Command terms in QCE science and maths exams: what determine, evaluate and justify earn

Every QCE external assessment item is written against one of the QCAA’s cognitive verbs, and the marking guide is built around it. A “determine” is marked for a definite result reached by working; an “explain” is marked for a chain of cause and effect; a “justify” is marked for evidence behind a claim. Students who know the content but answer the wrong verb lose marks they could have kept, and the subject reports say so year after year.

So we counted. Across the 183 QCAA question papers published for 2021–2025, 90% of short-response and extended items open with a cognitive verb. The rest are multiple choice (which opens with a question word by design) or a handful of stems like “Complete the table” and “Show that”. The counts below are items whose stem opens with the verb, multiple choice excluded; the marks are the range that covers most of those items.

Three patterns stand out. The maths subjects are one-verb subjects: “determine” heads 115 Mathematical Methods items, and Specialist Mathematics reads the same way, so a Methods student who learns exactly what “determine” wants has covered most of the paper. The sciences split between “explain” and “determine”: Chemistry leads with “explain” (63 items) and “determine” (51); Biology leads with “explain” (41); Physics is the one science where “determine” (35) and “calculate” (32) both matter, and they are not the same verb. Psychology is a “describe” subject first and an “explain” subject second.

The meanings below are our plain-English paraphrases of the QCAA’s Cognitive verb framework (August 2025). The QCAA’s own statements are in the framework document itself, linked at the end, and the full set of 117 verbs in our words is in the QCE cognitive verbs guide.

• Determine — settle what something is, a value, a relationship or a conclusion, by calculation, investigation or careful reasoning, so the answer is definite. The moves: identify what has to be settled, carry out the working or reasoning, state the definite result. Physics items are usually worth 3–5 marks; Methods items 1–4.
• Calculate — work a numerical value out by carrying out the mathematical steps, showing the working. Formula, substitution, answer with units and sensible significant figures. In Physics a “calculate” is one formula applied; a “determine” is assembly, which is why the two verbs sit on different marks.
• Explain — make something clear by bringing out the cause, reason, context or relationship behind it, so the reader sees how or why. State what is being explained, give the cause, link each step to the next until you reach the outcome. A 2-mark explain usually needs the cause plus its link to the effect; a 3- or 4-mark explain expects each step in the chain made explicit. Chemistry and Biology items are usually 2–4 marks.
• Evaluate — form a judgement about how valuable, sound or significant something is, and ground it in criteria and evidence. Set the criteria, give the evidence for and against on each, state the judgement, tie it to the strongest evidence. Rare in the sciences, but in Methods and General Mathematics an “evaluate” is a top-mark item.
• Justify — show, with reasons and evidence, that a claim, decision or conclusion is sound. State the claim, give the reasons it holds, back each reason with evidence, data or a principle. The Methods 2025 subject report warns against confusing explaining an assumption with justifying it: one well-supported reason per mark on offer.

• Box the verb before you plan. During perusal, mark the verb in every stem. It takes seconds and it survives exam stress better than any other habit.
• Read the verb with the marks. The verb tells you the shape of the answer; the marks tell you how many moves it needs. A 4-mark “determine” in Physics wants the working shown, not a number.
• Mark your practice answers against the verb, not just the content. If the question said “justify” and you described, mark it down. That is exactly what the examiner does.

In the Captivate Exam Hub every real QCAA question shows its verb as a chip, with the moves a full answer makes and the marks it usually carries a tap away; the verbs come back as spaced cards in your daily session, frame the checklist when you self-mark, and Progress shows which verbs are costing you marks. Each subject page lists its own verbs: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Mathematical Methods, General Mathematics and Specialist Mathematics.

Counts were produced by splitting the published QCAA external assessment question papers for 2021–2025 into items using the QCAA’s own numbering and mark patterns, then matching each stem’s opening sentence against the QCAA cognitive verb list. Items headed by two verbs (“identify and explain”) count once for each verb; compound extended items carrying three or more verbs are counted but their marks are not attributed to any single verb. QCAA external assessment papers are published under CC BY 4.0 (© State of Queensland (QCAA)). Verb meanings are Captivate’s paraphrases of the QCAA Cognitive verb framework, whose wording is excluded from that licence and is therefore linked rather than quoted. Captivate Exam Hub is not affiliated with or endorsed by the QCAA.