Am I dumb or is this true? HSC getting harder and harder each year. (1 Viewer)

[unforlornedhope]

I did my HSC many years ago back in 2010 and I did alright, with an ATAR in the low 90s. I did tutor (for free, by volunteering at those library HSC help programs, community tutor programs etc.) some kids and helped family friends throughout the years (not consistently, but sometimes when they ask questions and need help, I am happy to answer), but I stopped around 2015. Last year and this year, some people asked me for help in the HSC. But when I looked at the 2018 and 2019 HSC papers for the subjects I have done before, I have been stumped. It was much harder than during my time and those few years that I help people between 2011-2015. Especially for 2u Maths and English, I can't provide much assistance to the students. I am not sure is it due to the syllabus change, or kids nowadays are getting smarter and the HSC exams are getting harder?

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Drdusk]

I did my HSC many years ago back in 2010 and I did alright, with an ATAR in the low 90s. I did tutor (for free, by volunteering at those library HSC help programs, community tutor programs etc.) some kids and helped family friends throughout the years (not consistently, but sometimes when they ask questions and need help, I am happy to answer), but I stopped around 2015. Last year and this year, some people asked me for help in the HSC. But when I looked at the 2018 and 2019 HSC papers for the subjects I have done before, I have been stumped. It was much harder than during my time and those few years that I help people between 2011-2015. Especially for 2u Maths and English, I can't provide much assistance to the students. I am not sure is it due to the syllabus change, or kids nowadays are getting smarter and the HSC exams are getting harder?

What are your thoughts on this?

Depends on what subject. I’ll comment on the subjects I did

4u & 3u Maths: Definitely the papers have gotten much easier than the earlier years. The last decent 3u paper was 2013 imo.

Physics: This was never hard and it still isn’t hard, but I would say definitely harder than the old syllabus.

Software Design and Development: Even though it’s not hard the standard of papers is definitely better and in some aspects harder than the earlier papers. There’s also some degree of actual problem solving involved rather than just memory recall like the earlier papers although still not really that difficult.

 

[unforlornedhope]

Depends on what subject. I’ll comment on the subjects I did

4u & 3u Maths: Definitely the papers have gotten much easier than the earlier years. The last decent 3u paper was 2013 imo.

Physics: This was never hard and it still isn’t hard, but I would say definitely harder than the old syllabus.

Software Design and Development: Even though it’s not hard the standard of papers is definitely better and in some aspects harder than the earlier papers. There’s also some degree of actual problem solving involved rather than just memory recall like the earlier papers although still not really that difficult.

Are you sure 3U Maths is getting easier and easier?
When I look back at the 2U Maths papers, I feel like it's getting harder and harder each year.

 

[Drdusk]

Are you sure 3U Maths is getting easier and easier?
When I look back at the 2U Maths papers, I feel like it's getting harder and harder each year.

3u definitely easier without a doubt. 2018 3u was pretty good but the 2019 3u and 2017 3u were really easy which seems to be occurring more commonly nowadays.

 

[gudetamago]

I would agree and say 3U is getting easier. This trend may make a U-turn with the new syllabus being implemented in 2020 so who knows. Based on my experience, the difficulty of SOR1 papers have remained pretty constant, though my friends told me that the 2019 paper was a lot harder than previous years. Biology and Chemistry have shifted so that questions are less on content memorisation and more on analysis and critical thinking. English is another story though, personally I thought English was especially hard this year. But it seems that the markers were quite lenient this year with the new syllabus and all.

 

[_rakelt]

I feel like the HSC paper for english is somewhat getting harder... I feel like NESA knows that students are route learning and are memorising pre written essays into exams. They're coming up with different question styles and making them more ambiguous to prevent students from memorising. Maybe just me?

 

[brent012]

I feel like the HSC paper for english is somewhat getting harder... I feel like NESA knows that students are route learning and are memorising pre written essays into exams. They're coming up with different question styles and making them more ambiguous to prevent students from memorising. Maybe just me?

I'm not familiar with the current topics/setup, but there always used to a cycle for the area of study questions. The first year had a straight forward question and usually requested one or more related texts, the final year would have harder and unpredictable questions and generally request two related texts.

There's been talk for years about making English harder to rote learn essays for however, so there might have been extra efforts around this.

 

[unforlornedhope]

I feel like the HSC paper for english is somewhat getting harder... I feel like NESA knows that students are route learning and are memorising pre written essays into exams. They're coming up with different question styles and making them more ambiguous to prevent students from memorising. Maybe just me?

Yes, the English exams have definitely become a lot harder. For some of the questions, it is just hard to adapt your essay to fit the question.