Students in Maitland and around the rest of the country sat their first Higher School Certificate exams this week, with the compulsory English tests kicking things off.
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The first exam was English 1 on Monday morning, followed by the second part, modules, on Tuesday.
The HSC students at Maitland Grossmann High School walked out on Tuesday without too much worry or concern, saying both English exams were pretty straight forward.
“I’m a slow writer, I normally never finish English exams,” school captain Tom Brown said. “But I finished both this time.”
“They fit with what we had done before,” fellow student Matilda Hubbard said. “If you memorised your essays, you were pretty much set.”
The two students, who both sat the English Standard paper, agreed that the short answer part of the first exam was probably the most peculiar, but there weren’t any major curve balls.
Tom, a self-declared procrastinator, said he prepared by locking himself in a room, memorising his notes, saying them out loud and writing them down. Matilda also read her summaries and practiced past papers.
Tom and Matilda’s opinions about the exams were backed up by English head teacher Libby Guider.
She said both the Advanced and Standard papers were accessible for the students and didn’t include too many surprises.
The two students had a few days to prepare for their next subject, Mathematics, on Monday.
The HSC continues through to Tuesday, November 7. The results will be released to students on Thursday, December 14.
Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
