It’s the end of the year, and you’re looking to get into Year 12 – the final year of high school. But before you sink your blood, sweat, and tears, it’s time to reflect on the academic year that was Year 11, what it was all about, and whether it had any impact on your performance. Did you do enough, or could you have done more to give yourself a better chance at a higher ATAR?
Do Year 11 Marks Count?
What matters most about the latter part of high school is your ATAR. It will determine the course you can pursue and whether you will be following the career path you’ve always dreamed of. Therefore, it’s only normal that you wonder whether the exams you did in Year 11 counted towards your ATAR.
The ATAR is a combination of your marks from HSC exams and your assessment marks from Year 12 only. Although that might provide students who didn’t do well in Year 11 with some breathing room, it doesn’t mean that you should write off the course and subjects you take in Year 11 for other reasons you will see later on.
Although Year 11 might not factor into your ATAR, it might be necessary for students who cannot finish high school and need a Record of School Achievement (RoSA). Your Year 10 marks will also be included in the RoSA.
Do I Need to Remember the Content from Year 11?
Even though your Year 11 results don’t affect your ATAR score, there are other reasons why Year 11 still counts. For instance, the content you learn in Year 11 will be crucial in helping you understand what is taught in Year 12. You will need the fundamental ideas and skills you learned in Year 11 will be crucial in Year 12.
Additionally, besides making your Year 12 easier, the content you learn in Year 11 can feature in exams you take in Year 12. This is because NESA operates on the policy of “assumed knowledge.” This means students are expected to have a basic understanding of the content covered in the prelim course. This makes understanding and remembering content covered in Year 11 vital, even in Year 12.
There are subjects like chemistry and maths that require the information you learn in Year 11 to be able to tackle them in Year 12. If you don’t have the formulas, definitions and understanding you learned in the previous year, you may struggle in Year 12. Even in Year 12, you may find yourself needing to look back to Year 11 content to help you understand some of the concepts.
Should I Keep All My Notes from the Preliminary Course?
Even though you’re done with Year 11, it’s a good idea to keep the notes. This is because a lot of content in Year 12 builds on the preliminary content you learn in Year 11, and the notes are considered assumed knowledge. The notes are a great resource to have as a backup and come in handy when you need to look something up.
Should Year 11 Exams Determine What Subjects I Should Drop and Pick Up?
Year 11 exams can give you better insight into the subjects you should drop or pick up. If you’re taking thirteen or fourteen units at the end of the year and want to drop some of them, you will want to consider dropping the subjects that you struggle with the most and the ones that pull down your grades. Ideally, most students want to drop the subject they found the hardest to study or that doesn’t pay off.
However, this shouldn’t be the only measure you use to choose subjects you can pick up at the beginning of Year 12. There are extension subjects that your teachers would gently discourage you from picking up if you didn’t do well in your Year 11 English and History exams.
Equally, doing well in these extension subjects doesn’t necessarily mean you should pick up extra extensions. It’s just a matter of doing your research and working out what’s right for you.
Is Year 12 Content More Difficult Than Year 11?
In all honesty, Year 12 content will be more difficult. This academic year comes with added pressure and intensity, which is expected, considering you have major exams coming up. The difference between the different subjects will vary.
Some subjects will be more difficult to learn and will feel overwhelming, while other subjects like English might feel similar to previous years, but the teachers will expect higher standards from you. Overall, you should expect the difficulty of the subjects to increase, but Year 12 is completely manageable.
If I Did Well in Year 11, Should I Just Keep Doing the Same Things for Year 12?
If you did well in Year 11, that shows you’ve got something figured out that will work out in Year 12, and you’re on the right track. One of the benefits of doing well in Year 11 is that you don’t have to play catch-up in Year 12.
However, the unfortunate news is that excelling in Year 11 doesn’t guarantee that you will excel in Year 12.
You are on the right path, and you have probably mastered some good learning and study habits. However, you should remember not to get too comfortable. You should consider talking to your teachers about the little ways you can improve. You basically need to find that fine line between stepping up from your Year 11 success to match up to the new standards in Year 12. However, you shouldn’t go too hard that you burn out before the second term of the academic year.
Conclusion
What you did in Year 11 should stop you from making Year 12 your best year academically. If you were somewhat casual in Year 11, Year 12 gives you an opportunity to work a little harder to catch up. If you didn’t do well in Year 11, you can take comfort in knowing that there was no permanent damage done. You still have the time to catch up. However, the path to success will be a little challenging because you have to catch up with Year 11 content first.
