Most students won’t get a 45+ in English, even if they have the potential to. Here are the top 5 biggest mistakes students make, and how to avoid them:
1) Not studying ESSAYS of past top scorers
No-one is born knowing what a 50-scoring essay looks like. The way students get 45+ scores is by studying the essays of past top performers and emulating them. Therefore, it is a mistake not to learn from the best by studying their essays.
Solution: Get hold of some essays from past top-performers (ask your teacher or friends in the year above) and study them. Analysing them for structure, writing style, ideas and vocabulary, and incorporating these features into your own piece will put you at a huge advantage.
2) Not getting your TEACHER’S APPROVAL of your essays.
English is subjective (yes, I said it!). But this is actually a good thing because it means if you tailor your essay to your teacher’s needs, you can guarantee a high SAC score. A mistake is to not get your teacher to approve your essays prior to the SAC.
Solution: Show your teacher your essay before the SAC and make sure they like your style – if not, make any necessary changes and show them again until they do. When they’ve confirmed your essay is at A+ level, you are much more likely to score A+ on the actual SAC.
3) Not writing ‘SUPER’ (untimed) ESSAYS
To write an A+ essay under time pressure, you must first have written one without time pressure. A mistake students often make is to start writing time-pressure essay practice before they’ve improved their untimed essays to an A+ level.
Solution: Treat your first 1-2 essays like an assignment – work on them day in day out until they’re perfect. Make use of high-scoring sample essays and Thesaurus.com to assist you. Only once your teacher has confirmed these are A+ level should you begin time-pressure practice.
4) Not practicing under TIME PRESSURE
Giving yourself a whole Sunday to write an essay is nice – but it’s not the same as writing in a SAC. A big mistake is to not practicing writing essays while the clock is ticking.
Solution: Once you’ve written the Super Essays and improved them to an A+ level, write AT LEAST 4 time-pressured essays in preparing for a written SAC. Start with a more generous time allowance, and gradually work your way down to the SAC limit. Every essay will train you to write and think faster, and you’ll become much more confident during time conditions.
5) Not getting FEEDBACK on every essay
You can write 10 or 20 practice essays, but your writing won’t necessarily improve unless you get quality feedback in between, and apply this feedback.
Solution: Find someone who knows what a good essay looks like (e.g. a teacher, tutor, past student) and get them to read your essay. Then implement their feedback in your next essay, and begin the upward spiral.
Avoid these mistakes and you’ll be well on your way to an enviable score in VCE English!
