The HSC Is a Game
The HSC is obviously about academics.
But it’s also… kind of a game.
Not in a “cheat the system” way, but more in the sense that the HSC is not a clean measure of how smart you are. It’s about time management, decision-making, and avoiding unnecessary work that feels productive but doesn’t actually help.
Everyone does different subjects. Everyone finds some easier than others. Because of that, the best strategy isn’t to grind equally hard at everything, it’s to be strategic and choose which subjects to place more attention on.
People often say, “Don’t worry about ATAR calculators, just try your best and it’ll work out.” While effort obviously matters, I feel that advice can be a bit incomplete. Because of scaling, school performance, and subject combinations, the same amount of work in two different subjects can have very different payoffs.
My advice to Year 11s and 12s is to actually play around with ATAR calculators. Not to obsess, but understand where your time is most efficiently spent and avoid putting 10 hours into something that barely even moves your ATAR.
About the Magic Number Everyone Worries About
Before I get into what I did during Year 12, I thought I’d mention that I never set a specific ATAR or mark as a goal. I realised from Year 11 that tying my happiness to a number was a bad plan. In Year 12, I focused on being okay with not doing “perfectly” as long as I knew I’d done what I thought was right. Shifting towards being more process-focused and less outcome-driven reduced a lot of stress and allowed me to enjoy everyday of Year 12. This was especially helpful when I saw some of my 4U Math marks!
Even on ATAR release day, I didn’t have a specific number I wanted in mind. I was already content knowing I approached the year in a way I was proud and that honestly felt like the biggest win.
Environment: Underrated, but Very Helpful
I definitely think studying in the right environment can help a lot. All my mates studied in different ways. Some liked to be alone at home while others preferred people’s company at school or the library.
For me, I always found I enjoyed studying in a quiet, clean space. At home, that meant a reasonably clean desk… although there were always about 3 empty coffee mugs lying around my table! In class, I enjoyed sitting next to my mates to make classes like English and Math a bit more enjoyable!
At lunch, though? Full switch… off. Messing around with mates and laughing a lot was non-negotiable. Playing basketball until our shirts were soaking wet definitely reduced a lot of stress. Balance matters!
Consistency > Intensity (The Boring Stuff That Carries You)
My studying in Year 12 wasn’t constant. Leading up to exams, it gradually increased and peaked about a week out, then slowed down a lot after. That was intentional.
The key thing during this time was to avoid completely losing all structure. If you let bad habits settle in, starting to study later feels impossible and it’s hard to get into a rhythm. So even during holidays or after exams, I kept the basics going, exercising, reading, sleeping enough, and actually paying attention in class (this was a bit harder!).
I also made an effort to cut down my screen time. Doom scrolling was wasting endless hours a day… so I deleted Instagram! This worked… until I spent an impressive amount of time on YouTube shorts instead. As you can tell, progress isn’t linear! But my point is that if you can remove certain bad habits, including after exams, you’ll find it easier to study when you need to later.
When getting back into studying, I built it up slowly. I’d start with maybe around 30 minutes a day, then add more each week. By the third week, I was usually in a groove. Planning my day beforehand helped too, once the plan existed, it was easier to stop “thinking about studying” and actually do it.
How I Studied (Working Smarter, Not Harder… Took Me a While)
Something that worked well for me was constantly reflecting on how I was studying. I’d look back after a week and reflect on what worked and didn’t work. I used Year 11 to see what study habits I should and shouldn’t take into year 12.
I found in Year 11, I would study kind of mindlessly. Pick a random practice exam. Grind it out for a few hours. Feel productive. Improve very little.
The thing about practice papers is that it hits everything… including stuff you’re good at. So realistically, you could waste hours reinforcing strengths while your weaknesses linger. But unfortunately fixing weaknesses is way less fun than doing topics you’re already smashing.
That’s why I started using a technique called the traffic-light system. It’s just a simple way to be honest with yourself and identify weaknesses.
Green = perfect.
Orange = needs work.
Red = you’re cooked if this comes up.
There’s no point spending hours on what you’re already good at if something else is quietly ruining your marks. Once every few days I would review the traffic lights for each subject and see where I could switch colours. I could never go from red to green in a day or even a week, but definitely I would improve. That kind of shows why consistency always wins.
For Chemistry in particular, I would do a lot of practice exams thinking greater volume=skill. Turns out I kept repeating the same mistakes. I changed my approach to really work on my weaknesses. I reviewed my mistakes constantly. My teachers made a great point that “silly mistakes” usually aren’t silly, they’re misunderstandings in disguise. Ultimately, a lot of my weaknesses became topics I wanted to see in an exam because I had worked on them.
Exam Day Rituals (Super Scientific)
I love basketball, and if you follow the NBA, you’ll see that elite players have some weird pre-game rituals.
I always slept fairly early and my breakfast was always just a bit of yoghurt and dark chocolate. Once I was about to start an exam, I tried to crack my neck on both sides and take a few deep breaths, fairly normal right? A lot of my mates had different ones!
Some would chug a monster right before our 3 hour trials. Some listened to music and didn’t want to talk. One of my best mates would high-five our physics teacher right before every physics test.
These rituals might not improve your mark directly, but it does stop you from panicking.
Extracurriculars: Not the Enemy
I stayed involved in things outside academics too. I had the honour to be School Captain at Normo. A lot of people asked me if it was hard managing that with studying… but honestly it wasn’t. It was a fun distraction and a reminder that Year 12 isn’t just about studying. I had so much fun with my mates selling snags on events like Movember, shaving our heads on World’s Greatest Shave and attending events with other schools.
It doesn’t have to be leadership either. A lot of my friends were into athletics, music, volunteering or part-time work. Having something else during Year 12 really helps.
Talk to people (seriously)
One of the most helpful things I did was talk to people. Current students, alumni, high achievers, reading articles like this! Really anyone whose journey I was curious about.
Hearing lots of different experiences helped me notice patterns and small habits that kept coming up again and again. My biggest piece of advice: talk to as many people as you can. You don’t need to copy anyone, just find the bits that help and run with those.
At the end of the day, Year 12 is a mix of hard work, stress and a lot of laughs. Have fun with your mates, enjoy the breaks, and don’t feel guilty for switching off sometimes. Do the work when it matters, be intentional with your time, and make sure you leave Year 12 with memories you actually care about, not just a number you’ll forget how to calculate in a few years.
Good luck!
