essay writing for hsc students

A State Ranker’s Guide to Writing 20/20 English Advanced Essays

Essays can be tough. Like, really tough.They’re made tougher still because...

Marko Beocanin

99.95 ATAR & 3 x State Ranker

1. Introduction to this Guide

Essays can be tough. Like, really tough.

They’re made tougher still because every HSC English module has a different essay structure, and no-one seems to have a consistent idea of what an ‘ essay’ actually is (not to get postmodern on you!).

My name is Marko Beocanin, and I’m an English teacher at Project Academy. In this post I hope to demystify essay-writing and arm you with a “tried and proven” approach you can apply to any essay you’ll write in HSC English and beyond. In 2019, I completed all four units of English (Extension 2, Extension 1, and Advanced), and state ranked 8th in NSW for English Advanced and attained a 99.95 ATAR – so take it from me, I’ve written a lot of essays! Here’s some of the advice I’ve picked up throughout that experience.

2. My Essay-Writing Methodology

For us to understand how to write an essay, it’s important to appreciate what an essay (in particular, a HSC English essay) actually is. I’ve come to appreciate the following definition:

An essay is a structured piece of writing that argues a point in a clear, sophisticated way , and expresses personality and flair.

Let’s have a look at each of these keywords – and how they should inform our essay-writing process – in more detail.

3. “Arguing a point” means CAUSE and EFFECT

When most people study English, they tend to make huge lists of Themes, Values, Concerns, Quotes and so on. While this is a great exercise for collecting evidence and understanding your texts, it’s important to remember that your essay is not simply a theme summary or quote bank – you have to actually argue something!

And any argument needs a cause and an effect.

When you approach any essay question, it’s not enough to simply chuck in quotes/topic-sentences that abstractly relate to it. An internal checklist you could go through while reading a question might look like:

What is the question actually asking me?
What is my response to the question?
Am I actually making an argument in my response, and not just repeating the question?
What is my cause?
What is my effect?
How can I prove my argument?

It’s only at question 4 that quotes/analysis/topic-sentences appear. Your first step in writing any essay is to actually have an argument to prove.

Cause and Effect in Thesis Statements

To demonstrate what I mean by cause-and-effect, let’s have a look at a lower-band essay thesis on Nineteen Eighty-Four:

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell explores totalitarianism.

This sentence is a flat declaration of a theme. While it does identify totalitarianism, it doesn’t give any indication on what parts of totalitarianism Orwell explores, and what the actual effect of totalitarianism is.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell explores the abuse of power in totalitarian regimes.

This one is certainly better, because it describes a specific element of totalitarianism that Orwell explores – but it’s still missing an actual argument about what totalitarianism DOES to people. A full cause and effect (and higher band) thesis statement might look like:

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell explores how the abuse of power in totalitarian regimes leads to a brutalised human experience.

This thesis explicitly outlines how the CAUSE (abuse of power in totalitarian regimes) leads to the EFFECT (a brutalised human experience).

There’s certainly still some ambiguity in this sentence – for example, what sort of human experiences are being brutalised? – and in an exam, you’d substitute that for the specific human experiences outlined in the question.

In general, whenever you see sentences like “Composer X discusses Theme Y” in your essay drafts, think about developing them into “Composer X discusses how Specific Cause of Theme Y leads to Specific Effect of Theme Y”.

Cause and Effect Diagrams

To make sure that your arguments actually have a specific cause and effect , try writing them out in the following diagrammatic way:

Surprisingly, drawing the arrow made a huge psychological difference for me!

If you struggle with this, try to restructure/rephrase your arguments until they can be categorised in such a way. Making and rewriting these diagrams is also a great way to prep for exams without writing out your whole essay.

Cause and Effect in Analysis

Similarly, when it comes to your actual analysis itself, make sure that you’re not just listing techniques and quotes. You’re not just analysing your quotes for the sake of naming the techniques in them – you’re analysing them to prove a point!

Whenever you consider a quote for your essay, ask yourself:

What is this quote about?
How does this quote prove my argument?
How do the literary techniques in this quote prove my argument?

Let’s use an example from King Henry IV, Part 1 to illustrate this. A lower band piece of analysis might look like:

King Henry’s opening monologue employs anthropomorphism: “Daub her lips with her own children’s blood…bruise her flow’rets with…armed hoofs.”

While the technique of anthropomorphism is identified, this sentence doesn’t link to any argument about WHY that technique is there and what it does.

King Henry’s opening monologue anthropomorphises England as a mother violated by war: “Daub her lips with her own children’s blood…bruise her flow’rets with…armed hoofs.”

This is certainly better, because it explains what the technique actually does – but it still doesn’t discuss how the technique guides us to an actual point.

King Henry’s opening monologue anthropomorphises England as a mother violated by war: “Daub her lips with her own children’s blood…bruise her flow’rets with…armed hoofs…” to convey the civil unrest caused by his tenuous claim to the throne.

This analysis not only outlines the technique in detail, but it also explicitly embeds it with an argument – this time, structured as EFFECT ( civil unrest ) caused by CAUSE ( his tenuous claim to the throne ).

In general, whenever you see analysis in your drafts written as “Composer X uses Technique Y in Quote Z”, try to rewrite it as “Composer X uses Technique Y in Quote Z to argue Point A”.

4. Clear, Sophisticated Way

In general, clarity/sophistication in Advanced essays comes from two main sources.

4.1 Essay Structure

For most essays, the simplest and most effective overall structure looks like:

Intro: Here, you answer the question with an argument, summarise your points and link to the rubric.
3 – 4 Body Paragraphs: Here, you actually make your points.
Conclusion: Here, you re-summarise your arguments and ‘drop the mic’.

While it’s cool to play around with the number of body paragraphs, for example, the structure above is generally a safe bet for Advanced.

The most variety comes from the actual structure within your body paragraphs.

There are plenty of online guides/resources with fun acronyms like STEEL and PEETAL and less fun ones like PEEQTET – but ultimately, the exact formula you go with is a relatively inconsequential matter of choice and style. Just make sure you have the following elements roughly in this order!

4.2 Cause and Effect Topic Sentence

Here, you make your point as clearly as possible (remember cause and effect), and address the specific argument that the paragraph will cover. It’s fantastic if you can link this argument to the argument in your previous paragraph.

4.3 Context Sentence

This bit is vital (and often forgotten!). Texts don’t exist in a void – their composers had lives, were influenced by the world around them, and had inspirations and purposes in their compositions. Context can be political, socio-cultural, religious, philosophical, literary etc… as long as it’s there!

4.4 Cause and Effect Analysis ‍

In a three-paragraph structure, a solid aim is for four to five quotes per paragraph. Each point you make should be justified with a quote, and each quote should have a technique linked to it. It’s usually helpful to order your quotes chronologically as they appear within the text (to show how the argument progressively builds) – but in more non-linear forms like poetry, for example, you can switch it up a little. Make sure each paragraph covers quotes from the whole text, to demonstrate a broad range of analysis!

Here, you might give a restatement of your topic sentence that summarises your main ideas.

Wording and Expression

A common misconception with English Advanced is that huge words and long, meandering sentences will score the most marks.

In Advanced, clarity should come from your expression , while sophistication should come from your ideas . Ultimately, the more complex your expression and sentence structure is, the more your markers will have to work to connect with your content.

While an occasional well-executed piece of technical jargon is impressive, it should never come at the cost of clearly and explicitly getting your point across.

A few general tips I’ve picked up from both my time as a student and my work as a tutor include:

Avoid using a thesaurus/online synonym-search whenever possible! If you didn’t consider using a word naturally, it’s unlikely it will flow with the rest of your expression.
A long, comma-intensive sentence can (and should) almost always be replaced with two or more sentences.
Use semicolons sparingly (if at all), and with GREAT caution.
Never underestimate words like “because”, “leads to”, “causes” etc. They are simple, but brilliantly effective at establishing a clear cause and effect structure!
Make sure to continuously reuse words from the question. Even if this feels clunky, it helps you actually engage with the question.
Also make sure to continuously use rubric keywords – particularly in Common Mod and Mod A!

5. Personality and Flair

And now… the hardest bit. Putting a bit of you into your essays.

There’s no one way to “add personality/flair” – this is where you have the freedom to develop your own voice and style. Remember that your markers love literature – and for them to see real, unadulterated enthusiasm in your work is an absolute win that will be marked generously.

To develop that passionate flair/personality, I encourage you to do three things:Practice. A Lot. The more you write – whether it’s homework questions, mini paragraphs, or flat-out full practice essays – the better you’ll become at writing. It’s as simple as that.

6. Concluding Remarks

Get feedback on your work.

To make sure you’re actually improving with your writing, aim to get plenty of feedback from both of these groups:

People who know your text and HSC English in-and-out (teachers, tutors, scholars etc.), so they can engage with your analysis and help develop your style/structure.
People who don’t know your texts and HSC English particularly well (parents, friends, etc.), so they can check your arguments actually make sense!

Explore your own English-related interests.

Reading widely and writing weird stuff just for fun adds an indescribable but very real level of depth and nuance to your essay-writing. For me, this involved immersing myself in crazy literary theory that had nothing to with my texts, and writing super edgy poetry. Find what works for you!

Good Luck!!!

Whether this article reaches you the night before Paper 1, or at the start of your English journey – I’m confident that you can do this. If you can find even one thing that you connect with about this subject… whether it’s a character you love, or a beautiful poem, or a wacky critical piece that’s totally BS… hopefully you’ll realise that essay writing doesn’t have to be so tough after all!

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HSC Standard English: The Ultimate Guide to Getting That Band 6!

HSC Standard English.

Because English is the only subject ALL students have to take for the HSC, it can pose a major challenge.

Some students are naturally good at English, some just don’t like it, some feel like they’re just plain bad at it.

Whatever category you fall into, we can help!

In this article we’ve got you covered with a step-by-step Guide to Acing HSC Standard English!

Let’s jump in!

Part 1: Developing Essential English Skills Part 2: Common Module Part 3: Module A Part 4: Module B Part 5: Module C

Part 1: Developing Essential English Skills

Before we can dive into the HSC Standard English modules, it’s important you have a strong foundation when it comes to writing an essay and analysing your texts.

How to Write a Band 6 HSC English Essay

When writing an essay, it’s important you know how to develop a strong argument that is supported by the best possible pieces of evidence with great analysis, all supported in a strong structure.

Obviously, this is much easier said than done! Although, that’s why we’ve created a guide to writing a Band 6 essay in HSC English that you can find below!

If you want to brush up on your thesis writing skills, that is, crafting a unique argument to any question, you may want to check out the article below:

How to Construct a Strong Thesis Statement in Your HSC English Essay

How to Analyse Your Text

The next key step is developing your analytical skills! This is pivotal as analysis will underpin anything and everything you write in English, from short answer responses in Paper 1 to your essays in Paper 2.

To have strong analytical skills, you need to be able to identify key ideas in a text and elaborate upon these, whilst finding literary techniques that will add meaning to your analysis.

For a recap on how to achieve this, you can check out our article to analysing texts like a pro below!

How to Quickly and Flawlessly Analyse HSC English Texts

Knowing Your Literary and Visual Techniques

The last step to building up your set of English skills is being able to identify literary and visual techniques.

You’ll find these in any text you study, including novels, poems, films, prose and even art!

For a quick brush-up on these devices, you can take a look at our mast list of literary and visual techniques:

The Ultimate HSC English Literary Techniques Cheat Sheet

For visual techniques, check out our master list below!

The Complete HSC English Visual Techniques Cheat Sheet

Now that you’ve nailed those essential English skills, we can dive into breaking down each of the Standard English modules!

Part 2: The Guide to the Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences

Texts and Human Experiences is a common module for HSC Standard and Advanced, meaning EVERYONE has to take it!

It will likely be the first topic you study for HSC Standard English, but hopefully not the hardest one.

The Common Module is notably vague in its rubric so it’s important to be able to pin it down. Human experiences can encompass anything experienced by a human – huge, right?

Take a look at the Texts and Human Experiences rubric statement (we’ve highlighted some key parts to help you out!):

That’s why we’ve put together the ultimate guide on what Texts and Human Experience is all about and how to ace it!

We cover what the module is all about, what you’ll study and be assessed on and how to write for Texts and Human Experiences.

In short, everything you need to know to ace the Common Module for Standard English!

Read our in-depth article on all things HSC Standard English module Texts and Human Experience here:

The Step-by-Step Guide to the Common Module: Texts and Human Experience for HSC Standard English

Once you’ve read our guide and are ready to start some practice essays (and understand the key verbs ), you can check out 20 of our essay questions on the Common Module here:

20 Practice Questions for HSC English Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences

Related Texts

For Texts and Human Experiences, you’ll be studying a prescribed text , and also will need to find a related text!

But what exactly is a related text? Why do you need one and how do you possibly find one?!

A related text (as it sounds) is a text that is related to the concept of Texts and Human Experiences AND your prescribed text for the Standard English Common Module.

But actually finding a good related text is an art that many HSC Standard English students have not mastered…

It’s not as easy as picking your favourite film or book… in fact this is exactly the opposite of what you should do!

That’s why we’ve done the hard work for you and compiled our Top 5 Related Texts for the HSC Standard English Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences!

Check out our Top Five Recommended Related Texts for Texts and Human Experiences here:

Our Top 5 Recommended Related Texts for the HSC Standard English Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences

If you’re struggling to analyse your related text on your own, you can find our 3 step guide to analysing any related text here:

How to Quickly* and Flawlessly Analyse HSC English Texts

Part 3: The Guide to Module A: Language, Identity and Culture

Now that you’re sorted for the Common Module, let’s move on to HSC Standard English Module A!

So, what does Language, Identity and Culture even mean?

The module is built on the relationship between who people are, what group of people they come from, and how this is reflected through language.

Let’s take a look at the rubric!

This can be a difficult concept to wrap your head around, and that’s why we’ve covered everything you need to know in our Guide to Module A for HSC Standard English!

In this article , we cover what the Module is all about, what you’ll be assessed on and how to get a Band 6, check it out here:

How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Standard English Module A: Language, Identity and Culture

Module A Practice Questions

As this is a new syllabus, you most likely won’t be able to find practice questions to complete.

Luckily we’ve created 20 practice questions for HSC Standard English Module A for you to use below:

20 Practice Questions for HSC Standard English Module A: Language, Identity and Culture

Part 4: The Guide to Module B: Close Study of Literature

How do you closely study a piece of literature?

And how can that make up an ENTIRE HSC Standard English module?

In Module B you need to be able to develop personal and intellectual connection to your text and be able to write both a critical and creative response to that text.

This is basically a complicated way of saying you need to actually read and develop an appreciation to your text. Watching the movie and reading the SparkNotes is not enough to do well in Module B!

You also need to be able to write both a critical response (or essay) and creative response related to your prescribed text.

But actually doing these things are easier said than done.

In this awesome article, we’ll take you through exactly what’s expected of you for HSC Standard English Module B, and how to ace it!

Check it out here:

The Ultimate Guide to HSC Standard English Module B: Close Study of Literature

Module B Practice Questions

We’ve also created 20 questions for you to choose from to write a Module B practice essay, which you can find here:

20 Practice Questions for HSC Standard English Module B: Close Study of Literature

Part 5: The Guide to Module C: The Craft of Writing

The new HSC Standard English Module C is a frightening prospect for most students.

The new Module C covers how to write, and write well.

While this might not seem like a big deal for you, or you’re not sure if you’ll even use the skills you learn in this Module in the ‘real world’, but writing is going to be an important skill no matter what career path you choose to walk down.

So, let’s take a look at the rubric!

Module C teaches you how to write effectively using many different text types, including: imaginative, discursive, persuasive and informative texts – there’s a lot to learn and it can feel overwhelming.

That’s why in the article below we run you through exactly what you need to know about Module C, so you can ace it and get that Band 6!

The Step-by-Step Guide to HSC English Module C: The Craft of Writing

Discursive Writing

As Module C is all about writing in different forms of texts, a new text type has been introduced to this module, called discursive writing.

NESA defines discursive writing as, “ Texts whose primary focus is to explore an idea or variety of topics. These texts involve the discussion of an idea(s) or opinion(s) without the direct intention of persuading the reader, listener or viewer to adopt any single point of view”

Such examples of discursive writing can be creative non-fiction, travel blogs, discussion essays, speeches and personal essays, amongst others.

It can be daunting to try new text types, but you don’t have to do it alone! We’ve created the ultimate guide to breaking down the basics of discursive writing and how to achieve a Band 6 worthy discursive writing piece here:

How to Write a Band 6 Discursive Writing Piece for HSC English Module C

Module C Practice Questions

If you’re feeling ready to start some writing practice, you can check out a list of 20 questions we’ve created for Module C here:

20 Practice Questions for HSC English Module C: The Craft of Writing

Reflective Statement

If you checked out our practice questions for Module C above, you might have noticed that some questions have a Part A and Part B, where Part A consists of your written piece and Part B requires a reflection.

This reflection is called a ‘reflective statement’ and is a completely new part of HSC English that assesses how your creative decisions in your pieces were drawn from your prescribed text.

If you need a hand nailing your reflective statement, you can check out our guide on how to write one here:

How to Write a Reflective Statement For Module C: Craft of Writing

And that wraps up our guide to HSC Standard English and its modules! Good luck!

Got other questions you need answered? Check out our HSC English FAQs here!

Looking for some extra help with HSC Standard English?

We pride ourselves on our inspirational hsc english coaches and mentors.

We offer tutoring and mentoring for Years K-12 in a variety of subjects, with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at one of our state of the art campuses in Hornsby or the Hills!

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Isabella Hanley loves science. She loves science so much she’s making it her career. While completing her Bachelor of Medical Science she is also a Coach and Digital Marketing Manager at Art of Smart. She is super passionate about sharing her knowledge on surviving the HSC since completing the HSC herself in 2014. In her downtime she enjoys Netflix binging like a pro, singing in the shower and hanging out with her awesome rescue dog, Ruby.

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Nov 16, 2021

Essay Writing 101 Lesson #1 - Accurate Words

If you realised the pencil is an owl, you're superior. To what? That's not the point.

Welcome to Essay Writing 101, brought to you by Anqi.

This post marks the beginning to a series of short blog lessons specifically created to help Australian high school students in preparing for HSC English. However, it will be helpful for anyone looking to start English literary essay writing.

Why do we write essays?

Put simply, essays are a formal expression of your thoughts . It's has the same function as when you have a chat with your friend to tell them your opinions, only that an essay is super formal and you have to communicate your ideas clearly in one large lump (because the reader cannot ask you questions while they read to clarify your ideas). Due to this need for clarity, accuracy is crucial in essay writing.

Aim for accurate, not for complex.

Have you ever been in the middle of a miscommunication? Maybe one of your friends misunderstood what you meant by a certain word or sentence over text or Instagram. Maybe you texted 'k.' which to you meant "ok sure" but to them it meant "I hate you".

The key to all effective communication is accuracy . As the communicator it's your responsibility to share information in a way that is clear and reflects your thoughts closely. As I write this blog, I must take on the responsibility of sharing ideas with you in a way that doesn't make you feel:

am I showing my age with this meme?

From as early as you can remember, teachers have encouraged the use of "bigger" or "better" words because it "makes your writing better". An incorrect connection between "bigger words" and "more accurate words" is formed. Using more sophisticated-sounding words may have worked in primary school when you received full marks for your creative writing because you wrote 'vermillion' instead of 'red, but eventually you have to learn that accurate language is not the same as complex language .

Take the following example:

I used the printer yesterday.

I utilised the printer yesterday.

'Utilised' is arguably the more complex word. It has more letters, it sounds fancier, and it's in the thesaurus as a replacement for boring old 'use'. However, 'use' is the more accurate word.

Utilise means 'to make practical and effective use of', meaning that efficiency must be present if you choose this word. If there's no reference to efficiency, you sound like you're choosing 'utilise' for the sake of sounding smart (yes, teachers can tell).

A more accurate use of utilise is:

The instructions manual helped me utilise the printer to its full potential.

The bottom line is: complex words do not make for accurate writing.

Why do teachers hate the word 'show' then?

Teachers hate 'show' and want you to use 'highlight' or 'illustrate' instead. How can I explain this if complex vocabulary is not important? That's because 'show' is not hated for its simplicity, it's hated for its lack of clarity.

The word 'show' is vague. Vague means that something can be interpreted in many different ways.

If I was asked: "Where are you going?"

And I say: "Out."

My answer is vague , because 'out' can mean:

to the shops

to join the Yakuza

Luckily, the asker can ask me: "To join the Yakuza?" and I can proceed to assure them of the impossibility with my inability to strategise a simple hoax let alone a complicated heist. But a reader can't clarify the meaning with you, so you must avoid vagueness so you don't force them to guess what you mean.

In the same line of logic, 'show' tends to be vague because it could mean:

show angrily (condemn)

show to make you do something (promote)

show to support a cause (advocate)

show to make you change your ideas (challenge)

show as an example (illustrate)

Therefore it is important when writing essays to use specific verbs dense in meaning .

Ok, but I don't know which verb to use - help!

The Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques Centre of Arizona (bless them) has been a pillar of support for me and my students in times of dire need. They have compiled the Grandpapa of all essay verb lists which you can refer to at the following link:

https://salt.arizona.edu/sites/salt.arizona.edu/files/tutoringfiles/handouts/Powerful%20Verbs%20for%20Essays.pdf

Use this list as a starting point but do not mindlessly swap out 'show' with the words on this list. Make friends with a dictionary. Figure out the differences between each word and use them accurately .

And that's a wrap for lesson 1!

✨ you got this ✨.

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Years 10-12 study and essay skills courses. The smart way to prepare for your HSC.

We offer study and essay skills courses for students in Years 10-12, all designed to help students realise their HSC potential.

Our Year 10 Course: Preparing for Success course provides students an introduction to study methods, English language and writing skills necessary for success in a wide range of subjects in Years 10 and 11, and in the Higher School Certificate.
The Years 10-12 Course: Study Methods course focuses on time management, learning and memory, critical thinking and making it through the examination period.
Our two-day Years 10-12 Course: Essay Writing focuses on the essay form and related critical thinking, language and punctuation skills. We study how to structure essays, organise ideas and information, and write in appropriate language for assignments and exam essays.
We also have a Years 10-12 Course: Improving English for Writing designed to improve written English for a wide range of students in Years 10 to 12, including students with English as a first language and students with other language backgrounds.

Our Years 10-12 study and essay skills short courses are open to everyone. Sign up today and better prepare for your HSC.

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Essay writing for the HSC

by Gabby | HSC ENGLISH

Why students struggle with essay writing.

Effective essay writing has been on the decline for the past fifteen years in schools. Students struggle with their interpretation of questions, the harnessing of powerful evidence and structure and expression.

As schools and teachers are increasingly time poor, essay writing is left until students have major assessment tasks and trial examinations thrust upon them. It is my experience that many students in senior years scramble to incorporate teachers notes which appear on the white board, and are simply copied and pasted without any real consideration as to whether

The notes make sense
Whether they reflect the thinking process of the student.

The other major issue is the kind of feedback being provided. Comments such as your expression is poor, or you haven’t answered the question or pay more attention to techniques are too abstract for students to really comprehend.

Pre -written essays drafted by tutors.

Again, the presumption that a student can incorporate a tutor’s perspective and adapt their set essay to an unseen examination question is highly problematic. Firstly, the information and interpretation of the set text does not belong to the student it belongs to the tutor. Secondly, the examination questions set rarely correspond to the pre- written question. Students struggle to interpret the question and then they have the arduous task of integrating their own response, the tutor’s response and finally their own.

Incomplete study of the set text.

In recent years there has been a tendency on the part of students sitting their HSC to really only familiarise themselves with passages drawn from the set literary text which are selected by the teachers without a keen understanding on the students part as to why, what and how these passages convey the ideas embedded in their texts. Shakespeare’s works and significantly complex novels remain unanalysed barring some selected passages, leaving students with a superficial understanding of the depth of ideas and the possibility of exploiting other parts of the text.

The approach to structured responses.

The schools have attempted in recent years to introduce steps in the structuring of paragraphs such as PEAL : . Point, elaboration, example, link.

This approach helps in terms of superficially eliciting a seemingly structured paragraph response, but it does not help students determine what their point should be. What example to source and in fact how to elaborate on the example?

I have noted that when it comes elaborating on examples students are at a loss as to how to elaborate as they fall into the habit of explaining the evidence rather than analysing the nature of the example. A simple application of the question why and what the composer has chosen as his or her particular style of language eg : choice of words, imagery , or tone will enable students to navigate the impact of such language and incorporate this in their response.

Techniques in text

A large part of writing essays is underscored by NESA’s requirement that students are able to understand that literary texts convey meaning- that identifying a technique such as a metaphor or simile does not exploit sufficiently why a writer may have selected this kind of literary device. Students need to understand why a writer has used this type of language; what it implies about the values and or attitude of the writer or character in the text. Language cannot be viewed in a vacuum or students run the risk of not understanding how language contributes to the intended meaning and interpretation of texts.

How many paragraphs

It seems absurd that students ponder how many paragraphs they should write in an essay and that the number of paragraphs is dependent upon an arbitrary perception on the part of educators. I have students ask me how many paragraphs they should write, or their teacher says they should write three paragraphs. The fundamental understanding of what a paragraph is seems to have been lost. No one can know how many paragraphs may be needed to produce a strong essay response. Such oversimplified and ill-thought instructions prejudice clarity of writing and prejudice the depth of essay response.

Note taking on texts.

Many students fail to annotate their texts; as such their notes are often in their note- books as they scramble to interpret fragmented notes and incomplete quotes into the body of their essay. The students, assuming they’ve read the texts, struggle to make sense of notes which are displaced and out of context.

Understanding the essay question.

Without an in depth understanding of the text it is impossible to directly answer an essay question. Students have to ask the following questions:

What is the question asking, how does it relate to the ideas in their text and what are the assumptions or ideas implied on the part of the examiner that have inspired such a question.

The job of the essay writer is to convince the examiner by way of structure and evidence that their approach is well thought out and explains their interpretation of the question and that their ideas are substantiated in the essay.

Introductions

A fundamental failure in understanding essay writing lies in the composition of introductions. Students often fail to understand the question at hand and if they do, they need to set down their responses in such a way that they are advancing their own thesis and of course how and why they have adopted such a response.

An introduction is fundamentally a personal orientation and thought- out approach to an essay question. In my opinion it is the backbone of the structure to an essay and requires much planning and research before pen is put to paper.

Body of the essay

The body of the essay must support the thesis set down in the introduction. Each paragraph should correspond clearly to each idea set forth in the introduction acknowledging how what and why they have sited the evidence that they have chosen. Remember though,

if the introduction is not composed with depth and doesn’t directly answer the question, then the student is unable to link back to their thesis. Many students are unable to realise that the body of their essay should reflect the thesis established in their introduction.

Citing evidence.

Way before the essay commences students should have gathered quotations systematically and placed it under corresponding themes or ideas. Failure to do so will result in quotations and evidence which is irrelevant to the idea advanced. It is important to note that the analysis of evidence forms much of the content of the essay and what makes one essay stand out from another is the physical sourcing of quotes which display depth of thought and convince and support one’s thesis.

Structured powerful responses.

These lie in the ability of a student to not only offer well thought-out responses and evidence but what is also essential is that students link back to the question and opening thesis of the body paragraph, physically guiding and convincing the examiner that their response is logical and offers powerful insight on the ideas of the text.

GUEST SPEAKER: HSC ENGLISH ESSAY WRITING

Take the guesswork out of essay writing and unlock your writing potential, hsc english essay writing.

Fergus Gardiner’s HSC English Essay Writing Workshop will support your HSC students to overcome their challenges with essay writing and unlock their writing potential!

With Fergus’ expert guidance and easy-to-follow steps, students will be able to craft essays with confidence and clarity.

This workshop will provide students with the skills and knowledge needed to write engaging and powerful essays, giving them the edge they will need to succeed in HSC English.

FERGUS Gardiner

English teacher and hsc coworks founder.

HSC CoWorks Founder Fergus has worked as a teacher across various schools in Sydney since 1984. In 1996, he founded the first HSC CoWorks campus in Bondi Junction, as well as the HSC CoWorks online portal which provides HSC students with a ‘system’ for writing essays and access to an expert essay marking service which allows students to practice their writing.

With his passion for supporting students develop the skill of essay writing and engaging them in the process of learning, he has developed a strong following from families across Sydney.

This workshop takes the guesswork out of how to write a great essay and will provide students with a systematic approach to essay writing, giving them the tools they need to craft high-quality essays.

ESSAY WRITING WORKSHOP – 60 MINUTES

Over this 60 minute workshop Fergus will facilitate engaging exercises which will ensure that students leave having made real progress in their HSC English text.

FREE RESOURCES FOR EVERY STUDENT

Every student in attendance of the workshop will receive the following to support with their HSC preparation;

A 50 page Planning Pad – Every student has the same amount of hours to prepare for their HSC. The student who plans their time effectively will come out on top!
A 50 page Mindmap Pad – The ultimate tool for memorising the syllabus dot points for those high content subjects such as History; PDHPE; Business Studies; Economics etc.
A Vision Board Template to support the creation of your own motivating vision board
An Essay Building Template (EBT) – The secret to writing essays is to have a solid plan and to follow a formula. Use HSC CoWorks’ proven system for writing a winning essay!

If you’re looking for someone who’s passionate about supporting students and getting them engaged and curious with their HSC English then you’ll love Fergus. He is a master at supporting students with their essay writing, and he helped my son improve his skills so much.

Fergus has a real gift for supporting students with their essay writing. His Essay Building Template system has helped me become a much better writer and his feedback on my practice writing is invaluable. I can’t recommend him highly enough!

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INTERESTED IN A HSC MOTIVATION & STUDY SKILLS WORKSHOP?

Bring the power of professional performance coaching to your Year 11 and 12 students with an inspiring and engaging session delivered by HSC CoWorks Head Performance Coach, Jesse Gardiner.

Jesse has worked with 1000s of HSC students over the past 15 years, helping them stay motivated and engaged during their HSC year and develop the motivation and self-belief they need to succeed in their HSC year and beyond.

Boost your Trials prep with our July Holiday Study Bootcamps!⁠ ⁠ For Year 12 students, the business end of your HSC campaign has arrived and the focus of the July holidays must be on preparing for your Trial Exams.⁠ ⁠ Our July Bootcamp is designed to teach you how to play the exam game and will allow you to study for your Trial Exams in a supported and productive environment.⁠ ⁠ Places are filling fast! Don’t miss out. Link in Bio ⬆️⁠ (Only available to Year 12 HSC CoWorks Members)⁠ ⁠ #hsccoworks #hsc2024

Kickstart your week with the top 3 tips HSC English markers swear by to boost your essay writing! ✏️⁠ #hsc2024 #hscstudytips #studytips #hsccoworks

✅ Don’t underestimate your self-worth ✅ Set lofty goals ✅ Do the hard things ✅ Reach your potential! Hear what Coach Tane and Head Coach Jesse have to say about how backing yourself can allow you to reach your full potential. Listen to the full Episode! Link in Bio ⬆️

Need HSC help 24/7? Look no further than HSC CoWorks - your round-the-clock HSC coaching program! ⏰⁠ ⁠ Take a peek at what your week could look like with CoWorks 👀⁠ ⁠ #hsc2024 #hsccoaching #hsctutoring #studytips #nswschools #nswparents #hsccoworks #hscbooster

JUST DROPPED: NEW PODCAST EPISODE 🔥 In today’s episode, Jesse interviews Tane Potts, a former rower for Australia at the Paris Junior World Rowing Championships. Tane shares his experience of balancing rowing and studying for the HSC, and highlights the challenges and rewards of pursuing excellence in both academics and extracurricular activities. Watch the full episode! Link in Bio ⬆️ #hscpodcast #hsc2024 #hsccoaching #hsctutoring #studytips #nswschools #nswparents #hsccoworks #hscbooster

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COMPLETING STORY
COMPOSITION

EMAIL WRITING

SUGGESTIONS

Composition

Important composition for hsc exam 2024.

Composition writing is the process of creating written works such as essays, stories, and other types of texts. It requires the writer to organize their thoughts and ideas in a clear and coherent manner, and to express themselves using appropriate language and grammar. I have written all important compositions for all classes students including class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, ssc and hsc examination. I have given the list of 100% common and important compositions for upcoming HSC examination. Composition is a short piece of writing done as a school exercise. The definition of composition is the act of putting something together, or the combination of elements or qualities. To read the compositing, just click on the name of the composition . All the compositions are very readable and very easy to learn.

Most Important and 100% common compositions for HSC 2024 examination:

Deforestation Composition
Digital Bangladesh Composition
Flood in Bangladesh Composition
Fruits of Bangladesh Composition
My Favourite Personality Composition
Physical Exercise Composition
T ree Plantation Composition
A Journey by Train Composition
Climate Change Composition
Duties of A students Composition
Environment Pollution Composition
Importance of Rivers in Bangladesh Composition
My Childhood Memories Composition
My Favourite Hobby Composition
My Favourite Season Composition
Patriotism Composition
Rivers of Bangladesh composition
My First Day at college

Most Important and 100% common compositions for SSC examination:

Your Aim in Life composition
Your Future Plan of Life composition
A journey you have recently enjoyed composition
A Journey by train composition
A Journey by Boat You Made composition
Tree Plantation composition
Why You Think More Trees Should be Planted composition
Importance of Tree Plantation composition
Your Favourite Game
The Game You Like Most composition
The season You Like Most composition
The Spring in Bangladesh composition
Importance of Reading Newspaper composition
Newspaper composition
Physical Exercise composition
Importance of Physical Exercise composition
Wonders of Modern Science composition
Your Favourite Hobby composition
Duties of a Student composition
Television composition
Importance of Television in Your Life composition
The Recent Flood in Bangladesh composition
Your Childhood Memories composition
Population Problem in Bangladesh composition

Important Composition for HSC Exam 2024

Tags: Most Important composition for class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jsc, ssc and hsc examination, composition writing, composition suggestions, hsc composition, Most Important composition for class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jsc, ssc and hsc examination,

HSC English 2nd Paper Important Compositions List

Importance of the Rivers in Bangladesh.
Over population Tampers all Development Programmes
How Sky Culture Affects Our Lite-on Earth
Rumours and False News in Social Media and Its Eflects
Climate Change and It’s Devastating Impact on Bangladesh
My Favourite Book
Our Population, a Prospect or a Problem?
Duties and Responsibilities of Students
Recurrent Visits of Natural Calamities in the Coastal Areas and ‘Their Impa
University Admission is too Competitive
Digital Bangladesh Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh
Climate Change
Empowerment Can Free Women from all Sorts of Discrimination
Modern Technology and Globalization
Drug Addiction
Students and Social Service
My Childhood Memories
Environmental Pollution in Dhaka City

Here are some suggestions for composition writing:

Understand the prompt: Before you start writing, make sure you understand the prompt or topic of the composition. Take the time to read it carefully and think about what you are being asked to write about.
Plan your composition: Before you start writing, take a few minutes to plan your composition. This can include brainstorming ideas, outlining your main points, and organizing your thoughts in a logical order.
Use descriptive language: Use descriptive language and imagery to create a sense of setting and atmosphere in your composition. This can help to engage the reader and make your writing more interesting.
Use transitions: Use transitional words and phrases to connect your ideas and make your composition flow smoothly. This can help to improve the coherence and cohesiveness of your writing.
Edit and revise: Once you have finished writing your composition, take the time to edit and revise it. This can include checking for spelling and grammar errors, as well as making sure that your ideas are clearly expressed and that your composition is well-organized.
Use examples and evidence: If you are writing an argumentative or persuasive composition, make sure to use examples and evidence to support your position. This can help to make your argument more convincing.
Practice: Practice writing compositions regularly, focusing on different types of writing and different prompts. This can help to improve your writing skills and make you more confident when it comes to taking exams.
Read widely: Reading widely will help to expose you to different styles of writing, vocabulary, and structures, which will in turn help you in your composition writing.
Understand the format and requirements of the specific exam you are taking and practice writing compositions that align with those requirements.
Be mindful of the time, make sure to manage your time well, and don't spend too much time on a single paragraph or idea.

Exclusive Suggestions for HSC 2023

10 Completing Story for HSC
10 Composition for HSC
10 Paragraph for HSC
HSC Bangla suggestions
HSC Biology uggesions
HSC Chemistry suggestions
HSC English Suggestions

Compositions

Food Adulteration Paragraph
Tree Plantation Composition

Paragraph with Bangla meaning

7th March Historical Speech paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Book Fair paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Bus Stand paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Fisherman paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Moonlit Night paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Railway Station paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Rainy Day paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Rickshaw Puller paragraph with Bangla meaning
A School Magazine paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Street Accident paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Street Beggar paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Street Children paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Street Hawker paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Tea Stall paragraph with Bangla meaning
A Village Doctor paragraph with Bangla meaning
Adolescence paragraph with Bangla meaning
Air Pollution paragraph with Bangla meaning
Bangabandhu paragraph with Bangla meaning
Climate Change paragraph with Bangla meaning
Dangers of Smoking paragraph with Bangla meaning
Deforestation paragraph with Bangla meaning
Diaspora paragraph with Bangla meaning
Dowry System paragraph with Bangla meaning
Drug Addiction paragraph with Bangla meaning
Early Marriage paragraph with Bangla meaning
Early Rising paragraph with Bangla meaning
Environment Pollution paragraph with Bangla meaning
Etiquette and Manners paragraph with Bangla meaning
Female Education paragraph with Bangla meaning
Folk Music paragraph with Bangla meaning
Food Adulteration paragraph with Bangla meaning
Gender Discrimination paragraph with Bangla meaning
Global Warming paragraph with Bangla meaning
Globalization paragraph with Bangla meaning
Good Manners paragraph with Bangla meaning
Higher Education in Bangladesh paragraph with Bangla meaning
Human Rights paragraph with Bangla meaning
International Mother Language Day paragraph with Bangla meaning
Life of a Farmer paragraph with Bangla meaning
Load Shedding paragraph with Bangla meaning
Metro Rail paragraph with Bangla meaning
Modern Technology paragraph with Bangla meaning
My Classroom paragraph with Bangla meaning
My Country paragraph with Bangla meaning
My Reading Room paragraph with Bangla meaning
Natural Calamities in Bangladesh paragraph with Bangla meaning
Nelson Mandela paragraph with Bangla meaning
Our National Flag paragraph with Bangla meaning
Our School Library paragraph with Bangla meaning
Padma Bridge paragraph with Bangla meaning
Peace and Conflict paragraph with Bangla meaning
Price Hike paragraph with Bangla meaning
Sound Pollution paragraph with Bangla meaning
The Importance of Learning English paragraph with Bangla meaning
The Importance of Reading Newspaper paragraph with Bangla meaning
The Life of A Day Labourer paragraph with Bangla meaning
Traffic Jam paragraph with Bangla meaning
Tree plantation paragraph with Bangla meaning
Water Pollution paragraph with Bangla meaning
Winter Morning paragraph with Bangla meaning

Completing Story

10 Completing Story for SSC
A Cunning Fox and a Foolish Crow Completing story
A farmer and His Goose Completing Story
A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed completing Story
A King Without a Kingdom completing story
A liar shepherd Completing Story
A sly fox and a foolish crow completing story
A Thirsty Crow Completing Story
All that glitters is not gold completing story
An Honest Woodcutter Completing story
Androcles and the lion completing story
Devotion of Hazrat Bayazid to his mother completing story
Dividing the Bread Completing Story
Dress Doesn’t Make a Man Great Completing Story
Failure is the pillar of Success completing story
Grapes Are Sour Completing Story
Grasp All Lose All completing story
King Lear and his Daughters
King Midas and the Golden Touch completing story
Money Cannot Bring Happiness Completing Story
Robert Bruce and his kingdom story wih bangla meaning
Slow and Steady Wins the Race completing story
The Dove and the Ant completing story
The Golden Egg Completing Story
The lion and the mouse completing story
The Old Farmer and His Three Sons completing story
Unity is strength Completing Story
Where there is a will there is a way Completing Story
A Book Fair I have Visited Paragraph
A Book Fair Paragraph
A day labourer Paragraph
A Moonlit Night Paragraph
A PICNIC Paragraph
A Railway Station Paragraph
A Rainy Day Paragraph
A School Library Paragraph
A Street Accident Paragraph
A Tea Stall Paragraph
A Village Doctor Paragraph
A Village Fair Paragraph
A Winter Morning Paragraph
Adolescence Paragraph
An Ideal Student Paragraph
Auto Paragraph
Bangabandhu Satellite Paragraph
Child Labour Paragraph
Climate Change Paragraph
Copying in the examination paragraph
CoronaVirus Paragraph
Corruption Paragraph
Danger of smoking paragraph
Deforestation Paragraph
Dengue Fever Paragraph
Diaspora Paragraph
Discipline Paragraph
Dowry System Paragraph
Drug Addiction Paragraph
Early Marriage Paragraph
Effect of Television Paragraph
Environment Pollution Paragraph
Etiquette and Manner Paragraph
Female Education Paragraph
FIFA World Cup 2022 Paragraph
Folk Music Paragraph
Gender Discrimination Paragraph
Global Warming Paragraph
Globalization Paragraph
Good Health Paragraph
Green House Effect Paragraph
Higher Education in Bangladesh Paragraph
Historic 7th March Speech Paragraph
HSC 2023 Paragraph suggestion
Human Rights Paragraph
Importance of Learning English Paragraph
Important Paragraph for HSC
International Mother Language Day Paragraph
Load-shedding Paragraph
Lockdown Paragraph
Metro Rail Paragraph
Mobile Phone Paragraph
Modern Technology Paragraph
Mujib Year / Mujib Borsho Paragraph
My Best Friend Paragraph
Newspaper Paragraph
Our Country Bangladesh Paragraph
Padma Bridge Paragraph
Pahela Baishakh Paragraph
Peace And Conflict Paragraph
Peace Movement Paragraph
Physical Exercise Paragraph
Population problem paragraph
Price Hike Paragraph
Road Accident Paragraph
Rohingya Crisis Paragraph
Sound Pollution Paragraph
SSC important Paragraph
Street Children Paragraph
Superstition Paragraph
Terrorism in the campus paragraph
Terrorism Paragraph
The 21st February Paragraph
The Importance of Learning English Paragraph
The Life of a Farmer Paragraph
Tree Plantation Paragraph
Victory Day Paragraph
An email to your friend describing how to use internet
Email to Your Friend Condoling at His Father’s Sudden Death
Write an email inviting your friend to come to visit the Sundarbans
Write an email to your father about your progress in studies and preparation for the exam
Write an email to your father describing your exam
Write an email to your father informing him of your result that has been published recently
Write an email to your foreign friend telling him about beauty of Bangladesh
Write an email to your friend about the duties and responsibilities of a good citizen
Write an email to your friend about the experience of visiting the Shat Gambuj Mosque
Write an email to your friend about the importance of games and sports
Write an email to your friend about your experience of a train journey
Write an email to your friend congratulating him for his good performance in a cricket match
Write an email to your friend congratulating him/her on his/her brilliant success
Write an email to your friend describing a historical place
Write an email to your friend describing about your country and its natural beauty
Write an email to your friend describing the co-curricular activities of your college
Write an email to your friend describing the prize giving ceremony of your college
Write An Email To Your Friend Describing Your Native Village
Write an email to your friend greeting him/her happy new year
Write an email to your friend inviting him to attend the wedding ceremony of your elder brother/ sister
Write an email to your friend inviting him to spend the summer vacation with you in your village home
Write an email to your friend narrating the sufferings of the flood affected people
Write an email to your friend telling him about taking food in a Chinese restaurant
Write an email to your friend telling him about your recent visit to Paharpur
Write an email to your friend telling him/her about the benefits of reading newspaper
Write an email to your friend thanking him whose home you have visited recently
Write an email to your mother about how you physically feel after recovery from an ailment
Write an email to your pen friend asking him/her to visit Bangladesh
Write an email to your pen friend informing him about the experience of visiting a book fair
Write an email to your younger brother about the importance of learning English
Write an email to your younger brother advising him not to adopt unfair means in the examination
Write an email to your younger brother advising him to be regular in studies
Write an email to your younger brother describing him the importance of ICT knowledge
Write an email to your younger brother describing the importance of physical exercise

Informal Letter

Write a letter about your preparation for the coming SSC exam
Write a letter describing how you have celebrated the Pohela Boishakh
Write a letter describing the importance of physical exercise
Write a letter of sympathy to your sick friend in hospital
Write a letter on how to improve proficiency in English
Write a letter to pen friend about food and food habit of Bangladesh
Write a letter to your father informing him of your mother’s illness
Write a letter to your friend about the annual prize giving ceremony of your school
Write a letter to your friend about your aim in life
Write a letter to your friend condoling him on his father’s death
Write a letter to your friend congratulating him on his brilliant result
Write a letter to your friend consoling him at his failure in the SSC examination
Write a letter to your friend describing the accident you have witnessed
Write a letter to your friend describing the bad effect of smoking
Write a letter to your friend discussing the importance of learning English
Write a letter to your friend inviting him to join the picnic
Write a letter to your friend inviting him/her to spend a few days with during the summer vacation
Write a letter to your friend telling him about the importance of reading newspaper
Write a letter to your friend telling him how you have spent the summer vacation
Write a letter to your friend thanking him for a birthday gift
Write a letter to your younger brother advising him to be sincere and attentive to his study

ভাবসম্প্রসারণ

ভাবসম্প্রসারণ: আপনারে লয়ে বিব্রত রহিতে আসে নাই
ভাবসম্প্রসারণ: দুঃখের মত এত বড় পরশ পাথর আর নেই
ভাবসম্প্রসারণ: পথ পথিকের সৃষ্টি করে না
ভাবসম্প্রসারণ: বিদ্যার সাথে সম্পর্কহীন জীবন অন্ধ
ভাবসম্প্রসারণ: বিদ্যার সাধনা শিষ্যকে নিজে করতে হয়
ভাবসম্প্রসারণ: স্বদেশের উপকারে নাই যার মন

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18 Study Tools Every HSC Student Should Know About

Welcome to our monthly roundup of undisputed favourite study tools which are worth adding to your toolbelt as soon as possible. From free access to past written works to a virtual campus, these are the HSC resources that are available that have been highly recommended by the AceHSC team and they can’t stop talking about it.

We know how hard it can be to transition from studying from home to back at school and we are here to help. If you are feeling overwhelmed with HSC study and exam prep and you just don’t know where to start, this guide may be just what you need.

This guide has 7 categories of different resources that you might find useful and helpful throughout your HSC journey and for your exam preparation.

Type of Online Tools

All-Rounder study tools

All about that Quizzes

Productivity tools, improve your writing skills, yay math said no one ever.

For visual learners

Need Extra Challenge?

The all-rounder.

AceHSC has all the free resources and tools that you need to survive high school and its challenges. If you are new to our community, we strongly recommend you start from browsing our Study Resources site. We all know how important past exam questions and solid study notes are for exam success, so we collected a massive library of past works to help you ace your HSC journey. Whether or not you have your study notes prepared , our Quizzes and Articles are very popular amongst the students. Quizzes are a very powerful tool when it comes to revision and closing your knowledge gap, our articles are also there to guide and motivate your HSC study journey. We have currently launched our friendly HSC forum community and video library to help you study better. Sign up for our mailing list to get notified when our new features are live!

Khan Academy

Khan Academy has a library dedicated for all levels of learners and teachers. This platform is a highly useful source of academic learning and is especially useful for students who prefer to study at their own pace.

Unlike learning from YouTube videos, you can look for videos for demonstrations on how to solve each problem correctly. In case you didn’t know, Khan Academy is free for everyone.

Art of Smart Resources

Whether you are looking for a 1 on 1 tutor or a mentor, you can’t go wrong with Art of Smart . They offer a free range of study guides, articles, practice questions and papers especially tailored for students.

For the most part, offering range of tutoring classes and skill-building workshops for Year 7 to 12 students. If you prefer to have guidance and support tailored to your own personal goals, you should totally check out Art of Smart’s mentor program.

HSC CoWorks Resources

If you are on a hunt to find a virtual campus for extra support for your Year 11 and 12 study journey HSC Coworks is a great resource to explore, HSC Coworks offers face to face programs as well as virtual programs to suit your study needs.

They are also known for its flexible yet structured program for you to achieve your ATAR goal. You may want to discuss with your parents about their fees if you are interested none the less you’re sure to have a sharp advantage in your studies.

During your study sessions, it is always a good idea to stop and review what you have learned. Repetition is essential to master your learning, and one way to repeat content is through quizzes.

Here we present Quizlet , the ultimate platform that helps you confidently learn and master anything

Note taking is such an important part of the life for every student. Evernote is one of the highest rated note taking application that allows you to create, organise, and sync your notes across your devices.

What makes it stand out is its web clipping feature where you can capture any useful content from the web and add your own personal notes and drawings on to it. If you are currently using an Evernote-book to boost your productivity, share your tips with us and help your fellow students!

Marinara Timer

Time management is great in theory – it challenges you to prioritise tasks and execute each effectively – but it is easy said than done.

Marinara Timer is your custom productivity timer that you can tailor to suit your productivity needs. It is specifically designed to improve your workflow by pushing you to complete your tasks within the set period of time.

My Study Life

No matter if you are an overachiever or an idealist, you need to formulate some form of a system whether in your brain or written down to organise and prioritise your tasks and events. My Study Life is such an underrated tool for both HSC and uni students to schedule every assignment, test, and upcoming deadline.

It may take you a while to discover how My Study Life can benefit you, but we guarantee that your study journey will be much smoother if you stick to it.

Self Control

If you find yourself scrolling through social media apps mindlessly for hours, Selfcontrol is easily one of the best apps to remove distractions and enable you to focus on your real work.

It is a free app that allows you to block your own access to websites for a pre-set period of time. Unfortunately, Selfcontrol is available for Mac users only but there are plenty of alternatives out there that runs on Windows with similar functionality.

We have tested most of the grammar software tools out there – and Grammarly is a top-rated product for good reason.

One, Grammarly’s free feature does real-time grammar correction and spell checking for you.

Two, Grammarly doesn’t just tell you what is incorrect, it is programmed to give you detailed explanations so that you can understand and improve on your writing skills.

Three, Grammarly is extremely easy and simple to use – all you have to do is install the plugin on your browser and you are ready to go!

What to do when you’re stuck on an essay? Look no further because we have what you are looking for – the EssayBot . It is your personal AI writing tool that is designed to give you a nudge to get started or continue on your essay writing.

The most exciting part is that EssayBot now generates standardised MLA & APA citations! The only downside of this tool is that the free trial lasts for 7 days only.

Hemingway App

For students who are struggling to improve their writing, Hemingway App could be the major gamechanger. This online tool is easy-to-use and extremely interactive – all you have to do is to cut and paste your work into the Hemingway front page and it will proofread your work in real time.

We have been told that students are in love with Hemingway’s readability grade and detailed analytics on how to improve their writing skills

Did you know that human brains respond to visuals better than text or any other kind of learning material? The fastest and easiest way to learn maths is actually to watch how the experts do it and practice on your own after.

If you are not confident with maths, we highly recommend visiting Eddie Woo’s Youtube channel and binge-watch his fun and informative math lessons. Just like Eddie said, ‘there’s magic in maths – if you know where to look…

RMIT Learning Lab

Do you find maths and science challenging? Maybe you should give RMIT Learning Lab a try. The Lab has a dedicated section for Year 11 and 12 maths and science study resources.

If you do not have a good foundation for these subjects, the Lab has online videos that explain basic concepts, as well as free tutorial worksheets and booklets to help you study well for your exams.

WolframAlpha

We get it. Math is not everyone’s favourite subject, yet we cannot escape from it. If you are stuck with a complex math problem and need an answer instantly, Wolfram Alpha would do a much better job as an online problem solver than Google.

All you have to do is type the math problem into the search bar and Wolfram Alpha will solve it in a matter of seconds. You know what they say, seek diligently and ye shall find.

For Visual Learners

To all the visual learners out there, we get you. If you prefer learning through mind maps, you might already have Popplet in your study toolbelt. This tool is highly interactive and extremely useful for group projects and brainstorming sessions.

What’s great about Popplet is it allows your teammates to collaborate on the platform and you can export your work into PDF or JPEG files.

We all know that practising with past exam papers is by far the best HSC exam preparation method (even in uni). HSC Ninja has a huge library of HSC practice exam-styled questions for you to step up your HSC exam prep game.

If you would like a sneak peek of your ATAR score estimate based on your HSC marks, you should also check out their HSC ATAR Calculator.

P ascal Press

Are you looking for home study materials to do extra hours of practice and revision? You should check out Pascal Press .

It is widely known for publishing a broad range of quality educational resources, such as ATAR Notes, Political and Legal Studies books, Vocational Education & Training material and many others that you may need for your studies. Visit their website now so you don’t miss out on their clearance sale.

Explore our website for free HSC resources , useful learning tips and material. Join our community for friendly discussions on any HSC topics.

AceHSC Blog

Helping students succeed since 2016 + Making studying easier.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, getting college essay help: important do's and don’ts.

College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Want to write the perfect college application essay? We can help. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will help you craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay to proudly submit to colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now:

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
Tell you what to say and how to say it
Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download them for free now:

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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HSC: Choosing Your Subjects [A Guide]

Olivia Widjaja

Monday 7th, May 2018

This article is from the perspective of Olivia, a current Year 12 student and ATAR Notes contributor. Olivia runs a great studyblr Instagram account, which you can check out here .

Choosing your subjects for Years 11 and 12 can be quite difficult, considering how there are a large number of subject myths. On the other hand, some students may be interested in a large number of subjects but can’t narrow their selections down to 12 units. So how do you choose your subjects? The main tip in choosing subjects is to take note of:

What subjects you’re good at

What subjects interest you

These points are really important for helping you narrow down what subjects to choose. If you happen to be good at a subject, it can obviously help your ATAR since it can scale you up if you do really well in the HSC. Of course, you need to be interested in the subject as well – if you really enjoy a subject, you’re more determined to do well even if you don’t do as well or if you happen to not like the teacher.

Noting Strengths and Weaknesses

This is really important to take note of when going through your school Subject Handbook. If essay-writing happens to be your biggest weakness, then maybe humanities isn’t the way to go considering how all humanities subjects require you to write at least one essay. On the other hand, if you’re extremely passionate about the content but you still find essay-writing a weakness, you can improve throughout the two years. Essentially, no one really knows what they’re doing until Trials arrive, which is why you shouldn’t be too discouraged if teachers think you’re not capable of doing a subject.

However, you need to consider how dedicated you are in making sure you can improve. For example, if you think you can take on an Extension subject, be realistic with yourself and ask: How willing are you to spend more time studying for a specific subject? Are you capable of learning new concepts quickly? These are the kind of questions you should ask yourself because you need to make sure you’re willing to put in the effort. However, remember that you can drop a subject if you happen to not do well in the subject or if you found out you didn’t like the subject.

I think this process is very important to determine what level of math you want to take. A lot of Year 10 students have asked me if they do 5.2 level of maths, can they do Extension Math? My answer: definitely. However, you need to be willing to work hard and keep up with the new content. A lot of students are shocked at the beginning of prelim year because they’re not used to the pace. However, if you enjoy maths, and you’re willing to work hard, then you are capable of taking any level of math. You just need to be realistic with yourself.

Math or No Math?

A lot of students go through this dilemma when choosing their subjects. Many think that you need to know what you want to do in university to help determine if you should take math or not. This is actually partially true. Unless you really know what you want to do in university or any form of tertiary education – maybe if you want to go into law or media studies – I would personally suggest taking a math subject; it doesn’t have to be Mathematics Extension 1 level, but even taking General Math (or I’ve heard they’ve changed the name to Standard Math) can be beneficial. This is because University of Sydney has become the first university to state that mathematics is becoming a prerequisite as of 2019 – of course, this is for selected subjects but if you look at the website, they’ve set out a table saying what courses have a mathematics prerequisite, including Combined Law degrees such as Commerce and Economics.

As for other universities, they haven’t implemented this prerequisite but keep an eye out just in case there are any changes in the future. If you happen to not take math but then you had a sudden career change, keep an eye out for some bridging courses. I’m not sure for other universities, but I do know Western Sydney University has a math course specifically for those who want to do Engineering but didn’t take math. So keep an eye out and do a bit of digging!

University Requirements: Prerequisites vs Assumed Knowledge

And thus, I segue into university requirements. When you flip through an undergraduate guide, you may notice a list of subjects that these universities have listed next to a degree. Note how it says assumed knowledge, which means you don’t have to take the subject they listed. It would be beneficial if you were to take the subject, but you shouldn’t force yourself just because the undergraduate guide listed it as assumed knowledge.

A good example of this is Extension Math for Engineering degrees. A lot of universities say that Extension Math is assumed knowledge, but that doesn’t mean they won’t accept you if you didn’t do Extension Math. Remember, universities also need to make money, and as cynical as it sounds, if a student is willing to pay for their fees, they’ll most likely accept you. There are stories of students who got into a course and their ATAR was slightly below the cut off. Will you struggle during university? I’ll be blunt, yes. But they’ll research everything to you during your first year. Following my Engineering example, a lot of people who did Mathematics struggled because they’re not used to the pace. However, it is still doable, which is why you should never choose a subject because it’s listed as assumed knowledge.

Prerequisites is a different story, and is something I touched on in the previous section.

Subject Myths

There will always be subject myths. There are so many rumours surrounding different subjects, such as “Society & Culture is really easy” or “Ancient History is just memorising key terms.” All these subjects have a level of difficulty. Plus, the level of difficulty differs from each person, so never follow any of these rumours.

Another issue I hear is subject hierarchy. You shouldn’t be pushing yourself to do a 3 Unit subject just so you can say “Oh I did Extension Math/ English.” You should be choosing the subject because you enjoy it. That being said, a lot of schools discourage doing Extension Math and Extension English. Initially, I didn’t understand this because I wanted to pick up both subjects. As a Year 12 student taking Extension Math, I can understand why. These subjects are quite heavy in their own respective ways.

Extension Math is quite demanding with how many hours you spend doing homework and how long some of the working out is (especially geometric proofs). On the other hand, your writing skills for Extension English needs to be on point! I have many friends who take Extension English and they rant about doing more than three body paragraphs because you’re expected to write more in Extension English. Also, the texts you study are much harder. The first Year 11 Extension English task was an essay on T.S Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’, which is approximately a twenty-page poem. You need to be prepared to spend a significant portion of your study time to take up a 3 Unit subject. You’re wasting your time if you’re only choosing an Extension subject just for the glory. Plus, no one’s going to care what subjects you did in the future so the glory of taking an Extension subject isn’t going to last as long.

STEM vs Humanities

STEM vs humanities is another debate I hear often. Personally, you shouldn’t be categorising these subjects based on if they’re STEM or humanities. As someone who does a mix of STEM and humanities, there is a benefit in taking a mix of subjects. You often hear people who do more humanities subjects say that it’s easier to take a bunch of subjects that lie in a similar field because there are overlaps. Although this is true, I like to think that taking a variety of subjects is great during my study sessions because what if I get sick of writing Modern History essays? I can put that aside and do some math, or vice versa. Plus, there are some small overlaps between the two areas.

For example, Extension Math and Modern History may sound like completely different subjects, but the essay structure in Modern History is actually quite strict; Susie – our amazing HSC History lecturer – described the structure to be almost formulaic. Although there is a high chance that Modern History students also take Extension English, the essay structure in English is extremely different to Modern History. Your thesis is a mix of your opinion and the rubric and your arguments are more thematic, whereas Modern History is extremely factual.

Pre-Subject Night

Before subject night arrives, make sure you have a good flip through your subject handbook. It should give you a guideline on the expectations of the subject – such as what skills are expected when taking the subject – and the list of topics and electives your school has selected. Prioritise what subject you’re interested in. Shortlist a bunch of subjects that you’re interested in. During my subject night, I was going to walk around the subjects with my friends but then I realised it wasn’t the best idea, so I decided to walk around on my own. Your shortlisted subjects shouldn’t be based on what your friends are interested in.

By shortlisted, I don’t mean having a definite list of what subjects you know you will take. You might change your mind during the subject market. Just have at least ten subjects you know you have a level of interest and once you’ve gone through each subject. Plus, just by looking at the list of subjects, you may be able to easily rule out a specific department you know you’re not interested in. For example, a lot of my friends easily ruled out the LOTE department because they knew they weren’t interested in learning another language.

What to do during Subject Markets

Subject markets are a great opportunity for you to ask questions. This doesn’t mean asking the students if there are ‘bludge’ subjects. Ask questions such as how heavy the workload is or how content-heavy a subject is. Unless you have developed strong study habits, it’s great to take a mix of content-heavy and maths in this section. Science subjects, on the other hand, are a mix of content and practical so I’d say it’s beneficial picking up a science subject in conjunction with a math or humanities subject.

Another thing you should remember is to ask for a scope and sequence. It basically tells you want kind of topics they’ll go through during a certain time frame. This is more for the math subjects. Not only does it tell you what kind of content you’ll be going through, it will also tell you how fast they’ll be going through the content.

For the humanities subjects (and maybe science as well), you should also ask what kind of assessments they usually do. By this, I mean if there are going to be speeches, or hand-in assignments. It gives you a taste on what are the expectations when doing a subject, such as how much time you are expected to spend on this subject. For example, when I was volunteering for subject night, I went through all the types of assessments for Society & Culture for a Year 10 student. This actually helped her decide whether or not she wanted to do the subject because Society & Culture can be demanding, in the sense that you have to conduct primary research. To some, this may not be attractive, considering how you have to promote your primary research to gather some quality results. To others, assignments may be something they do better in rather than exams, which is why assessment format is another important factor to take note of when going through your subject list.

So here are a few tips on how to choose your subjects. Subject selection may take a while for you to decide, and sometimes you may not expect yourself to take a subject. For example, I never thought I would take Society & Culture but then at last minute, I ended up taking it. Also, remember that you can pick up and drop a subject. I’m not entirely sure if other schools do this, but during the first two weeks of Term 1, it was like a period of experimentation to see if you were interested in the subject. After those two weeks, you were able to pick up a different subject as long as they were able to fit the subject with your other subjects. Also, remember that you can always drop down to ten units at the end of Year 11, so don’t panic if you just discovered you disliked a subject half-way through Year 11.

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COMMENTS

Part 6: How To Write An Essay
Read this guide to learn how to write an essay for Year 11 and 12. Writing practice essays is an essential part of getting Band 6 for English.
How to Write a Kickass Band 6 HSC English Essay
Band 3 - 60-69 marks. Band 2 - 50-59 marks. Band 1 - 0-49 marks. Obviously we're aiming for a Band 6 here, so the first thing we need to do is check out what's actually required of us to achieve that mark. The best place to get that kind of info is NESA! NESA describes the HSC English Essay Band 6 criteria as follows;
Years 10-12 Course: Essay Writing
Years 10-12 study and essay skills. The smart way to prepare for your HSC. This two-day Essay Writing course focuses on the essay form and related critical thinking, language and punctuation skills for students in Years 10 - 12. The course is relevant to a range of subjects that require the writing of essays for assignments and exams.
Part 5: How to Plan and Structure an Essay
Part 5: How to Plan and Structure an Essay - Matrix Education. It is important to know how essays work if you want to write Band 6 responses. In this part of our guide, we explain how to plan and structure an essay. We also give you a variety of different structures that you can employ in your essays to ensure that you get the marks you need.
A State Ranker's Guide to Writing 20/20 English Advanced Essays
An essay is a structured piece of writing that argues a point in a clear, sophisticated way, and expresses personality and flair. Let's have a look at each of these keywords - and how they should inform our essay-writing process - in more detail. 3. "Arguing a point" means CAUSE and EFFECT. When most people study English, they tend to ...
How to Write a HSC Essay
Thesis: Your thesis statement, as outlined above. This is where you, immediately, put forward what you will be discussing in your essay. It may contain an opinion, it may not, but either way it is what you will be proving in your essay. This can be one or two sentences, depending on how complicated you want it to be.
HSC Standard English: The Ultimate Guide to Getting That Band 6!
We've also created 20 questions for you to choose from to write a Module B practice essay, which you can find here: 20 Practice Questions for HSC Standard English Module B: Close Study of Literature Part 5: The Guide to Module C: The Craft of Writing. The new HSC Standard English Module C is a frightening prospect for most students.
Improving your HSC English essay from the 17 range to the 19-20 range
Improving your HSC English essay from the 17 range to the 19-20 range. English is one of those subjects that is mandatory for year 11 and year 12 students to undertake. However, it's not that hard of a subject to smash. In my first and second assignment, I was always getting 17/20 and the feedback I got to improve those marks, was minimal and ...
How to succeed with essay writing in HSC English
By laying the foundational content out all on one document, students are able to reduce stress around essay writing and set themselves up to best perform in the English exam room in those first 2 days of their exams. Check out this video from Head Performance Coach Jesse, HSC CoWorks Founder Fergus, and Education Performance Manager Donna on ...
HSC Essay Writing 101 Lesson #1
Welcome to Essay Writing 101, brought to you by Anqi. This post on accurate writing marks the beginning to a series of short blog lessons specifically created to help Australian high school students in preparing for HSC English. However, it will be helpful for anyone looking to start English literary essay writing.
HSC preparation (years 10-12)
Years 10-12 study and essay skills. The smart way to prepare for your HSC. This two-day Essay Writing course focuses on the essay form and related critical thinking, language and punctuation skills for students in Years 10 - 12. The course is relevant to a range of subjects that require the writing of essays for assignments and exams.
Developing the Skill of Essay Writing
Developing the skill of essay writing. Mar 2, 2021. Fergus Gardiner, Founder of HSC CoWorks + an English and Modern History Teacher, outlines the secret to writing a strong HSC Essay in this video and also highlights WHY essay writing is a critical skill for students to develop at school and take with them into the next stage of their life.
How to Ace your HSC English Exam
Good Luck. Overall, the HSC English Exam is one of the most stressful and unpredictable exams you will have to take. By being strategic in response to your questions, you will be organised, prepared and have limited anxiety as the exam approaches. With these tips, you will sharpen your analysis and writing skills, allowing you to ace your exam.
Collection of useful Resources for HSC Students
Collection of useful resources for HSC Students ... & I'm crying real tears so if you want study notes or past papers and explanations of how to write different types of essays check out. Divinia 2019 HSC Graduate. Absolute lifesaver, helped me so much because I was sort of expecting the questions and a lot of it was very similar. ...
Years 10-12 study and essay skills
Years 10-12 study and essay skills. The smart way to prepare for your HSC. This two-day Essay Writing course focuses on the essay form and related critical thinking, language and punctuation skills for students in Years 10 - 12. The course is relevant to a range of subjects that require the writing of essays for assignments and exams.
Essay Writing For The HSC
Why students struggle with essay writing. Effective essay writing has been on the decline for the past fifteen years in schools. Students struggle with their interpretation of questions, the harnessing of powerful evidence and structure and expression. As schools and teachers are increasingly time poor, essay writing is left until students have major assessment tasks and trial examinations ...
hsc english essay writing workshops
HSC CoWorks Founder Fergus has worked as a teacher across various schools in Sydney since 1984. In 1996, he founded the first HSC CoWorks campus in Bondi Junction, as well as the HSC CoWorks online portal which provides HSC students with a 'system' for writing essays and access to an expert essay marking service which allows students to practice their writing.
Composition
Composition writing is the process of creating written works such as essays, stories, and other types of texts. It requires the writer to organize their thoughts and ideas in a clear and coherent manner, and to express themselves using appropriate language and grammar. I have written all important compositions for all classes students including ...
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The All-Rounder AceHSC. AceHSC has all the free resources and tools that you need to survive high school and its challenges.If you are new to our community, we strongly recommend you start from browsing our Study Resources site. We all know how important past exam questions and solid study notes are for exam success, so we collected a massive library of past works to help you ace your HSC journey.
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Olivia is a current Year 12 student studying HSC Modern History. For everything Modern, check this out.HSC Modern History, just like any other Humanities subjec... Free Resources. Premium Resources. ... Essay-Writing. Essays are inevitable - you have three 25-mark essays, albeit your Personality essay is split up into a 10-mark and 15-mark ...
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Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. (Vanderbilt University) So, basically, a big old thumbs up on the whole "get someone to look at your essay" situation, as far as colleges are concerned.
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HSC: Choosing Your Subjects [A Guide] This article is from the perspective of Olivia, a current Year 12 student and ATAR Notes contributor. Olivia runs a great studyblr Instagram account, which you can check out here. Choosing your subjects for Years 11 and 12 can be quite difficult, considering how there are a large number of subject myths.
HSC Writing Center
Appointments. Hours: Monday-Thursday 9:00 am-4:00 pm. Modality options: in person (HSC Student Union, Room 214) or virtual. Length options: 25 minutes or 50 minutes. Each writer is allowed 2 appointments per week. Book an appointment at MyWCOnline. How to Schedule an Appointment: Register for an account at https://ouhsc.mywconline.com.