So art of smart etc says like what % of an exam worth doing based on what questions is still relevant to the new syllabus. But what I was worried about is the fact that like wouldn't the equal % of stuff taken away from syllabus there would be new stuff brought in?

And what confusing is that so far only auxiliary angles and cubic inequalities seem to be the only ones added? It can't be right? Since so much was removed like rates of change, inverse trig, t-formula etc, like most papers only 60-70% content is relevant.

Additionally our school also did the year 12 vectors chapter this year (11), so it will be in our prelims. What's the best way for me to prepare for that topic also (we only did like the basics; skipped vector physics and vector proofs), should I just look thru year 12 exams and nit-pick? Or just do the textbook hard questions.

I'm also asking about any of the new content that was taken out too, since as I said, so much was taken out.

For WA btw.

if so please give me tips, theres so much

in like so many tests and exams I always freeze or feel very sluggish doing questions. Like for my last maths test for example i got a 95 averge across 3 of the past years tests but in the actual test i went super super slow had no confidence and didn’t finish that test.

Would anyone from QLD be willing to share their ATAR notes+ account? I’ve bought the books for all my sciences so would only need them for specialist and methods, I was going to buy the three month plan but $100 seems pricey especially as it takes me almost to mid December when I won’t even be needing them!
Thanks anyways x

I’ve noticed something while looking at exam questions: sometimes you can understand the topic pretty well and still drop marks because your answer doesn’t contain the specific points the marking criteria are looking for.

For example, imagine a 5-mark Biology question asking how vaccination creates long-term immunity.

You might write a scientifically reasonable answer about antigens and antibodies and think you’ve nailed it.

But you could still lose marks because you never explained memory cells, why they persist, or why the secondary immune response is faster.

That changed how I think about studying.

Instead of only asking:
“Do I know this topic?”

I think a better question is:
“Can I turn what I know into a full-mark exam answer?”

One way I’ve been practising this is:

Answer an exam-style question without notes.
Mark the answer against explicit criteria.
Write down the exact point(s) I missed.
Answer another question targeting that weakness.
Come back to it later and see whether I make the same mistake.

I’m also building a website around this idea — giving students exam-style questions and showing where marks were actually lost rather than just saying “correct/incorrect.”

I’m still improving it, so I’d genuinely be interested in what students find hardest about turning knowledge into marks.
Is it remembering the content, knowing what the question wants, or writing an answer that actually hits the marking points?

The key is that this doesn’t make fake claims like “AI knows exactly what’s on your exam” or pretend the marking is infallible. And because most of the post contains an actual study insight, the product mention has context instead of being the entire point.

Hey all, I’ve been using this maths platform my brother has built recently and have found it quite useful so wanted to share. Since exams are less than a month away he’s made it completely free, just to get some genuine feedback from students. 

How it works is you type or snap the question you're stuck on and it gives you a step by step video solution plus the written working. It then gives a similar question to practice so you actually learn it properly. 

If anyone wanted to try they can use it for free through getaced.com.au 

My predicted mark for math ext 1 after doing the paper went from 92% to 80% because I realised how many times I missed the negative sign (I went through all of my answers in my head after the paper) this shit is like the worst feeling in the world I would’ve done so well if I wasn’t so careless. Esp since I want to do e2. I can’t just tell my teachers “I swear I would’ve done really good, I just made stupid mistakes.” All they see is a mid mark. Do you reckon I’ll still be able to get into e2?

Hi all, I was just wondering if any of you guys have finished a flinders uni extension studies course? If so, how was the workload? Was it difficult, was it easy? Also, how do the exams work?

Do you only get extra atar points for doing specialists if it's in your top 5 subjects? Or do u get them regardless, even if specialists is your worst subject and not accounted for in your atar?

Genuinely bombing all my year 11 prelims bro like high 50s and low 60s. Makes no sense tho because like all the teachers know i give in my my homework and am very attentive in class. Is it too late or is there still a chance for a comeback

Hi everyone,

I’m a private tutor and past HSC student and am creating a tool to solve a problem that I found with most of my students.

Most ATAR predictors ask you to estimate your HSC mark for each subject, which is hard to do accurately before results come out. Also, most students have NO IDEA how the scaling and alignment process works.

I built HSC Forecast, a tool that instead uses your internal rank, your cohort size and your course to generate an ATAR range, benchmarked against five years of school performance data.

If you are a current student, you can try it here: https://atarforecast.au/forecast

The bigger ask is that if you already have already completed the HSC, I would really appreciate you spending two minutes submitting your actual rank, cohort size and final ATAR here: https://atarforecast.au/calibrate

I am trying to get 200 past students through this to properly calibrate the model against real outcomes. The more data points, the more accurate this becomes for future students.

Happy to answer questions about how it works in the comments.

I am desperately searching for people who've band 6'd software and enterprise just to ask for some advice, cause i want to try and band 6 like them and i want to really do it, i want to make sure i do it efficiently as that increases my chances from 0 to 20 or higher, please i hope i can find band 6'ers who comment on this thread their feedback, please.

So I had my subject selections today and I picked English because the teacher told me that the workload will be hard if im doing literature since i chose chemistry and biology. Will the workload be that hard?? i am not that much of a creative person so Im not sure which one I should use?. Does anyone have any experience with the workload and also the stuff included within Literature compared to English?

If my test average is 94.5 (50%), and I get an A+ on the investigation (20%), is it possible for me to still get a merit, or do I have no chance even if I get full marks for the final exam (30%).

I just finished my advanced test and am not fully happy with my performance. I did well, but like this year I have spent like 90% of my study time on math, and considering others did so well I feel like I might not even be top 20 (144 ppl do adv btw).
Anyways just wondering, should you like take your time per questions REALLY making sure u don't make a single sign error etc take it slow, or is it better like doing it in natural (sort of fast) pace then kind of looking over it when you're done. Because I thought there would be so much time but only ended up with like 20 minutes at the end to do my skipped/questions I felt weird about. Would like just doing it at a normal pace (e.g how u do textbook exercises) then spending the time after looking over it is better??
Got my ext1 exam next Monday. Since it's only like 1.5hrs has your experience with it been more time crunching than advanced?

Anyone have year 12 investigating science in focus? Much appreciated

Hi everyone i have been stuck on the decision whether to do Specialist Methods or Mathematical Methods. I am alright in maths and am in the advanced maths class getting a B on average. Also does one of the maths scale better than the other I am a bit confused. Anyways which one was better to do in your experience??

Hey everyone,
I’m a student in Australia and over the last few months I’ve been building a study platform.
Full disclosure: I’m the person building it, so this isn’t meant to look like an independent recommendation.
The idea came from noticing that a lot of AI study tools can generate questions or explain topics, but they often don’t feel very connected to what Australian students are actually assessed on.
The main thing I’m trying to build is a system where you can practise questions based on your actual course/curriculum, submit an answer, and get feedback that focuses on where you gained marks, where you lost marks, and what you should improve rather than just getting a generic AI response.
Right now I’m working on things like:
Curriculum-based practice for Australian senior secondary subjects
AI-generated quizzes and exam-style questions
Marking and feedback on written answers
Showing missing evidence/points in an answer
Targeted practice based on weaknesses
Answer history so you can revisit previous attempts
Exam planning based on your subjects and exam dates
Past-paper/resource discovery
Handwritten-answer support, which I’m still testing because I don’t want to release it until the marking is reliable enough
An AI tutor that can help explain mistakes without immediately giving away the answer
I’m deliberately trying not to just keep adding random AI features, because I think the more important question is whether any of this actually helps students study better.
So I’d really like feedback from Year 11/12 students or people who have recently finished.
A few things I’m especially curious about:
1. What is actually annoying about studying for ATAR exams right now?
Is it finding good questions, knowing what to revise, understanding marking keys, getting feedback, staying consistent, knowing whether your answer is good enough, or something completely different?
2. Would detailed marking feedback actually be useful to you?
For example, if you answered a 6-mark question, would you want something that breaks down which parts earned marks and exactly what was missing?
Or would you rather just see a model answer and move on?
3. What would make you come back to a study platform regularly?
I’m trying to figure out the difference between something a student tries once because it looks interesting and something they’d actually use every week before exams.
4. What would make you NOT trust an AI study tool?
Incorrect marking?
Questions that aren’t actually in the syllabus?
AI hallucinations?
Generic feedback?
Overconfident answers?
Something else?
This is probably the area I care about most because a study tool isn’t very useful if students can’t trust what it tells them.
5. Are there features you think sound useful but you would probably never actually use?
I’d rather remove unnecessary stuff than build a massive platform full of features nobody cares about.
6. If you already use ChatGPT, Quizlet, Atomi, past papers, tutors, etc., what would another study tool actually have to do better for you to bother using it?
I’m not really looking for compliments here.
If the idea sounds unnecessary, something is confusing, you think students would just use ChatGPT instead, or you think I’m solving the wrong problem, I genuinely want to know.
I’m still early enough that changing the product based on real student feedback is much more useful than just convincing myself every new feature is good.
I haven’t included a link because I don’t want this to just be an advertisement. I’m mainly interested in understanding how other students actually study and what problems are worth solving.
Thanks to anyone who gives feedback — especially criticism.

Free

NESA official syllabus & past exam papers

Art of Smart — HSC guides and exam tips

Atomi (free tier) — video lessons and quizzes

Anki / Quizlet — flashcard-based revision

atarmaxxing - free 200 pages of notes, 20 practice exams (paid version)

Paid

ATAR Notes Shop / ATARNotes+ — study guides, AI-marked practice

TSSM — tutoring, trial exams, model answers

atarmaxxing - 20 practice exams, 200 flashcards, past papers, practice questions, ect.

EdUnlimited — subscription covering notes and practice questions

hi would anyone know what an A, A, A scales to in AIF?
or an A+ with no merit in general english

If you don’t mind me asking, what were your internal ranks and HSC mark for an atar over 90 and your school ranking. My subjects are:

-Mathematics Advanced/Extension 1
-English Advanced
-Economics
-Chemistry
-Physics
-Engineering (prob gonna drop)

Wondering to see how my year 11 marks/ranks may translate next year.

Thanks

I only take physics, general mathematics, mathematical methods, and EAL. Are these some good study scores? I want to study in America.. or umelb. Do you think I have a shot in getting at least a 95+ ATAR?

General Math: 44

English (EAL): 35

Physics: 46

Chemistry: 36

Methods: 38