Exactly just how hard is it to get a 40+ study score?

[strawberries]

I know it's already so late in the year and it's too late to do anything now, but speaking on a general level - just how hard is it to get a study score over 40? Like, can ANYONE who puts in a lot of work and effort get over 40 or is it only reserved to the people who have some sort of skill/natural talent in that subject? Like I've heard stories of people 'working their butt off' and 'only' get high 30s, and I've also heard stories of people who 'didn't put in much effort' and get low 40s. And this doesn't matter what school you go to, how strong your cohort is or how good your teachers are. I know it also comes down to a bit of luck in the final exam as 1-5 marks difference could be the difference between 2-3 study scores at the top.

tl;dr Can ANYBODY who TRIES/WORKS HARD get a study score over 40?

PS. I'm mainly referring to english/maths/humanities/science subjects, not so much the arts/performing arts subjects which may arguably require some natural ability

Thank you

[dankfrank420]

It's a difficult question to answer, as "hardness" is subjective.

I believe that if you have some semblance of natural intelligence and you work as hard as you can, you will receive a 40+. I think it helps if you go to a good school (selective or elite private) with a strong cohort and motivated students, but there are many examples of people getting extremely high study scores in their local high school.

You can be "smart", but piss around in school and waste away your talent and receive a shit ATAR.  Or, you could be "stupid", but work extremely hard and get a better ATAR than that "smart" person.

That begs the question - does it matter if you are naturally "smart"? In my opinion it might help a little bit, but the beauty of VCE (never heard that phrase before ey?) is that it doesn't test natural ability, it's a measure of how hard you're willing to work.

90% of the struggle of VCE is motivation, after that it's easy.

[Cosec]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_pdKl2N2Ww

Truth!