How many times have you left an assessment task to the last minute because you didn’t pace yourself correctly, or you submitted low quality work / received low marks due to being overwhelmed by exams and assessments?  Have a read of the following insights and think about what you can do to improve your time management skills – this will surely be one extracurricular skill to have that will translate to higher marks!

Urgent vs. important

Firstly understand the difference between a task that’s urgent, and a task that’s important. One thing that separates successful people from the rest is that successful people spend most of their time doing important things, rather than urgent things. For example, on any given day you may have one or several friends on facebook to reply to, send birthday reminders, or reply to people saying ‘hi’ on msn – these are all urgent, non-important tasks. Stop doing these things!

Important tasks are things that count. For example, studying for your school assessments / exams – it’s a certainty that you’ll need to do that assessment or exam so why ignore it until the last minute? Starting that assessment task now rather than later – you’ll eventually need to do it so why not start sooner rather than later? Do you really need to stop everything and get distracted by ‘urgent, non-important’ things like if your friends are inviting you to join their multiplayer online game, or your dog needs a walk, etc? Obviously we’re not saying ‘lock yourself in your room and study for 18 hours a day’ – you need to strike a clear balance between study and recreation (see next point).

Set clear boundaries: work while it’s work time and rest while it’s rest time

It’s important to find a good balance between work and rest. Set a clear time of the day after which you’re ‘off the clock’. This time should be dedicated to leisure. Avoid things that remind you of work – e.g. you could have all school-related stuff in your study room, and keep your bedroom free of any school-related material, or keep your school-related material in your room and spend your leisure time in your lounge. Resting and working in the same room could be stressful as you can be interrupted by emails, msn messages from friends who stress you out, or simply glancing at unfinished assignments left on your desk. Just like work, rest is best done without distraction in order to fully regain energy for the next day.

Also never plan to do important tasks in your ‘spare time’ – there’s no such thing as spare time and if you have this habit, you’ll certainly leave many tasks undone and neglected. You’re either working or resting, both activities are important to maintaining a healthy and sustainable work ethic.

The 80:20 rule

Also known as the ‘Pareto Principle’ or the ‘law of the vital few’: when applied to the field of time management, this ‘rule’ states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your actions. While there’s no mathematical significance of the 80:20 split, this rule alludes to the non-linear return of time invested – i.e. if you only put in 50% of your effort, you will get close to 0% of the results. But if you put in 100% of effort, you will get 100% of the results. That’s why it’s important to invest as much effort as you can, maintain a sustainable healthy work ethic throughout the year, and not be distracted by non-important tasks.

Keep a todo list and follow through with your plans

All effective time-managers keep a todo list. Split your tasks into 3 categories and put a number / letter next to them to remind you of which they belong to:

1. To be done within the day
2. To be done within the week
3. To be done within the year

Your student diary can fulfil this task. In our modern age, you can also consider using your iphone to synchronise with google docs so that you have access to your todo list everywhere (while at school, or on the train etc).

Watch your sleep

The human body works most efficiently when you maintain a constant sleep schedule. Sleeping at around the same time every night (not too late) will ensure you’re energetic and motivated during the day. It’s impossible to follow through with any time management plan / todo list if you’re lethargic all day. As a general rule, aim to reserve 8 hours of sleep each night – and you can’t sleep bank (i.e. sleep 6 hours for 3 nights, then 10 hours over the weekend) – it doesn’t work and will leave you fatigued and unmotivated during the day.

About the Author

Terry Wu is a maths tutor at Dux College. Having achieved an almost perfect ATAR himself in 2009 and HSC state ranks, he is an expert at time management and study skills. He is a passionate advocate of the ability for students to do well in the HSC through ‘acquired skills’ such as effective time management, effective study skills and learning exam technique.

What subjects do they offer?

The list of subjects offered by a tuition centre will indicate their level of expertise. For example, many tuition centres or private tutors will offer all levels of maths, except maths extension 2. As a general rule, if you’re searching for good maths tutoring, we advise you to find only private tutors / tuition centres that offer extension 2. Maths is a very integrated subject, and any one topic can’t ever be fully separated from another – there are connections on every level and a knowledgeable tutor will have no problem teaching any level of high-school maths, including Extension 2.

Know the principal(s) and their background

For tuition centres, find out as much as you can about the principals – the person(s) that make the decision. What background are they? Mathematics / sciences? English / humanities? The background of the principals give an excellent predictor of what the institution will be strong at. The reason is simple: if the principal makes all the decisions, and has a background in maths / sciences, he/she would be in a better position to make the right decisions in terms of course design / tutor hiring decisions than a person without the right background.

Franchises

Franchises are hit and miss. You may find one where a particular teacher of a particular subject is great, but generally the entire operation is not as organised / focused as a tuition company that carries their own name. Usually with franchises, the quality of the operation of the head office differs significantly to branch offices. We won’t delve further into this issue as it would be mean of us to name names – our advice here is to seek out a free trial lesson if you’re interested, before making up your mind.

Private tutors

While we’re a tuition college, we still acknowledge that private tutors can be great, but finding a great one can be tough, especially on a budget. In finding one, just keep in mind the following:

1. Communication skills: it doesn’t matter if your tutor is a 30-year experienced HSC marker if he/she is always tired / boring in delivering the lesson. One of the most important decision factors is whether you’re comfortable with your tutor and find their teaching compatible to your learning style.
2. Dedication / responsibility: this issue is more relevant to younger tutors. Find out if your tutor is responsible. Does he/she rock up empty handed every week? Do you get the feeling that their lesson plans are a mere afterthought hastily put together just before the lesson?
3. You get what you pay for: there are tutors that charge $10/hr and come to you, and there are tutors that will charge $150/hr and won’t travel. You will need to make a decision on how much you want to spend, but also keep in mind that genuinely good tutors are genuinely in demand! If they have too many clients to choose from, why would they work for $10 / hr? These days, expect to pay around $50/hr for a good tutor to travel to you.
4. If getting a University Student tutor: as a general rule, avoid all tutors whose ATARs were < 99. This may seem harsh but each year there are roughly 1000 graduates that get over 99 so there is no shortage of bright young tutors. The only exception to this is if you find a tutor that has great communication skills, and did very well for the subject they are teaching (e.g. 95+ aligned HSC mark)

Free Trial lessons

All reputable tuition companies offer trial lessons in some form. It’s unreasonable for a place to require upfront payment of an entire term (effectively signing a contract for 10 weeks or more) before you’ve even had a chance to try it and make an informed decision. By all  means, shop around as much as you can (as much as time permits, it’s important not leave it till too late as joining in the middle of a programme could mean you’ve missed some topics or modules).

Joining at the beginning of the year

Joining at the beginning of each year is the ideal because most tutoring colleges start their programmes for each year start at the beginning of the year (beginning of term 4 for year 12). Joining in the middle of the year is disadvantageous because you may have missed a module or two, or several topics. While you can catch up through self study and attending our tutorial workshops, it is obviously healthier and less stressful if you started at the beginning of the year. One of the major advantages of attending a tuition college as opposed to private tutoring is you get access to a structured programme that guarantees you will cover the entire course at a pace that’s advantageous to you in internal assessments (because remember, you’re up against your peers at school competing for the same top ranks, and if you learn ahead, you’re in the best possible position to secure the higher ranks). But this advantage is lost if you join in the middle of the year, when the class is already up to the end of module 2, and you need help with module 1.
Of course, late is better than never, and we’re not saying it’s a futile exercise joining in the middle of the year. As mentioned, we offer free services like unlimited free tutorial workshops, and we can give you the notes you missed out on, allowing you to catch up. But our point is it would’ve been healthier for you (in terms of knowledge retention, depth of course understanding and exam technique – these things build up over time) if you had joined at the beginning of the programme.

Switching tuition last minute

If you’re already attending a tuition college, you’re well advised to stay in that programme until its conclusion (unless it’s actually not helpful at all). Switching to another tuition provider after the middle of the year or near the end can do you more harm than good – and we’re saying this even though this may reduce our customer base (since many of our students come to us after being unhappy with other tuition companies). We tell these students “unless the place you currently go to is terribly bad, you should stay because if you switch now, you may have not covered some topics we’ve already covered, and vice versa”.

Again, I refer back to the point that HSC tutoring centres offer a structured programme designed to be comprehensive, and if you switch near the end of the year, this could be harmful because the order of topics covered at one place will differ significantly to the order of topics chosen by another place. That’s why we urge you to act sooner rather than later – if you feel the place you currently attend is not helpful at all, switch early rather than later.

Get the information you need before enrolling

It’s important to ask the questions that matter – find out where the classes are up to at the place you’re considering. Obviously if the class is covering topics not relevant to your school assessments, it’s of little value to you. Most of our subjects have parallel classes, some of which are deliberately a module or several topics behind because the students in those classes joined us later in the school year. Those classes will still cover content ahead of school pace, but you will be able to cover topics that should be covered early in the year.
Another thing to check out before enrolling is what sort of revision the classes will be doing, or whether there’s any revision scheduled at all. Revision is essential before assessment periods – the content covered over the months in the HSC year become a staggering amount and students need a few weeks worth of classes dedicated to consolidating knowledge – putting it all together and practice doing exam papers. Our programmes are scheduled in such a way as to allow a healthy amount of revision weeks before each key assessment period. During these periods, students focus on exam-style questions (as opposed to textbook style questions – a very important distinction!) and covering up any gaps they identify by doing exam papers. The earlier you start doing past papers, the better you will do in all your exams – that’s a fact!

For many of you entering year 11, this is a timely article reminding you that year 11 is an excellent opportunity to learn your content in advance. No assessments in the preliminary year count towards the HSC, and some students take advantage of this fact by using this time to learn ahead of the pacec at school.

Students who are finding the year 11 pace a bit leisurely can, in some circumstances, begin to study some of the year 12 content to ease the load when year 12 starts. For example, students can self-study  or seek tutoring in Extension 2 maths – certain topics (e.g. Complex Numbers) have no overlap with Extension 1 or 2 unit, and therefore can be self-accelerated without complications. Some preliminary modules in science subjects (e.g. Physics, Chemistry and Biology) have little value in terms of relevance to year 12 content. For example, the ‘Electrical Energy in the Home’ topic has almost no overlap with ‘Motors and Generators’ or any other HSC Physics module. Students should first seek some honest advice (e.g. from their tutor or an unbiased school teacher) of what content is actually important / relevant to year 12, and what content isn’t. This information is useful as it allows students to allocate more time towards self-study and learning ahead. The advantage is the fact that no exams or assignments done in year 11 (testing your knowledge of year 11 content) will count towards the HSC, so students can effectively ‘gain time’ that their peers would not have.

Collect notes, make notes and ask questions

Explore your personal network to expand your collection of notes (e.g. do you have family friends who have recently completed their HSC? Try to get their notes). If you attend tutoring, ask your tutor for notes and revision materials – start gathering notes as early as you can, especially year 12 notes.

In terms of self-study, it is a good idea to write down any questions you have as you read through your notes / textbook during year 11and ask your teachers when you get the chance. As year 12 comes, you will find more of your peers will be doing the same, and your teachers will no longer have the capacity or energy to answer your questions with as much detail / enthusiasm as before.

Settle your plans for HSC tutoring early

All reputable HSC tutoring colleges have an internally set course schedule that ensures their students cover the requirements of the syllabus comprehensively. It is always a good idea to settle on your tutoring plans early and join these programs earlier rather than later in order to avoid missing important content early in the term. (Tutoring colleges often teach at a slightly accelerated pace in order to give students familiarity to content before it is assessed, unlike at schools which assess content immediately after it is taught)

HSC coaching is an interesting phenomenon, in that it is a symptom of the extremely competitive HSC environment, where students compete for limited places in highly sought after University courses. The fact that an ever-increasing portion of students who score a high ATAR have received some sort of HSC coaching during their senior study makes HSC coaching a self-fulfilling requirement of success to many. What this means is more and more students are finding that they need to attend some sort of HSC coaching service (whether it be private or class tuition) just so they can keep the playing field level with their peers at school. Of course, there are always students who manage to score a high ATAR without any outside assistance, but those remain of the minority.

However, just because HSC coaching is self-fulfilling, this does not discredit the many tangible benefits it brings to young HSC students. Of course, students gain a direct benefit with extra study and exposure to coursework, however there are often additional, less direct benefits of coaching that are often overlooked.

HSC Coaching Provides a Structured Course Schedule

This is one area that many schools, particularly public schools in disadvantaged areas, suffer from (sometimes even selective schools!). Schools often cram the teaching of several difficult topics in a short amount of time after the school’s HSC trial exams are finished. For example, in Maths Extension 2, later topics like Mechanics and Harder 3 Unit are given a fraction of the attention they require, because the faculty could not teach the early part of the course fast enough. Students from such schools have the mindset of “damage minimisation” for the topics that were neglected at school – they are left in the exam struggling to piece together the information from vague memory, because the class teacher had rushed through it so fast to fit it all in the last few weeks before the HSC exams.

Another example is science subjects like HSC Physics and Chemistry – the majority of schools decide to have their internal HSC trials after teaching 3 of the core modules, leaving the last Option topic to be taught in the weeks after the trials. However, in these final few weeks before the HSC exams, teachers also need to allocate time to review the entire course, and students probably have other subjects to worry about before time runs out. The net effect is that the Option topic is often rushed and poorly covered by schools.

An organised HSC coaching / tutoring company will be able to teach the course content in advance of the pace at schools, avoiding the need to rush through and neglect the final topics / modules of a subject in the last few weeks before the HSC exams. You may be wondering, if HSC coaching companies can teach at a faster pace, why don’t schools do this in the first place? The answer is because the students who attend HSC coaching are generally of higher calibre, and can cope with the faster pace, whereas schools need to teach at a pace suitable for the entire class, which may contain lower calibre students, or students who simply don’t care.

HSC Coaching Exposes Students to Healthy Competition

Many students who attend a class tuition type of HSC coaching find that they can mingle with peers outside of their school. The more advanced students often feel unchallenged by their peers at school, and find that high assessment ranks within the school are not difficult to achieve. The benefit of meeting peers outside of school is that students who attend HSC coaching tend to care more about their HSC success and share the goal of ATAR maximisation. By mingling and associating with like minded and higher calibre peers outside of school, HSC coaching can prevent a student from settling in his or her comfort zone from being unchallenged at school.

HSC Coaching Forces Students to Work More in their Critical Final Years of High School

HSC students, still young and relatively inexperienced, often lack the self-discipline to maintain a healthy work ethic necessary for success. While they should have been taught good values, like the importance of setting goals and working hard to achieve them, they still need external forces to keep them on the path to future success.

A quality HSC coaching service will impose a balanced workload on students, and provide a framework for students to set their own goals and work hard throughout the year in achieving them.

For example, the weekly requirement to leave the house and attend classes outside of school to study keeps students’ minds focused on the goal at hand – it is a constant reminder of what their goals are for year 11 and 12, and what they are working towards (entry into a sought-after University course). Being constantly challenged by moving through coursework at a faster pace keeps students focused, and on the ball. When their first exams come, it would seem like revision to tutored students, allowing them to achieve above and beyond the class standard. Early success builds self esteem, sets a precedent of high achievement for the student early in the year, and allows him or her to gather momentum for continued success.

So those are some of the indirect benefits of HSC coaching. What students and parents need to realise is that the overall benefit of HSC coaching is not simply limited to extra study, but also the indirect benefits discussed above.

We began to provide Chemistry and Physics tutoring in early 2006, expanding our offering to cover two of the most popular HSC sciences. Our Chemistry and Physics tutoring programs were designed with the same goal in mind: to help our students score the top band in their HSC. Our courses and materials were originally developed by our faculty head teachers, and reviewed and updated each year to follow any changes in the syllabus.
As our student numbers grew, we made a commitment to maintain the individualised attention we were giving to our students at the time. Therefore we committed to keeping class sizes within the limit of 9 students per class. As class sizes approached this limit, we started new classes.

It is now late 2009. After a few years of practicing our model of offering quality HSC tuition, and helping hundreds of students score the top band in their HSC subjects, we are keen to continue to grow. In development are our programs for maths tutoring and science tutoring for years 9 and 10. We believe starting your HSC preparation early gets you in the right mindset early, and this leads to an invaluable advantage when your HSC year actually starts.

We are thankful for all the support and gratitude we’ve received from our past students and their parents. We truly enjoy what we do here, and we will continue to offer quality HSC tuition to keen students in the years to come.

Whether you do 2 unit maths, maths extension 1, or maths extension 2, doing well in HSC mathematics requires a similar strategy. In this article, we will briefly look at what makes a successful HSC maths student, as well as some exam preparation techniques which would be relevant to students today, as most have their all-important HSC trials and HSC exams coming up in the next few weeks.

Seeing connections between HSC topics
The most common characteristic shared by successful HSC maths students is their ability to see connections and patterns between the various topics of maths. This is important, as many questions are not worded in an immediately straightforward manner.
For example, a 4 unit (Extension 2) question may initially appear to be an integration question, but in part b or c, knowledge of polynomial roots or complex numbers needs to be used. Similarly, such questions involving a mesh of different topics are also common in 2 unit math and 3 unit (Extension 1).

Practice makes perfect

Training for mathematics is much like training for sports. Your core skills ultimately comes down to how much practice you have had. There is a limited number of ways an exam can ask you questions. If you have gone through two or three complete (reputable) HSC maths textbooks, good chances are that you have seen most of the ways questions can be asked.

Therefore, doing well in HSC maths, regardless of what level of maths you do, comes down to simple practice. This piece of advice is the most simple to describe and understand, but the most difficult to implement and follow through. The key is to set yourself an ongoing goal – decide how much exercises or hours you can do every day or week, then persevere.

Build up a habit for the long run and stick to it. Focus on sustainability, rather than studying for the short term. For example, if you can get into a simple habit of studying just an hour, purely dedicated to mathematics, on each school night, this would be so much more useful than being highly motivated for a period of a few weeks prior to exams, but being unmotivated throughout the year.

Convert real facts into a mathematical problem

Longer, more difficult maths questions tend to be phrased as a problem question. There is no rule of thumb as to which topics can be phrased in a long-worded question – any topic can be presented this way. However, some topics tend to have a greater abundance of such worded problems. For example, in maths Extension 1, there’s Applications of Calculus, which includes things like projectile motion and Newton’s Law of Cooling. In maths Extension 2, there’s even more! (Mechanics, volumes, conics, complex numbers and most of Harder 3 unit – to name a few).

Some students find it difficult to convert a worded scenario or problem into a mathematical / numerical problem. The issue is that students are mostly taught to think in terms of numbers and algebraic expressions, but only occasionally (or for some, rarely) get to practice on real-world worded problem questions. A good maths student would have had plenty of practice at synthesising complex worded facts into a numerical problem, especially by the time they need to prepare for their HSC trials and HSC exams.
In terms of good preparation, it is good to pay close attention to questions which are long, have multiple parts and represent mathematics in some real-world application. Doing these questions (and asking your tutor / teacher questions if necessary) will give you adequate preparation.

Avoid over-relying on your calculator

This point is not talked about much, probably because it is not raised often. But I’d like to shed some light on the issue. Pulling out your calculator for every arithmetic operation (e.g. you need to add single digit coefficients together) wastes your exam time, and increases the risk of pressing something wrong. In the end, for the more simple operations (e.g. adding / multiplying single or even double digits) is simply done faster in your head, than with a calculator.

I remember, not long ago while supervising an exam at university, I saw a first-year student take out his calculator and press 2 + 2 =. Maybe I have a strange sense of humour but I found the incident funny and memorable. However this does highlight a current issue for some HSC students. For some students, it has come down to total reliance on their calculator for all arithmetic calculations, even simple ones that ought to have been done mentally without a doubt.

I always tell my students, you can do an entire Extension 2 exam without touching your calculator. Most of the more advanced students know this. To minimise the incidence of human error, again, this comes down to practice. In everyday life, whenever you come across a situation where you need to add / multiply / subtract or even divide, (e.g. when shopping, or on the train, or at school etc) you should do the math in your head. Break the instinct of moving to grab your calculator. Think of the brain as like a muscle – the more mental exercises you give it, the better it will become.

Scaled marks versus HSC marks

A commonly misunderstood concept is the relationship between HSC marks and scaled marks. HSC marks are the marks the Board of Studies awards you, and appear on your Record of Achievement. These marks determine which performance band you fall in (e.g. Band 6 or E4) for each of your HSC subjects. These marks measure how well you did according to the subject’s requirements. E.g. if you received a Band 6 in English Advanced, it means your performance satisfied all the criteria required by the HSC English syllabus to achieve a Band 6. However, in any year, any amount of HSC students can get a Band 6. For example, in a particularly smart year, a higher proportion of students may receive Band 6 in English Advanced. It is not how well you do in your subject, but rather, how well you do relative to other students which determine your UAI. Here’s where your scaled marks come into play.

Your scaled marks will NOT be shown to you at the end of your HSC, as you will only be shown your HSC marks (aligned marks, to be precise). Ironically, it is your scaled marks which are the most important determinant to your UAI. Scaled marks are calculated by the UAC (not the BOS) under a totally different process. Basically, these marks measure your performance relative to other students. (For a more technically accurate discussion on scaled marks and what they mean, as well as the mathematics behind UAI calculation, please read our article on the mechanics of HSC scaling) Remember, your HSC marks are a measure of how well you did in your subject, but your scaled marks measure how well you did relative to other students. It is your scaled marks which are used to calculate your UAI, not your HSC marks.

Through the process of scaling, the UAC converts your raw examination marks (the actual marks you received in your external and moderated internal assessment) into scaled marks. These scaled marks are then added up to arrive at your aggregate mark (students refer to this as your ‘aggregate’) out of 500. The UAI is simply a percentile rank of your aggregate, which is the total of your scaled marks in your top 10 units.

How can knowledge of HSC scaling help me?

Understanding the process allows you to plan your HSC, to an extent, in such a way as to make scaling work to your advantage. For example, if you enjoy maths, you should choose Maths Extension 2 in order to take advantage of its enormous scaling effect. Similarly, if you enjoy science, you should take Chemistry and Physics, as they scale relatively well.

In other words, comparing subjects in terms of their scaling effect can assist you with your decision as to which subjects to take for your HSC. In order to quantitatively compare the scaling effect of different courses, you will need to get familiar with reading statistics published by UAC. The rest of this article will highlight the important things to note.

Reading ‘scaled means’

Firstly, what are ‘scaled means’? The scaled mean for each subject is the average scaled mark received by all students who took that subject for that year. For example, in 2008, the scaled mean for Maths Extension 2 was 43 out of 50. This means that among the Maths Extension 2 students in 2008, the average of their scaled marks was 43 out of 50. This subject has traditionally been one of the highest scaled subjects available for the HSC. In terms of reading these scaling statistics, generally the higher the scaled mean, the higher the scaling effect.

Each year, the UAC publishes a scaling report which contains important scaling statistics for all HSC subjects eligible to contribute to a UAI. For more information, read about UAC scaling statistics. In the report, there is an important section called Table A3, which is a table setting out the scaled means of all subjects.

To illustrate the effect of scaling, in 2008, a Maths Extension 2 student only needs to be in the top 46% out of all Maths Extension 2 students to get a scaled mark of 45 out of 50 (or 90/100). A Maths (2 unit) student would need to be in the top 3% out of all Maths (2 unit) students in order to achieve the same result. These facts are read off the UAC scaling report. In the 99th percentile, a Maths (2 unit) student receives a scaled mark of 46.1 out of 50. In the 75th percentile, a Maths Extension 2 student receives a scaled makr of 46.2 out of 50. Arguably it is easier to be above average in Maths Extension 2 than to be near the top of the state in Maths (2 unit). This is the main benefit derived from choosing high scaling subjects.

Effect on UAI calculation

Simply put, the higher the total of your scaled marks, the higher your UAI will be. Sometimes when students choose subjects with lower scaled means, do spectacularly in their HSC (e.g. receive Band 6 for all of their units) but receive a UAI that is lower than what they had expected.

For example, if you did English Standard, IPT, Legal Studies and Biology, and scored 90 in all of your subjects, your UAI would be around 94 in 2008. While this is in no way a poor UAI, if you received the same HSC (aligned) marks for English advanced, Maths Extension 1 & 2, Chemistry and Physics, your UAI would be in the vicinity of 99. Again this is because of the scaling effect across different subjects. While all subjects are different and some will be more difficult than others, the best approach to dealing with HSC scaling is to choose the subjects you are interested in, while giving consideration to the scaling effect of your choices. (For more information, read our article on HSC subject selection)

Find a good HSC tutor and stick with them! Quality tuition providers often have set structures for their courses. For example, at Dux College, we offer a structured schedule, so we make sure all our students cover all topics well ahead of time. This leaves for revision and discussion on optimal exam technique, reinforcement of skills and perfecting overall knowledge. However we find that students who join mid-way through our schedule may have covered some topics we are yet to cover, but have skipped over topics we have already covered. This mismatch in the new student’s knowledge poses a difficulty for them in that they must spend extra effort in catching up with the class.

Our highest achievers are students who have been with us since year 10 or 11, and have gained the fundamental knowledge throughout those early years. Students from this group are generally more adaptive to new concepts as they are introduced, because they have a strong foundation in conceptual understanding, instilled through following our course structure over a longer period of time. It is less common to see spectacular improvements in school rank from year 12 students who join us in the middle of term 3 or 4, because they have not had the same opportunity as most of our other students who have been with us in the long run. However we do see spectacular improvements on school rank from our students who have joined us in year 10 or 11, as the extra tutoring makes a large difference to the bottom line: exam results.

Seek help early! We get the most phone calls from interested students and parents during the weeks after major assessment marks are released back to students. The biggest example is probably at around late April, when year 12 students start to get their half-yearly results back. Some receive a nasty shock at disappointing marks, and feel the sudden compulsion to seek tutoring. Although we are happy to help these students, and we try our very best to bring in and improve students in these situations, we feel that these students would have gained so much more if they found us EARLIER.

Also for the reasons mentioned above, the earlier students find a good tutoring service, the better. HSC tutoring is definitely not something to be left to the final few weeks of major exams and assessments. The benefits are best realised over a longer timeframe, and solid knowledge is built over several terms of tutoring, not merely several weeks. Rome was not built in a day!

Having said that, we do not mean that all students who join us in the middle of their year 12 are not gaining short-term improvements. Our students in this category are very happy with their improvement in marks and general course understanding, within weeks of tutoring. However, we feel that their potential is so much higher. What separates a UAI 99+ student from a UAI 90-95 student is consistency in everything they do. The first step, getting into a routine habit of tutoring and doing higher volumes of more challenging curricular work has a large benefit in itself. Another factor may be the fact that many students simply do not have access to quality teachers in their school environment, which is supplemented by finding a reliable tutoring service. However, in order to wholly move into a higher level of achievement (say, aiming to Dux your grade, or attain a 99+)

Short-term tutoring Some students feel the need to seek tutoring services for certain topics out of a subject, then leave after those topics are covered. In these situations, we recommend finding a private tutor. Sometimes students and parents do not appreciate the degree of interconnectedness between topics within any one HSC subject. For example, HSC science subjects like Physics or Chemistry are very conceptual in nature.

If a student is having trouble understanding the concepts in a later topic, chances are they have gaps in their fundamental conceptual understanding. For courses like HSC mathematics, particularly the more difficult Extension 1 and Extension 2 courses, an imperfect understanding of one topic is indicative of faults in conceptual understanding in other areas of the course. For example, in Extension 2, almost all of the topics are linked to each other, and to topics in Extension 1 and even 2 unit.

Students who feel they need tutoring specific to certain topics run the risk of being overconfident in their abilities as a whole. We recommend taking a deeper approach in remedying ‘holes’ in understanding, by investigating all related and associated topics and concepts. This can not happen in the short while available in covering just one topic, but rather over a longer period where the class can cover several topics. This allows enough time to fully explore how individual topics are interconnected. A common prerequisite of a band 6 responses (when HSC markers gather to determine the band cutoff criteria) often draws upon the degree to which students display an understanding of how different topics relate to and interact with each other. For these reasons, we do not recommend students seek out tutoring help intermittently.

Ideally, students should identify early on which subjects they feel they need long-term support (outside of the normal school support, which in many cases is quite minimal) and seek a quality tuition service early on in their course, preferably before year 12 begins. Remember, consistency is the key!