Which WACE Mathematics Applications past paper do students score lowest on?

The 2025 Paper 2, averaging 52.9% across 170 marked attempts on AusGrader. The 2025 Paper 1 is the highest on 57.9%.

Which WACE Mathematics Applications dot points give the best return on revision time?

4.2.7 (2.8 marks at risk per 100), 4.3.9 (2.6 marks at risk per 100) and 4.2.5 (2.5 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 WACE Mathematics Applications figure based on?

17,545 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 SCSA 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 SCSA publishes about this subject and do not replace it.

WACE Mathematics Applications hardest topics

Across 17,545 marked attempts on AusGrader, WACE Mathematics Applications students average 60.4% on questions taken from board external papers. The lowest average of any command verb is calculate on 38.9%, and the verb that costs the most marks is determine, which carries 30.4% of the paper against 10.9% for calculate. These are self-selected users practising when they chose to, not the SCSA cohort under exam conditions.

How to read these numbers

The figures are AusGrader users' marked attempts, not SCSA 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 9 papers, 27 dot points and 30 verbs. Every figure shown carries its attempt count.
Scores cover questions mapped to the WACE Mathematics Applications syllabus from any board's external papers, which is why the sample is larger than the 12 SCSA papers alone. The paper table below is the exception and uses SCSA papers only.
Internal assessment and school-uploaded exams are excluded throughout, so these averages differ from the ones on WACE Mathematics Applications performance stats, which count every attempt.

Score by past paper

Year	Paper	Average	Attempts
2025	Paper 1	57.9%	66
2025	Paper 2	52.9%	170
2024	Paper 2	53.4%	66

The lowest average belongs to the 2025 Paper 2 on 52.9% from 170 attempts, and the highest to the 2025 Paper 1 on 57.9% from 66 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
Short answer	54.3%	1,324
Multiple choice	61.3%	16,221

Score by unit

Unit	Average	Attempts
Unit 4: Time Series, Finance and Networks	59.5%	9,370
Unit 3: Bivariate Data, Sequences and Graphs	61.3%	9,690

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 17,545.

The priority list: heavy topics with low scores

Topic	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
Networks and decision mathematics	24.1%	59.1%	2,567	9.9
Loans, investments and annuities	20.1%	56.1%	4,447	8.8
Bivariate data analysis	22.6%	63.0%	3,866	8.4
Growth and decay in sequences	13.2%	55.5%	2,610	5.9
Graphs and networks	11.8%	62.8%	3,216	4.4
Time series analysis	8.4%	65.2%	2,356	2.9

Networks and decision mathematics tops the list on 9.9 marks at risk per 100 paper marks, 1.0 ahead of Loans, investments and annuities.

The same cut at dot-point level

Dot point	Content	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
4.2.7	4.2.7 with the aid of a financial calculator or computer-based financial software, solve problems involving annuities (including perpetuities as a special case)	6.8%	58.4%	1,160	2.8
4.3.9	4.3.9 solve small-scale network flow problems, including the use of the ‘maximum flow-minimum cut’ theorem	5.9%	55.4%	672	2.6
4.2.5	4.2.5 with the aid of a financial calculator or computer-based financial software, solve problems involving reducing balance loans	5.3%	53.4%	1,166	2.5
4.3.11	4.3.11 determine the optimum assignment(s), by inspection for small-scale problems, or by use of the Hungarian algorithm for larger problems	4.5%	56.6%	629	1.9
4.3.4	4.3.4 construct a network to represent the durations and interdependencies of activities that must be completed during the project	2.9%	46.3%	413	1.6
3.3.7	3.3.7 investigate and solve practical problems to determine the shortest path between two vertices in a weighted graph (by trial-and-error methods only)	2.4%	43.3%	438	1.4
3.2.8	3.2.8 use geometric sequences to model and analyse (numerically, or graphically only) practical problems involving geometric growth and decay	3.1%	57.6%	691	1.3
4.1.4	4.1.4 calculate seasonal indices by using the average percentage method	2.9%	56.7%	281	1.3
3.2.4	3.2.4 use arithmetic sequences to model and analyse practical situations involving linear growth or decay	3.0%	59.5%	1,179	1.2
4.2.6	4.2.6 use a recurrence relation to model an annuity, and investigate (numerically or graphically) the effect of the amount invested, the interest rate, and the payment amount on the duration of the annuity	2.0%	45.9%	502	1.1
3.1.2	3.1.2 construct two-way frequency tables and determine the associated row and column sums and percentages	3.2%	68.0%	284	1.0
4.2.3	4.2.3 with the aid of a calculator or computer-based financial software, solve problems involving compound interest loans, investments and depreciating assets	2.1%	57.4%	1,720	0.9
4.1.5	4.1.5 deseasonalise a time series by using a seasonal index, including the use of spreadsheets to implement this process	1.6%	46.2%	477	0.9
3.1.7	3.1.7 calculate, using technology, and interpret the correlation coefficient ( $r$ ) to quantify the strength of a linear association	1.9%	58.5%	457	0.8
4.2.4	4.2.4 use a recurrence relation to model a reducing balance loan and investigate (numerically or graphically) the effect of the interest rate and repayment amount on the time taken to repay the loan	2.1%	62.9%	927	0.8
3.3.9	3.3.9 demonstrate the meanings of, and use, the terms: Hamiltonian graph and semi-Hamiltonian graph, and use these concepts to investigate and solve practical problems	1.9%	59.8%	436	0.8
3.2.7	3.2.7 deduce a rule for the $n^{th}$ term of a particular geometric sequence from the pattern of the terms in the sequence, and use this rule to make predictions	1.6%	53.3%	51	0.8
3.2.3	3.2.3 deduce a rule for the $n^{th}$ term of a particular arithmetic sequence from the pattern of the terms in an arithmetic sequence, and use this rule to make predictions	1.8%	59.9%	272	0.7
3.3.1	3.3.1 demonstrate the meanings of, and use, the terms: graph, edge, vertex, loop, degree of a vertex, subgraph, simple graph, complete graph, bipartite graph, directed graph (digraph), arc, weighted graph, and network	1.6%	57.4%	711	0.7
4.2.2	4.2.2 calculate the effective annual rate of interest and use the results to compare investment returns and cost of loans when interest is paid or charged daily, monthly, quarterly or six-monthly	1.3%	48.3%	505	0.7

Which command verbs cost the most marks

Verb	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
determine	30.4%	44.9%	321	16.8
calculate	10.9%	38.9%	109	6.7
state	6.5%	61.3%	77	2.5
identify	2.8%	55.8%	85	1.2
write	2.2%	76.9%	59	0.5

Calculate has the lowest average on the page at 38.9%, and it is not where the marks go. Determine averages 44.9% but carries 30.4% of the paper against 10.9%, so it puts 16.8 marks per 100 at risk against 6.7. Each verb above is practised in the WACE Mathematics Applications question bank, where the marking criteria show what SCSA expects the answer to do.

What this does not measure

Where to practise

Work the priority list from the top: Networks and decision mathematics and Loans, investments and annuities first, then the dot points above. Each topic page holds real SCSA questions with marking criteria attached. For what the papers actually cover, read WACE Mathematics Applications most tested topics.

Syllabus and assessment material referenced in this guide is used under licence, © School Curriculum and Standards Authority. See our SCSA licensing notice. The School Curriculum and Standards Authority does not endorse this publication or product.