I need a 90 HSC mark for English. Possible if I'm a 16-17/20 student? (1 Viewer)

[emilios]

My marks for essays tend to be around 17 on good tasks and 16 for not so strong ones (never received 15). I think my rank is about 4/50 in a school ranked 250ish. Continuing this trend (let's say I hit 16s and 17s in the hsc), can I still get 90 in English?

 

[strawberrye]

What English subject are you talking about, Advanced or Standard? How harsh are the markers at your school? It is usually very hard to say definitively whether you can get a mark of 90 since marks goes through moderation and alignment process, quite complex when you take into account the different scaling different texts in each module can have, my main advice is to work hard, to think about your texts and engage them on a deeper, more conceptual level and practice and get feedback to improve on your essay writing skills. Make sure you answer the essay question and nothing but the essay question for every essay you write Best wishes for you to ace in your HSC studies.

 

[emilios]

Woops yeah it's Advanced. I dunno my marks just don't seem proprtional to how much time I put in. Sometimes I try really hard and get 16 and sometimes I leave it until 3 days beforehand and get 17. Also, I feel like the markers at our school are quite harsh, and are certainly different from how my friends from other schools describe their teachers (18s and 19s are quite common. In my school its incredibly rare)

 

[RivalryofTroll]

Correct me if I'm wrong but....

If you got 12-13/15s and 16/20s in the HSC on average, you'd be hitting a 90 exam mark around (89-91) - give or take.

In fact, due to option aligning for some texts in the HSC - you could only need 14-15/20s. E.g. Hamlet Mod B - a 14-15/20 can be compared to a 16-17 in another text for Mod B.

Being ranked 4th in Advanced English (for a school in the 250s) --> statistically, you probably won't get a band 6 HSC mark BUT school rank fluctuates anyways and cohort performance changes from year to year so who knows.

Your trend is a positive one but let's face it - your internal MARKS =/= accurate indicator of how well you will do in your final exam.

Factors to consider for a band 6 HSC mark:
1. On the day of the HSC exam. You might bomb out or you might be on god mode. Things can happen on the day - you can get an exam mark that is above, below or equal to your assessment mark.
2. Your school. You might being marked too easy or too hard. School marking standards might differ from HSC marking standards. Dodgy marking. List goes on. You could get 18/20 for an essay during TRIALS then get 12/20 for the same essay during the HSC cause your school marks too easy.
3. Your peers and your internal rank. Imagine you got a 90 exam mark but got a 88 assessment mark (because someone/people ranked higher than you during school stuffed up their HSC exam). I know someone who got a 90 exam mark but a 82 assessment mark for Advanced English --> final HSC mark of 86.

Can you get 90? Yeah ofc.

Will you get 90? Depends on you and your cohort.

To be safe, you'd want to be ranked even higher.

 

[emilios]

Does it matter that the mark differentials are tiny? Like I know 4th rank doesn't sound too great but there's like a 3 or 4 mark gap between us, across 3 tasks (thats pretty much being 1 mark under consistently). Will those few marks really jeopardise my final mark THAT much? Cos if so then stuff this ranking system... it should be about my mark and my effort, not some other kid's.

 

[LoveHateSchool]

There is a possibility, but with the current rank/school rank, you'd probably be hitting 88-89 unless your school is particularly English strong for its rank. (or your cohort is stronger)

That said, if you up the anty for externals and push those essays up a mark, you could get B6