HSC Tips

Every year the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards (BOSTES) releases Exam Workbooks from the previous HSC year. They look something like the image below.

These Exam Workbooks have in them a variety of useful resources which are great if you need some guidance. They include:

• the exam for the year
• samples of top-scoring students’ responses
• marker’s comments
• marking guidelines

They can be purchased through Board of Studies NSW online store. The workbooks are available as hard-copies for a variety of subjects which include:

• Ancient History
• Business Studies
• Chemistry
• Earth and Environmental Science
• Economics
• English (Standard and Advanced) Paper 1
• English Standard Paper 2 – Modules
• English Advanced Paper 2 – Modules
• English (ESL)
• Geography
• Legal Studies
• Modern History
• Textiles and Design
• Visual Arts

They are also available on a USB drive with lanyard for:

• Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE)
• English Extension 1

Recently, however BOSTES have made them available as ebooks too!

The ebooks are available from iTunes in the following subjects:

• Business Studies
• Chemistry
• Economics
• Geography
• Textiles and Design
• Visual Arts

“They have easy tap-through navigation and provide interactive, portable, full-colour reproduction of exams and student works and connectivity between each exam question and responses, so they are very easy to use.”

Every year the SMH releases a HSC Study guide. These guides provide details, tips, what not to do etc about specific subjects as well as the HSC in general. They are written by HSC markers, so they would know what they are talking about (hopefully…) with some even having suggestions from high achievers from past HSC years!

This is definitely something you should look at if you’re doing the HSC and have yet to hear about it, or have yet to look at. Some things on it are quite basic (such as reading every multiple choice question before choosing an answer), however others are much more useful. What’s most useful I’d say is the way it is separated into different subjects – the tips will be subject based.

There is also a range of media used – some include videos, quizzes and so on.

Check it out! Link below.

The 2014 SMH HSC study Guide.

Standards Packages

The Board of Studies reports student achievement in the Higher School Certificate in relation to standards. Students receive marks that relate to performance bands, where each band is described in a statement summarising the knowledge, skills and understanding typically demonstrated by students who have achieved that standard.

Standards packages have been produced by the Board of Studies to illustrate the standards established in Higher School Certificate courses. They include descriptions of the performance bands and how they are set, certain key statistical reports, and samples of responses typically produced by students whose achievements place them on the borderline between two bands. Where possible, there are ‘exemplar’ student responses, which are examples of responses that were awarded full marks. The examination paper, marking guidelines and the syllabus are also included.

You will find current performance band descriptions for each subject in the HSC syllabuses section of the main Board website.

Source: ARC BOS  – http://arc.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/hsc/std-packs/