well... in my honest opinion, i think the HSC was all about regurgitation of written material, restricted analysis AND you were told how to write essays n stuff HSC style. When you are in university, more effort is required in order to earn D and HD's. Your assignments allow you to develop your own views, research and evaluation of sources. Must refer to journals. From my experience:
Here are my tips in apporaching essay or assignment writing -
1) You cannot use techniques (obviously) and use direct quotes from your sources - this lowers your quality and most likely place in the Fail / Pass band. To solve this, you need to paraphrase and reference consistently through the essay.
2) Use active voice in your essays instead of passive.
3) Grammar and spelling - markers are extremely picky on this one.
4) Avoid using really old journals (like from 1940-1960) and sick to more recent ones (1970- onwards). Online journals are highly recommended.
5) Get someone to re-read your essay and so that they provide you feedback..
Its not easy getting the high high marks in uni, but if you choose subjects / major that completely matches your interest, then you have a tendency to do well.