How to prepare for the HSC

The HSC is a marathon, not a sprint. Staying organised is one of the biggest factors in making sure you perform at your best—without burning out along the way. Here’s how to set yourself up for success.

1. Manage Your Time Effectively

The biggest mistake students make? Cramming and overloading themselves with study at the expense of everything else. You need to balance study with:

• Extracurricular activities (sports, music, volunteering—whatever keeps you sane)
• Time with family and friends
• Breaks, relaxation, and self-care (sleep and exercise aren’t optional)

Set up a study timetable that includes both work and downtime. Burnout won’t help your marks, but balance will. The biggest mistake so many students make (and say they regret later) is dropping all of the fun and ECAs from their schedule thinking it’ll help their marks - when actually, all it does is drag down their mood, and hence increase the time they spend sitting around procrastinating or studying at below optimum productivity.

2. Set Deadlines (and Stick to Them)

HSC assessments don’t just sneak up on you—there’s a syllabus, a school planner, and you already know when trials are. Set your own deadlines well before the real ones, using a notebook, diary, Sticky Notes, MS To-Do, Google Calendar, or other productivity software. This will:

• Keep you ahead of schedule
• Reduce last-minute stress, late nights, and unhealthy habits
• Give you time to revise and refine - trust us, ways to improve crop up all the time and giving yourself more time to reflect after you’re finished with the grunt work always improves the quality of your final submission or response!

3. Be Realistic with Your Goals

Everyone loves SMART goals, but let’s be real: The best goal is one you actually follow through on. Instead of overcomplicating it, just:

• Decide realistically on what you need to do - do not think that you can write out that entire Mod A essay in 2 hours, or finish 5 past papers in one night!
• Set a deadline - again, be reasonable and kind to yourself in terms of estimated times, but start early so this kindness doesn’t come at the expense of your sleep or your sanity!
• Commit to it - lock in, put down the phone, close the games, and get to it. You’ll be surprised just how good you feel after you get something done - definitely even better than if you had stayed online just to lose that last match…

It’s that simple. The key to success is consistency—not obsessing over making the “perfect” plan.

4. Stop Distractions Before They Stop You

The easiest way to waste study time? Scrolling, notifications, and procrastination.

• Use apps like Forest or Cold Turkey to block distractions
• Put your phone in another room (or, if you’re one of those people who absolutely cannot be separated from their phone, then fine, at the bare minimum, put it on silent in the drawer face-down…)
• Set “focus” blocks where you work uninterrupted for 45-60 minutes - consider using your own variation of the Pomodoro technique based on your own attention span, current mood, and workload - some form of alternating rest breaks and work is very effective but you have to decide what works for you and keep play separate from work.

If you eliminate distractions, you’ll get more done in less time.

5. Organise Your Resources Properly

You don’t want to be that person who loses their best English evaluations the night before they submit their essay, or can’t find their math mistakes book two days out from HSC trials. Or, more commonly, you might find yourself thinking about that beautiful worksheet your teacher gave you a week ago with all the solutions to the problems you’re having now, but you can’t find it for the love of your life!

Keep everything sorted:

• Digital: If you’re an online person, organised subject folders, named files, and backups using cloud software like OneDrive or Google Drive will make it super easy to find stuff on demand.
• Physical: Traditional hero? Keep those binders or notebooks for each subject in tip-top shape —highlight key insights

Your past work and the resources you find and compile during class (and maybe tutoring) is your biggest revision tool. Don’t lose it!

6. Take Good Notes and Write Practice Responses

Good notes are concise, structured, and useful. They should:

• Summarise key concepts clearly
• Include worked examples and explanations
• Be your own words so you actually understand them

But notes alone won’t get you a Band 6—practice responses will. Whether it’s English essays, science extended responses, or past papers, writing and refining your answers is how you get exam-ready.

For more detail on this section, check out our blog posts on what makes good notes, and how to use them to revise effectively.

7. And… Buy More Notes and Resources!

Why waste time reinventing the wheel when you can learn from the best? While it is essential to compile your own resources and write out your own exemplars, the best notes always come from a combination of original content and inspiration from the previous generations of top-scoring students. We’ve written other blog posts explaining why other people’s resources can broaden your horizons and how exemplars are so incredibly valuable for the HSC - so check out those blog posts to convince you of the benefits of integrating others’ success into your academic path!

At Notes2u, we’ve got high-quality study resources from top-performing students, including:

• Detailed notes for every subject
• Exemplar essays and extended responses to model high-scoring answers
• Scaffolds and study guides to help you structure your work

We’ve got other blog posts where we discuss, in detail, the advantages of purchasing others’ resources (rather than doing everything yourself or scrounging around on the Internet for free ones) - so check them out, and once you’re convinced, then make a promise, to us and yourself: you’re gonna get ahead, stay organised, and make the HSC easier for yourself!