Tips for 2020 HSC Exams

Published: 02 Sep 2020 Tagged: ATARAustralian Tertiary Admission RankHigh School Certificatehigh schoolersHSClearning differenceslearning difficultiessecondary schoolersstudy

Students in Year 12 are under constant pressure in their search for the next step in their academic path. The many options to be assumed in their university lives might be overwhelming at times, so it’s crucial to not let negative thoughts and perspectives affect the students’ mental health. That’s the number one focus. Alongside with this focus to not let negative thoughts affect students, there are practical actions to be undertaken that will be very useful for Year 12 and important events such as HSC and ATAR.

Though HSC and ATAR come from the same set of data (students’ performance), HSC will reveal an individual mark and ATAR will provide a ranked position of that student among all the other ones in the state. Therefore, achieving a high mark at HSC will automatically ensure a high position in the ATAR, which will be analysed by Universities during admission process. One very important detail is that 50% of the final HSC mark for each subject is taken from a student’s assessment mark, which only generates more pressure over high schoolers.

In order to help students who intend to achieve high scores in HSC and ATAR, we have separated some helpful tips below:

• Balanced performance: It’s very important to divide the effort and attention to all subjects, not only the ones which the student likes most. After all, the sum of all subjects’ marks will provide the HSC, so each subject is equally important.
• Discipline: High schoolers are teenagers, who desire fun and as much social interactions as possible. However, a self-control and discipline will be necessary to keep focused in good marks and genuine effort for learning subjects which will be necessary for the University.
• Goal and target setting: Achieving high HSC and high ATAR should never be anyone’s intent, because it’s an empty and potentially frustrating thing to strive for. Instead, the student should establish a goal such as ‘being approved in University ABCDEF’ and/or ‘starting VWXYZ course’. From that objective, the target is then determined, such as ‘achieving 90 or more in ATAR’. When goal and target are set, the energy can be directed and the feeling of satisfaction for each small victory will be potentialized.
• Learning techniques: Sometimes, students fail in their studies when prioritising quantity of hours instead of quality of hours. Memorisation and other learning techniques must be improved in order to achieve consistent results, and not only a celebration of Y hours reading a book.
• Subject selection: Since the top 10 units count towards the student’s HSC mark, it is recommended to select 10 or 11 units in order to avoid unnecessary workload in such a crucial school Year. As well, selecting the ones which the student feels more comfortable and interested in learning will certainly work as an incentive to study and reach better marks.
• Syllabus awareness: When the student knows the units’ performance descriptors in advance, it’s much easier to concentrate efforts to the achievement of each of them, which will ensure high Bands in HSC, which will also ensure a high ATAR.
• Time management: With so many activities to perform every week, time management becomes an essential skill for students aiming towards high HSC and ATAR. An effective control of time to study each necessary lesson, to produce texts and other school activities, and even to relax, will combat stress and anxiety.

Speakable Team wishes amazingly high scores in HSC and ATAR to all our clients! In case parents or carers detect learning difficulties in their children, we are here to provide specialised support for everyone!