Are you in Year 11 and feel like this year doesn’t really matter since your marks won’t count towards your ATAR? Well it’s time to change that mindset, because Term 2 of Year 11 should be your transformation term!
Just because your marks reset when you officially begin Year 12, doesn’t mean that you should be slacking off. We’ll take you through the important reasons why Year 11 does matter, and how to set yourself up for success in Year 12.
Ready to get ahead in Year 11 before it’s too late? Let’s go!
Why does Year 11 matter?
Why is Term 2 important?
How do you make the most of Term 2 to set yourself up for success?
Why does Year 11 matter?
While you may have been told that Year 11 doesn’t really count, that it doesn’t matter, it’s just a test run — these things aren’t entirely true.
There are 2 very important reasons why Year 11 does matter:
#1: You learn foundational material for Year 12
The nature of the HSC curriculum is made in a way that what you learn in Year 11 is assumed knowledge and foundational material for Year 12 content.
So essentially, when you enter Year 12, the content you learn builds upon what you’ve learnt in Year 11. If you don’t know the material or haven’t learnt it very well, it will make it harder for you to understand the concepts you are taught in Year 12.
And if you struggle to understand the content, that generally means that your marks won’t be as great. As a result, the students that do well in Year 11 typically excel in Year 12 because they’ve already built that strong foundation!
If you’re looking to master your foundations before Year 12 and fix learning gaps, our 1-1 tutoring in Bankstown can help you with any subject!
#2: Year 11 results are used for early entry, scholarships and co-op applications
You’re probably thinking, what even are those things? Basically, these are all things that can give you a leg up when it comes to university!
Early Entry
Early entry guarantees you a place at a university for a particular course before you even finish Year 12. This relieves a lot of pressure by the time HSC exams come around, since you’ve already gotten into a degree of your choosing!
Your results in Year 11, plus an extracurriculars you’ve done will be used to assess your eligibility for early entry. You’ll still need to finish Year 12 and get an ATAR, but that number won’t matter!
By doing well in Year 11, this can play a really big role in making Year 12 less stressful and help you get into your dream university course.
Scholarships and Co-op Applications
Now with a scholarship, you will be paid a grant to study at a particular university and you will be assessed with your Year 11 results. This is because at the time of offering them, you usually won’t have access to Year 12 results.
If you apply for a co-op degree, you will be able to study while also completing work placements at some of Australia’s top companies. At the same time, you could be getting paid close to $20,000 a year as well!
Why is Term 2 important?
Term 2 plays a crucial role in not only preparing students for their Year 11 final exams but also in laying the foundation for success in Year 12. However, some students overlook the significance of this term and miss out on valuable opportunities to establish good study habits and build a strong academic foundation!
Failing to recognise the importance of Term 2 can lead to unpreparedness for Year 11 exams and leave students feeling overwhelmed and under-confident entering into Year 12.
Mistake #1: Overlooking Term 2’s significance in covering the majority of Year 11 content
Since Year 11 is only 3 terms, the bulk of what you learn will happen in Term 2, especially since you’ve got 4 topics to learn in each of your subjects.
For example, if you’re taking Biology, you’ve got Modules 1-4 as part of the preliminary HSC course.
The way schools typically structure this is that you’ll cover Module 1 in Term 1, a bit of Module 2 at the end of Term 1 with the bulk of Module 2 and 3 taught in Term 2. Then in Term 3, you’ve got Module 4 with your end of year exams at the end of the term (which gives you less time in that term).
What we can observe from this is that you’ll be taught a lot of content in Term 2 in order to make sure that you’re ready for your end of year exams.
Want to make sure you’re on top of Year 11 content? Download our FREE HSC Notion Template to organise your study notes by syllabus dot points.
Mistake #2: Failing to recognise that Term 2 presents a crucial window to establish and improve study habits
On average, it takes 66 days to build a new habit. That’s a decent amount of time — 66 days — and if we think about that, a 10-week term equates to 70 days!
So roughly, it takes about a term to start building and solidifying effective study and exam habits.
Why should you start building these habits now? You’ll want to enter Term 3 with incredible study and exam habits so you can ace your exams, which will overall support you achieving great results in Year 11, which also boosts early entry, scholarship and co-op applications.
And if you’ve done well across Year 11, you can start Year 12 confidently in Term 4!
If you haven’t really taken the time to build those habits in Year 11, you may find yourself struggling in Year 12 getting into the right rhythm because those habits are just non-existent. You may feel unmotivated, distracted, behind, unsure how to write study notes and that’s why it’s essential to start building those habits now!
Mistake #3: Not realising that Year 11 assessments during Term 2 are distinct from end-of-year exams
The assessment types you’ll get throughout the year for Assessment 1 and 2 may not necessarily align with the type of assessment you’ll get for your end of year exam.
For example, in Biology you may have a depth study, experiment and a presentation as assessments during the year.
These assessments give you different opportunities to showcase your abilities and your knowledge so that you can excel. The challenge though is that your exam format is typically multiple choice and short answer questions — which is different to your prior assessments.
You might’ve done well in these other assessments and feel confident about the exam, but if you haven’t really spent the time building your skills to complete an exam, you may find it a lot more difficult than expected!
So how can you start preparing for these exams if you have different assessments to tackle throughout the year?
You’ll want to begin getting feedback on your work, so this means going through practice questions and revising material from Terms 1 and 2 to prepare for the end of year exams.
Don’t wait until it’s the week before your exams to get into a feedback loop. Use Term 2 to your advantage and familiarise yourself with the exam format with practice questions, so your end of year assessment doesn’t come as a surprise to you!
Mistake #4: Failing to acknowledge that Term 2 lays the groundwork for success in Year 11 final exams…
…which sets you up for success in Year 12!
By putting in the effort now, you really maximise your opportunities in the long run. You’ll have built the foundation to ace your end of year exams, and also give yourself the chance to show off your results for scholarships and early entry applications.
All the work you do in Term 2 of Year 11 will only make things easier for you as you approach your exam period and begin Year 12.
How do you make the most of Term 2 to set yourself up for success?
While Term 2 may seem overwhelming, the most important thing to note is that hard work and strategic planning will be your greatest assets to maximising your Year 11 results and setting yourself up for Year 12. With a handy reflection, a solid plan, and some help to support you through your HSC journey, you’re well on your way to making the most of your Term 2.Â
Tip #1: Conduct a reflection
To conduct a helpful reflection, you’re going to need to look at your content and your study habits.
Content
To reflect on your content, you will need to complete a study notes audit — where are you at with each of your subjects? Are you up to date, behind or ahead?
Also go back over your assessment results and search for any mistakes you made to identify key areas of improvement. Make a list of the topics that you’re weaker at so you can go back and do some proper revision for them.
Another handy tip for reflecting on your content is to pull out your syllabus and apply the traffic light system. To do this, you’re going to look at your syllabus points and highlight them green, orange, and yellow according to your confidence levels:
Obviously, the syllabus points that you highlight orange and red indicate that these are challenging areas that you need to go back to and work on throughout the term. The ultimate purpose of your reflection is to proactively identify areas that you need to change to avoid making the same mistakes.Â
Study Habits
The second part of your reflection process involves taking a look at your studying habits to see what is and what’s not working. To help you with this, use the KSS (Keep, Start, Stop) protocol to think about what strategies helped you, what strategies dragged you down, and what smarter habits you can adopt for the future.Â
Tip #2: Build your Term 2 study plan
The overarching aim of your plan is to fill in your previous gaps of knowledge while also learning new content. A common mistake that students make is to forget about fixing knowledge gaps as they’re too focused on learning the new content and worrying about upcoming assessments.
Instead, the best way to study is to be proactive rather than reactive, which means that you should be paying close attention to your assessment schedule and work backwards.Â
Whether it be through an Excel spreadsheet, a planner, or Google Calendar, make a timeline where you can allocate time to revise the topics that you need to plug gaps in knowledge for, as well as time to revise new content. A plan will not only help you to prepare for upcoming assignments and schedule your time accordingly, but it will also let you map out key milestones and goals that you need to hit.
Be realistic; don’t overwork yourself and give yourself several weeks of revision to complete in one week. You need to balance your workload, as well as the rest of your non-academic life!
Here’s an example of how you might start building out your plan:
Tip #3: Get help
The final step to making the most of Term 2 of Year 11 is to consider getting help. Asking for help early is a key step that helps provide support for learning new content, working on areas of improvement, and building study habits in time for your end of year exams.
Don’t wait until it’s too late! At Art of Smart Education we can support with tutoring at our Hornsby campus, tutoring at our Castle Hill campus, or tutoring in your home or online across NSW!
In order for you to turn your marks around in Term 2, these are all the things you’ll want to accomplish:
You don’t have to do this alone and having someone to help you fast-track your learning can be a vital step in improving your marks and increasing your motivation.
It can feel super overwhelming when there’s a lot of foundational Year 11 content you need to revise, while also learning new content.
If you’re looking for tutoring support, we’ve got a range of options, including one-on-one, group, online and face-to-face sessions, to suit your learning needs! Our tutors can help to ensure you understand all the new content you’re learning while helping you plug and knowledge gaps.
Additionally, with our Pathfinder mentoring, we can help you reflect on how you’ve gone throughout Term 1, and keep you accountable for what you’d like to achieve during your senior years of schooling.
Don’t wait until Term 3 comes around to start improving your marks — it’s time to start now!
Looking for some extra help with your HSC studies?
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, online 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!
Don’t wait until it’s too late! Get a head-start for the HSC by booking in with one of our expert Strathfield HSC tutors!
Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at [email protected] or check us out on TikTok!
Get on top of Term 2 as soon as possible with Mosman tutoring!
Reina Caballero is currently the Digital Content Manager at Art of Smart. She completed a Bachelor of Marketing and Media at Macquarie University at the end of 2019 and has written for a variety of magazine publications, such as MANIA, TV Soap, Soap World and Grapeshot. When she isn’t busy publishing articles on the AoS website, she’s working through 1000-piece puzzles, memorising TikTok sounds and making plans with friends.
