated by semicolons.

Dot point	Content	Topic	Share of marks	Papers
4.2.1.2	Discuss the opportunity for sustainable practices in an agricultural production system using the criteria of physical resource management; biological resource management; waste management	Evaluation of an agricultural enterprise’s sustainability	8.3%	3 of 12
4.1.1.4	Analyse data about plant or animal production to make justified management decisions	Enterprise management	6.0%	12 of 12
4.1.2.6	Discuss the risk associated with an agricultural enterprise on a selected area in the school or on a local property using the prevention, preparedness, response, recovery (PPRR) model and make justified recommendations for improvements	Enterprise management	5.2%	5 of 12
3.2.1.6	Interpret data on a factor that affects plant production	Plant production B	4.2%	11 of 12
3.1.3.5	Describe the life cycles, effects on animal production and control measures (chemical, physical, biological and management) for a local or regional pest and/or disease for a selected production animal	Animal production B	3.3%	5 of 12
4.2.3.1	Discuss the opportunity for sustainable social practices in an agricultural production system, using the criteria of labour, i.e. employment; quality of work environment; required skills for innovative agricultural production; encouraging a diverse workforce; infrastructure; health facilities; transport networks; utilities and telecommunications; social licence for food and fibre production; food security; global demand; production methods that meet consumer expectations	Evaluation of an agricultural enterprise’s sustainability	3.2%	3 of 12
4.2.1.4	Make predictions and propose solutions relating to dryland salinity, erosion, drought and water quality	Evaluation of an agricultural enterprise’s sustainability	2.8%	6 of 12
3.1.2.11	Analyse carcass data to discuss suitability based on market specifications	Animal production B	2.6%	7 of 12
4.1.2.2	Identify sources of risk associated with agricultural production	Enterprise management	2.6%	2 of 12
3.2.1.1	Explain important agronomic practices, such as planting requirements (sowing rate, seed depth, plant spacing); water management; nutrient management, including nutrient cycles (carbon and nitrogen); cultural practices; management of plant pests and diseases, including chemical, biological, physical and integrated pest management (IPM) approaches	Plant production B	2.2%	7 of 12
3.1.3.11	Predict the potential impact of an exotic or notifiable disease on an agricultural production system	Animal production B	1.9%	4 of 12
3.2.1.2	Explain how soil management techniques (e.g. use of legumes, soil additives and tillage practices) can support sustainable plant production	Plant production B	1.9%	6 of 12
3.1.1.5	Explain the process of protein, carbohydrate and fat digestion in ruminant and monogastric animals	Animal production B	1.9%	6 of 12
3.2.1.5	Explain processes in post-harvest technologies, e.g. post-harvest transport, ripening and product handling	Plant production B	1.8%	4 of 12
4.2.2.8	Draw conclusions about the impact of free trade agreements on agricultural products	Evaluation of an agricultural enterprise’s sustainability	1.5%	6 of 12
3.1.1.13	Draw conclusions about appropriate animal rations for a selected scenario	Animal production B	1.4%	4 of 12
4.2.1.5	Interpret data on key issues that impact on agricultural production, including dryland salinity, erosion, drought and water quality	Evaluation of an agricultural enterprise’s sustainability	1.4%	6 of 12
3.1.1.14	Calculate and analyse feed conversion ratios for different animals, using $\text{feed conversion ratio} = \frac{\text{mass of food eaten (kg)}}{\text{mass gained by the animal (kg)}}$	Animal production B	1.4%	4 of 12
3.1.4.5	Discuss how consumer trends/demands have impacted on animal welfare in a production system	Animal production B	1.4%	4 of 12
3.2.3.3	Explain genetic techniques used in breeding new plant varieties, including crossbreeding; tissue culture; hybridisation; genetic modification	Plant production B	1.4%	6 of 12

These 20 dot points carry 56.4% of the paper marks between them. Another 66 assessed dot points share the rest, and 5 of the 91 externally assessable dot points have not been assessed in any of these 12 papers. Content that has not appeared is still examinable.

What has moved between papers

Comparing the 2020 to 2022 papers with the 2023 to 2025 papers, three topics have moved by more than 3.0 percentage points.

Topic	2020 to 2022 share	2023 to 2025 share	Movement
Evaluation of an agricultural enterprise’s sustainability	21.2%	26.2%	up 5.0 points
Plant production B	18.1%	22.7%	up 4.6 points
Enterprise management	24.5%	12.2%	down 12.3 points

How the papers are built

Short answer carries 64.9% of the marks across these 12 papers.

Question type	Share of marks	Marks	Parts
Short answer	64.9%	451	166
Extended response	18.8%	131	8
Multiple choice	15.8%	110	110

Verb	Share of marks	Marks	Parts
justify	26.8%	186	33
identify	25.2%	175	48
explain	23.3%	162	44
draw	21.4%	149	27
describe	18.0%	125	27
assess	17.0%	118	8
determine	8.3%	58	20
analyse	5.0%	35	4

What these percentages do not tell you

Where to practise

Every topic above links to its own page of real QCAA questions with marking criteria and average scores attached: Animal production B, Evaluation of an agricultural enterprise’s sustainability, Plant production B, Enterprise management and Agricultural enterprises B. For the full question bank start at QCE Agricultural Science.

Syllabus and assessment material referenced in this guide is © State of Queensland (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority), licensed under CC BY 4.0. See our QCAA licensing notice. AusGrader is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the QCAA.