Authority: QCAA Chemistry General senior syllabus 2025 v1.3, January 2026. The official Chemistry landing page lists v1.3 for students completing 2026 or beyond; checked 29 September 2026. QCAA's senior subject matter uses printed page headings and bullet points, not Australian Curriculum v9 AC9... Year 11 codes. The references below identify exact printed page, subheading and bullet position, while the prose here is independently written. This is not QCAA endorsement.
| Official syllabus location | What these Days 1–10 actually teach | Explicit limit |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 Chemical fundamentals — structure, properties and reactions, printed p.19, objectives 1, 2, 4 and 5 | Describe/apply early atomic model and counts; interpret paper symbols and evaluate overclaims. | No unit-level objective achievement claim, experimental data analysis or investigation result. Objectives 3/6 require later work. |
| Unit 1 Topic 1 Properties and structure of atoms, printed p.20, 20 hours, Science understanding → Atomic structure bullet 1 | Day 1 represents nucleus and electrons in distinct energy levels and states ring-diagram limits. | No orbital shapes, electron trajectories, energy calculations or experimental validation. |
| Same printed p.20, Atomic structure bullet 2 | Days 2–4/6–10 distinguish Z atomic number, A mass number and isotopes through selected integer-count cases. | No natural isotope abundance or relative atomic mass computation. A is not decimal standard atomic weight. |
| Same printed p.20, Atomic structure bullet 3 | Days 6–8/10 read ^{A}_{Z}X plus simple given monoatomic charges and derive p/n/e in atoms, ions and isotopes. |
Selected C, O, Mg, Na, Cl, B, Ca, F cases only; no exhaustive element/ion fluency or chemical formation mechanism. |
| Same printed p.20, Isotopes bullet 1 and bullet 2 | Day 4 and Check A compare same Z, different neutrons/A; read isotope names and symbols in full words. | No isotope properties, radioactivity, mass spectroscopy or abundance claims. |
| Same printed p.21, Periodic table and trends first bullet (symbols) | C/O/Mg and other verified symbols are used and read. | Does not yet teach periodic-table structure, blocks, trends or the remaining bullets. |
| Same printed p.22, Science as a human endeavour first bullet (evidence changed atomic models) | Day 1/9 make a modest model-versus-observation distinction. | No history of Geiger–Marsden, Goeppert Mayer or evidence from real experiments is taught. |
Still open within this 20-hour Topic 1: most of the Atomic structure section (s/p/d energy, Aufbau/Hund/Pauli, configurations to Z36, Cr/Cu and ionisation-energy data); later isotope properties/relative atomic mass; mass spectrometry, line spectra, flame tests/AAS; periodic blocks/trends and bonding; all listed science inquiry. The pack is 4 hours 10 minutes of short conceptual sessions, less than one quarter of notional Topic 1 time and a small fraction of Unit 1's 55 hours. It does not cover Topics 2–3 or other units. It does not invent a periodic table data experiment or claim practical work occurred.
School decisions and assessments: Printed p.6 states that schools develop at least two and no more than four assessments across Units 1–2, with at least one per unit and each unit objective assessed at least once. These two public checks are not school instruments and cannot replace that school design. QCAA leaves contextualisation and sequencing to schools within syllabus requirements (printed p.5). A school must plan actual inquiry and risk controls for any later flame test, mass-spectrum simulation or other lab work. General Chemistry is an elective pathway, not a compulsory national Year 11 program.