HSC Chemistry Past Papers Master List

We’ve all heard the saying practice makes perfect, but it does have merit when it comes to HSC Chemistry Past Papers.

The number one strategy that boosted my marks from below average to that Band 6 level was consistently exposing myself to Chemistry questions, especially in the 3 months leading up to the HSC exam 💪

I promise the earlier you start practising, life gets so much easier 💯

So without further ado, let’s dig into the Chemistry past papers!

What should you do in preparation for the exams?

Chemistry Past Papers

What should you do in preparation for the exams?

Everyone’s study path will look different and it can depend on so many different things such as:

• Where you are in the academic year
• How your Chemistry knowledge has built up so far
• And most importantly: how aware you are of your own Chemistry strengths and weaknesses?

That last point isn’t as important if you’ve only started Year 12 Chemistry, however, it is definitely worthwhile to keep track of.

Many of the students I tutor love the traffic light system, and those who follow it generally grasp the syllabus the best 🚦

Print out a copy of the syllabus dot points (or download it digitally) and grab three different coloured highlighters (green, yellow and red for the authentic experience).

Next, read over the dot points for each module you’ve already completed and highlight them based on how confident you feel:

• Green – very confident (e.g. able to answer all questions)
• Yellow – eh (e.g. able to answer some questions)
• Red – challenge (e.g. struggle with most questions)

I often recommend my students to use our digital HSC Dashboards (pictured above), which are complete with a built-in confidence tracker and revision videos for every syllabus dot-point (and it’s not just limited to Chemistry!)

Why is this helpful? 🤔

The reason this works is that it gives you a great overview of the entire syllabus without feeling too overwhelmed (like when you have to flick through your pages and pages of class notes). It is also a really useful tool for targeted revision.

💡Targeted revision: is where you start working on the areas you find most difficult (red), and work your way up to revising the yellow and finally green concepts in the syllabus! 

If you’ve only started the Year 12 HSC Chemistry syllabus…

You’ll want to focus on building up your study notes 📝

Lucky for you, we’ve got a great guide that details how you should write them up and when to jump into practice questions!

To figure out what you should be studying, you may want to convert your HSC Chemistry Syllabus into a study checklist to figure out what you know and what you’re missing.

Struggling with Module 5? Check out our study guide for HSC Equilibrium and Acid Reactions to improve your notes!

It’s also important to familiarise yourself with writing up a Chemistry extended response since it’ll be a major part of the exam. We’ve got the steps you should take to write up your response, as well as how to structure a written response based on the marks it is worth.

Remember that even if for your first few assessments, you aren’t getting the top marks and aren’t too happy with how you’re progressing in the subject, there are still ways to improve and get the mark you actually want! 

💡My Personal Tip: Create summary pages

I found that my study notes built up very, very quickly, and when I was overwhelmed I wanted to use them during my study or revision. 

I decided to create a single double-sided A4 summary sheet and the end of each module.

This helped me when not only reviewing content at the end of the module but also engaging in a broader-level revision using one piece of paper. 

Learn about how one of our AoS students managed to turn her marks around by 40%! For face-to-face support, get in touch with our team of tutors in the Hills District or our expert Chemistry tutors near you.

If you’re close to sitting your exam…

How are your marks looking? Are you feeling confident about sitting the exam?

If you’re feeling a little worried about how your marks look, there’s still a chance to bounce back! I highly recommend following our tips for improving your study techniques before the final exam.

💡My Personal Tip: Use the Traffic Light System 

As mentioned, if you still have a couple of weeks until your exam, use this traffic light system for a targeted and structured study plan 🚦

When there’s only one week left until the actual exam, it’s crunch time. So you’ll want to make your study as effective as possible and do it efficiently. With 7 days left, how do you prioritise what to study?

Check out the 7 day study plan for HSC Chemistry, so you can make the most of that last week of study!

When you’ve only got one night left before the exam, there is only so much you can study in that amount of time. Follow these tips for maximising your study time!

✅ Checklist for superior study patterns:

• Create a traffic light-coded syllabus for targeted practice
• Create a single double-sided A4 page of summary notes per module
• Practice, practice, practice the necessary calculations, formulae and maths skills that aren’t included on the official formulae sheet

💡My personal tip: When to use past papers?

From my own experience as a chemistry student, as well as from my tutoring experiences, using past papers can be really beneficial if they are used correctly!

If you just dive straight into past papers you might find it very disheartening because the questions can be…well hard!

How to use them effectively?

1. Use questions from the yellow areas of your traffic light syllabus for further practice OR 
2. Use them as “exam practice” toward the end of your revision in the lead-up to your exam, when:

• Most of your traffic light syllabus is green
• Using exam conditions (1.5 minutes per mark)
• Using summary pages or cheat sheets to support your learning

Happy Studying!

HSC Chemistry Past Papers

And that wraps up our HSC Chemistry past papers list — get practising and good luck!

Aiming for a Band 6 in HSC Chemistry? Check out this ultimate guide to scoring one!

⚠️ REMINDER ⚠️ Past Papers Won’t Help If You Don’t Know How to Use Them…

You’ve downloaded the past papers… but are you actually improving?

Why not take your Chemistry prep to the next level with expert tutoring at Art of Smart? 🌱

At Art of Smart, our tutors can help you:

✅ Practice smarter, not harder — learn how to break down past paper questions like a Band 6 student
✅ Get clear, step-by-step feedback on how to solve calculations and structure extended responses
✅ Build a strategy so you’re not guessing which topics to revise or how to prioritise your time

Our students improve by over 20% on average… they don’t just complete past papers, they master them.

✅ 1-on-1 support online or at our campuses in Chatswood, Hornsby, or the Hills
📞 Call 1300 267 888 or get in touch today — your Chemistry marks won’t fix themselves!

Miriam Nelson graduated in 2021 with a Band 6 in Chemistry and is currently studying a Bachelor of Science with a Masters in Secondary Education. However, Miriam has never really left high school, having supported students in Chemistry and Maths for 3+ years while also teaching at a school in Sydney’s CBD. If she’s not studying or learning something new you can find her hunched up over her latest project or at the beach

Matt Saunders is a huge nerd who first got into writing through fanfiction. He’d known science was the path for him since a young age, and after discovering a particular love of bad chemistry jokes (and chemistry too), he’s gone on to study Forensic Chemistry at UTS. His HSC in 2014 was defined in equal parts by schoolwork and stagecraft, which left him, weirdly enough, with a love of Maths strong enough to inspire him to tutor any level, along with 7-10 Science and HSC Chemistry.