VCE English Language past exams 2023–2025

Every question from the last three VCE English Language exams, matched to the lesson that teaches it, with class averages from the examiners' reports and worked solutions. VCE English Language (Year 12) lessons.

2025 Exam

Q1 (3 marks, class average 63%): Pick a modal verb from the end of the email and show how it serves one of its purposes. Lesson: Informal Written and Digital Language, Formal Language — Features and Purposes
Q2 (3 marks, class average 27%): Find two examples of information flow in the email's highlights list and describe the effect of one. Lesson: Formal Language — Features and Purposes, English Language Exam — Short Answers, Commentary and Essay
Q3 (4 marks, class average 55%): One semantic and one syntactic pattern in the email, each tied to a different Jakobson function. Lesson: Formal Language — Features and Purposes, English Language Exam — Short Answers, Commentary and Essay
Q4 (5 marks, class average 40%): How Young's shifting register achieves several purposes, linked to the email's cultural context. Lesson: Informal Written and Digital Language, Formal Language — Features and Purposes
Q5 (30 marks, class average 55%): Analytical commentary on a surgeon's acceptance speech for a NAIDOC Person Award. Lesson: Formal Language — Features and Purposes, Aboriginal English and Language Rights, English Language Exam — Short Answers, Commentary and Essay
Q6 (30 marks, class average 58%): Essay: does language widen social divides, promote equality, or both, in Australia today?. Lesson: Language, Gender and Power, Jargon, Doublespeak and Political Language, Standard Australian English and Attitudes, Essay Writing — Using Contemporary Evidence
Q7 (30 marks, class average 58%): Essay: how social shifts and new technologies are changing what counts as normal language. Lesson: Informal Written and Digital Language, Standard Australian English and Attitudes, Essay Writing — Using Contemporary Evidence
Q8 (30 marks, class average 58%): Essay: how far non-standard Australian Englishes help construct identity in the public domain. Lesson: Varieties of Australian English — Accents and Ethnolects, Aboriginal English and Language Rights, Individual and Group Identity — Sociolects and Code-switching, Essay Writing — Using Contemporary Evidence

2024 Exam

Q1 (2 marks): One paralinguistic feature in the interview and the effect it has. Lesson: Spoken Discourse — Turn-taking and Conversation Management
Q2 (2 marks, class average 65%): How the interviewer establishes the guest's contributions to society, with one example. Lesson: Spoken Discourse — Turn-taking and Conversation Management, Informal Language — Features and Purposes
Q3 (2 marks, class average 65%): One politeness strategy in the interview and how it shapes the tenor. Lesson: Informal Language — Features and Purposes, Spoken Discourse — Turn-taking and Conversation Management
Q4 (4 marks, class average 55%): How the interview's shifts in function reflect its situational context, using Jakobson's functions. Lesson: Informal Language — Features and Purposes, English Language Exam — Short Answers, Commentary and Essay
Q5 (5 marks, class average 38%): How both speakers' turn-taking helps build their individual and group identities. Lesson: Spoken Discourse — Turn-taking and Conversation Management, Individual and Group Identity — Sociolects and Code-switching
Q6 (30 marks, class average 56%): Analytical commentary on a reconciliation organisation's webpage and embedded video for schools. Lesson: Formal Language — Features and Purposes, Aboriginal English and Language Rights, English Language Exam — Short Answers, Commentary and Essay
Q7 (30 marks, class average 56%): Essay: does language shape what it means to be Australian, and how is that shifting?. Lesson: Standard Australian English and Attitudes, Varieties of Australian English — Accents and Ethnolects, Aboriginal English and Language Rights, Essay Writing — Using Contemporary Evidence
Q8 (30 marks, class average 56%): Essay: our choice of Australian English variety can both support and undermine what we're trying to do. Lesson: Individual and Group Identity — Sociolects and Code-switching, Jargon, Doublespeak and Political Language, Informal Written and Digital Language, Essay Writing — Using Contemporary Evidence
Q9 (30 marks, class average 56%): Essay: how far formality and politeness decide a person's standing in Australian society. Lesson: Formal Language — Features and Purposes, Jargon, Doublespeak and Political Language, Language, Gender and Power, Essay Writing — Using Contemporary Evidence

2023 Exam

Q1 (2 marks, class average 55%): Name one semantic domain in the newsletter and back it with two labelled examples. Lesson: Formal Language — Features and Purposes, English Language Exam — Short Answers, Commentary and Essay
Q2 (4 marks, class average 38%): Two syntactic features in the newsletter's timeline column and the job each one does. Lesson: Formal Language — Features and Purposes, English Language Exam — Short Answers, Commentary and Essay
Q3 (4 marks, class average 48%): Analyse two features that make the airport newsletter coherent. Lesson: Formal Language — Features and Purposes, English Language Exam — Short Answers, Commentary and Essay
Q4 (5 marks, class average 42%): How the newsletter's register supports two of its social purposes. Lesson: Formal Language — Features and Purposes, Jargon, Doublespeak and Political Language
Q5 (30 marks, class average 55%): Analytical commentary on a radio host's interview with a musician about his new solo project. Lesson: Informal Language — Features and Purposes, Spoken Discourse — Turn-taking and Conversation Management, English Language Exam — Short Answers, Commentary and Essay
Q6 (30 marks, class average 55%): Essay: does stereotypical Australian English in ads and entertainment still reflect how Australians speak?. Lesson: Standard Australian English and Attitudes, Varieties of Australian English — Accents and Ethnolects, Aboriginal English and Language Rights, Essay Writing — Using Contemporary Evidence
Q7 (30 marks, class average 55%): Essay: how far shifting community values decide the way Australians use language. Lesson: Language, Gender and Power, Standard Australian English and Attitudes, Individual and Group Identity — Sociolects and Code-switching, Essay Writing — Using Contemporary Evidence
Q8 (30 marks, class average 55%): Essay: language as a way of making and breaking relationships in Australia today. Lesson: Informal Language — Features and Purposes, Individual and Group Identity — Sociolects and Code-switching, Language, Gender and Power, Essay Writing — Using Contemporary Evidence