Whether you’re a math enthusiast (do those really exist?) or struggling to make your way in the world of numbers, you’ll have to take the HSC exam.
Even if this exam sounds intimidating to you, don’t let it get you down. Plenty of time spent studying ahead of time can help anyone achieve top marks on the exam.
How do you put your time to the best use? Find out here!
Practice Makes Perfect
According to a tutoring centre in Sydney, practice makes perfect when studying for the HSC exam as it does in most things. When it comes to the exam, the best way to practice is to get your hands on and do as many practice questions as possible before the big day.
Reenact exam day conditions as much as possible. Put yourself in a distraction-free zone (turn off your phone) and set a timer as you work. This will help you get used to working on a time limit as well as get a feel for how long it takes you to work on problems.
Whatever you do, don’t get hung up on a single question. If you spend too much time on a problem near the beginning, you won’t even get to touch the later questions and will lose too many points.
Approaching Practice Questions
There are many ways to come at practice questions. Some methods are better than others.
We suggest beginning to study at least 6 months before the exam. This means you may run across practice questions covering material that hasn’t been presented yet in class. Just set them aside and come back to them after the relevant coursework has been discussed.
Plus, you can go back and redo old questions a few weeks later. This helps refresh your memory as well as be able to complete similar questions more quickly in the future.
Find Questions from Different Sources
There’s no way to know ahead of time what questions will be on your exam. However, if you pull practice questions from a variety of sources, you will get a better feel for what you’ll see on the exam — regardless of the types of questions they use this year.
Look in a variety of textbooks, check out official past papers, independent papers, and trial papers from various schools. The more, the better!
Take Notes
Taking notes in maths might seem a little ambiguous. After all, there aren’t many dates or definitions to memorize.
However, there are a lot of concepts. Those who can fully grasp each concept and understand how they work together are those that do well in maths.
Taking creative notes such as drawing mind maps and using other techniques can help you connect concepts in your head. The time you spend organising your notes is also advantageous as the exercise helps solidify the information in your brain.
Dominate Your Exam!
We hope these tips have been helpful to you. Even if math is not your best subject, you can do well on your HSC exam, with a little dedication and hard work.