NESA Stage 6 Chemistry · the syllabus currently examined
The HSC Chemistry syllabus, module by module
Everything NESA expects you to know for HSC Chemistry, laid out as a working checklist: all eight modules, the inquiry question behind every section, how the exam is structured, and a free lesson series for each module. Use it to find the gaps before the paper does.
- Modules
- 84 in Year 11 · 4 in Year 12
- Examined in the HSC
- Year 12Modules 5–8; Year 11 is assumed knowledge
- Written exam
- 100 marks20 multiple choice + 80 written
- Free lessons here
- 142covering all 8 modules
Which syllabus is this?
This page describes the current NESA Chemistry Stage 6 syllabus, the one being taught and examined right now. If you are sitting the HSC in 2026 or 2027, this is your course.
NESA has published a new Chemistry 11–12 syllabus (2025), first taught to Year 11 from 2027. It reorganises the course into focus areas instead of the eight modules below. Until your cohort moves across, the new syllabus does not change what you are examined on — revise against this page, not against the new document.
Year 11: Modules 1–4
The Year 11 course builds the machinery the whole subject runs on — bonding, the mole, reaction types and energetics. It is assessed by your school rather than in the written HSC exam, but it is the least optional “non-examined” content in any subject: every equilibrium constant, titration and enthalpy question in Year 12 is a Module 2 and Module 4 calculation wearing new context.
Separation techniques, atomic structure, periodicity, and ionic, covalent and metallic bonding.
- How do the properties of substances help us to classify and separate them?
- Why are atoms of elements different from one another?
- Are there patterns in the properties of elements?
- What binds atoms together in elements and compounds?
The mole, stoichiometry, concentration and gas laws — the calculations every later module reuses.
- What happens in chemical reactions?
- How are measurements made in chemistry?
- How are chemicals in solutions measured?
- How does the Ideal Gas Law relate to all other Gas Laws?
Reaction types, metal reactivity and the galvanic cell, and rates of reaction.
- What are the products of a chemical reaction?
- How is the reactivity of various metals predicted?
- What affects the rate of a chemical reaction?
Enthalpy and calorimetry, Hess’s law, bond energies, entropy and Gibbs free energy — why reactions happen at all.
- What energy changes occur in chemical reactions?
- How much energy does it take to break bonds, and how much is released when bonds are formed?
- How can enthalpy and entropy be used to explain reaction spontaneity?
Year 12: Modules 5–8 — the examined course
These four modules are what the written HSC examination is set against, and Chemistry rewards depth here more than any other science: the papers return to the same topics year after year. Our analysis of the 2019–2025 papers shows exactly which ones.
Dynamic equilibrium, Le Chatelier’s principle, the equilibrium constant, and solubility equilibria (Ksp).
- What happens when chemical reactions do not go through to completion?
- What factors affect equilibrium and how?
- How can the position of equilibrium be described and what does the equilibrium constant represent?
- How does solubility relate to chemical equilibrium?
Acid and base theory, pH and Kw, Ka and pKa, and the quantitative analysis of acids and bases by titration.
- What is an acid and what is a base?
- What is the role of water in solutions of acids and bases?
- How are solutions of acids and bases analysed?
Nomenclature, hydrocarbons and their reactions, alcohols, organic acids and bases, and polymers.
- How do we systematically name organic chemical compounds?
- How can hydrocarbons be classified based on their structure and reactivity?
- What are the products of reactions of hydrocarbons and how do they react?
- How can alcohols be produced and what are their properties?
- What are the properties of organic acids and bases?
- What are the properties and uses of polymers?
Identifying and measuring ions, instrumental analysis — including NMR, mass spectrometry and IR — and chemical synthesis and design.
- How are the ions present in the environment identified and measured?
- How is information about the reactivity and structure of organic compounds obtained?
- What are the implications for society of chemical synthesis and design?
How the syllabus maps to the exam
| Component | Marks | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Section I — multiple choice | 20 | 20 questions, 1 mark each |
| Section II — written response | 80 | Short answers, multi-step calculations and extended responses |
| Total (three-hour paper) | 100 | Every paper from 2019 to 2025 followed exactly this shape |
The exam provides a NESA formula sheet, data sheet and periodic table — so the marks are in choosing and rearranging the right formula, not reciting it. Our HSC Chemistry formula sheet lists each one with variables, units and an exam tip. The other half of your HSC mark is school-based assessment, which includes a depth study of at least 15 hours in each of Year 11 and Year 12.
How to actually use this page
- Treat every inquiry question as a self-test. If you can answer one out loud — with an equation and a worked example — that section is in good shape. If you cannot, open the module’s lessons and work through them.
- Weight Year 12 modules by what the papers reward. Chemistry is the most repetitive HSC science paper by topic, which makes the high-yield breakdown unusually useful: it sorts every question from the 2019–2025 papers by topic and shows where the marks concentrate.
- Drill the calculations until they are boring. The practice papers hub has exam-style questions by module, and the condensed Equilibrium, Acid/Base and Organic Chemistry notes are built for the final pass.
Common questions
Is this the current HSC Chemistry syllabus?
Yes. This page describes the NESA Chemistry Stage 6 syllabus currently being taught and examined, with its eight modules across Years 11 and 12. NESA has released a new Chemistry 11–12 syllabus for first teaching in 2027, so students sitting the HSC before then are examined on the syllabus described here.
Which modules are examined in the HSC Chemistry exam?
The written HSC examination assesses the Year 12 course: Module 5 Equilibrium and Acid Reactions, Module 6 Acid/Base Reactions, Module 7 Organic Chemistry and Module 8 Applying Chemical Ideas. Year 11 content — especially quantitative chemistry from Module 2 — is assumed knowledge that Year 12 calculations are built on.
How is the HSC Chemistry exam structured?
A three-hour written paper worth 100 marks: 20 multiple-choice questions worth 20 marks, then written-response questions worth 80 marks. Across the 2019 to 2025 papers every exam totalled exactly 100 marks with that split.
Do I get a formula sheet in the exam?
Yes. The exam provides a NESA formula sheet, data sheet and periodic table, so the formulas themselves do not need to be memorised — but knowing which formula a question wants, and how to rearrange it, is exactly what is examined. Our free HSC Chemistry formula sheet lists each formula with its variables, units and an exam tip.
When does the new Chemistry syllabus start?
NESA’s new Chemistry 11–12 syllabus (published 2025) is first taught to Year 11 from 2027, restructured into focus areas such as Equilibrium, Acid–base reactions, Organic chemistry and Applying chemical ideas. If you sit the HSC before the new syllabus reaches Year 12, the current syllabus is the one that applies to you.
Where to next
Working through this list and something still is not landing? One-on-one HSC Chemistry tutoring is available online across NSW, from the teacher who maintains these pages.