Help.... (1 Viewer)

[jfjefjejkdnwjfjfd]

When did you personally start studying seriously for assessments in Year 12, and how far in advance for:

• normal exams
• practical exams
• depth study exams?

1. How did your study change after doing badly in early assessments? What did you stop doing and what did you start doing?
2. How many hours per week did you study per subject during term vs during assessment periods?
3. What did a productive study session actually look like for you (e.g. notes → questions → marking → fixing mistakes)?
4. How did you decide what to prioritise when you were behind in content but had an assessment coming up?
5. What would a productive study day look like for you? (how many hours of study, would u study otw to school/at lunch and reces

Biology
1. I’m currently ranked ~64/82 and want to move towards top 10, realistically, what should my focus be first: content mastery, exam technique, or memorisation?
2. For content-heavy modules, how did you actually learn the content: (my school isnt very good at teaching and i dont go tutoring so is there any good resources that i could use to learn it?)

• notes first?
• videos first?
• qestions first?

3. How did you turn syllabus dot points into HSC-level answers instead of just textbook responses?
4. For biology practical exams, how did you prepare when there are no past HSC questions?
5. What’s the best way to practise data analysis questions (graphs, trends, conclusions) in bio?
6. How did you revise bio close to the exam?
Chemistry
1. I’ve covered most of the Year 12 syllabus content-wise but didn’t do many questions, if you were me, how would you relearn chemistry through questions without wasting time?
2. When doing chemistry questions, how did you deal with:

• not knowing how to start
• needing to “learn as you go”?

3. For depth study exams, how did you study when there are no past questions?
4. What does a top-band depth study response actually include that average responses don’t?
5. How did you prepare for chemistry practical-style questions (method, variables, accuracy, validity)?
6. How many questions did you aim to do per topic before feeling “exam ready”?
English Advanced
1. If you’re naturally bad at English, what made the biggest difference for marks?
2. How many essays did you write per module, and how often did you get them marked?
3. What separates a 17–18 essay from a 20 essay in Advanced English?
Maths (Ext 1 + Ext 2)
1. What is the best way to study maths when aiming for rank improvement, not just marks?
2. How close to an assessment did you switch from learning → exam papers?
3. For difficult topics, how did you make sure you could handle unfamiliar questions, not just textbook ones?
Strategy & Rank Improvement
1. How realistic is it to move from mid-range ranks to top 10 in subjects like bio/chem within Year 12?
2. What mistakes do mid-ranked students usually make that stop them improving?
3. If you were in my position right now, what would you focus on in the next 4-6 weeks?

 

[Geniusly]

When did you personally start studying seriously for assessments in Year 12, and how far in advance for:

• normal exams

Always keep a rough idea of where you are at regardless of if an assessment is coming up soon or not. I always liked to test myself with practice questions and exams each week so that if an exam came up the next day, it wouldn't matter and I'd be ready. I think if you've learnt all of the content, then 3 weeks before is good. 1 week to revise the content and practice textbook questions and then 2 weeks of practice exams that are marked by someone else (prefereably a teacher, but a friend could also work).

• practical exams

Exactly the same as normal exams, but the main focus is different. You'll need to know the content you are beign assessed on really well, but also your practical skills. Go over some of your in-class experiments and rate them for their reliability, accuracy and validity. Try to also focus on what they could improve, their safety. Also go over the general structure and think what questions could be asked from here. It's liekly that the experiment you conduct in the practical exam will be some modified version of one you've already done in class. Otherwise if it's not, try to research the experiment so you don't go in blind. In terms of a timeline, 1 week to revise content, 1 week to revise practical skills, 1 week preparing for practical skills questions.

• depth study exams?

Never did one of these for chem or phys, so I can't really say, but just know your report and depth study really well.


How did your study change after doing badly in early assessments? What did you stop doing and what did you start doing?


You need to first outline exactly what you did wrong. I categorised my mistakes into either silly mistake or content misunderstanding. I realised that most of my errors were silly mistakes and that I was rushing too much in exams. To fix this I set myself timers for each question where I couldn't go onto the next without having first checked all ofg my response and verified it was correct at least twice.

Once you find out why you made those errors, try target them like I did. This will help you minimise them for next time.



How many hours per week did you study per subject during term vs during assessment periods?


For me, I didn't time how many hours I did, butg rather focussed on the amount of tasks I had. During class I would write down on a sticky note what extra class work, revision or study I had to do for the night and then complete them at either lunch or at home. This ended up being variable between having not much to do, to having over 6 hours of work to do each night.

If you don't have any extra class work, then use the spare time to study the next content ahead of shedule or take a practice exam.

Before exams the process was similar, but rather than having extra class work, I would focus mainly on revision and completing timed practice papers. Again, don't set a time limit, but rather a task limit. Especially for assessments, don't work for 3hrs cause you will procrastinate and become lazy. Set a limit of 'I want to get to page 100 by tonight', or 'I need to complete the depth study research by tonight'. This is a much better way of organising your time at home whilst studying.

What did a productive study session actually look like for you (e.g. notes → questions → marking → fixing mistakes)?

Depends on the subject and the time. Like I mentioned before, I organised all of my activities with a stick note planner thingy (Find them at officeworks or any study store). My first task was usually to complete any outstanding class work and really understand the content. I would watch extra youtube videos online to get a thorough grip on the content. Once that had occured, I would do a small amount of practice questions or move onto another topic.

About a week later from learning the content, I would revise it and put it into my study notes. Again I watched extra videos whilst treading my class notes to make sure that they made sense to me and that I understood it all. Some study sessions closer to exam blocks, I would revise over my notes and atempt practice questions. I'd then mark them and refine my exam technique.


To be productive though, find a quiet space away from all of your friends. Put your phone somewhere you can't see it and turn off all of your notifications. Put on some headphones without music playing just to block out any noise. Noise cancelling headphones work really well for this. At the end of the day, nobody else is gonna get you that 98+ ATAR, so just ignore them whilst you are studying.


How did you decide what to prioritise when you were behind in content but had an assessment coming up?

If you stay organised like I did, you shouldn't really fall behind. Try to use your lunch (Not recess leave that for eating) to catch up on smaller amounts of work like the class work you just didn't finish.Hypothetically, if I did fall behind, I would map out a grid of the subjects that were important (e.g Assessments due soon), and those that I had the least understanding off. From there find the suject that is most urgent and you understand the least of and work on that.

What would a productive study day look like for you? (how many hours of study, would u study otw to school/at lunch and recess


My schedule throughout Yr 11 and 12 was:

Wake up
Gym
Class 1
Class 2
Recess (Eat)
Class 3
Class 4
Lunch (Catch up on small work)
Class 5
Study (4:00 - 10:00)
Dinner
Sleep

Like I mentioned before, focus on the amount of tasks you have to do, not how much time you are studying for. I liked to use recess to eat all of my food and then use lunch to study or catch up on little amounts of class work.

 

[currencyinconnection]

Strategy is NOT the only MEANS of getting an outrageously high ATAR. While the ATAR number you aspire to obtain will mean you must take aligned action to match the mark you are seeking - it actually is the INTERNAL mindset work that quantum leaps your results.

While the rational/linear mind creates a system or strategy to achieve THAT mark - there is WAY MORE going on in the subconscious mind.

You have suggested that you struggle with English and Biology. Well, where your awareness is placed you will get more of THAT as in more events or situations regarding these two subjects to PROVE you are RIGHT - STRUGGLING.

We need to FLIP this STORY.

Look back in your study experiences of these two subjects in the past. There must have been just ONE event either you encountered personally or witnessed that has you subconsciously thinking that these two subjects are HARD to achieve outstanding marks in. You only need one traumatic event to charge your subconscious mind to think in that new way and then DELIVER those sentiments into your REALITY.

I invite you to make a list of what you find so hard about these two subjects and why you think it's "struggle street" for you. You may discover the following:

• Stressful to study for as it requires great memory capacity
• Unpredictable in exam settings
• Uncertainty in how the teacher marks them
• A lot of exam preparation to achieve high marks as you witnessed others doing this to achieve the high marks they achieved.
• You must be truly "gifted" - a natural in these subjects
• Time consuming
• Not enjoyable

All PAIN and no PLEASURE.

So NOW - you go into your imagination - REGULARLY and consistently and just before you go to sleep - theta state - and RECREATE the scene you remember of your mind is associating with the 'trauma' it experienced. You create the scene where it was not the way you remembered.

Your subconscious cannot tell if it's real or not. Create the scene with emotion. If it was one particular paper you got a very bad mark in then recreate that scene Like you actually RECEIVED an outstanding mark. Play this scene over and over again. Feel the elation and celebration of what you achieved. Feeling is the secret. Your subconscious mind's language is emotional. Remember you have flipped the moment.

You are creating 95% of your REALITY through your subconscious mind while your rational/linear mind is only producing 5% of your results.

Here's the thing - you will discover shortly that you won't remember the "moment" because you will feel and start to actualise new momentum, downloads, resources, people that MATCH your NEW story or NEW feeling about that 'failure'.
YOU are empowered to NOW CREATE the marks you are seeking in these two subjects.

It's a DECLARATION and a DECISION that you make RIGHT NOW.

"I have DECIDED that I am now ONLY available for outstanding marks in ENGLISH and BIOLOGY."

You have stepped into a NEW IDENTITY where what you want is easily obtainable.
God/Source responds right now to that decision and starts moving resources, people, networks, your intuitional hits and downloads to support this declaration.
Remember you are an energetic BEING living this human experience.
Your subconscious mind is now onboard as it's got no reference to the past trauma you have been carrying.
It now ALSO supports your NEW decision.

You must also KNOW you are DESERVING of what you desire.
You must know you have a skillset which can achieve HIGH MARKS in ALL subjects - you are already doing this with all your other subjects so now GLUE that ENERGY around your ENGLISH and BIOLOGY.
You must know EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS WORKING OUT FOR YOU AND WAY MORE THAN YOU IMAGINE.

Oh and you are not worried about the teaching staff anymore at your school- they are a GIFT to you - Why?
They allow you to be super resourceful, highly intuitive and on your game. You are finding your way regardless.
In other schools they hand out the material in which case the kids have the EXPECTATION that if it's not handed out - it doesn't need learning!! But you my friend are SO AHEAD for you are tapped into YOUR TRUTH AND POWER! This will serve you well in everything you do later on in life!
Also, where your energy is focused - it expands - SO you will get more evidence of these teachers being who you said they were - disengaged and NOT teaching.
No more - this is your reality - THEY SHOW UP FOR YOU as you need and desire them to BE!
I encourage you take that 'label' off them. Invite them into your ENERGY of SERVING your END GOAL of a 98 ATAR with the resources and teachings to match THAT mark!

You are welcome to read any books by Napoleon Hill or Dr Joseph Murphy, The Power of your subconscious mind - they are life changing.

You have got this.
Be Bold.
Be Brave.
Welcome to your 98 ATAR.
If you don't receive it - remember you are being gifted WAY more than that mark and something EVEN better but it doesn't always equate to a grade but a journey in discovering more about your GREATNESS - who you TRULY BE - Magnificent you!

 

[currencyinconnection]

When did you personally start studying seriously for assessments in Year 12, and how far in advance for:

• normal exams

Always keep a rough idea of where you are at regardless of if an assessment is coming up soon or not. I always liked to test myself with practice questions and exams each week so that if an exam came up the next day, it wouldn't matter and I'd be ready. I think if you've learnt all of the content, then 3 weeks before is good. 1 week to revise the content and practice textbook questions and then 2 weeks of practice exams that are marked by someone else (prefereably a teacher, but a friend could also work).

• practical exams

Exactly the same as normal exams, but the main focus is different. You'll need to know the content you are beign assessed on really well, but also your practical skills. Go over some of your in-class experiments and rate them for their reliability, accuracy and validity. Try to also focus on what they could improve, their safety. Also go over the general structure and think what questions could be asked from here. It's liekly that the experiment you conduct in the practical exam will be some modified version of one you've already done in class. Otherwise if it's not, try to research the experiment so you don't go in blind. In terms of a timeline, 1 week to revise content, 1 week to revise practical skills, 1 week preparing for practical skills questions.

• depth study exams?

Never did one of these for chem or phys, so I can't really say, but just know your report and depth study really well.


How did your study change after doing badly in early assessments? What did you stop doing and what did you start doing?


You need to first outline exactly what you did wrong. I categorised my mistakes into either silly mistake or content misunderstanding. I realised that most of my errors were silly mistakes and that I was rushing too much in exams. To fix this I set myself timers for each question where I couldn't go onto the next without having first checked all ofg my response and verified it was correct at least twice.

Once you find out why you made those errors, try target them like I did. This will help you minimise them for next time.



How many hours per week did you study per subject during term vs during assessment periods?


For me, I didn't time how many hours I did, butg rather focussed on the amount of tasks I had. During class I would write down on a sticky note what extra class work, revision or study I had to do for the night and then complete them at either lunch or at home. This ended up being variable between having not much to do, to having over 6 hours of work to do each night.

If you don't have any extra class work, then use the spare time to study the next content ahead of shedule or take a practice exam.

Before exams the process was similar, but rather than having extra class work, I would focus mainly on revision and completing timed practice papers. Again, don't set a time limit, but rather a task limit. Especially for assessments, don't work for 3hrs cause you will procrastinate and become lazy. Set a limit of 'I want to get to page 100 by tonight', or 'I need to complete the depth study research by tonight'. This is a much better way of organising your time at home whilst studying.

What did a productive study session actually look like for you (e.g. notes → questions → marking → fixing mistakes)?

Depends on the subject and the time. Like I mentioned before, I organised all of my activities with a stick note planner thingy (Find them at officeworks or any study store). My first task was usually to complete any outstanding class work and really understand the content. I would watch extra youtube videos online to get a thorough grip on the content. Once that had occured, I would do a small amount of practice questions or move onto another topic.

About a week later from learning the content, I would revise it and put it into my study notes. Again I watched extra videos whilst treading my class notes to make sure that they made sense to me and that I understood it all. Some study sessions closer to exam blocks, I would revise over my notes and atempt practice questions. I'd then mark them and refine my exam technique.


To be productive though, find a quiet space away from all of your friends. Put your phone somewhere you can't see it and turn off all of your notifications. Put on some headphones without music playing just to block out any noise. Noise cancelling headphones work really well for this. At the end of the day, nobody else is gonna get you that 98+ ATAR, so just ignore them whilst you are studying.


How did you decide what to prioritise when you were behind in content but had an assessment coming up?

If you stay organised like I did, you shouldn't really fall behind. Try to use your lunch (Not recess leave that for eating) to catch up on smaller amounts of work like the class work you just didn't finish.Hypothetically, if I did fall behind, I would map out a grid of the subjects that were important (e.g Assessments due soon), and those that I had the least understanding off. From there find the suject that is most urgent and you understand the least of and work on that.

What would a productive study day look like for you? (how many hours of study, would u study otw to school/at lunch and recess


My schedule throughout Yr 11 and 12 was:

Wake up
Gym
Class 1
Class 2
Recess (Eat)
Class 3
Class 4
Lunch (Catch up on small work)
Class 5
Study (4:00 - 10:00)
Dinner
Sleep

Like I mentioned before, focus on the amount of tasks you have to do, not how much time you are studying for. I liked to use recess to eat all of my food and then use lunch to study or catch up on little amounts of class work.

You did yourself super proud. I applaud your efforts.

 

[ilovemitski]

i'll keep my advice short and sweet - you'll be okay queen!!

for bio,
-> to rank high you wanna secure every mark you can get.
-> content mastery, exam technique, and memorisation are all important, so you have to reflect on your paper and determine what went wrong this time in order to fix it in the future. after you've figured out what your biggest weakness is, that's your first focus.
-> for learning content, i'd recommend the strategy that works personally for you. for myself, active recall (feymann technique/Anki) was v helpful in bio. youtube is a good place to learn too
-> for HSC level answers you have to break down the question stem & respond appropriately to the NESA verbs to get full marks
-> for practical exams, try see the past papers from your school & ask your teacher what kinda qs will be in it
-> practice the data analysis qs by answering the HSC past papers directly (or trial papers on thsc). get feedback from teacher & apply
-> close to the exam i'd grind past papers then revise the topics i lost marks on

for eng adv,
-> the only way to boost your marks in english is figure out what is wrong with your essay lol. that means reflecting on the assessment comments and stuff.
-> you can write 1 essay per module and adapt it during the exam OR write multiple in an attempt to cover all q types. I did the first option
-> a 17-18 essay would lack flair/originality. a full 20 says something cool & has novel ideas - you can grab some from scholars

for maths
rank is just about who got more marks so make sure you're re-reading your paper at the end and killing silly mistakes try exam papers & questions as soon as possible. and for unfamiliar questions, always go one step at a time, write down what you know, and you might get it from there. but a better strategy is to ensure you've hit every easy mark rather than waste time on confusing ones (unless u want a state rank lol)

i hope this helped and feel free to ask any questions i'm a bio/eng tutor if you're interested, but i'm happy to give more free general advice on what worked for me ^_^

 

[jfjefjejkdnwjfjfd]

When did you personally start studying seriously for assessments in Year 12, and how far in advance for:

• normal exams

Always keep a rough idea of where you are at regardless of if an assessment is coming up soon or not. I always liked to test myself with practice questions and exams each week so that if an exam came up the next day, it wouldn't matter and I'd be ready. I think if you've learnt all of the content, then 3 weeks before is good. 1 week to revise the content and practice textbook questions and then 2 weeks of practice exams that are marked by someone else (prefereably a teacher, but a friend could also work).

• practical exams

Exactly the same as normal exams, but the main focus is different. You'll need to know the content you are beign assessed on really well, but also your practical skills. Go over some of your in-class experiments and rate them for their reliability, accuracy and validity. Try to also focus on what they could improve, their safety. Also go over the general structure and think what questions could be asked from here. It's liekly that the experiment you conduct in the practical exam will be some modified version of one you've already done in class. Otherwise if it's not, try to research the experiment so you don't go in blind. In terms of a timeline, 1 week to revise content, 1 week to revise practical skills, 1 week preparing for practical skills questions.

• depth study exams?

Never did one of these for chem or phys, so I can't really say, but just know your report and depth study really well.


How did your study change after doing badly in early assessments? What did you stop doing and what did you start doing?


You need to first outline exactly what you did wrong. I categorised my mistakes into either silly mistake or content misunderstanding. I realised that most of my errors were silly mistakes and that I was rushing too much in exams. To fix this I set myself timers for each question where I couldn't go onto the next without having first checked all ofg my response and verified it was correct at least twice.

Once you find out why you made those errors, try target them like I did. This will help you minimise them for next time.



How many hours per week did you study per subject during term vs during assessment periods?


For me, I didn't time how many hours I did, butg rather focussed on the amount of tasks I had. During class I would write down on a sticky note what extra class work, revision or study I had to do for the night and then complete them at either lunch or at home. This ended up being variable between having not much to do, to having over 6 hours of work to do each night.

If you don't have any extra class work, then use the spare time to study the next content ahead of shedule or take a practice exam.

Before exams the process was similar, but rather than having extra class work, I would focus mainly on revision and completing timed practice papers. Again, don't set a time limit, but rather a task limit. Especially for assessments, don't work for 3hrs cause you will procrastinate and become lazy. Set a limit of 'I want to get to page 100 by tonight', or 'I need to complete the depth study research by tonight'. This is a much better way of organising your time at home whilst studying.

What did a productive study session actually look like for you (e.g. notes → questions → marking → fixing mistakes)?

Depends on the subject and the time. Like I mentioned before, I organised all of my activities with a stick note planner thingy (Find them at officeworks or any study store). My first task was usually to complete any outstanding class work and really understand the content. I would watch extra youtube videos online to get a thorough grip on the content. Once that had occured, I would do a small amount of practice questions or move onto another topic.

About a week later from learning the content, I would revise it and put it into my study notes. Again I watched extra videos whilst treading my class notes to make sure that they made sense to me and that I understood it all. Some study sessions closer to exam blocks, I would revise over my notes and atempt practice questions. I'd then mark them and refine my exam technique.


To be productive though, find a quiet space away from all of your friends. Put your phone somewhere you can't see it and turn off all of your notifications. Put on some headphones without music playing just to block out any noise. Noise cancelling headphones work really well for this. At the end of the day, nobody else is gonna get you that 98+ ATAR, so just ignore them whilst you are studying.


How did you decide what to prioritise when you were behind in content but had an assessment coming up?

If you stay organised like I did, you shouldn't really fall behind. Try to use your lunch (Not recess leave that for eating) to catch up on smaller amounts of work like the class work you just didn't finish.Hypothetically, if I did fall behind, I would map out a grid of the subjects that were important (e.g Assessments due soon), and those that I had the least understanding off. From there find the suject that is most urgent and you understand the least of and work on that.

What would a productive study day look like for you? (how many hours of study, would u study otw to school/at lunch and recess


My schedule throughout Yr 11 and 12 was:

Wake up
Gym
Class 1
Class 2
Recess (Eat)
Class 3
Class 4
Lunch (Catch up on small work)
Class 5
Study (4:00 - 10:00)
Dinner
Sleep

Like I mentioned before, focus on the amount of tasks you have to do, not how much time you are studying for. I liked to use recess to eat all of my food and then use lunch to study or catch up on little amounts of class work.

Thanks so much, this really helps! just a few follow up questions:

when you said preparing for practical skills questions, where would you get these? I find it really hard to find online questions on practicals and all i can do is ask chatgpt to generate some but I feel like the style isnt the same as that of an exam. (for practicals/depth study exams if I just studied for it like a normal exam would i still be able to secure good marks?)

I lost my past exams... so looking through my old responses and categorising my mistakes isnt rlly possible. Should i just do past HSC questions and mark them?? Then catogerise those mistakes? esp for sci subjects

Also for eng what did your study schedule look like? at what point did u finish memorising and just focus on adapting it to questions up till ur exams, (right now im 3wks till exam block and i just finished my final draft of my mod A essay)?

Around how many hours did u complete after school? (just like maybe an avg of how long u think u took to complete ur tasks?)

Thank you

 

[jfjefjejkdnwjfjfd]

i'll keep my advice short and sweet - you'll be okay queen!!

for bio,
-> to rank high you wanna secure every mark you can get.
-> content mastery, exam technique, and memorisation are all important, so you have to reflect on your paper and determine what went wrong this time in order to fix it in the future. after you've figured out what your biggest weakness is, that's your first focus.
-> for learning content, i'd recommend the strategy that works personally for you. for myself, active recall (feymann technique/Anki) was v helpful in bio. youtube is a good place to learn too
-> for HSC level answers you have to break down the question stem & respond appropriately to the NESA verbs to get full marks
-> for practical exams, try see the past papers from your school & ask your teacher what kinda qs will be in it
-> practice the data analysis qs by answering the HSC past papers directly (or trial papers on thsc). get feedback from teacher & apply
-> close to the exam i'd grind past papers then revise the topics i lost marks on

for eng adv,
-> the only way to boost your marks in english is figure out what is wrong with your essay lol. that means reflecting on the assessment comments and stuff.
-> you can write 1 essay per module and adapt it during the exam OR write multiple in an attempt to cover all q types. I did the first option
-> a 17-18 essay would lack flair/originality. a full 20 says something cool & has novel ideas - you can grab some from scholars

for maths
rank is just about who got more marks so make sure you're re-reading your paper at the end and killing silly mistakes try exam papers & questions as soon as possible. and for unfamiliar questions, always go one step at a time, write down what you know, and you might get it from there. but a better strategy is to ensure you've hit every easy mark rather than waste time on confusing ones (unless u want a state rank lol)

i hope this helped and feel free to ask any questions i'm a bio/eng tutor if you're interested, but i'm happy to give more free general advice on what worked for me ^_^

Hello! Thanks sm ,

my teachers dont rlly post past papers for sciences and thats why im finding it abit hard to study for them. My prac exam for bio is on Mod 5 and 1Q1 of Mod 6 but i can't find any practicals online and we haven't really done any in class so im scared i'll just go in blind. Would u have any specific resources for practicals in biology/chem? (my chem prac is next term rn its a depth study)

" practice the data analysis qs by answering the HSC past papers directly (or trial papers on thsc). get feedback from teacher & apply. close to the exam i'd grind past papers then revise the topics i lost marks on" --> would this tactic still work for a practical exam? and also have you ever done a depth study exam? if so how would u go about studying for it? would it be similar to a normal exam?

Also I wil take u up on that general advice, would u have any general tips/tricks/resources you found worked for you? esp for sci subjects? What would ur HSC study schedule look like (im trying to find one that works for me. i feel like after school i get very tired and find it hard to focus well)?

unfortunately I don't think my parents would consider any tutors at the moment but thanks for asking!

thanks again!

 

[Blacklight5555]

For me, serious study started at the start of Year 12, but I ramped it up a month before assessments. I’d plan backward from the exam: content-heavy subjects like Bio, watch videos first to understand, make notes, then do questions for application. Chemistry is question-focused: redo past papers, mark mistakes, note patterns in methods and answers, and consolidate dot points into HSC-style phrasing. Practicals: I memorised methods, variables, and typical questions, then simulated experiments at home if possible. English: write at least one essay per week per module, review exemplar essays, and focus on structure and argument. Maths: learn concepts early, then move to past papers to train problem-solving under pressure. Productive days were 6–8 hours, split by subject, with breaks and review sessions. Mid-range ranks can realistically climb top 10 in 4–6 weeks if you focus on weak points, do questions efficiently, and actively fix mistakes rather than passively reading notes. Avoid overdoing easy content and don’t skip practice for theory-heavy subjects.

 

[jfjefjejkdnwjfjfd]

For me, serious study started at the start of Year 12, but I ramped it up a month before assessments. I’d plan backward from the exam: content-heavy subjects like Bio, watch videos first to understand, make notes, then do questions for application. Chemistry is question-focused: redo past papers, mark mistakes, note patterns in methods and answers, and consolidate dot points into HSC-style phrasing. Practicals: I memorised methods, variables, and typical questions, then simulated experiments at home if possible. English: write at least one essay per week per module, review exemplar essays, and focus on structure and argument. Maths: learn concepts early, then move to past papers to train problem-solving under pressure. Productive days were 6–8 hours, split by subject, with breaks and review sessions. Mid-range ranks can realistically climb top 10 in 4–6 weeks if you focus on weak points, do questions efficiently, and actively fix mistakes rather than passively reading notes. Avoid overdoing easy content and don’t skip practice for theory-heavy subjects.

how many subjects would u typically do everyday?

 

[ilovemitski]

Hello! Thanks sm ,

my teachers dont rlly post past papers for sciences and thats why im finding it abit hard to study for them. My prac exam for bio is on Mod 5 and 1Q1 of Mod 6 but i can't find any practicals online and we haven't really done any in class so im scared i'll just go in blind. Would u have any specific resources for practicals in biology/chem? (my chem prac is next term rn its a depth study)

" practice the data analysis qs by answering the HSC past papers directly (or trial papers on thsc). get feedback from teacher & apply. close to the exam i'd grind past papers then revise the topics i lost marks on" --> would this tactic still work for a practical exam? and also have you ever done a depth study exam? if so how would u go about studying for it? would it be similar to a normal exam?

Also I wil take u up on that general advice, would u have any general tips/tricks/resources you found worked for you? esp for sci subjects? What would ur HSC study schedule look like (im trying to find one that works for me. i feel like after school i get very tired and find it hard to focus well)?

unfortunately I don't think my parents would consider any tutors at the moment but thanks for asking!

thanks again!

hey! sorry for the late reply - I hope your exam went well if it’s happened already!!
thats such a shame that your teachers don’t post the past papers! my school was similar for those practicals in that they didnt give us proper past papers either.

I can’t comment on exactly how your practical exam will go, bc it can vary amongst schools. I’d say your best bet is to ask the teachers at your school for more info about the exams themselves. i lowkey went teacher shopping and asked my friend’s teachers about them as well, just to maximise info. (or find out which teacher wrote it, then asking them).

to prepare, try learning the theory as usual (guided by the syllabus dotpoints) and consider checking the working scientifically section to refine your analysis of validity/reliability etc. (improve weak points)

are you guys doing an experiment in class? you can try memorising your lab report if that’s a requirement. I memorised the variables, method, discussion, concl., etc for the exam. only part of it was tested, but knowing all that stuff gives you some safety heading in.

as for general tips, I think the best way to improve fast is to really understand your weaknesses or common errors, and try to correct them to the best of your ability! to develop self-awareness, take time to read all the feedback you get on exams, see what questions you missed, and perhaps have a conversation with each teacher to discuss areas of improvement your teachers are your best friend in year 12!

After you’ve identified your personal weaknesses, take appropriate measures to avoid them. you can make a notebook/word doc for each subject detailing common errors. for example, you might always struggle with reproduction questions or forget the +C when you integrate. whatever it is, write that down, and it will help you pick the mark back up in the future.

i had a similar problem to you where i would feel tired after school. its great youre aware of that & youre looking for strategies to help with that!! what helped for me was having an unwinding-routine after getting home. i’d unpack my bag immediately, eat some food, and write down what I wanted to do. then I used the pomodoro method + breaks to prevent burnout. however, that may not work for you. you can try taking a short nap to boost your energy, some caffeine could keep you alert longer, perhaps taking a shower, working out, eating food for energy, whatever! you’ve still got a long way to the hsc which is great so dont stress about not being able to find that routine just yet

Another thing is to make sure you’re using your study-time effectively. you will feel burned out studying for 4 hours when you’re tired, whilst 2 hours of studying when you feel refreshed will make you feel better AND yield better results. honestly, in my cohort i saw that the people who took breaks and had ‘less time’ were getting better scores - probably because they managed time well & rested.

For my study schedule, I studied most of the time from after I’d arrived home until evening/bedtime, everyday, and played fortnite on friday evenings but your schedule may look different - just work according to your energy levels and own capabilities. and remember to take breaks!!

i hope your studies have been well and that some of my advice may be helpful to you