If you teach or study VCE Mathematics, you will have heard that the rules around CAS calculators are changing. Here is what is happening, what it means for students, and why we think it is a good decision.
What is changing?
From 2027, the VCAA will restrict custom functionality on CAS calculators during VCE Mathematics examinations. The change applies to General Mathematics, Mathematical Methods and Specialist Mathematics, and it follows feedback from nearly 800 teachers and students. Students will be able to use all of the CAS’s in-built functionality.
They will not be able to use:
• programs
• widgets and udfs
• pre-written Notes pages
• Lazy Maths.
How will it be enforced?
The VCAA will ask for CAS calculators to be set to Press-to-Test (PTT) mode, which restricts all of the above. Further details are still to be clarified, so keep an eye out for the official notices.
Nothing changes for 2026. The current arrangements apply to this year’s examinations.
The VCAA has said it will publish detailed information on how to apply the required settings after the 2026 exams.
Why this is a good decision?
1. It brings the focus back to mathematics. CAS is a powerful tool, and using it well is a legitimate part of the course. But in recent years, preparing for the exam has too often meant preparing the calculator: building libraries of programs, loading templates and memorising which widget solves which question type. A student who has stored a program for every standard problem is showing a well-prepared toolkit, not mathematical understanding, and the exam is meant to measure the second.
2. It levels the playing field. This is the part I care about most. Custom programs and pre-written Notes pages are not equally available to everyone. Some schools and tutoring programs share carefully built libraries with their students, while other students have never heard of them. A student’s result should not depend on whether their cohort happened to receive a polished set of programs. Restricting everyone to the in-built functionality means every student walks in with the same tools.
3. It rewards understanding over setup. Students will have to know what a question is asking, choose a sensible method, and use the built-in commands correctly. That is a better description of mathematical ability than who has the best preloaded files. It also means less time spent on calculator tinkering and more time on the maths.
4. It ends the arms race. Once some students use programs and widgets, others feel they have to as well, or fall behind. The result is a cycle of ever more elaborate calculator preparation that has little to do with learning maths. A clear and uniform boundary, enforced through PTT mode, ends that cycle.
What should students and teachers do now?
• Year 12s in 2026: carry on as normal, because the current rules apply to your exams.
• Students heading into Units 3 and 4 in 2027: build your skills on the in-built CAS functions now. Make sure you can solve, differentiate, integrate, graph, run regressions and work with probability distributions fluently without custom programs.
• Teachers: use 2027 planning to rebalance towards understanding. Teach students to set up problems themselves, then use CAS to carry out the computation and check results.
• Everyone: check the VCAA’s Approved Technology page and Notices to Schools for the final requirements and the approved calculator settings.
Final thoughts
CAS should help students do mathematics, not stand in for it. These changes draw a clearer line between the two, and they treat students more fairly. There will be some adjustment, especially for students who have invested heavily in custom setups, but I think the end result is a healthier approach to learning and assessing VCE Mathematics. What do you think of the changes? We would be interested to hear from students and teachers.