Hsc Survival Guide
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday September 11, 1997
The final hurdle is fast approaching for the State's 60,000 HSC students. After more than 13 years of classes, countless lessons and more essays than students care to remember, their last year at school is drawing to a close, writes STEPHANIE RAETHEL.
Schools have already submitted their school assessment marks to the Board of Studies and for some Year 12 students the 1997 HSC exams are already a reality.
Practical exams are under way in music, ballet and industry studies, and drama and dance students have already faced an audience of examiners for the practical part of their course.
Language students have completed their aural and oral exams and visual art and design and technology students have put the finishing touches to their major projects.
But while these students have already dealt with
their first bout of exam nerves, there are still the main exams to face before most can turn their minds to what comes
next.
Staff from the Board of Studies are about to begin the task of packing all the written examination papers for students in each course. The job will take about four weeks and will result in more than 500,000
parcels.
The final HSC exams will start on October 27 with English, the only compulsory subject, opening proceedings.
About 60,000 students will sit the HSC this year in almost 80 subject areas and 151 courses.
Maths has the second largest number of candidates, with about 56,600 students. This is followed by general studies with 18,000 students and biology with 12,900 students.
During the exams help will be available for students through the HSC Advice Line, now in its third year. Teachers will be on hand to advise students in courses including English, maths, ancient history, geology and legal studies.
While the next few months will be dominated by the exams, students have already started to think about what they want to do next year.
About 80 per cent of students who sit for the HSC will be eligible for a Tertiary Entrance Rank, or the new Universities Admissions Index, which will replace the TER as part of the State Government's reforms to the final years of schooling.
Almost 70 per cent of HSC students will apply for a university place but only 46 per cent will be offered one and even fewer, about one third, will accept the offer to go straight onto university.
Nearly 40 per cent of HSC graduates will head to TAFE but university remains the first choice of many school leavers and pressure to perform in the HSC remains high despite a drop in the cut-off marks for some university courses in recent years.
But final decisions on these options cannot be made until students know their results.
This will happen a week earlier than previously, through the use of a new service that will allow students to find out their results by phone in December. Students phoning the Board of Studies will be able to use a personal identification number and get access to their results. The call will cost slightly more than a local call but the board does not expect any student to pay more than $1 for it.
A full printed copy of the results and their Higher School Certificate will be sent out in January but the earlier release in December will give students more time to consider their options before the closing date for the change of university preferences.
TIPS FOR PASSING EXAMS
* Don't leave everything to the last minute
* Focus on activities rather than just reading
* Make summaries of work
* Write out quotes
* Complete exam questions from past papers
* Look over your answers to previous tests
* Read over English novels and plays
* Find a quiet place to study. Try the local library
* If studying with friends, stay focused
* Don't panic if you miss a day, just resume from where you were
* Make a note of questions or problems to raise with teachers during the last week of school
* If you don't understand something, persevere instead of ignoring it
* Study all subjects, not just your "best" ones as it may be easier to increase marks in poorer subjects
* Do something about problems. Contact a teacher or phone the HSC Advice Line on 131 112
* Exercise regularly
* Eat good food regularly rather than snacking
* Give yourself a special treat from time to time
* Realise you need short breaks. You can't study until you drop
* Get regular sleep
© 1997 Sydney Morning Herald