Credit to harrowed2 for uploading the exam paper.
Having taught the subject since 2014, here are my objective opinions for this year's exam.
Multiple Choice: Like every year, there are always a couple of questions you have never seen before and you have to
apply your knowledge. Otherwise, this year's MCQs is quite standard with 2 of them being
new. Most of the questions are simply recycled that you would've done from past HSC and trial examinations.
Q11: Boring, free marks.
Q12: Again boring, easy marks.
Q13: Probably easier than Q12 since all questions are easier versions of what you would've seen in previous years.
Q14: This is where things start getting interesting. I reckon students would do silly things for the volume question and the NO stationary point question (stolen from VCE btw). Otherwise the rest you would've done similar questions from past papers.
Q15: Probably easier than Q14 since all questions are rehashed from previous years. E.G. Part a) rehashes ideas from 2013's wild horses question and part c) is again another bounded area question (this is tested nearly every year).
Q16: Different to the other Q16s from previous years. Part (a) is rehashing many cone questions from many trial papers such as Sydney Grammar, St.Georges and even the BOS trial. Part (b) rehashes ideas from 2013's probability question. Finally part (c) rehashes most of 2014's money question.
Feedback
1. Definitely a different feel compared with the past 3-5 years but nowhere near as difficult as 2013 (I still consider that exam the most difficult since the introduction of the MCQ format).
2. You should've done well if you practised consistently and
understood the material (rather than rote learning and looking at the solutions before attempting!)
3. However, I would rate the difficulty not that much different to the past 4 years since the subject has been dumbed down a lot since then (You've seen the last questions of 2000-2011, they are much more complex).
4. I expect the B6 cut off to be roughly 82-85. 2U Mathematics does not align that well unfortunately with the exception of 2013. Again, this will depend on the quality of your cohort and this year's standards.
Otherwise, if mathematics is not a prerequisite for your desired university degree, kiss this subject goodbye forever.
I wish you all best of luck for the rest of the exams and your future endeavours.
I think one of the answers is wrong though, the growth and decay question part ii)