Re: Do you guys wish that your whole ATAR was just calculated on your end of year exa
When I did the HSC we had one exam for each course, except English which had two, at the end of the course - no assessments.
As someone who has been teaching now for over 30 years I would say that we were way better prepared for the exam for one reason and one reason only - we only did exam type activities. For instance in both histories and geography I wrote at least one exam type essay per week (and we only wrote essays - no short responses or mulitiple choice - even the geography skills was an essay as was the English comprehension question - just 5 essays in 3 hours and no reading time, English had two three hour exams and four essays per exam and was on consecutive days, followed by Maths - so my first four days of the HSC went English, English, Maths, Maths and then the weekend.)
Of course in those days only the top 30% or so of students did the HSC and only the top half of that group went to uni but...did we have as good an education in these subjects as you have - I would say no - all we did was read the texts, summarise them and write essays on that content - while you get to develop a range of skills and students who have strengths besides being able to sit exams are able to showcase those skills and get rewarded for them in the HSC.
There are arguments both ways and both sets of arguments are valid.