SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics exam strategy: The 2026 guide

SACEGeneral MathematicsStudy guide12 min readUpdated 23 Sep 2026

How the 2026 SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics exam works: a 130-minute paper worth 30 percent that examines only Topics 3, 4 and 5 (statistical, financial and discrete models), with one sheet of handwritten notes and approved technology. What markers reward, worked examples, common mistakes and a plan to 2 November.

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The exam at a glance
What the exam rewards
Worked examples in the exam style
Technology and your notes sheet
Common mistakes
Six weeks to 2 November

The exam at a glance

2026 SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics exam

Monday 2 November 2026, 1.30 pm (South Australian time). A 130-minute external examination worth 30 percent of your result, examining only Topics 3, 4 and 5: statistical models, financial models and discrete models. You may bring one unfolded A4 sheet (two sides) of handwritten notes and approved electronic technology.

These details come from the SACE Stage 2 General Mathematics subject outline and the SACE Board's 2026 examinations timetable. The timetable notes that some subjects have extra reading time, with instructions sent to schools in Term 4, so confirm the details with your school.

The biggest strategic fact: Topics 1 (linear relationships and linear programming) and 2 (matrices) are not in the exam. Every hour of exam revision should go to Topics 3, 4 and 5.

What the exam rewards

The outline describes "a range of problems, some focusing on knowledge, routine skills, and applications, and others focusing on analysis and interpretation", and says students should "provide explanations and arguments". All specific features of the two assessment design criteria can be assessed:

Concepts and Techniques: knowledge of concepts (CT1), selecting and applying techniques (CT2), applying models (CT3), using electronic technology (CT4).
Reasoning and Communication: interpreting results (RC1), conclusions with reasonableness and limitations (RC2), notation and terminology (RC3), logical communication (RC4).

In General Mathematics the interpretation marks are large. Many questions end with "interpret", "comment on the reliability" or "what assumptions has the model made?"

Topic	What the exam asks you to do
3. Statistical models	Describe association, find and interpret linear and exponential regression models, read residual plots, judge reliability; use the normal distribution, the 68-95-99.7 rule and inverse normal
4. Financial models	Future value annuities, effective rates, inflation and tax effects, reducing-balance loans, interest-only loans and sinking funds, the effect of changing payments or rates
5. Discrete models	Precedence tables, networks with dummy links, forward and backward scans, slack time, critical paths; the Hungarian algorithm including maximising and non-square arrays

Worked examples in the exam style

Topic 3: the 68-95-99.7 rule

Heights of adult men in a population are approximately normal with mean 176 cm and standard deviation 7 cm. Estimate the percentage of men between 169 cm and 190 cm.

169 is one standard deviation below the mean and 190 is two above. The rule gives 34 percent between $-1$ and 0 standard deviations and 47.5 percent between 0 and $+2$ , so about 81.5 percent.

State the rule you used: this question expects the rule, not a calculator value.

Topic 4: saving with an annuity

Priya deposits $250 at the end of each month into an account paying 4.2 percent per annum, compounded monthly. How much will she have after 5 years, and how much of that is interest?

Technology inputs: $N = 60$ , $I\% = 4.2$ , $PV = 0$ , $PMT = -250$ , 12 payments and 12 compounding periods per year.

$FV \approx \$16\,658.99$ . She deposited $60 \times 250 = \$15\,000$ , so the interest earned is about $1658.99.

The effective annual rate is $(1 + 0.042/12)^{12} - 1 \approx 4.28$ percent, slightly above the nominal 4.2 percent.

Topic 5: slack time

In a project network, task C takes 4 days, its earliest starting time is 10 days and the latest time by which it can be completed without delaying the project is 19 days.

Slack time $=$ latest completion time $-$ (task time $+$ earliest starting time) $= 19 - (4 + 10) = 5$ days.

Tasks on the critical path have zero slack. This is the formula given in the subject outline, so use its terms.

Technology and your notes sheet

You have one sheet (two sides), half the notes allowance of Mathematical Methods, so choose carefully:

the financial solver inputs and sign convention for each type of problem (saving, loan, interest-only, sinking fund);
templates for interpreting slope, intercept, $r$ , $r^2$ , and exponential model parameters;
the Hungarian algorithm steps, including maximising and squaring up an array;
the slack time formula and a reminder about dummy links.

Common mistakes

Where General Mathematics marks go missing

Revising Topics 1 and 2 for the exam. They are school-assessed only.
Claiming causation from a strong correlation.
Interpreting $r^2$ as the percentage of points on the line instead of the percentage of variation explained.
Entering the annual rate where the periodic rate is needed, or forgetting that payments and compounding match in exam annuity questions.
Critical paths that skip a dummy link, or slack times computed with the wrong formula.
Forgetting to convert a maximising problem into a minimising one before using the Hungarian algorithm.

Six weeks to 2 November

Week of 21 September: Topic 3 bivariate statistics: regression, residuals, exponential models and reliability.
Week of 28 September: Topic 3 normal distribution, then Topic 4 saving models.
Week of 5 October: Topic 4 borrowing: reducing-balance and interest-only loans, sinking funds, and "what if" changes.
Week of 12 October: Topic 5 critical path analysis and the Hungarian algorithm, by hand.
Week of 19 October: Two past exams from the SACE website under 130-minute conditions, checked against the subject assessment advice.
Week of 26 October: Final past exam and your notes sheet. General Mathematics is in the afternoon after Methods, so if you sit both, plan your lunch and your energy.

Revise the content with the Topics 3 to 5 deep dive, then test yourself with the mixed exam-style quiz and the topics quiz.

Sources & how we know this

Stage 2 General Mathematics Subject Outline — SACE Board of South Australia
General Mathematics subject page, including past examinations — SACE Board of South Australia
SACE examinations timetable 2026 — SACE Board of South Australia (2026)
Stage 2 General Mathematics: external assessment — SACE Board

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