Command terms in VCE exams: which verbs head each subject, and what they're worth

The VCAA publishes one glossary of command terms for VCE study designs and examinations, and its exam-setting panels write to it. “Explain” asks for how or why with the links made clear; “justify” asks for reasons and evidence behind a position; “discuss” asks for both sides weighed. Examiners’ reports return to the same complaint every year: the content was there, the verb was not answered.

So we counted. Across the 80 VCAA examination papers for 2021–2025 that carry a text layer (the 2024 papers were published as images and could not be read), 82% of written items open with a verb we could name. Only about 55% open with a verb that is actually in the VCAA glossary. The gap is the maths papers: the glossary has no entry for “find”, “show that”, “sketch” or “write”, and those four run Methods, Specialist and General Mathematics. We counted them anyway and mark them with an asterisk. Counts are items whose stem opens with the verb, multiple choice excluded; the marks are the range covering most of those items.

• The maths papers run on a verb the glossary never defines. “Find” heads 104 Mathematical Methods items and 99 Specialist Mathematics items, usually for 1–3 marks. Treat it as the VCAA’s “calculate”: the answer plus enough working to be followed. “Show that” prints the answer, so every mark is for the steps that reach it.
• The sciences split between “explain” and a production verb. Physics pairs “calculate” (45 items) with “explain” (27); Chemistry pairs “explain” (36) with “state” (35) and “write” (an equation); Biology is “explain” (28) first and “justify” (14) second, and a Biology “justify” usually rides on a question that starts with “why”.
• The humanities are “explain” subjects with a top-mark judgement verb. Economics is dominated by “explain” (38 items). Legal Studies puts its biggest marks on “discuss” (5–10 marks) and History: Revolutions on “evaluate” (8–10 marks). Health and Human Development is a “describe” subject (24 items) before it is anything else.
• Victoria’s “compare” and “discuss” ask for more than the word suggests. The VCAA’s “compare” wants the likenesses, the differences and why they matter; its “discuss” wants a balanced weighing of both sides. A one-sided answer to either caps its marks.

Our plain-English paraphrases of the VCAA glossary (the glossary itself is Crown copyright and is linked below). The full list of 39 terms in our words, with the traps Victorian students fall into, is in the VCE command terms guide.

• Explain — set out how or why something happens, tracing the causes, effects, reasons or mechanisms so the links between things are clear. One link per mark.
• Describe — give an accurate account of the features and qualities of the thing named, without reasons.
• Identify / state / name — pick out and name the thing asked for; give the short answer, a value or a fact, with no working or reasons.
• Calculate — work out a numerical answer from the information supplied, showing the steps of the working. Method marks live in the steps.
• Justify — defend a decision, argument or position with reasons and evidence drawn from the data or information available.
• Discuss — set out the issues and weigh the strengths against the weaknesses, or the case for against the case against, in a balanced and considered way.
• Analyse — break the thing into its parts, show how the parts connect and why that connection matters, then draw out what follows.
• Evaluate — reach a judgement about worth or merit by testing the evidence and arguments on each side against criteria, the information supplied and your own knowledge.
• Find / show that / sketch — not in the glossary. Find: the answer with followable working. Show that: every step to the printed result. Sketch: the shape and the key features, labelled, not plotted points.

• Box the verb in reading time. Mark the verb in every stem before you write. It survives exam stress better than any other habit.
• Read the verb with the marks. The VCAA prints the marks beside every part; they count the discrete points the marker is looking for. A 4-mark “explain” is a four-link chain.
• Learn the verb, not just the content. The free Command Terms trainer drills the VCAA set with spaced repetition, no account needed.

Captivate Exam Hub’s past-paper practice is live for Queensland today, with the verb on every real question a tap away; Victorian subjects are coming next.

Counts were produced by splitting the VCAA examination papers for 2021–2025 into items using the papers’ own numbering (Section A questions, Section B and Exam 1 questions with lettered parts and their printed marks), then matching each stem’s opening sentence against the VCAA glossary of command terms plus the verbs listed above that the glossary omits. Items headed by two verbs count once for each; compound items with three or more verbs are counted but their marks are not attributed to any single verb. The 2024 papers were published without a text layer and are excluded. VCAA examination papers are © Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority; only counts were kept and no question text is reproduced. Verb meanings are Captivate’s paraphrases of the VCAA Glossary of command terms. Captivate Exam Hub is not affiliated with or endorsed by the VCAA.