How a 1967 HSC Maths test compares to now

Are HSC maths examinations really getting tougher - or is today’s generation, armed with calculators and iPads, enjoying an easier ride?

The simple answer to that equation? A bit of both, according to one leading maths education academic.

University of Wollongong associate professor Caz Sandison told nine.com.au the differences between 1967 and now are not that great when it comes to the 2 Unit exam.

"There's a bit of difference in the terminology, because some of the questions in 1967 are more theoretical, while others in 2017 are more about calculations," she said.

"A student from this year could take the old one."

This is in spite of the fact students back in the '60s did not have access to the technology that changed high school maths – the calculator.

"We're focused on problem-solving the mathematical problems rather than the number at the end," Dr Sandison said.

"Mathematics at this level is having the skills to solve a problem.

The 1967 paper was significantly shorter, fitting on a single A4 page, meaning that students had more time to solve the questions on paper.

This year's bigger exam paper means students are being tested on topics not including in the 1967 exam.

Those include Euclidian geometry and financial mathematics.

But even today’s second-year university students would struggle with the fiendish Extension 2 Maths option pupils faced fifty years ago.

"I think it would challenge any first or second year university student," Dr Sandison said.

"I couldn't believe it."

But for all the advancement in technology and society in the past 50 years, maths exams have stayed reasonably the same.

"Maths by nature doesn't change," Dr Sandison said.

"What changes is how we use it."