NSW is stuck with the dumbest high school physics exam in the world till the year 2037. (4 Viewers)

[coolcat6778]

NESA just released the new syllabus for 2027. Here are the notable changes.

- Getting rid of thermodynamics completely, a topic which would've been used again in engineering physics in uni - Getting rid of angular velocity ω - Removed multiple formulas from the formula sheet, including angular velocity and specific heat capacity. + Adding useless aboriginal crap (are you serious, leftists?) ++ Explain why Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples used inclined planes to move heavy objects ++ Describe how Aboriginal Peoples use the wave velocity and wavelength of water waves to approximate water depth ++ Analyse the motion of projectiles used by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples + Adding more useless qualitative stuff to rote learn for mod 7 and 8 + Added no new formulas at all, while removing atleast two.

It's crazy how NSW has one of the most rigorous and toughest mathematics exams in the western world, mathematics extension 2, then you look at our physics exam, you see how retarded and shallow it is.

New South Wales is stuck with the dumbest high school physics syllabus and exam in the world till the year 2037.

Let me just emphasis, physics is MEANT to be a fucking quantitative subject, not a fucking qualitative describing and essay writing subject. There's nothing gained from making kids learn more qualitative content just for the exams to follow a retarded "regurgitate what you just learnt" structure. With Mathematics Extension 2, we cover way less content than A Level Further Mathematics or IB Mathematics AA HL. However the general consensus among threads I've read is that our exams are much more novel and require critical mathematical thinking and aptitude, especially Questions 16 15 14. This emphasizes quality over quantity. However, the Physics HSC syllabus covers way less than something like A Level, yet our physics exams aren't even intellectually demanding in the slightest (if you count regurgitation and rote learning as intellectually demanding I'm sorry). Our physics exam are so trash. Section 1 is okay, but Section 2 (four fifths of the exam) in the HSC Physics paper fucking suck. There are literally NO intellectually demanding calculation questions. What separates a band 6 student from a band 5 physics student is not their quantitative ability and critical thinking, but rather their ability to write "beautifully". This is especially true for the ~20 marks worth of history reciting questions. Why the fuck can't the physics syllabus just be like the math extension 1 and 2 exams, where the last few questions are actually challenging quantitative questions? Why the fuck is NESA differentiating people on the basis of English writing skills rather than mathematical and actual physics skills? Your ability to write English esque analytical paragraphs on why Rutherford was such a hot guy has no bearing on your ability to perform well in university level physics at all. Here's what's incredibly ridiculous. Someone (99 ATAR) from my school got a 97 in mathematics extension 1, yet in Physics, they only received a 93 exam mark, corresponding to a raw mark below 88. Tell me how the fuck he lost atleast 12 marks? That's right, just cause he wasn't good at arts (English) he couldn't score in the high 90s. I guarantee his study score if he did the Victorian VCE would be somewhere in the 48/50. This guy has a very good memory and high IQ, just that he isn't good at beautiful writing. Our physics syllabus is so retarded that they moved stuff like harmonic motion into math extension 2, even though it really belongs in physics like how it is in A Level and IB. While all these physics exams (A Level, IB, AP) DO contain qualitative questions, they aren't retarded 9 markers which take up a whole page. The amount of lines VCE, A Level and IB give for the highest mark qualitative question is just 4 lines. Tell me why the fuck HSC physics paper need a retarded "analyse rutherford's impact on scientific knowledge" 9 marker with 20 lines? Only the HSC has an essay component worth approximately 9 marks in addition to other similar weighted questions. Now to the minor concerns, why the fuck do we need to include aboriginal stuff in a subject that doesn't require it? Not even the US - a notoriously sensitive society - with it's AP exams include stuff for LGBTQ+ and black people in their physics exam. They're literally not trying to hide their agenda anymore. I guess the next thing the leftists are going to do is add aboriginal numeric representation in the math standard syllabus? I really hope someone from NSW Education Standards Authority with some sense reads this and addresses the concerns here. This is seriously upsetting. This is not only unfair for STEM people, but it also leaves NSW students heavily underprepared in university physics compared to someone from like Victoria or Western Australia.

If you want to see what a good high school physics syllabus looks like (atleast for Australia), just look at our neighbors in Vic, VCE
https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/sites/default/files/Documents/exams/physics/2023/2023physics-w.pdf

If you want to see what a truly good high school physics syllabus looks by global standards, just look at A Level or IB
https://pmt.physicsandmathstutor.com/download/Physics/A-level/Past-Papers/AQA/Data Sheet.pdf
https://tuhsphysics.ttsd.k12.or.us/DocumentsAndLectures/Documents/Misc/DataBooklet2025.pdf
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OmHRxgLdYPkfQT0sip7i8z3ITy9c4sLY/view
pastpapers.papacambridge.com/viewer/caie/as-and-a-level-physics-9702-2025-may-june-9702-s25-qp-21-pdf
pastpapers.papacambridge.com/viewer/caie/as-and-a-level-physics-9702-2025-may-june-9702-s25-qp-41-pdf

Even the US learns more rigorous high school physics than Australia
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-physics-c-mechanics-equations-sheet.pdf
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-physics-2-equations-sheet.pdf
https://strachan.weebly.com/uploads/1/8/9/9/18994903/2016_physics_2_practice_exam.pdf
APs are just high school exams, and they already have more stuff plus calculus in their physics syllabus

The new shit stain of a syllabus for HSC physics is here:
https://curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/science/physics-11-12-2025/content/year-12/fa915fab52

 

[Trial&Error]

NESA just released the new syllabus for 2027. Here are the notable changes.

- Getting rid of thermodynamics completely, a topic which would've been used again in engineering physics in uni - Getting rid of angular velocity ω - Removed multiple formulas from the formula sheet, including angular velocity and specific heat capacity. + Adding useless aboriginal crap (are you serious, leftists?) ++ Explain why Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples used inclined planes to move heavy objects ++ Describe how Aboriginal Peoples use the wave velocity and wavelength of water waves to approximate water depth ++ Analyse the motion of projectiles used by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples + Adding more useless qualitative stuff to rote learn for mod 7 and 8 + Added no new formulas at all, while removing atleast two.

It's crazy how NSW has one of the most rigorous and toughest mathematics exams in the western world, mathematics extension 2, then you look at our physics exam, you see how retarded and shallow it is.

New South Wales is stuck with the dumbest high school physics syllabus and exam in the world till the year 2037.

Let me just emphasis, physics is MEANT to be a fucking quantitative subject, not a fucking qualitative describing and essay writing subject. There's nothing gained from making kids learn more qualitative content just for the exams to follow a retarded "regurgitate what you just learnt" structure. With Mathematics Extension 2, we cover way less content than A Level Further Mathematics or IB Mathematics AA HL. However the general consensus among threads I've read is that our exams are much more novel and require critical mathematical thinking and aptitude, especially Questions 16 15 14. This emphasizes quality over quantity. However, the Physics HSC syllabus covers way less than something like A Level, yet our physics exams aren't even intellectually demanding in the slightest (if you count regurgitation and rote learning as intellectually demanding I'm sorry). Our physics exam are so trash. Section 1 is okay, but Section 2 (four fifths of the exam) in the HSC Physics paper fucking suck. There are literally NO intellectually demanding calculation questions. What separates a band 6 student from a band 5 physics student is not their quantitative ability and critical thinking, but rather their ability to write "beautifully". This is especially true for the ~20 marks worth of history reciting questions. Why the fuck can't the physics syllabus just be like the math extension 1 and 2 exams, where the last few questions are actually challenging quantitative questions? Why the fuck is NESA differentiating people on the basis of English writing skills rather than mathematical and actual physics skills? Your ability to write English esque analytical paragraphs on why Rutherford was such a hot guy has no bearing on your ability to perform well in university level physics at all. Here's what's incredibly ridiculous. Someone (99 ATAR) from my school got a 97 in mathematics extension 1, yet in Physics, they only received a 93 exam mark, corresponding to a raw mark below 88. Tell me how the fuck he lost atleast 12 marks? That's right, just cause he wasn't good at arts (English) he couldn't score in the high 90s. I guarantee his study score if he did the Victorian VCE would be somewhere in the 48/50. This guy has a very good memory and high IQ, just that he isn't good at beautiful writing. Our physics syllabus is so retarded that they moved stuff like harmonic motion into math extension 2, even though it really belongs in physics like how it is in A Level and IB. While all these physics exams (A Level, IB, AP) DO contain qualitative questions, they aren't retarded 9 markers which take up a whole page. The amount of lines VCE, A Level and IB give for the highest mark qualitative question is just 4 lines. Tell me why the fuck HSC physics paper need a retarded "analyse rutherford's impact on scientific knowledge" 9 marker with 20 lines? Only the HSC has an essay component worth approximately 9 marks in addition to other similar weighted questions. Now to the minor concerns, why the fuck do we need to include aboriginal stuff in a subject that doesn't require it? Not even the US - a notoriously sensitive society - with it's AP exams include stuff for LGBTQ+ and black people in their physics exam. They're literally not trying to hide their agenda anymore. I guess the next thing the leftists are going to do is add aboriginal numeric representation in the math standard syllabus? I really hope someone from NSW Education Standards Authority with some sense reads this and addresses the concerns here. This is seriously upsetting. This is not only unfair for STEM people, but it also leaves NSW students heavily underprepared in university physics compared to someone from like Victoria or Western Australia.

If you want to see what a good high school physics syllabus looks like (atleast for Australia), just look at our neighbors in Vic, VCE
https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/sites/default/files/Documents/exams/physics/2023/2023physics-w.pdf

If you want to see what a truly good high school physics syllabus looks by global standards, just look at A Level or IB
https://pmt.physicsandmathstutor.com/download/Physics/A-level/Past-Papers/AQA/Data Sheet.pdf
https://tuhsphysics.ttsd.k12.or.us/DocumentsAndLectures/Documents/Misc/DataBooklet2025.pdf
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OmHRxgLdYPkfQT0sip7i8z3ITy9c4sLY/view
pastpapers.papacambridge.com/viewer/caie/as-and-a-level-physics-9702-2025-may-june-9702-s25-qp-21-pdf
pastpapers.papacambridge.com/viewer/caie/as-and-a-level-physics-9702-2025-may-june-9702-s25-qp-41-pdf

Even the US learns more rigorous high school physics than Australia
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-physics-c-mechanics-equations-sheet.pdf
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-physics-2-equations-sheet.pdf
https://strachan.weebly.com/uploads/1/8/9/9/18994903/2016_physics_2_practice_exam.pdf
APs are just high school exams, and they already have more stuff plus calculus in their physics syllabus

The new shit stain of a syllabus for HSC physics is here:
https://curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/science/physics-11-12-2025/content/year-12/fa915fab52

I actually agree with a lot of your points here. I was having a look at the new syllabus yesterday and a lot of the ”hard” things which actually made Phsyics interesting were removed and one dotpoint from the old syllabus became like 3 in the new one to make it look like a lot of content. (Tell me why young’s double slit experiment is now like 7 dotpoints??)

I honestly didn’t like the thermodynamics module anyways but I understand why it was important. And the only difficult calculation questions came from circular motion where they combined angular speed concepts with tangential speed so it’s quite stupid to remove that.

And they also changed around some of the actual real world application non-calculation stuff like light models.

 

[cheesynooby]

noooo thermo was cool (even though noone takes it seriously cuz its not assessed in the hsc)
i see where they're coming from since they want to make hsc physics doable without needing to take math as a prerequisite (which is why the stuff that requires math like shm is in the math course) but i agree with most of ur points

 

[Bendwhat?_over]

Victoria's chemistry syllabus seems much better too.

 

[WorkEfforts]

NESA just released the new syllabus for 2027. Here are the notable changes.

- Getting rid of thermodynamics completely, a topic which would've been used again in engineering physics in uni - Getting rid of angular velocity ω - Removed multiple formulas from the formula sheet, including angular velocity and specific heat capacity. + Adding useless aboriginal crap (are you serious, leftists?) ++ Explain why Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples used inclined planes to move heavy objects ++ Describe how Aboriginal Peoples use the wave velocity and wavelength of water waves to approximate water depth ++ Analyse the motion of projectiles used by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples + Adding more useless qualitative stuff to rote learn for mod 7 and 8 + Added no new formulas at all, while removing atleast two.

It's crazy how NSW has one of the most rigorous and toughest mathematics exams in the western world, mathematics extension 2, then you look at our physics exam, you see how retarded and shallow it is.

New South Wales is stuck with the dumbest high school physics syllabus and exam in the world till the year 2037.

Let me just emphasis, physics is MEANT to be a fucking quantitative subject, not a fucking qualitative describing and essay writing subject. There's nothing gained from making kids learn more qualitative content just for the exams to follow a retarded "regurgitate what you just learnt" structure. With Mathematics Extension 2, we cover way less content than A Level Further Mathematics or IB Mathematics AA HL. However the general consensus among threads I've read is that our exams are much more novel and require critical mathematical thinking and aptitude, especially Questions 16 15 14. This emphasizes quality over quantity. However, the Physics HSC syllabus covers way less than something like A Level, yet our physics exams aren't even intellectually demanding in the slightest (if you count regurgitation and rote learning as intellectually demanding I'm sorry). Our physics exam are so trash. Section 1 is okay, but Section 2 (four fifths of the exam) in the HSC Physics paper fucking suck. There are literally NO intellectually demanding calculation questions. What separates a band 6 student from a band 5 physics student is not their quantitative ability and critical thinking, but rather their ability to write "beautifully". This is especially true for the ~20 marks worth of history reciting questions. Why the fuck can't the physics syllabus just be like the math extension 1 and 2 exams, where the last few questions are actually challenging quantitative questions? Why the fuck is NESA differentiating people on the basis of English writing skills rather than mathematical and actual physics skills? Your ability to write English esque analytical paragraphs on why Rutherford was such a hot guy has no bearing on your ability to perform well in university level physics at all. Here's what's incredibly ridiculous. Someone (99 ATAR) from my school got a 97 in mathematics extension 1, yet in Physics, they only received a 93 exam mark, corresponding to a raw mark below 88. Tell me how the fuck he lost atleast 12 marks? That's right, just cause he wasn't good at arts (English) he couldn't score in the high 90s. I guarantee his study score if he did the Victorian VCE would be somewhere in the 48/50. This guy has a very good memory and high IQ, just that he isn't good at beautiful writing. Our physics syllabus is so retarded that they moved stuff like harmonic motion into math extension 2, even though it really belongs in physics like how it is in A Level and IB. While all these physics exams (A Level, IB, AP) DO contain qualitative questions, they aren't retarded 9 markers which take up a whole page. The amount of lines VCE, A Level and IB give for the highest mark qualitative question is just 4 lines. Tell me why the fuck HSC physics paper need a retarded "analyse rutherford's impact on scientific knowledge" 9 marker with 20 lines? Only the HSC has an essay component worth approximately 9 marks in addition to other similar weighted questions. Now to the minor concerns, why the fuck do we need to include aboriginal stuff in a subject that doesn't require it? Not even the US - a notoriously sensitive society - with it's AP exams include stuff for LGBTQ+ and black people in their physics exam. They're literally not trying to hide their agenda anymore. I guess the next thing the leftists are going to do is add aboriginal numeric representation in the math standard syllabus? I really hope someone from NSW Education Standards Authority with some sense reads this and addresses the concerns here. This is seriously upsetting. This is not only unfair for STEM people, but it also leaves NSW students heavily underprepared in university physics compared to someone from like Victoria or Western Australia.

If you want to see what a good high school physics syllabus looks like (atleast for Australia), just look at our neighbors in Vic, VCE
https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/sites/default/files/Documents/exams/physics/2023/2023physics-w.pdf

If you want to see what a truly good high school physics syllabus looks by global standards, just look at A Level or IB
https://pmt.physicsandmathstutor.com/download/Physics/A-level/Past-Papers/AQA/Data Sheet.pdf
https://tuhsphysics.ttsd.k12.or.us/DocumentsAndLectures/Documents/Misc/DataBooklet2025.pdf
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OmHRxgLdYPkfQT0sip7i8z3ITy9c4sLY/view
pastpapers.papacambridge.com/viewer/caie/as-and-a-level-physics-9702-2025-may-june-9702-s25-qp-21-pdf
pastpapers.papacambridge.com/viewer/caie/as-and-a-level-physics-9702-2025-may-june-9702-s25-qp-41-pdf

Even the US learns more rigorous high school physics than Australia
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-physics-c-mechanics-equations-sheet.pdf
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-physics-2-equations-sheet.pdf
https://strachan.weebly.com/uploads/1/8/9/9/18994903/2016_physics_2_practice_exam.pdf
APs are just high school exams, and they already have more stuff plus calculus in their physics syllabus

The new shit stain of a syllabus for HSC physics is here:
https://curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/science/physics-11-12-2025/content/year-12/fa915fab52

'It's crazy how NSW has one of the most rigorous and toughest mathematics exams in the western world, mathematics extension 2'

Oh I have to laugh
You go into an exam and you will definitely know most of Q11-14 already just from practice
Q15-16 is harder conceptually but still doable

Theres nothing 'hard' about Maths Ext 2

 

[WorkEfforts]

Victoria's chemistry syllabus seems much better too.

Then consider moving there
I'm sure you get nothing out of complaining about other states instead of focusing on your own

 

[WorkEfforts]

NESA just released the new syllabus for 2027. Here are the notable changes.

- Getting rid of thermodynamics completely, a topic which would've been used again in engineering physics in uni - Getting rid of angular velocity ω - Removed multiple formulas from the formula sheet, including angular velocity and specific heat capacity. + Adding useless aboriginal crap (are you serious, leftists?) ++ Explain why Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples used inclined planes to move heavy objects ++ Describe how Aboriginal Peoples use the wave velocity and wavelength of water waves to approximate water depth ++ Analyse the motion of projectiles used by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples + Adding more useless qualitative stuff to rote learn for mod 7 and 8 + Added no new formulas at all, while removing atleast two.

It's crazy how NSW has one of the most rigorous and toughest mathematics exams in the western world, mathematics extension 2, then you look at our physics exam, you see how retarded and shallow it is.

New South Wales is stuck with the dumbest high school physics syllabus and exam in the world till the year 2037.

Let me just emphasis, physics is MEANT to be a fucking quantitative subject, not a fucking qualitative describing and essay writing subject. There's nothing gained from making kids learn more qualitative content just for the exams to follow a retarded "regurgitate what you just learnt" structure. With Mathematics Extension 2, we cover way less content than A Level Further Mathematics or IB Mathematics AA HL. However the general consensus among threads I've read is that our exams are much more novel and require critical mathematical thinking and aptitude, especially Questions 16 15 14. This emphasizes quality over quantity. However, the Physics HSC syllabus covers way less than something like A Level, yet our physics exams aren't even intellectually demanding in the slightest (if you count regurgitation and rote learning as intellectually demanding I'm sorry). Our physics exam are so trash. Section 1 is okay, but Section 2 (four fifths of the exam) in the HSC Physics paper fucking suck. There are literally NO intellectually demanding calculation questions. What separates a band 6 student from a band 5 physics student is not their quantitative ability and critical thinking, but rather their ability to write "beautifully". This is especially true for the ~20 marks worth of history reciting questions. Why the fuck can't the physics syllabus just be like the math extension 1 and 2 exams, where the last few questions are actually challenging quantitative questions? Why the fuck is NESA differentiating people on the basis of English writing skills rather than mathematical and actual physics skills? Your ability to write English esque analytical paragraphs on why Rutherford was such a hot guy has no bearing on your ability to perform well in university level physics at all. Here's what's incredibly ridiculous. Someone (99 ATAR) from my school got a 97 in mathematics extension 1, yet in Physics, they only received a 93 exam mark, corresponding to a raw mark below 88. Tell me how the fuck he lost atleast 12 marks? That's right, just cause he wasn't good at arts (English) he couldn't score in the high 90s. I guarantee his study score if he did the Victorian VCE would be somewhere in the 48/50. This guy has a very good memory and high IQ, just that he isn't good at beautiful writing. Our physics syllabus is so retarded that they moved stuff like harmonic motion into math extension 2, even though it really belongs in physics like how it is in A Level and IB. While all these physics exams (A Level, IB, AP) DO contain qualitative questions, they aren't retarded 9 markers which take up a whole page. The amount of lines VCE, A Level and IB give for the highest mark qualitative question is just 4 lines. Tell me why the fuck HSC physics paper need a retarded "analyse rutherford's impact on scientific knowledge" 9 marker with 20 lines? Only the HSC has an essay component worth approximately 9 marks in addition to other similar weighted questions. Now to the minor concerns, why the fuck do we need to include aboriginal stuff in a subject that doesn't require it? Not even the US - a notoriously sensitive society - with it's AP exams include stuff for LGBTQ+ and black people in their physics exam. They're literally not trying to hide their agenda anymore. I guess the next thing the leftists are going to do is add aboriginal numeric representation in the math standard syllabus? I really hope someone from NSW Education Standards Authority with some sense reads this and addresses the concerns here. This is seriously upsetting. This is not only unfair for STEM people, but it also leaves NSW students heavily underprepared in university physics compared to someone from like Victoria or Western Australia.

If you want to see what a good high school physics syllabus looks like (atleast for Australia), just look at our neighbors in Vic, VCE
https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/sites/default/files/Documents/exams/physics/2023/2023physics-w.pdf

If you want to see what a truly good high school physics syllabus looks by global standards, just look at A Level or IB
https://pmt.physicsandmathstutor.com/download/Physics/A-level/Past-Papers/AQA/Data Sheet.pdf
https://tuhsphysics.ttsd.k12.or.us/DocumentsAndLectures/Documents/Misc/DataBooklet2025.pdf
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OmHRxgLdYPkfQT0sip7i8z3ITy9c4sLY/view
pastpapers.papacambridge.com/viewer/caie/as-and-a-level-physics-9702-2025-may-june-9702-s25-qp-21-pdf
pastpapers.papacambridge.com/viewer/caie/as-and-a-level-physics-9702-2025-may-june-9702-s25-qp-41-pdf

Even the US learns more rigorous high school physics than Australia
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-physics-c-mechanics-equations-sheet.pdf
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-physics-2-equations-sheet.pdf
https://strachan.weebly.com/uploads/1/8/9/9/18994903/2016_physics_2_practice_exam.pdf
APs are just high school exams, and they already have more stuff plus calculus in their physics syllabus

The new shit stain of a syllabus for HSC physics is here:
https://curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/science/physics-11-12-2025/content/year-12/fa915fab52

Who gives a shit what you learn in high school
You're crying about them 'dumbing down' physics but its not like it would have any major influence in higher level education (Uni)
You basically learn everything from the start but at a much faster pace in Uni so therefore who cares