28 Apr 2021

After finishing my half-yearly exams, I was certain I would’ve felt a sense of relief – you would think from working so bloody hard rewriting essays daily, tirelessly practicing past papers, the three-hour a night sleeps and the before and after school sessions would have made the pressure cooker environment of a mini-HSC a little easier. Boy, was I wrong.

I was a burnt-out wreck and was ready to throw in the towel. Sure, my teachers were there to encourage me every step of the way and to tell me to keep going, but when I found out just how little these exam results mattered to my overall ATAR, damn I felt mislead and fooled.

As my year advisor used to instil in me, everything in your final year counts towards something and although he technically wasn’t wrong, the amount of stress placed on you compared to the actual result you get out if it does not equate and simply means nada.

Year 12 forced me to navigate time management but when things didn’t go to plan (which almost always happened), anxiety and the fear of not being good enough settled in. Data has shown us that 71 per cent of students are stressed when asked what best describes how they are feeling, following 66 per cent as being anxious.

So, should you get worked up about a lesser result? Heck no. Should you know a little more about how your marks scale before your exams? Heck yes.

 

Let’s talk about scaling

Let’s keep this short and sweet. I didn’t do well in math, so ATARNotes have come in clutch:

Let’s say, for example, you are happy with an 80% in your half-yearly exam, but you studied the wrong text by accident (whoops) and you only got 55% instead. You lost 25% of what you were aiming for.

The average half yearly is only worth 30% of your school assessment mark, so you lose about seven marks from your whoopsie. Half that for your final mark, lets round that down to three.

As you would know, your subjects are comprised of units and you need 10 units to qualify for the HSC. It takes two units from English and the other best 8 units, so if you’re doing an extra subject that you’re not confident in, it doesn’t even count. Each unit is equal to 50, so you’ve got 500 marks in total.

Let’s circle back around. Remember those three marks you lost? Three out of 500, or maybe, 0.006 of an ATAR point?

All of a sudden, these results seem like a drop in the ocean. I wish I knew this before I spent all those late nights cramming that surely did not help me in any way.

Yes, your marks do add up, and I am not saying these exams do not matter, but if you focus more on putting the effort into subjects that you love, it’ll all be worth your while.

TLDR; all you need to remember is, if you don’t get the mark you want, it is not the end of the world. These results do not contribute to your ATAR that much and it’s not something to be stressed about. Put some of that energy into doing something that you love.

Year13 is running an online careers exhibition from May 17-19, and it’s gonna be a red hot viiiiibe. With 30+ speakers and over a hundred exhibitors, this expo is designed to help you find your passion and plan your future, whether you have zilch future plans, or wanna learn how to land your dream job.

Not to mention, there are some sweet prizes being given away left right and centre, (like 3 x $10,000 scholarships that you can put towards anything that helps pursue your passions). Madness!