Which QCE Psychology past paper do students score lowest on?

The 2022 Paper 1, averaging 48.9% across 222 marked attempts on AusGrader. The 2025 Paper 2 is the highest on 74.2%.

Which QCE Psychology dot points give the best return on revision time?

3.4.2 (2.7 marks at risk per 100), 3.3.9 (2.2 marks at risk per 100) and 3.4.3 (1.7 marks at risk per 100). Marks at risk combines a dot point's share of paper marks with the marks students drop on it, so it ranks by recoverable marks and not by score alone.

How many attempts is each QCE Psychology figure based on?

21,706 marked attempts overall, with the per-row count shown in every table. Any cut below 50 attempts is withheld instead of published.

Do these averages show how the QCAA cohort performed?

No. They are AusGrader users' marked attempts, a self-selected group practising when they chose to and often without exam timing. They corroborate what QCAA publishes about this subject and do not replace it.

QCE Psychology hardest topics

Across 21,706 marked attempts on AusGrader, QCE Psychology students average 62.7% on questions taken from board external papers. The lowest average of any command verb is label on 44.5%, and the verb that costs the most marks is describe, which carries 28.1% of the paper against 1.6% for label. These are self-selected users practising when they chose to, not the QCAA cohort under exam conditions.

How to read these numbers

The figures are AusGrader users' marked attempts, not QCAA results. They corroborate what the board publishes about this subject and do not stand in for it.
Any cut with fewer than 50 attempts is withheld, which on this page is 3 papers, 1 topic, 30 dot points, 1 question type and 20 verbs. Every figure shown carries its attempt count.
Scores cover questions mapped to the QCE Psychology syllabus from any board's external papers, which is why the sample is larger than the 12 QCAA papers alone. The paper table below is the exception and uses QCAA papers only.
Internal assessment and school-uploaded exams are excluded throughout, so these averages differ from the ones on QCE Psychology performance stats, which count every attempt.

Score by past paper

Year	Paper	Average	Attempts
2025	Paper 1	58.2%	257
2025	Paper 2	74.2%	201
2024	Paper 1	72.4%	281
2024	Paper 2	51.6%	76
2023	Paper 1	71.2%	236
2022	Paper 1	48.9%	222
2021	Paper 1	59.6%	191
2021	Paper 2	64.0%	52
2020	Paper 1	68.2%	165

The lowest average belongs to the 2022 Paper 1 on 48.9% from 222 attempts, and the highest to the 2025 Paper 2 on 74.2% from 201 attempts. A paper's average reflects both how hard it was and who chose to sit it, so treat the spread as a guide to which papers make demanding practice.

Score by question type

Question type	Average	Attempts
Multiple choice	62.7%	20,485
Short answer	64.7%	1,216

Score by unit

Unit	Average	Attempts
Unit 3: Individual thinking	62.6%	19,342
Unit 4: The influence of others	69.0%	870

An attempt counts once per unit, so a question assessed across two units appears in both rows and the column adds to slightly more than 21,706.

The priority list: heavy topics with low scores

Topic	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
Learning	14.9%	58.2%	6,178	6.2
Memory	17.8%	66.2%	7,323	6.0
Brain function	13.9%	62.7%	7,729	5.2
Attitudes	14.9%	74.5%	253	3.8
Social psychology	10.0%	70.3%	127	3.0
Cross-cultural psychology	6.9%	66.7%	469	2.3
Sensation and perception	8.5%	78.2%	52	1.9

The topic list is close: 6.2 against 6.0 marks at risk separates first from second, so topic choice alone will not order revision. The dot-point list below spreads further.

The same cut at dot-point level

Dot point	Content	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
3.4.2	For classical conditioning describe the concepts unconditioned stimulus (UCS), unconditioned response (UCR), neutral stimulus (NS), conditioned stimulus (CS) and conditioned response (CR); distinguish between stimulus generalisation and discrimination; describe extinction and spontaneous recovery; describe learned fear responses, with reference to the ‘Little Albert’ experiment	5.9%	54.1%	3,203	2.7
3.3.9	Interpret data about the context-dependency of memory from a modified experiment following Grant et al. (1998)	5.5%	60.2%	164	2.2
3.4.3	For operant conditioning distinguish between negative and positive reinforcement, and negative and positive punishment; describe stimulus generalisation and discrimination; describe extinction and spontaneous recovery; describe the operation of the ‘Skinner box’ in operant conditioning studies	4.4%	61.9%	3,085	1.7
3.3.1	Compare three models of memory, specifically the multi-store model of memory, including sensory, short-term and long-term memory; the working memory model, including the central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer; the levels of processing (LOP) model of memory, including the role of encoding in long-term memory	3.4%	66.3%	2,030	1.1
3.4.1	Compare classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning theory, and discuss the underlying theories of behaviourism and social and cognitive psychology	2.0%	48.4%	1,075	1.0
3.1.4	Explain that Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, and Geschwind’s territory have specific roles in language processing	2.2%	58.4%	122	0.9
4.1.6	Describe the findings of historical social psychological research, with reference to Asch’s (1955) research on conformity; Milgram’s (1963) research on obedience; Haney, Banks and Zimbardo’s (1973) research on status, roles and power	3.3%	72.1%	67	0.9
3.3.8	Discuss strategies to improve memory, including spacing, interleaving, chunking, elaborative and maintenance rehearsal, and the method of loci	2.1%	60.6%	673	0.8
3.1.7	Describe neurotransmission, with reference to action potentials and synaptic transmission	1.9%	56.6%	2,148	0.8
3.4.4	For social learning theory distinguish between modelling and vicarious conditioning; describe vicarious conditioning, as observed in the ‘Bobo doll’ experiments conducted by Bandura and colleagues	2.5%	69.1%	716	0.8
3.1.3	Describe how brain function can be viewed as both localised and distributed, with some functions being identified with specific areas in the cerebral cortex, including the frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal lobes; some functions being distributed across large or multiple brain regions, e.g; the storage of explicit memory is associated with the hippocampus, the neo-cortex and the amygdala; the formation of implicit memories relies upon the basal ganglia and cerebellum	1.6%	58.6%	1,217	0.7
3.1.1	Describe the structure of the human nervous system, with reference to the central (i.e. brain and spinal cord) and peripheral (i.e. somatic and autonomic) nervous systems	1.7%	61.0%	1,743	0.7
3.3.2	State the duration and capacity of sensory memory (including iconic and echoic), and short-term and long-term memory	1.6%	65.3%	693	0.6
3.1.10	Explain the impact of interference in neurotransmitter function, with reference to Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, considering causes, symptoms and treatments	1.6%	65.9%	905	0.6
4.3.5	Describe attributions, and recognise how they are used to explain behaviour, with reference to situational and dispositional attributions, and the fundamental attribution error	2.2%	75.8%	206	0.5
3.3.7	Describe problems with memory such as encoding failure, retrieval failure and interference effects	1.6%	67.8%	882	0.5
3.1.9	Describe the physical and psychological function of acetylcholine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin	1.6%	68.4%	482	0.5
4.4.4	Describe the psychological challenges of immigration and acculturation, including culture shock, assimilation and marginalisation	1.2%	66.5%	409	0.4
3.3.6	Contrast recall, recognition and relearning	1.4%	73.5%	273	0.4
3.1.2	Describe the role of the spinal cord in the human nervous system, with reference to monosynaptic and polysynaptic spinal reflexes	0.9%	62.6%	924	0.3

Which command verbs cost the most marks

Verb	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
describe	28.1%	60.6%	320	11.1
identify	20.5%	59.3%	267	8.3
explain	14.5%	52.8%	124	6.8
justify	5.9%	66.4%	115	2.0
label	1.6%	44.5%	58	0.9
contrast	2.2%	62.4%	84	0.8
state	1.7%	56.0%	95	0.8

Label has the lowest average on the page at 44.5%, and it is not where the marks go. Describe averages 60.6% but carries 28.1% of the paper against 1.6%, so it puts 11.1 marks per 100 at risk against 0.9. For the plain ranking of verbs by score, and what QCAA has said about each, read the QCE Psychology study guide.

What this does not measure

Where to practise

Work the priority list from the top: Learning and Memory first, then the dot points above. Each topic page holds real QCAA questions with marking criteria attached. For what the papers actually cover, read QCE Psychology most tested topics.

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.