How to (Successfully) Make the Leap from Year 10 to Year 11

Remember being in Year 10? It was so chilled out!

There wasn’t much homework at all, not many assessments, so you could mostly just hang out with friends and have fun.

When I did have assessments in Year 10, I could spend about a week beforehand cramming and still do pretty well.

This strategy worked okay for Year 10… and then Year 11 hit like a slap in the face.

Assessments, a bigger workload, homework – you can’t get away with last minute cramming anymore.

The key to making the leap from Year 10 to Year 11 is consistency.

In this article we’re going to share 4 simple strategies to consistently use if you’re a Year 10 student going into Year 11 so you can nail your final two years of school!

Strategy 1: Set Goals for Year 11

Strategy 2: Write Study Notes Consistently

Strategy 3: Create Domino Habits

Strategy 4: Minimise Distractions

Strategy #1: Set Goals for Year 11

The first and most simple strategy for making the leap up from Year 10 is to set goals for Year 11.

If you’re planning on just cruising, with no real goal in mind, you’re just going to drift and end up nowhere.

So, pick up a piece of paper and write down what you want to achieve by the end of Year 11.

Now, you might want to achieve an academic goal, or it could be to do with extracurricular activities, leadership, sports, music – anything!

To help you out, here are a four easy categories for goal setting that you should be thinking about:

Academics

Health and Wellbeing

Family & Friends

Career

Now, you might not have goals for each of these categories, but make sure you sit down and actually write some of your goals down on paper.

This is a critical step because it ensures you’re going into Year 11 with intent and purpose, which will help you successfully make the leap up from Year 10.

Check out our downloadable study planners here to get you organised for Year 11!

If you’re needing support with defining goals for Year 11, our Dee Why tutors can help if you’re based in the Northern Beaches.

Strategy #2: Write Study Notes Consistently

Now, I’m assuming in Year 10 you probably didn’t make study notes, or you wrote them about two weeks before exams and used them to prep last minute.

In Year 10 you can get away with this, because the amount of content you need to learn is much less.

There is so much more content in Year 11 and Year 12, and it will keep coming all the way through the year.

So making study notes last minute (or not at all) is not going to work if you want to do well in your Year 11 and Year 12 assessments.

What’s much easier (and much more effective) is to write study notes consistently through the term, as you’re learning the content, and not at the end of the term!

An easy way to stay on top of this and to keep on track is to set a weekly goal for each subject of what you’re going to complete for your study notes.

So, set a weekly study note goal for each of your subjects, and stick to it! This will make your life SO much easier when exams and assessments roll around.

Looking for an example? Check out how we recommend studying for Module B of Year 11 Advanced English to get prepared!

Strategy #3: Set a Domino Habit

This is probably the easiest strategy for successfully making the leap from Year 10 to Year 11.

A ‘domino habit’ is a small, simple habit you can create that will have a domino effect on the rest of your day and your productivity.

The domino habit you should be starting is writing a daily to-do list. 

In Year 10, there was never really a need to write down what you need to do each day, or even each week to keep up in class.

However, in Year 11 and 12, the list of things that you need to juggle will grow massively.

The simple strategy you can do every single day that will help jumpstart your productivity is to write a to-do list.

This doesn’t have to be fancy, or complicated, don’t even think about it too much, just write down whatever comes to mind that you need to do today.

By writing down your tasks, it gives you a list of non-negotiable tasks to achieve by the end of the day, plus, it will help you keep focused on the right outcomes and just get shit done!

Strategy #4: Minimise Distractions

This rule applies whether you’re in Year 11, uni or even working a full time job!

To get work done, you need to minimise the distractions around you.

Because every single time you lose focus because of a distraction like your phone, Facebook, Instagram or Youtube – it takes over 23 minutes for you to get back in the zone and focus!

So, one of the key strategies you can use when you start Year 11 is to be intentional about minimising your distractions.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Get Rid of Your Phone!

Don’t even have it in the room while you’re working. Give it to your parents or siblings, or just put it in another room.

Step 2: Create Barriers for Online Distractions

Use SelfControl (Mac) or Cold Turkey (PC) to lock yourself out of distracting sites like Facebook and Youtube for a period of time while still allowing you to use the internet while studying.

Looking for some extra support while making the leap to Year 11?

We pride ourselves on our inspirational HSC 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!

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!

Isabella Hanley is the Digital Content Manager at Art of Smart. She is super passionate about sharing her knowledge on surviving the HSC since completing the Year 12 in 2014. In her downtime she enjoys Netflix binging like a pro, singing in the shower and hanging out with her awesome rescue dog, Ruby.