Nerves are high among many Hunter high school students, with the conclusion of the first HSC exam for the year.
Over the next 17 days, nearly 75,000 Year 12 pupils across the state will put pen to paper for their final tests.
Kicking off with the initial English paper on Thursday 16 October, the Newcastle Weekly spoke with students from Callaghan College’s Jesmond campus to see how they felt leaving the examination room.
Finn Lawrence-Young said he studied for five days straight prior to completing the English Standard test.
“It is a weight off my shoulders,” he admitted.
“I’m just glad that it’s over, it was a lot.
“Time management is something that I’ve learnt from this… and I’m going to take that into my next exams.”
Baseera Khalil said she was also nervous.
“I don’t feel as confident going into the next ones, only because there’s more to do,” she explained.
“But, as long as you cover all grounds with each module, and know the context and quotes, you should be good.”
However, Joshua Sutton felt optimistic being on the other side.
“I put in the work, so it went as well as I expected it to,” he said.
“I’m a bit nervous for English Paper 2 because it’s hard to balance the two when you have to practice both of them.
“But, I’m mostly excited to get English out of the way and the rest of the HSC will feel a lot more motivated to continue.”
When the written tests finish on Friday 7 November, with Food Technology being the last, HSC students will have sat more than 400,000 exam sessions in 123 different subjects across the state.
With the stressful time far from over, the Callaghan College students revealed some of their best study tips.
Ms Khalil emphasised the importance of looking over past papers.
“It really helps you gauge what kind of questions they’re going to ask and how they apply the content and module knowledge,” she said.
“Also, don’t try and memorise too much or cram your brain… otherwise you’ll explode.”
Mr Lawrence-Young and Mr Sutton reflected her message.
“My biggest study tip is to not overwork yourself,” Mr Lawrence-Young explained.
“Have a point in your day where you can spend time away and take a break from study.
The workload can be a lot sometimes, especially if you’re like me and didn’t do a lot of study previously, so definitely have those breaks.”
“You can very easily be like, ‘I have to be studying for a certain amount of time a day’, and then for the six hours you sat at a desk only two of them were productive,” said Mr Sutton.
“Because free time is so limited in this period of your life, I would say if you’re not working efficiently then don’t try and push yourself.
“Just design your day and your study habits in a way that maximises what you get out of it, as well as your other responsibilities.”
The 2025 HSC written exam timetable can be found on the NESA website.
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