VCE Psychology exam 2026Exam: Fri 30 Oct · VCAA timetable
Your VCE Psychology exam:
When and how long
- Psychology9.00 am to 11.45 am2 h 30 min plus 15 min reading time
VCAA: the reading period is included in the times shown, and each examination starts with a 15-minute reading period unless otherwise specified. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the start time. A few language exams run earlier in October.
Source: 2026 VCE examination timetable (VCAA), checked Wednesday 23 September 2026. Where a start time, reading time or duration isn't shown, the timetable doesn't publish it: check your personal timetable and the front of your paper.
What the exam covers
We don't have past-paper frequency data for this exam, so here is the course, module by module. Make sure every module is covered.
Night-before and exam-morning checklists
The night before
- Check the start time of each exam; the 15-minute reading period is included in the timetable times.[2]
- Pack a transparent pencil case: pens, pencils, highlighters, erasers, sharpener and a ruler.[1]
- Pack your approved calculator and spare batteries (CAS only where allowed: General Maths, Methods Exam 2, Specialist Exam 2).[1]
- Still water in a clear plastic bottle, labels removed, no more than 1500 mL (it stays off your table).[1]
- Stop revising around 8 pm, set two alarms and sleep.[1]
Exam morning
- Eat a real breakfast.[1]
- Arrive at least 30 minutes before the start time.[2]
- If you are up to 30 minutes late you still get full writing time, but no reading time.[1]
- Leave phones, smart watches and fitness trackers outside the exam room.[1]
- In reading time: read and plan, but don't write or use your calculator.[1]
- You can't leave before 30 minutes of writing time or in the last 5 minutes.[1]
Exam-week survival kit: The last 7 days · The night before and exam morning · What to bring, and what's banned · How to use reading time · If you're sick or something goes wrong · Handling exam-week stress.
Last-week revision
- 2025 past paperWalkthrough, with a link to the official VCAA paper
- 2024 past paperWalkthrough, with a link to the official VCAA paper
- 2023 past paperWalkthrough, with a link to the official VCAA paper
- 2022 past paperWalkthrough, with a link to the official VCAA paper
- FlashcardsSpaced-repetition cards from the syllabus pages
- QuizExam-style practice (harder): Psychology multiple choice
- Study guides2 guides
VCE Psychology cram sheet
Key formulas, definitions and facts copied from our Psychology syllabus pages. One page when printed.
Unit 3: How does experience affect behaviour and mental processes?
Stimulus reaches a receptor, a sensory neuron carries it to the spinal cord, an interneuron relays it to a motor neuron, and an effector (muscle) produces the response. The brain is bypassed at the moment of the reflex, making the response faster and protective.
Neurotransmitter: a chemical released by a neuron that carries a signal across the synapse to the next neuron.
Glutamate: the main excitatory neurotransmitter, central to learning and memory.
GABA: the main inhibitory neurotransmitter, which regulates postsynaptic activation and reduces over-arousal.
Synaptic plasticity is the ability of synapses to strengthen or weaken with use. Long-term potentiation is the lasting strengthening of a synapse after repeated high-frequency activation. Long-term depression is the lasting weakening of a synapse after low-frequency or absent activation.
The gut-brain axis is the two-way communication network linking the gut and the central nervous system. The gut microbiota is the community of microorganisms living in the digestive tract. The vagus nerve is the principal neural pathway carrying signals between the gut and brain.
Unit 4: How is mental wellbeing supported and maintained?
EEG records brain waves (identifies stages by wave type), EMG records muscle activity (low in REM), and EOG records eye movements (the marker of REM sleep). All three are objective, indirect physiological measures of the construct of sleep.
About 17 hours awake produces impairment similar to a BAC of 0.05 (the Victorian legal driving limit), and about 24 hours awake produces impairment similar to a BAC of 0.10. The comparison is a way to communicate severity using familiar BAC figures, not a claim that the two are identical in mechanism.
A circadian rhythm phase disorder is a misalignment between the timing of the internal body clock and the desired sleep-wake schedule. A zeitgeber is an external cue, especially light, that synchronises the body clock. Bright light therapy uses strategically timed light to shift the circadian rhythm.
Sleep hygiene is the set of behaviours and environmental conditions that promote consistent, good-quality sleep. A zeitgeber is an external cue, especially light, that synchronises the circadian rhythm. Blue light is the short-wavelength light from electronic screens that suppresses melatonin.