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Time passes very quickly in the HSC. One day you’re back into term 2, and the next day Term 2 is now soon over…which means trials are quickly approaching! How does one prepare for their trials with all of this time?
1. Past papers, past papers, past papers!
Remember, trials stands for a TRIAL for HSC! This is your time to give it your all and see what works and what does not. You do not want to miss out on giving it your 110% for trials, as
1. Your trial marks will determine your rank and
2. It is an amazing opportunity to emulate exam conditions.
This is where the magic of past papers comes in. You must ensure you make a good attempt at answering the past paper questions for the previous years so that you know what is expected of you in the examination room, and also refine your examination skills! If I could do HSC all over again, I would’ve started past papers a lot, lot sooner. It definitely was a massive contributor to my continual increase in marks over the HSC year.
"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." — Tim Notke, basketball coach.
With that in mind, where does one find past papers for HSC English and Math? Don’t worry, Concept has you covered! On the page link below, you will find our comprehensive list of past HSC examinations for English Advanced, English Extension, Math Extension 1 and 2 with NESA solutions. I definitely recommend doing and marking at least 3 past papers before your trials, so that you can anticipate curveballs.
You can view Concept's collection of HSC resources and past papers here.
However, I hear your mind going: “I don’t feel ready to tackle something as big as a past paper!”. This leads me to the next point.
2. Content and resources
In order to tackle these past papers, you need to have a robust collection of resources at your disposal. This includes quote tables with analysis, good notes on particular themes and form of the text, mathematical equations that you often forget and a list of the mistakes you make. I like to think of it as a trampoline. If you want to fly high, you need to do the hard work and make sure your trampoline is buoyant enough!
However, preparation will never feel ‘perfect’. For me, I never feel 100% prepared for that exam even if I end up doing really well, as it sometimes just feels impossible to do everything everyone is doing to prepare. So what you need to do is just get to the minimum where you feel ready to do those past papers, and go through with it.
The best thing I heard was that the first past paper is going to be the hardest. You’re going to find out a lot about what could be better, and this could be demotivating.
But the second is a little easier.
Then by the third, you’ve kinda got the hang of it.
And eventually, with all the wonderful resources you have and practice as well, without even noticing it’s examination day. You give it your best shot, and voila, you got a mark that you are happy with. Sounds magical, but definitely is not magic!
“Preparation for tomorrow is hard work today.” – Bruce Lee.
Overall, one of the best and most efficient approaches to preparing for trial examinations is past papers, and to prepare you must have a robust collection of resources that you can bounce off of. Concept has carefully curated the best resources out there for English, with exclusive state-ranking material written by state rankers. Both past papers and resources can be found in the link below!
https://www.concepteducation.com.au/resources
Want some juicy examination tips leading up to trials? Reach out at Concept - we're always happy to help!
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