How Henry Caught Up after Failing Year 11 and Got a Band 5 for HSC Chemistry
📈 Mark Improvement of 55% in HSC Chemistry
Henry doubled his overall result after working with our Head of Science, Adrian to relearn the content he struggled with in Year 11.
🧐 Filled Gaps in Understanding from Year 11
Adrian and Henry revisited difficult Year 11 concepts one by one so that he could progress into Year 12 content with confidence.
⚖️ Discovered How to Balance Elite Sport and Study
Henry put healthy study habits into action that allowed him to do over 30 hours of practise for Rowing each week.
The Challenge
When Henry received a 28% for his final Year 11 Chemistry exam, he had no idea how to come back from it. Because he had already dropped Physics, Henry had no choice but to keep Chemistry and find a way to improve. Although he was expected to stay on top of Year 12 content, Henry desperately needed to relearn key Year 11 concepts. Without properly understanding his mistakes, he felt stuck and overwhelmed.
Henry was also spending around 30 hours per week at Rowing practise, which meant that he had little time to revisit old topics. Henry decided to reach out to Art of Smart and get paired with a tutor who could introduce some structure to his learning!
To be honest, I hadn’t really clicked into gear yet. I think in Year 11, I was working out how to really study and the schedule I needed to take to get the ball rolling academically. I think it was those tough marks that, yes they were disappointing, but they also riled me into saying that something needs to change here.
Key Problems
🚦Henry was stuck with many key Year 11 concepts to relearn before he could properly dive into the Year 12 syllabus
🚣 Henry struggled to plan a realistic study schedule because of a commitment to 30 hours of elite sport practise each week
🤷 Henry often lost marks to small errors and found it difficult to properly identify and resolve his mistakes
Our Approach
Henry started attending a chemistry class and a one-on-one session with Adrian, our Head of Sciences at Art of Smart to hold himself accountable to a study schedule. During class, Henry stayed on top of the Year 12 content he was learning at school. With Adrian, they worked on slowly filling gaps in his understanding from Year 11, often spending 2-3 weeks mastering one topic before progressing onto another.
Henry kept a separate notebook for each module to make notes, work through problems and log mistakes that Adrian could walk through with him. After solving a question, Henry would revisit it a few days later to strengthen his knowledge. They also practised with past papers and resolved each error so that come exam time, Henry wouldn’t lose those marks.
Focus
- Confidence with problem solving
- Avoiding small errors
- Relearning key Year 11 concepts
- Time management
Strategies
- Logging and resolving mistakes
- Past papers
- One-on-one sessions with tutor
- Study schedule
Confidence with Problem Solving
Avoiding Small Errors
Relearning Key Year 11 Concepts
Time Management
The Result
Henry’s work with Adrian helped him achieve an incredible mark turnaround of 55% with an 85% HSC exam mark and overall result of 83%!
This means that Henry was able to more than double his marks after putting in the hard work and practising smart study habits.
55%
Mark Improvement
Band 5
HSC Chemistry Result
9/10
Average improvement in understanding and skills
98%
Of customers believe their tutor is well prepared for sessions
With Art of Smart, Henry saw a 55% improvement in Chemistry
I came to Art of Smart at the end of Year 11 and Adrian helped me so much. I told him that my mark is terrible, but I’m willing to put in the effort to relearn throughout this year if you’re with me, and he committed 100% of the way.
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