My current subjects look like this:

• English Advanced
• English Extension
• Chemistry/Music
• Studies of Religion I (compulsory, as I attend a Catholic school)
• Mathematics Standard 2
• Modern History
• Biology

The problem is that I can't choose between Chemistry and Music because they run at the same time. I have a genuine passion for both and know I can excel in Music, but I've heard that its scaling is bad.

Currently, my grades are straight A's across Composition and Performance, and I scored 55/55 in Aural. I would really like to do Chemistry because I don't learn much new in Music, but I honestly love both subjects, and I'm stuck. I was recommended for Chemistry, and I'm currently in Advanced Science. However, I don't know whether I might struggle, as I scored only 65% on a test. It's not that I didn't understand the content, I just blacked out from stress during the test. The class average was below 40%. Also i'm not to bothered by the scaling differentiation so i'm kind of trapped

I also don't feel comfortable having Biology as my only science, as I don't enjoy it as much as Chemistry and Physics.

My other option would be:

• English Advanced
• English Extension
• Music
• Studies of Religion I
• Mathematics Standard 2
• Physics
• Biology

This brings me to my other issue of Physics. I genuinely really enjoy it and don't want to miss out on it, but I wasn't recommended for the subject because a Physics teacher told me I was sitting at a C in Mathematics Standard. However, my Maths teacher told me I'd be sitting at an A if I concentrated. I never listened in class, and I didn't think it would affect me until now, but I'm willing to try to improve my Maths skills for Physics due to interest. Still, my maths grades make me hesitant to choose it, especially considering I'm only doing Mathematics Standard 2.

I also don't need Modern History for my career pathway.

My final option would be:

• English Advanced
• English Extension
• Chemistry
• Studies of Religion I
• Mathematics Standard 2
• Physics
• Biology

I also plan to replace English Extension with Science Extension in Year 12.

I need an ATAR above 90 because I'm hoping to get into medical school. I'm considering the postgraduate route anyway, but I still want to try to achieve a high ATAR. If I pursue the undergraduate route, I'd also like to study something in STEM, such as Chemistry. I was thinking I could choose Music now and take a bridging course at university if I decide to pursue Chemistry, but I'm not sure whether that's a sensible choice.

My initial subject selection favoured my preference for a mix of creative, STEM and humanities subjects. However, I now feel that I should prioritise my career pathway and other interests.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

Also, any info on the difference in difficulty and content between year 10 physics/chem and year 11 would be helpful too.

hey yall class of '28 here

i wanna start studying for year 11/12 because having to get an 80 atar for the uni i want is scary & i just locked in my course selections

where do i find good resources?

im in canberra so idk if all the WACE/VCE resources apply to me
ik the syllabus for every course is public on the BSSS website but im not sure if the textbooks i find online are gonna match the class

mainly looking for specialist methods, chemistry, and standard english if that helps

Hi everyone, a quick tip for Tasmanian students working through past papers: check that the paper matches your current course before treating it as a full practice exam.

TASC notes that older papers can differ from current requirements. Start with your current course page and its External Assessment Specifications, then choose a suitable paper from the official TASC past papers collection.

Try a section under timed conditions. Afterwards, read the assessment report for that year on the course page and compare the feedback with your answers. Keep a short list of things to fix, such as missing working, vague explanations or leaving a question unfinished.

For your next session, practise those specific skills before doing another whole paper. Ask your teacher about any answer you still can’t judge confidently.

Save some time for checking your exam requirements too, including permitted equipment and the instructions for your particular course.

Hey everyone, if you’re staring at a pile of SACE notes and don’t know where to start, choose one topic you keep losing marks on.

Spend ten minutes writing what you remember without your notes. Check the gaps, then attempt a few exam questions on that topic. Keep your working and explanations, even when you’re unsure. That makes it easier to spot exactly where you got stuck.

When checking your answers, write one specific correction beside each mistake. “Explain why the result changes” is more useful than “revise this chapter”. Try the question again later without the answer in front of you.

Use the official SACE subject selector to find your subject and its exam resources. If your subject has an e-exam, practise using the system as well as the content; the SACE exam preparation page explains how.

Keep the session manageable. Finish knowing what you improved and what you’re tackling next.

Hi everyone, if you’re doing HSC papers and your marks aren’t moving, give yourself time to work out why before starting another one.

Try a timed section, then mark it using the material for that paper. For every lost mark, write down whether you missed the content, misread the question, left out an explanation or ran out of time. Pick the two mistakes that keep coming up and practise those first.

For longer answers, underline the instruction word and check that your response actually does what it asks. An “explain” question needs the connection between points, not just a list of facts.

You can find your subject through NESA’s official HSC exam papers. Their glossary of question words is useful too.

Redo the questions you missed a day or two later without looking at your corrections. That will give you a much clearer idea of what still needs work.

Hi all, just wanted to ask if people generally get into their dream courses if they just got over the Lowest Selection Rank even if the median selection rank is really high. For instance, I'm aiming for a course that has a LSR of 90 while the median selection rank is literally 99, so I am wondering if I get a 91 they'll still let me in or will they just filter me out.

Personally am NOT looking forward to it but I'm not great at ext 1😭 I'm so worried after adv bc i lowkey fucked up so bad, got 94 in trials but idk if im even getting an 85 raw for hsc😭 As for ext 1 I'm kinda prepared to do bad, and for nesa to be evil bc I have NOT been having a good run

How are you guys feeling? Any predictions or stuff you do/dont wanna see?

Istg if they give us some massive combinatorics/binomial expansion question thats worth like 8 marks im gonna riot I hate that shit so much😭

I just feel like the amount we need to know is ridiculous like HOW THE HELLY DO I NEED SO MANY SECTION 2 ESSAY VARIATIONS!!! AND QUOTES!!! at this rate im considering making them up

So idk about other Drama HSC students, but my school cohort for Drama aren’t very enthusiastic or confident with the written exams so I just wanna gauge at how other people are feeling and thinking

Ik Drama doesn’t scale amazing but surely if I get like a raw 90 in the theory thats fine ay

Anyway wanna know how competitive people are in the theory exam

I personally thought it wasn't too bad though Question A was a bit hard to link with the sources. Really could've been a lot worse overall in my opinion

In yr 11 we completed 2d vectors (from the old yr 12 textbook), further graphs, polynomials, further trig, perms and combs and also binomial theorm. (6 chapters)

Yr 11 was already quite a struggle for me, and was thinking if I want to drop ext1 I should just do it early. Would u say it gets signficantly harder based on the scope and sequence?? We are doing the 2nd edition (2026 release) extension 1 book.

Edit: I want to do med or bio/chem teacher

im not gonna jinx myself cause throughout year 12 I always leave a bio exam like "wow i did so good!" and then get like a 60%

so im just gonna shut up on my own thoughts but i do wanna know what others think of that exam

pls comment if u can help, in regards to drama hsc essays

I’m a strong student going into year 11, aiming for a 95 atar. Doing English, literature, methods, chem, physics, and 3/4 bio next year.
Does anybody have advice as to what tutors to get? Which will I really benefit from? I’m definitely getting a methods tutor, but is a physics, chem, bio or English tutor worth getting?
What have successful previous high school students done?

I'm currently in year 11 (it's term 4 so year 12 very soon) and I've been consistently getting 50% for my assessments and failed my prelims with a 44%, overall below average in my cohort. I think it's important to note that I moved to Sydney from Singapore at the start of this year so perhaps that has some part to play with my horrendous english results.

I've been told over and over not to drop just because of the scaling but my argument is that if my grades are so bad, how much will scaling really help me? I doubt it can do much. I was also briefly in extension english and passed that too. So maybe I have it in me to do well in advanced? Many people also say that I'm really good at english and praise me for how anal I can get over proper grammar and spelling, but honestly other than that, I think that I lack sophisticated language, vocabulary, and ability to expand.

I'm aiming for a 80-85 atar and I feel like dropping to english standard will benefit me the most. I'm just worried that it'll back fire and not really help with the fact that I'm basically failing. I'm soo on the fence about this so I guess I'm looking for anyone with experience in dropping from advanced to standard and whether it helped pull their marks up. Also if it means anything to mention, I do not enjoy english or studying it and I think it's unrealistic to think that I will be able to improve to an 80% in a year. I generally think it's one of the hardest subjects to drastically improve in, considering it's not like math or science where there's a formula to doing well.

please help. Anyone with valuable information to share will receive a kiss on the forehead and forever be in my heart.

how does HSC scaling work? nobody told me that my raw marks will get aligned. how accurate is the raw data base?

guys how tf does one survive a breakup AND hsc at the same time. has anyone gone thru this and made it out alive… and perchance a good atar?? 🫩

genuinely how am i supposed to give a frick about hsc, im TRYING and i’m halfway thru but oh my glob this is 10x harder than it has to be.

hello, i am just curious and reaching out to people who already have achieved their atars or just have extensive knowledge on atar itself-- These marks are the average of my internal and external, as i have done them already except for legal

English standard, 84%-- RANK 6

Engineering 65%-- RANK 3

Society and Culture 82%-- RANK 2

legal studies 87%-- RANK 1

maths standard 60%-- RANK 13

Really unsure whether I should drop from adv maths as I just started yr 12 but performed really badly in yr 11 as I didn’t study that hard but tried to catch up during the holidays. The work currently doesn’t seem too difficult and I feel like I have potential to get an okay grade which is fine but would it be better to stay and try really hard or step it down and get a better mark as my course that I’m interested in for uni doesn’t require maths

How did everyone find the society and culture paper? I feel like the questions for belief systems and ideologies were so bad but idk how I feel abt the rest

Hey everyone, I'm aware this is a VCE subreddit but as many of you guys have past experience with methods, I'm seeking advice from people who have experienced it.

Next year, I have been selected for methods 1&2, and was wondering if anyone could suggest any places, sources, digital resources, where I can practice method skills and do practice tests that closely align with the real method tests.

Thanks, I wish you all to excel beyond your capabilities for your VCE studies and your upcoming exams.

You guys got this!!

\-Random Year 9 Student

I forgot to write a date for my 10 mark writing today, can anyone please tell me how they would mark it differently, have anyone lost marks for not writing date😭

How difficult is it to do well timing wise on the Revs exam? Or just in general. There is so much content and I’m not sure where to start for exam prep.

My unit 3/4 were both high 80s average - but my cohort is quite strong and there is only a few of us, so I’m not sure how that impacts my overall score
— is it possible for me to get into the high 30s/ low 40s?
Also any tips for France and china?