• Best of luck to the class of 2024 for their HSC exams. You got this!
    Let us know your thoughts on the HSC exams here
  • YOU can help the next generation of students in the community!
    Share your trial papers and notes on our Notes & Resources page
MedVision ad

Why is it so hard to get a band 6 in Standard English? (1 Viewer)

nomieee

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2014
Messages
61
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
Hey Guys!!

So basically I've been looking at the stats of how many people have got band 6's in Standard English and something ridiculous like 0.01% of the people that do standard get a band six... I was just wondering why it's so hard to get a band six in standard? Is it because of scaling? or is it because nobody in standard breaches the 90 barrier in their HSC exam?

Thanks in advance :)
 

photastic

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2013
Messages
1,848
Gender
Male
HSC
2014
It's because the cohort's level for english standard is much lower than english advanced. Therefore, alignment is really bad where I believe paper 1 really distinguishes between the advanced and standard (same exam for both cohorts). However, scaling is similar.
 

PhysicsMaths

Active Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2014
Messages
179
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
Hey Guys!!

So basically I've been looking at the stats of how many people have got band 6's in Standard English and something ridiculous like 0.01% of the people that do standard get a band six... I was just wondering why it's so hard to get a band six in standard? Is it because of scaling? or is it because nobody in standard breaches the 90 barrier in their HSC exam?

Thanks in advance :)
That statistic was exaggerated. No course would have a band 6 rate that low...
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/ebos/static/BDHSC_2014_12_15130.html
Here is last year's statistics

imo, the main reason why people don't get band 6's in english is the fact that the course is compulsory. This means that those who are bad at english, and those who have no interest in participating/putting effort into achieving marks are also made to partake in the HSC for that subject. Therefore, their bad results will influence your cohort's performance and could negatively influence your marks.
 

Intrinsic

Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Messages
90
Gender
Male
HSC
2014
Hi, I managed to pull off a B6 in std. You just need to work very hard, write many practice essays and make sure you are at minimum rank 3 in your cohort. The percentage is low because it is compulsory and not everyone that undertakes the HSC has the desire to go to university. Also, it doesn't help when teachers have such low expectations of their std students. I see that your atar goal is 90+ - don't be too disheartened by the figure, you'll do well if you work hard. :)
 

nomieee

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2014
Messages
61
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
Hi, I managed to pull off a B6 in std. You just need to work very hard, write many practice essays and make sure you are at minimum rank 3 in your cohort. The percentage is low because it is compulsory and not everyone that undertakes the HSC has the desire to go to university. Also, it doesn't help when teachers have such low expectations of their std students. I see that your atar goal is 90+ - don't be too disheartened by the figure, you'll do well if you work hard. :)
You are my inspiration omg! I'd really like to achieve a band 6 in standard English, but at the moment I'm coming 4th in the course (equal 4th with like 10 other people because there are 3 people who are equal first) and am only really average. It doesn't help that my teacher doesn't actually teach but I've got a tutor and I felt like I did alright in the half yearly - which is rare because I always feel like I've done terribly. How did you go about studying? How many practice papers and essays did you do in the lead up to exams?
 

Intrinsic

Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Messages
90
Gender
Male
HSC
2014
You are my inspiration omg! I'd really like to achieve a band 6 in standard English, but at the moment I'm coming 4th in the course (equal 4th with like 10 other people because there are 3 people who are equal first) and am only really average. It doesn't help that my teacher doesn't actually teach but I've got a tutor and I felt like I did alright in the half yearly - which is rare because I always feel like I've done terribly. How did you go about studying? How many practice papers and essays did you do in the lead up to exams?
Well at least you have a tutor for english! I didn't :) I firstly set myself the goal of being able to write band 6 essays by the time I got to the HSC exam (this happened early year 12). In order to do this, I picked up a couple band 6 essays and started to learn the mechanics and elements of the essay. I did this by critically analysing the piece, involving tasks such as looking at how the top band student started a sentence, finished a sentence, addressed the keywords of the question etc. Once you learn what needs to be done to achieve the top band, you're set.
I created generic essays for all my modules, and learned the skill of adapting the essay to suit the question. The weeks leading up to the HSC exam, I wrote about one practice essay every 2-3 days, and would send it off to my teacher. I would read my teacher's feedback thoroughly to ensure I understood everything. I read the feedback many times to ensure I wouldn't make the same mistake, and while I was middle of the HSC exam I remained very conscious to avoid repeating those mistakes.
Also, when it came to internal exams/assignments for english, I never took any quotes or ideas the teacher supplied to the class unless it was absolutely important. I had to differentiate myself in order to stand out and top my cohort. So that's pretty much it. Just work hard, be unique, don't give up, practice and you'll achieve your goals.
 

BLIT2014

The pessimistic optimist.
Moderator
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
11,591
Location
l'appel du vide
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2014
Uni Grad
2018
Hey Guys!!

So basically I've been looking at the stats of how many people have got band 6's in Standard English and something ridiculous like 0.01% of the people that do standard get a band six... I was just wondering why it's so hard to get a band six in standard? Is it because of scaling? or is it because nobody in standard breaches the 90 barrier in their HSC exam?

Thanks in advance :)
Its because of aligning which is percentage of people getting certain bands in the subject.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top