Year 10 study guides

Year 10 guides prepare students for senior study. Maths marks the optional extension content (often called 10A) that leads into VCE Maths Methods, and History covers 1918 to the present.

There are 43 guides across five subjects. In each subject, start with the revision hub: it maps every topic, gives a two-week study plan and ends with a full mock exam. Then work through the topic guides in order. Guides marked Free can be read without a subscription.

Maths

1. Exam revision hubStart here
   Start here for Year 10 Maths exams: a topic map linking every guide section, a formula sheet, a two-week plan, every key term as flashcards, and a 75-mark mock exam with an extension section and full worked answers.
2. Indices, Surds and Logarithms
   Exact values versus rounded values in repeated calculations, index laws with variables, logarithmic scales such as decibels and earthquake magnitude, plus extension work on fractional indices, surds and the laws of logarithms.
3. Algebra: Equations, Inequalities and Simultaneous Equations
   Factorising and algebraic fractions, substituting into and rearranging formulas, linear equations with fractions, inequalities on a number line and in two variables, simultaneous equations, and parallel and perpendicular lines.
4. Quadratics: Expanding, Factorising and Solving
   Expanding binomial products, factorising monic and non-monic quadratics, the null factor law, completing the square, the quadratic formula and discriminant, solving graphically and numerically, and quadratic problems in context.
5. Functions and Graphs: Parabolas, Hyperbolas, Circles and Exponentials
   Sketching parabolas, hyperbolas, circles and exponential graphs from their equations, solving exponential equations, and experimenting with digital tools, plus extension work on function notation, polynomials and rates of change.
6. Financial Maths: Interest, Depreciation, Growth and Decay
   Simple and compound interest, building the compound interest formula from repeated simple interest, compounding periods, straight-line and reducing-balance depreciation, exponential growth and decay, inverse proportion and choosing a model.
7. Surface Area, Volume, Scaling and Measurement Error
   Surface area and volume of composite solids with the right units, extension work on pyramids, cones and spheres, similar solids and scale factors, proportion models such as paint coverage, and how measurement error affects results.
8. Trigonometry: Elevation, Bearings, 3D Problems and Non-Right Triangles
   Right-angled trigonometry in context: angles of elevation and depression and true bearings, then extension work on three-dimensional problems, the sine, cosine and area rules, the unit circle and the graphs of sine and cosine.
9. Geometric Proof, Circle Theorems, Networks and Algorithms
   Writing deductive proofs with congruent and similar triangles, proving properties of quadrilaterals, extension circle theorems, networks and shortest paths, and designing and testing algorithms for spatial problems.
10. Statistics: Boxplots, Standard Deviation, Bivariate Data and the Media
    Quartiles, IQR, outliers and boxplots, comparing distributions, extension work on standard deviation, scatterplots and lines of good fit, two-way tables, statistical investigations with time series, and analysing claims and bias in the media.
11. Probability: Conditional Probability, Independence and Simulation
    The language of conditional probability, two-way tables and Venn diagrams, two- and three-step experiments with and without replacement, independence, simulations with digital tools, and extension work on counting principles and factorials.

English

1. Exam revision hubStart here
   Start here for Year 10 English exams: a skills map linking every guide section, how Year 10 prepares you for VCE, a two-week plan, every key term as flashcards, and a 60-mark mock exam with an original story, a letter to analyse, language questions and a creating task.
2. Analytical Essays and Interpreting TextsFree
   Year 10 text response as preparation for VCE: unpacking essay prompts, views and values, ethical positions, representation and context, how structure and intertextuality shape meaning, extending other readers' interpretations, and a model essay on an original story.
3. Analysing Written, Spoken and Visual Argument
   Year 10 argument analysis as preparation for VCE: mapping contention and arguments, evaluative and inclusive language, structure and tone, images, cartoons and graphs, spoken texts, and the analysis paragraph used in senior English, with two original texts on one issue.
4. Creating Texts and Explaining Your Choices
   Year 10 writing as preparation for VCE Creating texts: purpose, audience and context, reading mentor texts, sustaining a voice, choosing a form, turning a prompt and stimulus into an idea, a model piece with its written explanation, point-of-view speeches, and editing to publish.
5. Comparing Texts, Voice and Aesthetic Qualities
   Year 10 comparative analysis: voice as a literary device in poetry, prose and film, aesthetic qualities and the context of the audience's experience, finding bases of comparison, comparative theses and woven paragraphs, with an original poem and screenplay scene.
6. Syntax, Vocabulary and Editing for Style
   Year 10 language for senior English: how syntax creates meaning and style, sentence structures that sharpen analysis, varying paragraphs and integrating images, precise academic vocabulary, punctuation experiments, concision, advanced spelling and editing for control and coherence.

Science

1. Exam revision hubStart here
   Start here for Year 10 Science exams: a topic map linking every guide section, curriculum coverage, the key equations, a two-week plan, every key term as flashcards, and a 75-mark mock exam with full answers.
2. DNA, Genetics and Inheritance
   How DNA, genes and chromosomes carry inherited information, why mitosis and meiosis differ, and how to predict offspring with Punnett squares, sex-linked crosses and pedigrees. Includes mutations, genetic conditions and exam practice.
3. Evolution by Natural Selection
   How natural selection works (variation, selection pressure, inheritance, isolation), how new species form, and the evidence for evolution: fossils, comparative anatomy and embryology, biogeography and DNA. Australian examples and exam practice.
4. The Universe and the Big Bang
   The scale and structure of the universe, the big bang timeline, and the evidence for it: redshift and the Hubble–Lemaître law, the cosmic microwave background and the abundance of light elements. Life cycles of stars, telescopes, ASKAP, space exploration and exam practice.
5. Global Systems and Climate Change
   How energy flows between Earth's spheres, the greenhouse effect, ocean currents and feedbacks, and what Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO and WMO data show about climate change. Climate models, generating electricity (AC and DC), mitigation strategies and exam practice.
6. Atoms and the Periodic Table
   How the periodic table is organised and why: Mendeleev's predictions, the Bohr model and electron shells, groups and periods, metals and non-metals, trends in atomic size and reactivity, ions, and flame tests and emission spectra. With exam practice.
7. Types of Reactions and Reaction Rates
   Synthesis, decomposition and displacement reactions (including the activity series, precipitation and neutralisation), predicting products, exothermic and endothermic reactions, collision theory, and how temperature, concentration, surface area and catalysts change reaction rates.
8. Motion and Newton's Laws
   Speed, velocity and acceleration with worked calculations, distance–time and velocity–time graphs, Newton's three laws, F = ma and weight, friction and terminal velocity, and how physics explains seatbelts, airbags, crumple zones and school-zone speed limits.
9. Inquiry Skills and Science as a Human Endeavour
   Senior-level investigation skills: hypotheses that test relationships, valid and reproducible designs, error and bias, precision and significant figures, descriptive statistics, linearising data, evaluating claims, writing reports, peer review, and science in society.

History

1. Exam revision hubStart here
   Start here for Year 10 History exams: a topic map linking every guide section, a two-week plan, every key term as flashcards, and a mock exam with knowledge questions, source analysis using real 1967 referendum data and invented sources, and an extended response.
2. Historical Skills: Inquiry, Evidence and Argument
   Year 10 history skills: refining inquiry questions, finding sources in Trove and archives, analysing and judging sources, perspectives, cause and change, contested interpretations, significance, and writing a referenced extended argument.
3. The Interwar Years and the Causes of World War II
   The world from 1918 to 1939: the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations, the Russian Revolution, the 1920s, the Great Depression in Australia, the rise of Hitler, fascism and militarism, Manchuria, Abyssinia, Spain, appeasement, Munich and the outbreak of war in 1939.
4. World War II: Australians at War, 1939–1945
   Australia in the Second World War: why Australia fought, Tobruk and North Africa, the fall of Singapore, prisoners of war, the bombing of Darwin, Curtin's turn to America, Kokoda and Milne Bay, turning points in Europe and the Pacific, the atomic bombs, and debates about commemoration.
5. The Holocaust
   The Holocaust, 1933–1945: antisemitism and Nazi race ideology, persecution in Germany, Kristallnacht, ghettos, mass shootings, the 'Final Solution' and killing centres, other victims of Nazi persecution, resistance and rescue, Australian responses, justice and remembrance. Figures from the USHMM.
6. The Home Front and Post-war Australia
   Australia's WWII home front and its legacy: government controls, rationing, internment, women's changing roles, First Nations service, attacks on Australia, Cowra, then Chifley's post-war reconstruction, the UN, ANZUS and the Colombo Plan.
7. Rights and Freedoms: UDHR, Civil Rights and First Nations Australians
   Rights and freedoms since 1938: the UDHR, the US civil rights movement and First Nations campaigns, from the Day of Mourning, Freedom Ride, Wave Hill and the 1967 referendum to the Tent Embassy, Mabo, Bringing Them Home, the Apology and the 2023 Voice referendum.
8. Building Modern Australia: Migration, the Cold War and Women's Rights
   Australia after 1945: 'populate or perish', displaced persons and Ten Pound Poms, Bonegilla, the end of the White Australia policy, Vietnam and refugees, multiculturalism, the Cold War at home, the long boom and youth culture, and women's changing rights, with census data from 1947 to 2021.
9. The Globalising World: The Environment Movement and Global Influences
   The globalising world since 1945: population, health and technology; the environment movement from Silent Spring to the Franklin Dam; nuclear testing and nuclear power; climate agreements; and Australia's changing place in Asia and the world.

Geography

1. Exam revision hubStart here
   Start here for Year 10 Geography exams: a topic map linking every guide section, a two-week plan, every key term as flashcards, and a 50-mark mock exam on environmental change and human wellbeing, with real data, an extended response and full marking guides.
2. Environmental Change, Sustainability and World Views
   How people change environments, why some changes are unsustainable, and how world views shape our responses. Includes the four environmental functions, carbon dioxide and biodiversity data, the Great Barrier Reef as a worked issue, and exam practice.
3. First Nations Custodianship and Caring for Country
   How Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' custodial responsibilities shape environmental management: Country, cultural burning, Indigenous rangers and Protected Areas, Sea Country partnerships on the Reef, research protocols, and exam practice.
4. Case Study: Managing the Murray–Darling Basin
   A detailed case study of environmental change in the Murray–Darling Basin: over-allocation, the Millennium Drought, fish deaths at Menindee and the Coorong, the Basin Plan and water recovery to June 2026, First Nations water rights, and a comparison with the Colorado River.
5. Measuring Human Wellbeing: HDI, GDP and Poverty in India
   What human wellbeing is and how it is measured: GDP and GNI per capita, the Human Development Index (HDR 2025), the Multidimensional Poverty Index, the SDGs, global differences between countries, and spatial differences within India, with a worked HDI calculation.
6. Wellbeing in Australia and Closing the Gap
   Spatial differences in wellbeing within Australia: cities and remote places, the factors that explain them, life expectancy data for First Nations Australians (ABS 2020–2022), the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and progress in the July 2026 report.
7. Programs to Improve Wellbeing: Aid, India, the Pacific and Australia
   How international, national and non-government organisations try to improve wellbeing: Australia's aid program (2026–27 budget), support for Papua New Guinea, India's water and sanitation missions, NGOs, community-led programs in remote Australia, and how to evaluate them.
8. Geographical Skills, Inquiry and Fieldwork
   The Year 10 skills toolkit: planning an inquiry at different scales, fieldwork methods such as environmental quality surveys, evaluating sources for bias, multi-variable data and scatter graphs, making forecasts, weighted decision matrices and writing evidence-based conclusions.