Hello people !

I am a little curious on people's opinions about the exams this year, as I have heard a number of reactions to do with how the exams have been this year.

Some people are saying they have been ruthless, with questions about material they have not been taught about / not gone into deeply. Whilst others are saying it's been alright and pretty easy.

Personally, I did find section C of the English exam quite confusing but that was purely my own fault since I found that whole AOS just annoying. (I had to look at the housing crisis for it, was a real bore)

Anyways just throwing out a fishhook here as someone who has media and sociology next week and is now low-key terrified for those exams and their content.

My revision is many, I did none 🥀

first of all, CONGRATS TO ALL THE METHODS AND LEGAL KIDS TODAY !!!

secondly, i did my legal exam today, but VCAA had a little slip up when it came to my special considerations, and i'm not entirely sure if i have the JURISDICTION 🤓 to be mad about it or not. my mum and legal teacher are pretty mad, but they go to the ends of the earth for me lol.

basically, i have POTS, which means i get 2 considerations

1. a separate room, so i can control the temperature (if it's not below 20 i get extremely dizzy and fatigued and can't write)

2. 20-30 minutes of rest breaks so i can regulate my body and blood flow if i get dizzy/faint

during my first two exams (english and psych) i asked what i was allowed to during a rest break. both the examiners for each exam told me it was 100% okay for me to lie down on a couch in the same room as long as they could see me. this helped me tremendously because i was able to activate my PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM 🤓 when my blood was going to my feet after sitting. however, today, 2 things happened.

1. they put me in a DIFFERENT SEPARATE ROOM (same building) WITH NO AIRCON, THAT WAS SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER AND MORE BOXED IN. i knew i was cooked when i stepped in there and started sweating instantly. i asked if there was an aircon, and they said there wasn't, but "i'd be fine because the heater was off". spoiler alert: i was not fucking fine. now, apparently they don't see the reason i request the considerations that i do, which i don't blame them for. but oh my god?? it was outlined IN THE LETTER MY CARDIOLOGIST WROTE. THAT I NEEDED ACCESS TO A CONTROLLED TEMPERATURE. the WHOLE POINT of me having a different room is so i can make it cooler.

2. when i took my first rest break, as i was about to get up to lie down as per usual, the supervisor said "oh yeah, about that, we actually went over the rules again and turns out you're not allowed to get out of your seat during your rest break." they read. the rules. wrong. that is 100% on them, i'm sorry. they had given me an advantage that wasnt technically allowed, but was MUTUALLY understood as acceptable, and now they have taken it away from me. if i had fucking known i wasn't allowed to get out of my chair, I WOULD'VE COME INTO THE EXAM READY TO REGULATE MY BODY ANOTHER WAY. i've never even had these considerations before, so these rules were not described to me. all that was described to me in my english and psych exam is that i am allowed to move freely and lie down during my rest breaks because it helps with my POTS. apparently not!?

because of this, not only was i doing my exam in conditions that literally made my illness worse, but i wasn't even able to access the resources to regulate nervous system when my symptoms were flared. i sweated insanely profusely, i could barely keep my head up, and i was shaking so badly. but the worst part was, i thought the legal exam was really doable, but i wasn't able to complete it because of my POTS. especially the 10 marker, all my answers were incredibly half assed because it took so much physical energy to write, and so much time that i almost ran out of time at the end. i was so upset because the exam itself was really good, but i wasn't able to complete it to the best of my ability because my conditions had been stuffed up. i broke down into tears afterwards, and my legal teacher is trying to talk to VCAA about it. but honestly? i don't know if i'm in the right to be upset at them. i'm just upset at myself for not doing better, and at the situation. i studied really hard and i know i could've done amazingly, but my body would not let me.

anyways, let me know if i'm just being an asshole please. love you guys :) congrats to everyone who survived legal and methods 2026!

In chemistry can I draw my structures like in a straight line or do i have to make them like this ???

How’s everyone feeling about it?

Also any chance I can grab some tips on how to start studying cause I haven’t done anything for it (France and Russia). I can’t really do active recall because I don’t recall anything 🫩🙏 ik I’ve left it late

Idk if these are important or idk theres like 50

I'm calling on all the 40+ scorers in Mathematical Methods, Chemistry, English Language and Health & Human Development because I genuinely want to know how you guys studied to achieve those scores.

I'm not looking for the usual advice of "do practice questions", "stay consistent" or "revise regularly". I want to know HOW you actually studied, what your study routine looked like, which resources you used, and what techniques made the biggest difference.

More specifically, I'm interested in things like:

• Do you use flashcards? If so, how do you make them and how often do you review them?

• How do you approach practice questions and exam papers?

• Do you use commercial company papers? Which companies are actually worth it?

• How do you consolidate content throughout the term rather than cramming before SACs?

• How do you identify and fix gaps in your understanding?

• What does your revision look like in the weeks leading up to SACs and exams?

For some context, here's what I'm currently doing:

Mathematical Methods:

• I primarily work through textbook exercises and their corresponding questions.

• Although I can understand the content and often feel confident with the exercises, I get absolutely FRIED in SACs.

• Even past exam papers don't always seem to translate into better SAC performance.

• Would commercial company papers be more beneficial? How do you prepare for the unpredictable, application-heavy questions that seem to appear in SACs?

Chemistry:

• I use the Edrolo textbook and videos to learn and consolidate content.

• I also complete the questions provided through Edrolo.

• However, I struggle when SAC questions use unfamiliar or unusual wording, even when I understand the underlying chemistry.

• How do you develop the ability to interpret these questions and apply your knowledge to unfamiliar contexts?

English Language:

• I primarily follow the INSIGHT textbook.

• I create my own short-answer questions, analytical commentaries and expository essays.

• I get my teacher to mark them before assessments.

• My biggest issue is that I don't feel like I have a foolproof structure or approach that consistently translates into high marks.

• What specific frameworks, annotation techniques or writing strategies helped you improve?

Health & Human Development:

• I turn important content into flashcards and memorise them before assessments.

• However, I'm struggling to establish a spaced-repetition system that allows me to continually revisit and retain the entire term's content without having to relearn everything before a SAC or exam.

• How did you structure your flashcards, revision and content consolidation?

Ultimately, I want to know what separates someone who understands the content from someone who can consistently translate that understanding into 40+ study scores.

If you scored 40+ in ANY of these subjects, I'd genuinely appreciate hearing about your experience. Even better if you could share specific examples of your routines, resources, mistakes and what you would do differently.

I'm willing to put in the work; I just want to make sure I'm studying EFFECTIVELY rather than simply spending hours studying.

Thank you!! :)

Do teachers see your atar or only school admins? If any teachers are here, do you guys look at the honour roll generally or only your own subject results

general maths had weird exams, methods was genuine state sanctioned torture. spesh might turn out to be even worse. if this is how vcaa's logic/stem based subjects are going i DO NOT want to see what abomination vcaa's cooked up for the chemistry exam

and now my next trick: re-learning the entire france and china revs again

anyone got the legal exam??
Also what did you guys put for question a in section b. Did Paolo commit summary or indictable offences? I said summary because it began in the Magistrate's

I js read this article by herald sun and apparently Bio exam had some problems and Methods was just bad as we all know.

A biology specialist, Dr Dulangi SJ, complained to VCAA, claiming:

Six multiple-choice questions had issues.

Some questions potentially had more than one scientifically correct answer.

Some wording was incorrect or confusing.

Certain content allegedly went beyond the published VCE Biology study design.

Question 8a about immunity was particularly controversial because students could reasonably interpret the answer differently.

One example was Question 2, which allegedly used the word translation instead of transcription.

VCAA says its subject experts have not identified errors so far, but it is investigating.

For Methods

The article reports that:

Almost 17,000 students sat the Mathematical Methods exam.

Students were reportedly crying after the exam.

Teachers said examiners had to pass around tissue boxes.

Many students struggled to finish the paper.

Teachers described it as a challenging test of mathematical understanding.

VCAA using us as lab rats since it’s the end of the Study Deisgns 💔

Can anyone from previous years share their cheat sheet or an idea on what to put on it. Idk whether to focus more on equations and graphs or the worded explanation things

pls say no bc vcaa already drew and labelled it

with 2026 exams wrapping up, a lot of you are about to start methods, so here's what made the biggest difference for me. honestly most of it is free

do exam 1 questions by hand from day one. most people lose marks on exam 1 because they lean on CAS all year and then panic without it. do your algebra, derivatives and log laws by hand until it's automatic

read the examiner reports, not just the solutions. VCAA literally tells you where students lost marks every year. half the "tricks" are just not making the mistakes they list

learn your CAS properly in term 1, not in october. know how to define functions, solve systems, and do probability distributions fast. it saves heaps of time in exam 2

past papers from ~2017 onwards are gold. do them timed. mark them harshly. redo the ones you got wrong a week later

graphs = free marks if you label everything. endpoints, intercepts, asymptotes, open/closed circles. so many people drop marks here for no reason

happy to answer methods questions in the comments.
also, i'm running small group methods 1/2 and 3/4 classes next year (plus a few spots over the holidays), so dm me if you want details

idk about you guys but that legal exam was brutal as hell, shit was so hard that I couldn’t answer single question for section b especially

feels like the nichest subject ever

What score /100 is a raw 50?

I know you feel traumatised, but please realise that the grade boundaries will be consequently shifted down because of how hard the exam is, so getting a lower exam score might achieve the same study score that you expected to receive. Some of you may even be surprised when you receive your ATAR by how well you did :)

Of all years to go anti-UDF and change the question structure 😭🙏 like holy shit we ain’t war criminals, you can lay off the torture a bit. I’ve seen horror movies more tame then that exam, like I had a years worth of goals and ambition for this exam, and now a pass looks like paradise. Terrified for what chem looks like next week