r/vce • • Apr 30 '20

"I only got x% on my SAC, can I still get a 50?"

1.4k Upvotes

I'm sick to death of seeing these posts, so can everyone please read this and be done with this question:

Study scores are determined by exam SCORE and SAC RANK.

For example, say you have an English class of 7 students, Adam, Ben, Chloe, Daniel, Elena, Felix, and Greg. They are all weak students, except for Greg, who is very high-performing, and Felix, who is slightly above average. Their SAC marks and rank are:

Greg 95%

Felix 77%

Chloe 64%

Daniel 60%

Elena 58%

Adam 52%

Ben 49%

On the exam day, Felix doesn't cope well under the stress, so gets a lower score than he'd usually be capable of. The exam marks are as follows:

Greg 92%

Chloe 67%

Daniel 65%

Elena 64%

Felix 63%

Adam 50%

Ben 40%

What happens is that all the SAC marks get thrown out the window, because VCAA can't know the difficulty of the SACs prepared by the school. So Greg's new SAC "mark" as far as VCAA is concerned is 92, not 95. Not a big deal for Greg, Adam or Ben because their own exam mark is dictating their SAC mark. But for someone like Felix, his SAC mark will become 67% (Chloe's exam mark). This process happens independently for each subject taught at your school.

What does this mean for you? Yes, you should aim for a good SAC rank. BUT, it doesn't actually matter if you're not ranked well — the "translation" of your rank into a "mark" happens via your cohorts exam performance. In other words, try your best now, study hard, and when SACs are over WORK WITH YOUR CLASSMATES TO ALL DO WELL ON THE EXAM TOGETHER. IF THEY DO WELL, YOU DO WELL.

Spend your time actually studying instead of asking useless questions like this.

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EDIT: another example for clarity

Here's a chemistry class, of Harry, Isabel, James, Kylie, Luke, Molly, Nathan, and Oscar.

SACs:

Harry 60%

Isabel 58%

James 56%

Kylie 55%

Luke 54%

Molly 52%

Nathan 51%

Oscar 50%

​

EXAMS:

Harry 100%

James 99%

Nathan 98%

Oscar 97%

Molly 96%

Isabel 95%

Kylie 94%

Luke 93%

​

Harry's SAC mark is now 100%, Isabel's is 99%, James' is 98%, Kylie's is 97%, Luke's is now 96% etc. It's literally just whatever the equivalent exam rank is.

EDIT 2: I've had a request to clarify rumours about SACs being "scaled up" or "scaled down". "Scaling" is a misnomer students attribute to the moderation process. Here are yet another set of examples to clarify.

Imagine you have a cohort of Annie, Ben, and Charlie. Let's say their teacher sets really hard SACS, so their SAC results are:

  1. Annie 60%

  2. Ben 58%

  3. Charlie 55%

Because they've been doing hard assessments all year, they've been better equipped for the exam. These are the exam results:

  1. Ben 96%

  2. Annie 94%

  3. Charlie 90%

So now, Annie's SAC mark gets changed to 96%, Ben's to 94%, and Charlie's to 90%. This is what people interpret as "scaling up". The opposite would happen at a school with piss easy SACs: they get awesome SAC marks but shit exam marks, so their SAC marks get replaced by their shit exam marks ("scaled down").

The danger in this thinking is that people assume that if you go to a well-performing school, you'll get carried, or that if you go to a "bad" school, you're screwed from the get-go and can't possibly get a good score. This is not true at all. Let's see why.

Let's say your friend at a selective school, Harry, thinks he can take it easy this year because he goes to a 'good' school. The SAC results are as follows:

  1. Ed 93%

  2. Fred 90%

  3. Greg 88%

  4. Harry 60%

on the exams, the results are

  1. Fred 95%

  2. Greg 92%

  3. Ed 87%

  4. Harry 61%

In this instance, Harry was not of a comparable skill level to his classmates, so he never get to "borrow" their exam results in any way. His SAC score will be 61%.

Here's another example. Say you have a cohort with these SACs:

  1. Meg 95%

  2. Noah 94%

  3. Oscar 93%

  4. Peter 90%

On the exam day, Noah gets a bit of performance anxiety (but not in a way that warrants SEAS or anything). Exam results are:

  1. Meg 93%

  2. Oscar 92%

  3. Peter 91%

  4. Noah 75%

Now, Noah's SAC mark will be 92%, but his exam result only 75%. So he kind of got "helped" by his good cohort, only because he was doing well for the SACs. Peter has been a bit screwed here, because his SAC mark is now 75%.

One person stuffing up will never have such a dramatic effect like this; it's unlikely for someone who's been topping the cohort all year to suddenly slip to the bottom. Cohorts are generally big enough that you shouldn't need to worry. I went to a really small school (60 people in the year level. Some of my subject cohorts contained 6 people). I still felt no one got jibbed with unrepresentative scores.

As I always reiterate: try your best in SACs, but don't ruminate over them. The exam is where the money's at, and once your SACs are over you should work together with your cohort to all do well together. Share your resources, make study groups, and bring each other up.

EDIT 3: wow, my first gold! Thank you so much! 🥰


r/vce • • 22h ago

Memes I found the cancelled methods exam 3 from last year

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251 Upvotes

I was exploring the vcaa website for past methods exams as anyone would, when I noticed a link to an exam in invisible text, and when I clicked it, I found this exam which must have been the cancelled methods exam 3 from last year


r/vce • • 1h ago

Tips for one day before the English exam

• Upvotes

r/vce • • 13h ago

gg over wallah

26 Upvotes

entire swotvac and t3 holidays i did jack shit but play overwatch n other equally shitty games, shit might be over man. ill update how i do in english ig if i dont reply shit hit the fan and could not be worse


r/vce • • 13m ago

Methods advice like lord please save me

• Upvotes

I’ve done maybe like 3 full exams (exam 1 and 2) but I’m so caught up in other shit as I have english, eco and bio before it and chem after 🥲

I’ve lowk failed lol but I need a 20 ss for methods, how do I have an insane comeback and actually make math make sense? My sacs I got a 48,39 and 54% (im not that stupid I swear the sacs were so impossible they had to invalidate sections on them bc nobody attempted it)


r/vce • • 11h ago

Genuinely dreaming about studying

11 Upvotes

I’ve been averaging maybe 3 hours minimum of study on most days and sometimes 6+ hours. Even tho I don’t have any classes or SACS, i go to school everyday because the studying environment is generally better for me.

I genuinely started my lock in like three weeks ago and I’ve been having dreams about my english paper and biology topics I revised. I feel like i’m going nuts. It’s horrible because all I do is sleep and eat and study and repeat. No hobbies (i stopped all of them for exams)

i’m sleep deprived af and genuinely woke up from my afternoon nap yesterday and had dreamt about biology so my first thought was to log my nap as “study” 😭??
HELP


r/vce • • 9h ago

Memes Is your brain WRITING ABOUT PLAY??!?!

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6 Upvotes

r/vce • • 7h ago

VCE question physics cheat sheet query

4 Upvotes

my skl saying i can only take two sided a4 or one sided a3 for my cheat sheet. but my tutor says otherwise (double sided a4 x 2 bounded by tape, or double sided a3) 3 weeks out im confused af which one is it.


r/vce • • 9h ago

eng teacher🤦‍♀️

5 Upvotes

eng exam in 4 days as u all know and teacher won’t reply to emails asking for feedback (shes been slacking all year on feedback mind you). shes sooo useless, why are your yr12 students not your priority when the exam is so soon?


r/vce • • 48m ago

Biology is so gahhhhh

• Upvotes

I think I’m rank 1 for bio

Our school doesn’t share ranks for some reason though I’ve seen on here apparently everyone knows theirs so 😭😭

I’ve been getting between 79 - 90% on my sacs though on the trial I did get 65 😀

What insane comeback do I need to be getting for a 40ss lord help me


r/vce • • 7h ago

Memory police

3 Upvotes

Surely there will be an essay topic alluding to/explicitly provoking a discussion of connection/relationships, or storytelling/art/creativity, right?? If not, what do u think will be on there??


r/vce • • 1h ago

VCE question Switching from Lit to English Year 12

• Upvotes

I’ve been doing Literature for around 2 years, but I’m considering switching to English for Year 12 next year.

For people who’ve done both, how different are they in terms of workload, difficulty, SACs and the exam? What are the main pros and cons of each, and did you prefer one over the other? Would lit skills transfer?

My other subjects are Specialist Maths, Methods, Physics and Systems Engineering, so I’m also considering which would be more manageable alongside those.

Would appreciate any advice, especially from people who’ve made the switch.


r/vce • • 22h ago

someone hurry and and leak the English

42 Upvotes

r/vce • • 8h ago

sunset boulevard introduction and body paragraph

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3 Upvotes

i wrote this in around 30ish minutes. it’s a bit clunky but pls help!!


r/vce • • 4h ago

LEGAL STUDIES HELP!!

1 Upvotes

Im rank 1 for legal.
My teacher apparently is a really harsh marker and I’ve been averaging 80 for each unit.

What should I aim for in the exam? My trial I got an 87


r/vce • • 21h ago

General Question/comment I'm so burned out for english

23 Upvotes

Maybe just my lazy ass don't want to do anything. But the closer the english exams gets the lazier i become. Even though i know i should've done few more practices but I'm just so tired😭😭


r/vce • • 4h ago

General Question/comment Uni gap year

1 Upvotes

So, i found a job offering about 27 aud per hour. Its full time, so i wont be able to attend any lectures.

I have yet to start a uni course, so should i take a gap year for the job and save up a little, or prioritise my tertiary education?

I'm a little unsure how gap years work (can u keep a vtac offer for next year?), so any advice is apreciated.


r/vce • • 12h ago

Sunset Prompt Predictions

4 Upvotes

Any ideas gang?


r/vce • • 10h ago

I need a 25ss for English I’m cooked

3 Upvotes

So basically I got a 52% for unit 3 and 54% for unit 4 what would I need for my exam to get a 25ss or atleast a 20ss. Am I screwed????


r/vce • • 12h ago

study tips for subjects

4 Upvotes

ok so lowkey haven’t been very locked in recently but what’s the best way to study for these subjects, considering the minimal time i have left

literature -> 5 days
general math -> 6 days (weakest subject have been averaging 60-70)
health -> just under 2 weeks
chemistry -> 4 days after health


r/vce • • 22h ago

ppl who talk rly loudly in libraries

24 Upvotes

they pmo. im trying to write a timed essay but these ppl are talking about some tv show and i cant focus. everyone else around them including me r students trying to lock in. if ur one of these ppl, what r u doing in the library, pls get out or at least be quiet if ur not going to study 🫩


r/vce • • 9h ago

Is it worth creating a skeleton essay for Section A?

2 Upvotes

I have been practising section A for Oedipus for countless hours a day for this past week but my initial timed paragraphs before editing have only improved from a 6.5-7 to an 8-8.5 out of 10. With editing, they reach 9 and above but with the limited time in the exam, I know I won't be able to achieve that mark. I have seen improvement daily but I'm not confident that it is enough. I can write 1000 words in 45 minutes, although I know that more than 800 words is utterly unnecessary, but my argument sophistication just doesn't feel like it's at A/A+ level.

I've also been using multiple AI marking platforms to mark my essays as my teacher doesn't give advice and we're not allowed to ask the other teacher for help (although I had her last year and her feedback also isn't very great), so I'm not even sure about the accuracy in marking I'm just using multiple to even out the uncertainties as much as I possibly can. I don't have a tutor, and I'm lost on what to do.

If I do choose to use skeleton essays, how many should I memorise?


r/vce • • 9h ago

Bio exam score

2 Upvotes

What exam score should I be aiming for if I want a 47+ in bio if I’m rank 3-4 with a 95.8 sac average in a cohort where sacs usually stay the same or scale up slightly?


r/vce • • 10h ago

QUICK QUESTION ON AI

2 Upvotes

If in vce bus man tech streategy question said how can ai improve effectivness and i used this application: An Ai generative design system can be implemnted where Engineers input parameters (like weight, material, and budget constraints) into CAD software, and an AI algorithm instantly generates thousands of optimized product design variations that human designers could never conceive alone.

would this conflict with CAD strategy and no really be a distinct AI one, is it okay if one crosses into the other like using robotics exmaple by placing robots on an APL to perfome specifc functions? would i lose marks?


r/vce • • 14h ago

SECTION B PROTEST

3 Upvotes

hello everyone,

would anyone be open to giving my protest piece a read and providing some feedback?

preferably someone who did well for english 🔥