QCE Modern History: complete 2026 guide to Units 3 and 4 (General subject)

QCE General Modern History Units 3 and 4 is the Year 12 sequence assessed across three internal assessments (IAs) and one External Assessment (EA), all weighted equally at 25 percent. Unit 3 (National experiences in the Modern World) feeds IA1 and IA2. Unit 4 (International experiences in the Modern World) feeds IA3 and the EA.

This page is the index. Below you will find the structure of the course, what each instrument assesses, and links to every page we have written for the Unit 3 topic Australia since 1901 and the Unit 4 Cold War pages.

The four instruments

These details summarise the QCAA Modern History 2025 syllabus. The exact numbers of sources, word limits and mark allocations should be confirmed against the current syllabus and your school's assessment calendar, because schools and QCAA memos can change conditions.

IA1: Examination, extended response (25 percent, Unit 3)

A supervised examination with 15 minutes of planning time and 120 minutes of working time. You write an essay in response to an unseen question, using evidence from historical sources. The task uses a mix of seen sources, given before the examination, and unseen sources on the day, so check the syllabus for the exact numbers. It is marked against criteria such as comprehending, analysing, evaluating, synthesising and communicating.

IA2: Investigation, independent source investigation (25 percent, Unit 3)

A written investigation of up to 2000 words on an aspect of a Unit 3 topic that was studied in class and not assessed in IA1. It has a key inquiry question with 3 to 5 sub-questions, an interrogation of evidence from 4 to 6 sources (primary and secondary) that you find yourself, and a critical summary that states a historical argument. It is marked out of 25.

IA3: Investigation, historical essay based on research (25 percent, Unit 4)

A historical essay of up to 2000 words, including the key inquiry question and direct quotes, that answers your own key inquiry question using sources you located. It must be on a Unit 4 topic and aspect that is not the focus of the external assessment. It is marked out of 25.

EA: External Assessment (25 percent, Unit 4)

A short response examination developed and marked by QCAA, with 15 minutes of planning time and 120 minutes of working time. It presents evidence from up to 12 historical sources on the nominated Unit 4 topic and aspect, and you respond in paragraphs using that evidence.

Unit 3: National experiences in the Modern World

In Unit 3 schools select two topics from a list. The 2025 syllabus lists Australia since 1901, United Kingdom since 1901, France 1799 to 1815, New Zealand since 1841, Germany since 1914, the United States of America 1917 to 1945, the Soviet Union 1920s to 1945, Japan since 1931, China since 1931, Indonesia since 1942, India since 1947, Israel since 1917 and South Korea since 1948.

The syllabus describes each topic by its title and start point, and it says the subject matter focuses on an aspect of the topic, which is narrower than the topic as a whole. Teachers choose the aspect. For each aspect the syllabus sets a contextual study, a depth study and a concluding study, which together ask you to understand terms and ideas, analyse causes, effects, continuities and changes, evaluate sources, build an argument and link past events to the present.

Our pages cover Australia since 1901. Each page is a strand of the topic that suits that kind of study, and your teacher's aspect may match one strand or combine several.

Australia since 1901

• Federation and the early Commonwealth, 1901 to 1914
• The White Australia policy and its dismantling
• Indigenous Australians: policy and rights since 1901
• The Menzies era, the Cold War and Vietnam, 1949 to 1972
• The Whitlam government and the Dismissal, 1972 to 1975
• Hawke, Keating, economic reform and the republic debate, 1983 to 1999

Previous design pages: Australia 1914 to 1949

Australia 1914 to 1949 is not an option in the 2025 syllabus. These pages overlap the Australia since 1901 option for the war years, the interwar years and post-war reconstruction, and they stay online for students using older resources.

• Causes of Australian involvement in World War I
• The Australian experience of World War I: battlefield and home front
• The conscription debates of 1916 and 1917
• Interwar Australia: politics, economy and the Great Depression
• Australia and World War II: total war and the Pacific turn
• Post-war reconstruction and immigration 1945 to 1949

Unit 4: International experiences in the Modern World

In Unit 4 two topics are studied. For Topic 1, schools choose one of thirteen topics, including the Cold War and its aftermath 1945 to 2014, Mass migrations since 1848, the Nuclear Age since 1945 and Australian engagement with Asia since 1945. For Topic 2, schools choose a second topic that is different from Topic 1, and the external assessment uses a topic and aspect nominated by QCAA. QCAA's published nominations for the 2026 and 2027 external assessments include the Cold War and its aftermath, 1945 to 2014, with the aspect Reasons for the end of the Soviet Union, 1980s to 1990s, as one option. Confirm the current nomination with your teacher and the QCAA website.

Our Cold War pages below run from 1945 to 1991. We do not yet have pages for the period from 1991 to 2014.

• Origins of the Cold War 1945 to 1949
• The Cold War in Europe 1948 to 1962 (Warsaw Pact, Hungary 1956, Berlin Wall)
• The Korean War 1950 to 1953
• The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
• The Vietnam War 1955 to 1975
• Detente 1969 to 1979
• The end of the Cold War 1985 to 1991
• Nature and historiography of the Cold War

How Unit 3 maps to the assessments

IA1 essay in response to historical sources

Expect an unseen question on your Unit 3 aspect and a stimulus that mixes seen and unseen sources, each with a short context statement. Strong responses open with a hypothesis, build body paragraphs with topic sentences, integrate several sources by number or author, and judge their usefulness and reliability.

IA2 independent source investigation

Choose an aspect you studied in class but did not use in IA1, write a focused key inquiry question and sub-questions, and use four to six primary and secondary sources that were not studied in class. For example, a question about the significance of the 1967 referendum or about the causes of the Dismissal would suit the pages above.

EA and IA3

These assess Unit 4. Read the Unit 4 section above.

How to use this hub

If you are starting Unit 3 this term: ask your teacher which aspect of Australia since 1901 you will study, then start with the page that matches it. Federation and the early Commonwealth gives the context that the later pages build on.

If you are 2 weeks from IA1: practise writing a full essay under the 15-minute planning and 120-minute working conditions, integrating several sources by number and judging their usefulness and reliability.

If you are designing your IA2: choose a focused key inquiry question, read the page most relevant to it, then read our QCE internal vs external assessments explainer for what the criteria reward.

If you are 6 weeks from the EA: revise your Unit 4 topic and aspect, and practise with past EA papers released by QCAA.

Calculators and ATAR planning

Our QCE ATAR calculator lets you enter your projected Modern History result alongside your other General subjects to estimate your ATAR. Modern History scales moderately and pairs well with English and Legal Studies in a top-5 General aggregate.

The system around QCE Modern History

QCE Modern History sits inside the wider QCE system. Related explainers:

• How the QCE ATAR is calculated covers QTAC's top-5-General aggregate and scaling.
• Internal vs External Assessments breaks down the 75/25 IA/EA weighting for humanities.
• AARA special arrangements covers QCAA's Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments.
• QCE exam day: what to actually expect covers EA logistics.

Every guide on this hub was written by ExamExplained. For the official QCAA syllabus, IA syllabus specifications and past EA papers, refer to qcaa.qld.edu.au.