Thinking about dropping down from HSC Advanced English to HSC Standard English?
Before you make your big decision, make sure you’ve got all the facts!
We’ve crawled through the scaling data from UAC and the NSW public school course enrolment figures to put together the ultimate fact sheet to drop rates for HSC Advanced English, percentage of Band 6 achievers, the top ATAR you can score and more!
Sound like something you need to hear?
Let’s dive in!
What to consider when dropping a subject
Before we take a look at the numbers, there’s a few key things you should consider before dropping HSC Advanced English.
- Will dropping down to HSC Standard English help you get a better mark?
- Is it a prerequisite for a university course you want to study?
To help you weigh up the options, check our article on what to consider when dropping a subject here!
Or check out our video on it below!
How many students drop from HSC Advanced English to HSC Standard English?
According to the stats between 2019 and 2020, 15% of people who took HSC Advanced English dropped it, which is roughly one in seven people, or if you total it, 2454 people! We can assume that these people dropped down to HSC Standard English, since English is a compulsory HSC subject.
If we look at the historical data across the past 8 years, on average, 18% of a cohort taking Advanced will eventually drop it. That’s almost 1 in 5 people.
Are more or less people taking HSC Advanced English?
If we look at the data over the past 8 years, this number seems to fluctuate, but overall, less people are dropping HSC Advanced English.
In 2013, the drop rate was at its highest for Advanced English, with almost 20% of people dropping it, compared to the past year where 15% of people dropped Advanced.
Are more girls or boys dropping HSC Advanced English?
The difference between more boys or girls dropping Advanced English is pretty small, but on average, 19.4% of boys drop Advanced English, compared to 17% of girls.
This could suggest that more boys drop to Standard English than girls.
Is HSC Advanced English a popular subject to drop?
Taking the right level of English is probably one of the biggest questions students ask themselves when selecting their HSC subjects, so it’s not surprising that the subject makes the top 10 list of the most dropped HSC subjects (from subjects that have the largest enrolment figures).
In fact, HSC Advanced English is the eighth most dropped subject of the subjects with the highest enrolment figures in the entire HSC, with on average, 18% of students dropping it each year!
Before you make the decision to drop Advanced English, have you considered 1-1 tailored tutoring with our HSC English tutors across Sydney? Our expert English tutors can meet you in your own home, at our Hornsby or Hills Campuses or online to support you with your Advanced English studies and help lift your marks.
What’s the average mark for people who take HSC Advanced English compared to HSC Standard English?
Ah, it’s the question everybody wants to know! Does taking Advanced English really guarantee a better mark than Standard English?
Well, we’ve crunched the numbers and the average mark for students who’ve taken Advanced English across the past five years is 82, or a Band 5 – not bad! In fact, the average mark for Advanced hasn’t changed at all – it has consistently been 82 since 2016.
As for Standard? The average mark is 70, or a Band 4 – a whole one band difference! The average mark for Standard has only fluctuated a little bit the past five years, having been 69 in 2016 and 71 in 2020.
How likely is it that I’ll get a Band 6 in HSC Advanced English?
Okay, so we know the average mark is 82, but what’s your likelihood of scoring that Band 6? On average across the past five years, typically 14% of students who take Advanced English achieve a Band 6. That’s about 3 in 20 people!
What about the other Bands?
As the average mark of 82 would suggest, the majority of people receive a Band 5 in Advanced English, in fact almost 50% of people who take Advanced get a Band 5! The next largest group is Band 4, with 29% or 3 in 10 people.
You can view the rest of the Bands breakdown below!
Not sure what the difference is between the Bands for HSC English? Make sure you check out this article here!
What’s the top ATAR I can get with HSC Advanced English?
This is really a trick question. The top ATAR you can score with any subject will be 99.95 since that’s the highest ATAR you can achieve.
For HSC Advanced English, the highest ATAR achieved for a student taking the subject has always been 99.95.
Interestingly, a 99.95 ATAR hasn’t always been achieved in every subject. For example, if we take a look at some other subjects, the highest average ATAR for people who take English Studies is 82.
Typically among the languages we see that it’s difficult to achieve a 99.95 ATAR, for example the average ATAR for students who take Armenian has been 96.40, or 82 for Portuguese. It can really vary!
And that’s it for our deep dive into HSC Advanced English drop rates and band distribution data. Good luck in making your decision!
If you need more help, check out our HSC Subject Decision Tree Tool which will help you choose if you’ll drop a subject.
Curious about the drop rates for other subjects?
Check out the stats and figures we’ve compiled for the following subjects:
Looking for extra help with HSC English?
We pride ourselves on our inspirational HSC English coaches and mentors!
Whether you decide to stick with HSC Advanced English or drop down HSC Standard English, our tutors and mentors can help you feel confident in English! Learn how to write a Band 6 worthy essay, analyse your texts for key ideas and identify literary techniques with 1 on 1 tutoring in your own home, online or at one of our campuses in Hills or Hornsby!
Over the past 10 years, Art of Smart has a proven track record of helping over 8,000 students feel confident and improve their marks by 20%!
To find out more and get started with an inspirational tutor and mentor get in touch today!
Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at [email protected] or check us out on TikTok!
