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How to answer drawing questions

In a drawing question you build a diagram in the online drawing tool. Marks come from correct symbols, correct labels and completeness, not from neatness. Start with the general method here, then open the page for the diagram you need. From course notes From NESA material

What it looks like in the real exam

From NESA material The drawing questions in our NESA bank: 2025 HSC exam, Q22 (class diagram with inheritance, 3 marks), 2025 NESA sample exam, Q24 (class diagram for a train company, 4 marks), 2025 NESA sample exam, Q20B and 2025 NESA familiarisation exam, Q7B (simplify a decision tree, 3 marks each), 2025 NESA familiarisation exam, Q9A (design a registration screen, 3 marks), and reading questions on a structure chart (2025 NESA sample exam, Q10, 2 marks).

From course notes Your school course also teaches DFD, flowchart, storyboard and ERD drawing. Reasoned Those four have not appeared as drawing questions in the 2025 NESA papers in our bank (the DFD appears in the old SDD 2024 paper, and the ERD is, per the course notes, technically not in the syllabus). Learn them, but put your first hours into the class diagram, decision tree, structure chart and UI, which have been examined.

Pick your diagram

Data flow diagram (DFD)Circles, rectangles, stores, labelled flows. Level 0 and Level 1. FlowchartTerminator, process, input/output, decision. Structure chartMainline, modules, data couples, flags, decision, repetition. Class diagramAttributes, methods, inheritance, multiplicity (2025 Q22). Decision treeDraw and simplify (sample Q20b, fam Q7b). Entity relationship diagram (ERD)Tables, keys, one-to-many. StoryboardScreens in order with the actions between them. User interface mock-upLabelled screen design (fam Q9a). Network and system diagramDevices, links, protocols.

Method for any drawing question

  1. Read the question, then underline the exact things to show (“inheritance”, “labelled”, “multiplicity”, “reduce the number of branches”). Each underlined phrase is probably a mark. From course notes
  2. Read the stimulus. List the things in it: the entities, the classes, the screens, the decisions. Cross each off as you draw it. From course notes
  3. Recall the symbol set for this diagram (see the page for it). Use the symbol NESA expects, not your own. From NESA material 2025 Q22 marker feedback: use appropriate class diagram symbols.
  4. Place the main items first, leaving space; then add the connections; then add labels, names, directions and multiplicity. General advice
  5. Label everything: every box, every arrow, every branch. An unlabelled arrow is an incomplete answer. From course notes (Course: “label every symbol and arrow, use the correct symbols, add every required item”.)
  6. Check against the stimulus and the symbol checklist, then finish. From course notes

The online drawing tool and the interface

From NESA material The exam is computer-based: 80 marks, 2 hours 30 minutes including 10 minutes reading time (NESA). The familiarisation exam (fam.hsconline.nesa.nsw.edu.au) lets you try the interface; the drawing item there is on Q7b (decision tree) and Q9a (user interface).

Reasoned I could not confirm the details of NESA’s drawing tool (which shapes it offers, how it connects arrows, or whether it has arrowheads and text boxes). These details are not published in the materials I have. Before exam day, open the familiarisation exam and try the tool yourself: draw a box, connect two boxes with an arrow, add text on an arrow, move and delete things.

General advice Whatever the tool offers, if a symbol is not available, say what it is in a short label (for example, write “flag” next to a filled circle drawn as a dot). Markers can give credit only for what they can see.

Common mistakes (all diagrams)

  • From NESA material Using the wrong or non-standard symbols for the diagram.
  • From NESA material 2025 Q22: attributes not refined into inherited classes (everything left in every class).
  • General advice Unlabelled arrows and boxes.
  • General advice Drawing a different diagram from the one asked (a flowchart when a structure chart is asked).
  • General advice Leaving out an item from the stimulus.
  • General advice Running out of time because you made it too pretty.

Time per mark

Derived The paper averages 1.75 minutes per mark (140 minutes ÷ 80 marks), so a 3-mark drawing question is about 5.3 minutes in total. General advice Suggested split: 1 minute reading and planning, most of the time drawing, and the last minute checking labels against the checklist. Drawing in an online tool is slower than on paper, so practise with the tool on NESA’s familiarisation site.

From course notes Course grid of drawing marks and target bands: DFD 4 (band 4–6), Storyboard 3 (3–4), User Interface 3 (3–4), Flowchart 3 (3–5), Class diagram 4 (5–6), Decision tree 3 (4–5), Structure chart 4 (5–6), ERD 4 (4–5).

Practice

Each diagram page has 3 practice prompts with a model answer. Start with class diagram and decision tree, which have both appeared on the NESA papers.

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