Hey Jamon, thanks for this Q&A! Got a few questions and I'd appreciate if you could answer 'em.
Sure thing!
1) So I'm currently in Year 10 and people have told me the transition to Year 11 is massive for all contents (Science especially), is this true? I'm doing all three Sciences (Phys, Chem and Bio) next year and MX1, so how can I prepare now to make sure I don't fall behind next year? Does the Math content also have a drastic change in difficulty from Year 10 content or does it just build on past content? Do Math classes have some sort of revision on a topic when they start a new topic (i.e. go over Year 10 basic knowledge in the first lesson to start off the new topic)?
So, yes, the jump in difficulty and workload is pretty big from Year 10 to Year 11. However, don't do anything to prepare yet - Way too early. Year 11 isn't super important, so really, just don't do anything before you start, and go in ready to work! Just pay attention in Math so you go in with a good base of knowledge
The Math difficulty is significantly harder, but it does build on current content (you'll revise it briefly as well)
2) How different is Year 11 content compared to Year 12? This question is mainly applied to MX1 and the three sciences. Does the content change drastically or does it build on?
It will build on, but there will be new things too! Most of what you learn will be either somewhat or completely new to you
3) Does MX1 have content (questions) similar to the AMC (Westpac) competition or is it more based off classwork content?
I have no clue what that competition is, aha! But again, it builds from content you've done in Year 9 and 10, so that's a good indicator (note that your Math syllabus won't change, advanced math changes got delayed until 2020)
4) They're changing the syllabus for 2019 HSC students, have you had a look at it? If so, do you think the Science and English courses will be harder? Some people told me it'd be much harder, but others have said it's easier. Don't really know who to believe. And also, will past HSC papers come in handy if the syllabus is all changed or are we going to have to rely on without doing past papers?
I have, I like the changes! For Physics (the one I know in detail) the approach is more mathematical and more rigorous, I think most people will find it a little harder. It isn't actually harder though - Just different (more like Physics is done in university)
Some of the courses will be substantially different so past papers will be a little useless - But we'll likely be provided with sample exams from NESA to use for prep
5) Are trials harder than the actual HSC exam itself? Do schools let you keep the trials paper for practice?
Yes, but because there are more exams in a shorter period of time with less time for preparation - Not because the exam itself is measurably harder
most schools will let you keep your paper I'd imagine!
Just a note, you are in Year 10, you shouldn't be stressing about Trials yet! Try not to get too invested in things this far out, you'll lose all your energy too early 6) I heard there's a creative writing section in the English Advanced papers. Personally, I'm not a fan of creative writing. How do I make sure I do well in that section of the test? Is there a good structure I can follow? Also, how many essays do you have to write in the English Advanced papers, will there also be a comprehension section?
I'm not totally down with exactly how your new English Exam will be structured, but there will be Creative writing to be done in your HSC. We have a bit of a guide on it you can read
right here. Again though, you'll be given heaps of opportunities to develop your Creative writing skills in Year 11 and 12, no need for undue stress just yet!
As for the number of comprehension sections and essays, I'm not totally sure sorry! I think it will be similar to what we do now (4 essays, 1 comprehension, 1 creative, in 2 sets of 2 hours), but slightly different with the new syllabus!
7) Last question (I promise). Do the HSC English exams only ask you to use quotes from books and such? If that's the case, does it mean you have to memorise several different quotes from each book or does it only rely on 1 book? If not, how many books do you need to quote from? Will we use the STEEL (or TEE) paragraphs for essays or do they expect a different style of structure for the essays? What do you think would get the highest marks (teacher told me markers get bored of seeing STEEL paragraphs).
You'll have a few (3 or 4) modules in English, each of which could have one or more texts, and you'll need to memorise quotes from all of them. Essay writing is a little different but will still be based loosely around the PEEL idea
It's cool you are thinking about all of this! But if you want my honest opinion, you are considering all this stuff
wayyy too early. You are literally 28 months away from your HSC exams - It is great to be prepared but getting super invested super early could do more harm than good! Don't be afraid to go with the flow a little in Year 11, make some mistakes - You don't need to do
anything to prepare before your first day of Year 11. Work hard in Year 10, and forget about this stuff until it is a little closer, at least in my opinion
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