How many practice papers did you do and did your teachers mark them? (1 Viewer)

[belmont9]

Just wondering because so many of my teachers never got back to me after I send through practice exams. Sometimes had to wait weeks for things to be marked. I went to a solid school (top 100 in the state) so I'd expect things to be better, but I guess they were just overworked.

Anyone had the same struggle? Did having a tutor help?

 

[Drdusk]

Just wondering because so many of my teachers never got back to me after I send through practice exams. Sometimes had to wait weeks for things to be marked. I went to a solid school (top 100 in the state) so I'd expect things to be better, but I guess they were just overworked.

Anyone had the same struggle? Did having a tutor help?

Yeaaaaaah I've had that and it's normal I think. I mean they're teachers they have a LOT of work to do. This is probably another reason people get tutors because it can help having that 1 on 1 kind of attention. I guess a tutor could help in your situation but do you need one? If your doing really good on assessments and exams then what's the need for a tutor? So I think if you really need one like if your struggling or something then yes a tutor can benefit you a lot.

 

[pikachu975]

Just wondering because so many of my teachers never got back to me after I send through practice exams. Sometimes had to wait weeks for things to be marked. I went to a solid school (top 100 in the state) so I'd expect things to be better, but I guess they were just overworked.

Anyone had the same struggle? Did having a tutor help?

I only asked biology teacher to mark some answers sometimes (not entire papers, just stuff I needed feedback on). Other stuff like maths and physics I could just use online answers. For bio (sometimes phys??) I just marked using online guidelines and swapped papers with my friend which was ultra useful tbh because we learnt how others answered questions while also getting feedback on our own answers

 

[TeheeCat]

For math (2U/3U), I completed 1-2 past papers every weekend which eventually changed to every morning as the trials and HSC exams approached closer. I'm not too sure what the total amount was though. For Economics and Business Studies, it was probably a total of 5-7 each since I only worked on the more recent papers and was pressed for time. What subjects are you doing?

I recommend being selective in what you send to your teachers. Instead of sending entire exam papers, opt for extended responses. This can include English/social sciences/history essays and the 7-9 short answers responses from English and Sciences. Between the two, definitely prioritise sending essays over individual short answer questions as these comprise a big chunk of marks in the HSC exams. At least most exam paper solutions include sample answers and marking criteria for short answers so you can somewhat self mark them.

Now if teachers still don't respond, try asking classmates for feedback instead. Sure they're not teachers but always helps to have another person to read over your work. You can also regularly mark each others' short answer responses. Also, self-mark your math exam papers as solutions are often provided anyway, plus it's helpful to catch your own mistakes! Though if there are still some questions you're unsure about, ask your teacher during class. Difficult for them to ignore you in that case.

 

[dasfas]

For both Bio & Chem, I did around 10 before trials and another 10 before the HSC.

You don't really need your teachers to mark it, except for the long 7-9 mark questions which are marked holistically. Add to your notes what you get wrong and modify your notes to mimic the wording of the marking rubric.

 

[gudetamago]

Since I sat the HSC for new syllabus subjects (Chem, Eng and Bio), I didn't do too many past papers for those. I bought the SUCCESS ONE Excel books 2019 Version for both Chem and Bio and did the entire thing. Helped me SO much for my trials and I topped my class in both subjects. For HSC, do the 2019 paper since it's out now (it's very different to the EXCEL style questions for Bio and focuses more on analysis of data rather than conceptual questions).

For English, I just did the questions and sample exams provided by companies such as Matrix, Art of Smart and ETA. I don't think I did a single past paper for English and I still ended up with a Band 6 (since it was for the new syllabus).

For Maths and Maths Ext I did as much past questions as I could since 2019 was going to be the last year for the current syllabus. I'm not too sure whether past papers are still relevant for 2020 and onwards but I'd check with your teachers and school for that.

For SOR1 I did every past paper from 2017 to 2001, some timed and some not-timed. Suprisingly, I got the highest HSC mark for SOR1 so I guess there is a benefit to doing past papers. But obviously this would vary between people. I advise not to do past papers unless you're 110% sure you know the syllabus back to front (or at least almost).

 

[KingOfActing]

I did every (yes including the old irrelevant ones xd) 2u, 3u and 4u past exams + most of the chemistry past exams, didn't get any marked by teachers except for the ones they gave out during class

 

[dasfas]

I did every (yes including the old irrelevant ones xd) 2u, 3u and 4u past exams + most of the chemistry past exams, didn't get any marked by teachers except for the ones they gave out during class

What do you mean by every, all the way down to 1970 something?

 

[KingOfActing]

What do you mean by every, all the way down to 1970 something?

Yeah there was a website that had them all (most had solutions too, some even had markers notes) - tbh I enjoyed them because that's the sort of person that I am xd

 

[KingOfActing]

Think it was this one https://thsconline.github.io/s/yr12/Maths/hscpapers_advanced.html

 

[Cherrybomb56]

For both Bio & Chem, I did around 10 before trials and another 10 before the HSC.

You don't really need your teachers to mark it, except for the long 7-9 mark questions which are marked holistically. Add to your notes what you get wrong and modify your notes to mimic the wording of the marking rubric.

just wondering how many papers did you do for bio and chem in year 11?

 

[dasfas]

just wondering how many papers did you do for bio and chem in year 11?

I did less because in y11as I didn't have access to past trial papers/hsc papers thus I was fairly limited in terms of questions. If you find the papers, anything more than 6 per subject for y11 is great, 4 is about normal.