Standard Maths Exam coming up soon? Haven’t started studying? Let other subjects take precedence?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, we’ve got you covered!
We’ve developed a simple 7 Day HSC Standard Maths study plan to keep you on track! Each day will have clearly outlined activities for you to do.
We understand that you have other subjects to study for, and so, each day has a maximum study load of 3 hours (including breaks) which gives you plenty of time to study for other subjects. We know Maths can be pretty content-heavy, so if you’re struggling, check out our HSC Maths Tutors Sydney!
Day 1: Get Organised
Day 2: Practice Multiple Choice Questions
Day 3: Complete a Past Paper
Day 4: Review Problem Areas
Day 5: Practice Exam
Day 6: Revision
Day 7: Final touches
Day 1: Get Organised
Identify Your Weaknesses
Throughout the year, you should have familiarised yourself with the Standard Maths 2 syllabus, which you can find here.
Go through each dot point and then on a scale of 0 to 5, rate yourself on your perceived level of knowledge and understanding.
0 = I know nothing about this dot point and unless I study, I am totally am screwed!
5 = I know this dot point back to front – I’m going to slay this exam!
You’ll end up with something like this:
Ensure your notes correspond with the Syllabus
Going through the Syllabus, make sure that your notes accurately describe what is in the syllabus. As you’re moving through, pay particular attention to areas that you rated less than 4 in your understanding and knowledge.
Using your maths textbook, go through questions next to the Syllabus. If you can’t figure out how to come to an answer within 5 seconds, highlight it. We’ll be filling them in next!
Start filling in the gaps
Now that you’ve identified your weaknesses, and the gaps in your notes, start going through your textbook for the theory.
As you’re going through, complete the diagnostic/chapter tests at the end of each topic. You want to spend about 25 minutes on each test and have a 10-minute break every hour or so. Remember to use your formula sheet for answering any questions you are stuck on.
This is a great task for the first day as it will reveal what you are still having problems with and the questions you can do without your eyes closed.
Day 2: Practice Multiple Choice Questions
Today, you want to spend at least an hour practising multiple choice questions.
You might scoff and think that they’re not important but MC questions make up 25% of your exam. Here is a great link to past HSC multiple choice exam questions.
Complete as many as you can today and make a note of anything you are struggling with.
Day 3: Complete a Past Paper
Revise Notes
Give yourself 20 minutes to revise all of your notes with the complete focus that you would have before the actual exam. Use it to go over the things you don’t think you’ll remember in your exam.
Complete a Past Paper
Print out the 2019 HSC Standard Maths Exam Paper, and put yourself under exam conditions: no disturbances for the next three hours, limited toilet breaks. This will help you to familiarise yourself with the set-out of the exam.
With this paper, use the formula sheet as guidance – if you use it for any of the questions, mark it down so that you know where you’re not so confident in your abilities.
It’s important to note that the HSC Standard Maths syllabus has changed from 2019 – this means any past papers prior will be out of date, BUT there is still some content overlap so they can be useful!
Mark the Paper
When you’re done take a break. Then spend about 20 minutes marking your paper. Find the answers here for the above exam and start marking.
Use the following rating when you’re marking too:
- Silly mistake
- Did not know answer
- Misunderstood question
- Incorrect knowledge
This way, you know how and why you got a question incorrect for tomorrow.
Day 4: Review problem areas
If you are getting less than 60/100, you may want to consider doing some more revision today, particularly in the areas where you do not feel so confident
These are areas you might have marked as ‘did not know the answer’ or ‘incorrect knowledge’.
As opposed to just going ‘Oh, I got it wrong’, try to diagnose where you went wrong, and how you got it wrong.
If you still don’t understand a concept, you should check out our FREE video resources for HSC Maths that explain Maths concepts syllabus dot point by dot point here!
If you’re still struggling, get some one on one time with your teacher ASAP.
Complete another practice paper
This time, do the 2020 HSC Standard Maths exam paper. Pay close attention to the questions which you struggle to understand or complete.
Mark the paper
Using the Marking Guidelines, compare your answers to theirs. Ask yourself again what the root cause of the problem: where did you go wrong, and why?
If you’re still getting less than 80/100, complete some questions from a chapter test in the areas you are not so confident.
Day 5: Practice Exam
Complete the sample HSC Paper for Standard Maths. Attempt to complete your exam in 2 hours and 10 minutes and give yourself 10 minutes to make any last minute changes.
The aim of today is to have a good understanding of what type of questions the HSC will have any your strengths in answering these questions.
You can mark it by using the Marking Guidelines found below all the questions here!
If you’re up for some extra practice, you can check out the master list of HSC Standard Maths past papers here!
Day 6: Revision
Audit your syllabus again
With three days of practice, you will have more confidence in your abilities!
Go over the syllabus once again to make sure you’ve understood every single topic and concept.
If you haven’t grasped your concepts yet, it’s a good idea to head over to HSC Together here which has thousands of FREE videos which explain each subtopic and syllabus dot point!
Revision
For the areas that are still rating below 4, complete diagnostic/chapter tests for those set areas from your textbook.
Spend about 2 hours doing this and really make sure that you’re not simply just going to the answer to get it right, but understanding the process that it takes to get there.
Day 7: Final touches
As it’s the final day, you want to revise each syllabus point, which should take you about 15 minutes.
Then, identify and perfect problem areas by doing a question and answer with yourself. I.e “Do I understand this question?”. “If so, how would I solve this problem?”
Now, move onto some answer preparation (1 hour). Find a past paper and write down the formula you’d use to answer the question.
And perhaps the most important of all — get a good night’s sleep!
This means sleeping for a minimum of 8 hours or more! Sacrificing sleep for study never pays off, so get a good amount of shut-eye even if you think you’re not fully prepared.
Don’t stress! The HSC exams are almost here, but that means they’re almost over. Keeping calm and positive is the best thing you can do for yourself from now until your final exam.
You have completed 6 days of intense study leading up to your exam. Take today to revise over any questions you are struggling with or do some harder questions that you don’t understand.
Now for some final tips, just to help you out in the exam!
Final tips
Tip #1: Use a highlighter
Always use a highlighter to highlight all the relevant information in the question. We know Standard Maths is full of words, which can often leave students confused, highlight or underline the important parts of the question to avoid confusion.
Tip #2: Only use your formula sheet if you really need it
Make sure you’ve memorised all your formulas off by heart. It can be incredibly time consuming to search for the right formula in the exam and it can chew into your exam time, so make sure you know it! Only use your formula sheet if you’re feeling frazzled in the exam and need a bit of guidance.
Tip #3: Remember your calculator
Remember you calculator (and bring a spare) —no elaboration needed for this one, calculators are a must!
Hopefully you now feel a lot better about your Standard Maths Exam! Good luck with your study plan!
Looking for some extra help with HSC Mathematics?
We pride ourselves on our inspirational HSC Mathematics coaches and mentors!
We offer tutoring and mentoring for Years K-12 in a variety of subjects, with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at one of our state of the art campuses in Hornsby or the Hills!
We offer local one-on-one tutoring all across New South Wales! Get support for HSC Maths in Blacktown today with one of our tutoring experts or work with one of our expert Maths tutors in Penrith!
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!
Lucinda Smith-Stevens graduated from Pymble Ladies’ College in 2016. She hopes to study a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney in 2017, focusing on Media and Communications subjects. Lucy is passionate about helping other students through the HSC in humanities subjects, General Mathematics 2 and essay writing skills.
