How Abbey-Rose Conquered Unseen Texts and Improved by 30% in HSC English

🎉 30% Mark Improvement in HSC English

Abbey-Rose was able to achieve an incredible Band 5 result in HSC English!

💪 Overcame Procrastination with Study Techniques

Abbey-Rose discovered ways to stay motivated and commit to regular writing practice.

🏫 Entry into Dream Course at USYD

Abbey-Rose received an offer to the University of Sydney in Science and Advanced Studies.

Orange curve
Yellow curve

The Challenge

For her first Year 12 English assessment, Abbey-Rose received a 55% result. Because she had gotten average marks in Year 11, she was shocked by the low outcome. Abbey-Rose knew that she wasn’t doing enough writing practice but couldn’t find the motivation to improve. English was her least favourite subject and she found it difficult to write well under exam conditions. Even though her teachers were giving out feedback, Abbey-Rose also wasn’t sure how to use their comments to fix her responses. To get into her dream course in Science at University, Abbey-Rose reached out for help at Art of Smart. 

Coming from Year 11, I was doing alright. I was expecting a pretty good, average mark, but in the end I only got 55% which was a bit of a shock to me.

Key Problems

🙈 Abbey-Rose struggled to stay committed to regular writing practice 

📝 Abbey-Rose was unsure of how to use her teacher’s feedback to improve her responses

🔎 Abbey Rose hadn’t learned effective exam techniques to prepare her for unseen texts and questions 

Our Approach

Abbey-Rose started working with Art of Smart tutor Milly, who first sat down with her to read through the pieces of feedback she had been given by her teacher. Milly created a feedback loop where Abbey-Rose could rewrite her responses and get pointers. During their sessions, they would plan for the week ahead by breaking down tasks into smaller parts so that Abbey-Rose felt more confident tackling them without procrastinating. 

Because Abbey-Rose preferred her science subjects over English, they worked through unseen texts in a methodical way, using steps and annotations to build a response. By imagining a missing link between the given question and her ideas, she was able to adapt her thesis statements under exam conditions. 

Focus

  • Consistent study habits
  • Overcoming procrastination
  • Improving responses 
  • Building exam technique 

Strategies

  • Weekly writing practice
  • Breaking down tasks into smaller parts
  • Feedback loop 
  • Past papers 

Feedback Loop

Weekly Writing Practice 

Past Papers

Breakdown of Tasks

The Result

Working side-by-side with Milly helped Abbey-Rose to keep herself accountable to regular practice. She was able to improve her English results by 30% and achieved an incredible 85% result in her final HSC English exam. 

By acing her least favourite subject, Abbey-Rose was able to receive an offer to her dream course at the University of Sydney in Science and Advanced Studies! 

30%

Improvement in English Marks

Band 5

Final HSC English Result

9/10

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Of customers believe their tutor is well prepared for sessions

With Art of Smart, Abbey-Rose saw a 30% improvement to her English marks

It’s really hard to stay motivated and I definitely struggled with that, so working one-on-one with a tutor and having that personal connection was great.

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