Screwing up an exam sucks. And having only just come out of the gruelling year-long marathon that was the HSC, I know the feeling just as well as some of you do. Yes, trust me, despite achieving a perfect ATAR, there were many times I did not achieve a perfect exam mark- or even come close to perfect. Kicking off year 12 with a disappointingly low mark in English and a mark far below my lowest expectations in Mathematics Extension 2, I was not very optimistic about the number I’d be receiving at the end of the year. But I kept going.
What kept me going was the knowledge that an exam mark that wasn’t perfect was an exam that I could learn from. Every exam for me right up until the actual HSC exams themselves were simply that- learning experiences. Sure, they count towards 50% of your HSC mark overall, but ultimately, the impact each exam will have on your eventual ATAR is laughably little. On the contrary, the value you can gain from each exam experience is hilariously high. Each exam is designed to simulate the content and style of your HSC exam, meaning you can become used to the idea of tackling high pressure exams in a time-constrained environment, but only without the actual weighting of the HSC. What this means is that you get to do HSC style exams multiple times, and each time you get the opportunity to learn from your mistakes and improve your exam and study routine.
What I did that helped me understand the nature of my assessments was analysing my areas of weakness and seeking areas to improve them. If they were because I did not have a thorough grasp of content, I made sure my revision plan became more extensive and covered all assessable material. If it was because of time management issues, then I made sure to refine my exam technique by practicing more past papers.
My take away message is this: before you sit your actual HSC, you will realise how little impact that one internal exam will have on your overall mark. Don’t let one mark dictate the rest of your HSC journey- never give up and learn from your mistakes. You’re not defined by a number!
