TCE General Mathematics: TASC Level 3, its five-section exam and the award rules

The eight criteria

Criterion 3 is the one that decides how you approach the paper: the specification says its 36 marks are allocated numerically, so the level of sophistication, the presence of working and the final answer each earn credit.

How the exam works

The specification describes a written exam of three hours, with an additional 15 minutes of preparation time for note-taking, and five sections, one for each externally assessed criterion. Each is assessed out of 36 marks. You can use TASC-approved calculators and the General Mathematics Information Sheet, which is provided with the exam materials.

The marking rules shape how you write answers. For a one-mark item, a correct answer earns the mark with or without working. For a two-mark item you must show relevant working: a correct answer with no working gets at most 1.5 marks. For three marks or more, a correct answer with no working gets at most half marks, and partial marks are given for correct working with a wrong answer. Contexts are mostly routine with some real-world or modelled real-world scenarios.

Worked examples

Compound interest (Criterion 7)

$5000 is invested at 4% a year, compounded annually, for three years:

The investment grows to $5624.32, which is $624.32 of interest. Write the formula before the numbers, so partial marks are available even if the arithmetic slips.

Deseasonalising a time series (Criterion 5)

If a quarter has sales of 360 and a seasonal index of 1.2, the deseasonalised value is 360 ÷ 1.2 = 300. A seasonal index above 1 means the quarter is normally above the average, so some of the 360 is the season, not the trend.

Check an independence question in the Probability course, then press Mark:

Awards and ratings

TASC combines 13 ratings, 8 internal and 5 external, to decide the award:

Level 3 and Level 4 results can count for the ATAR, which uses your best results over two years; you need the TCE and at least Satisfactory Achievement in four TASC Level 3 or 4 courses. Results are out on Wednesday 16 December 2026.

Dates

Use the daily paper as practice

Your provider sets its own trial exam. The free daily paper on the Year 12 Statistics track is a short timed practice paper: 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks, marked as you go. It is not a TASC exam.

• It fits: correlation and regression and the interpretation of data for Criterion 5.
• It does not fit: hypothesis testing and the normal and binomial distributions are in the rotation but outside this course, and there are no daily papers on financial models or growth and decay. Use your notes for those.

Exam answers

Answers and a worked mark scheme come with each daily paper once it is marked. They are Uni-Sine's own, not TASC solutions.

Mistakes in TCE General Maths

• Giving a two-mark answer with no working, which caps you at 1.5 marks.
• Using the annual interest rate when interest is compounded more often.
• Reading a seasonal index as a percentage change instead of a ratio to the average.
• Not stating the model assumptions when a Criterion 3 question asks you to analyse a real-world situation.

Read next

Australia · TCETCE Physics: Level 4 course, TASC exam and awardsTCE Physics (PHY415115) explained: the four examined criteria, the 3-hour TASC exam, awards EA to PA, the 2026 date and a daily trial paper.