What to expect from the actual HSC exams

Trials. Are. Done. And most major works/projects are also done and dusted by now which means that there is nothing to distract us from those HSC exams that are coming up in just over a month 😬 . They’re as intimidating as ever - of course - but let’s break down some of that scariness by working out exactly what to expect from the actual HSC exams.

1. They aren’t going to be a massive step up in difficulty

Time to start cheering, it turns out the HSC exams aren’t actually an impossibly difficult task (it just feels that way 🤷‍♀️ ). The real difference between the HSC exams and the other assessments you’ve sat this year is going to be those feelings of pressure and anxiety. But the actual exams themselves shouldn’t be hugely more difficult.

See, you know all the content they could possibly ask because you have the syllabus. And you’ve sat your Trials exams, so you have a feel for the kind of questions that NESA will throw at you. We’re definitely not saying the HSC is easy, just that it’s going to be a similar level of difficulty to what you’ve already experienced (and survived 😅 ). Basically, you will definitely be able to get through these exams, just go for that personal best.

2. The exams will feel kind of surreal and anti-climatic at the same time

HSC exams get built up so much that you kind of expect them to feel like the Hunger Games or some other intense, once-in-a-lifetime, life or death situation. But... here's the thing: you’re going to be in your school uniform, with the people you’ve sat in class with for the last two years and sitting in your super familiar school (probably in a room that you’ve sat exams in before… 🤷‍ ).

Like, you’re definitely going to feel the pressure but it’s still going to be a bit surreal and a bit anti-climatic because your HSC exams are really just exams (that you’ve already practised with Trials). Whether it’s comforting or not, prepare yourself to feel a little underwhelmed by the actual HSC exams.

3. You’re going to be held to NESA’s exam standards

Now, a lot of schools would have taken their Trials exams super seriously and pretty much held you to NESA’s exam standards anyway. But it’s still worth remembering that, even though the exams are held in your school, the rules of exams are set by NESA and yeah, they mean business 😒 .

The exam supervisors are hired and sent by NESA and are really going to hold you to things like putting your pen down as soon as time’s up, being supervised if you have to leave the room during the exam or making any kind of noise like pen tapping. Sounds fun? Yep. It’s not actually a big deal, you just need to mentally prepare yourself for those full-blown exam conditions.

4. There could be types of questions you haven’t seen before

Um… what?!

So, every year there seems to be one question in one paper that makes the news because it was such a curved ball that the entire exam room starts crying and walking out. Yay 🙃 . Even if that doesn’t happen, you are going to come up against questions that completely throw you because they're not what you were used to seeing in all those past papers that you’re definitely doing right now.

The best strategy here is to not lose your sh** and panic. No matter how weird the question looks, NESA is still expecting you to use the topics and ideas in the syllabus to answer it so you already know the answer. You just have to write it up in a way that specifically references the wording of the question. If they throw a piece of source material at you that you’ve never seen before then hey, there’s a way to deal with that too.

5. Trials were a great preview into the structure of the exams

As painful as Trials may have been, they’re actually going to end up being one of the best thing you did this year. Why? Well, they gave you the clearest idea possible of what to expect from the HSC. You got a cheeky preview into the layout and structure of each exam, you got a sense of how manageable (or not manageable ☠️ ) the exam time limits are AND you also got a feel for how you’ll deal with all that fun stress.

Your HSC exams should look just like the Trials exams you sat, and you can always go and check out some HSC past papers to be 100% sure. Even though the questions will be different (bummer), at least you know what to expect from the layout of the exam.

6. You’re going to have a tonne of support from everyone

Seriously.

Of course your friends and family will be there for you and love you and blah blah blah…. But it’s also kind of cool to see how much the rest of the state feels sorry for you at this time. You’re going to be seeing HSC stories in the news and literally anyone - from shop assistants to vague acquaintances - will let you know that they feel your pain.

It doesn’t sound like the biggest issue but it makes a huge difference to have the rest of the world validate how intimidating and hard the HSC can be.

Remember

Now that you’ve done Trials, you have a really solid idea of what to expect from the HSC and there’s nothing but the pressure that makes them feel totally unmanageable. Pay a lot of attention to the structure and difficulty of your Trials exams and past papers and just be prepared for a lot of support and a few anti-climatic vibes. The countdown to the HSC is on which means the countdown to your freedom is on as well!

💃💃💃