HSC Chemistry Past Papers (Science)
HSC Chemistry is a single 3-hour written exam set and marked by NESA, covering the Year 12 modules: Equilibrium and Acid Reactions, Acid/Base Reactions, Organic Chemistry, and Applying Chemical Ideas.
It's a calculation- and reasoning-heavy exam, so working the past papers to time - with your data sheet and periodic table - is the most effective preparation.
Check the syllabus year. A new Chemistry syllabus is first examined in the 2028 HSC. If you sit the exam in 2028 or later, the past papers below are from the previous syllabus - still useful for exam technique, but confirm the content against the current syllabus. If you sit it in 2027 or earlier, they match your course.
Official Chemistry HSC exam papers & marking guidelines (2019–2025)
NESA publishes the past HSC exam papers, the marking guidelines and the notes from the marking centre for Chemistry on its own site. They are the real exam questions - sit them under timed conditions, then mark with the guidelines.
What's on the Chemistry exam?
The paper has a multiple-choice section plus short-answer and extended-response questions, drawing on the NESA data sheet, formula sheet and periodic table. Expect calculations, reaction analysis and questions that ask you to justify a chemical explanation.
Past papers are the best way to rehearse the multi-step calculations and the 'assess/evaluate' extended responses under time.
How to use the past papers
Sit each Chemistry paper in one timed session, closed-book, before you look at anything else. Then mark it against NESA's marking guidelines for that year - the guidelines show exactly how marks are awarded, which is where most of the improvement comes from.
Finish with the notes from the marking centre (NESA's examiner feedback): it spells out what the strongest responses did and the mistakes the state cohort repeated. All three - the paper, the marking guidelines and the marking-centre notes - are on the official NESA page linked above.
Practice Chemistry beyond the past papers
There are only a handful of NESA papers, so once you've done them, generate fresh questions on the exact topics you're weakest on with Polarbear's AI exam-cram - grounded in the HSC Chemistry syllabus, free to try.
Chemistry past papers FAQ
Source: NESA's official Chemistry HSC exam papers. HSC exam papers are © State of New South Wales (NESA) - Polarbear links to the official papers rather than rehosting them, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NESA.