Well, I developed a very sound understanding of all of my texts in the summer holidays before year 12 so I jumped straight into writing essays and this has worked well for me.
I started getting my pieces marked by my teacher and cross-marked by another teacher at my school who is an English exam assessor for VCAA.
I started off getting 7-8 but I've slowly improved and am getting 9-10 consistently.
This method has worked for me, maybe it will for you too 
Feel free to shoot me a message at any time if you ever need any help and I'll do my best to help out when I have time.
You my friend are an inspiration

Haha, i've been getting 8s and feel like i can never improve!, only hit a 9 with context. Thanks for sharing your experience, makes me feel that it's possible for me to improve beyond an 8/10
