QCE 2024: How to smash the English external exam

Experts, former students and tutors weigh in on how to smash today’s QCAA two-hour English external exam, worth 25 per cent of their overall result.

Tips and tricks on how to smash the QCAA English external exam.

Year 12 students from all across Queensland are gearing up for the final hurdle in their senior schooling.

First up: The external English exam, a two-hour and 15-minute essay that requires students to respond to an unseen question about a prescribed text. The external exam is worth 25 per cent of their overall result. 

But memorising quotes, writing a top-notch thesis statement and effortlessly writing an essay in exam conditions sounds just a tiny bit intimidating, doesn’t it?

 So we have sought out expert advice to give you the best chance at smashing your external English exam.            

St Peters Lutheran College 2023 school captain Max McLeod, achieved an overall ATAR of 96.95 and 100 per cent on his final English mark.

The 19-year-old said his preparation was primarily reading the text and writing practice essays.

“I connected the different quotes to the main themes, as well as to the main characters. And there’s a lot of those quotes that you can reuse for different topics, which is quite good,” he said.

“I also got a list of the different past exam questions and possible future Exam questions, and I just went through all of them.

“I did full-length practice responses for maybe a couple of them, and then for the rest of them, I sort of practised sketching out a plan, like what points I was going to use, how I’d break up my three body paragraph points sort of thing.”

Mr McLeod said while the task was unseen, the class were given an idea about the type of questioning that would be on the paper.

“The different practice questions that my English teacher gave our class were either asking how the audience is invited to view a concept, and then the second type of question was to do with a character, or maybe two characters,” he explained.

2022 graduate and Queensland Study Hub founder Oliver Barr-David said students should focus on memorising three to five really good quotes that can be applied across a range of questions.

“I feel like some students might get tripped up if they’re trying to memorise, like a whole range, sometimes up to 20 quotes,” Mr Barr-David said.

Exam time can be stressful for year 12 students.

“A common theme I’ve seen with people who have succeeded in the general English exam is to be able to almost make a really generalised thesis, and then with any question that’s given you’re able to sort of manipulate that thesis to fit a question.”

Mr Barr-David said while studying is crucial, a good study-life balance is important for mental health and avoiding burnout.

“I feel like as well as studying and locking in and grinding for these next couple days or months, you really have to find time to make balance and not burn yourself out,” he advised.

“Because sometimes when you’re putting the candle at both ends, you’ll get to the finish line where you’re four days before the General English external exam and you’ll just think, “It’s just too much. I just can’t do this”.

“So it’ll make time for yourself as well. You make time for your friends, for your hobbies, to exercise as well as studying.”

Australian Catholic University education lecturer Dr Helen Sheehan said it was crucial to know the text well enough to be able to recall required quotes, themes, characters and key concepts.

“You can often use these quotes in a number of different ways and different essays,” Dr Sheehan said.

“If you know them well and you’re confident with them, make sure you know your language techniques so can write about them confidently.

“Go back and look at the assignments you did for your teachers throughout the year. Have a look at what feedback they gave you, and especially which areas your teachers said you need to improve on, so they’re going to be the things you know for you to focus on.”

While she recognised it was extremely tough to do so, Dr Sheehan said the best thing a student can do the night before an exam is “switch off”.

On the day, Dr Sheehan said to avoid students who are talking about how stressed they are.

“Because those students, who may be feeling confident can get swept up in other people’s anxiety and stress and get flustered,” she said. 

External English exam tips:

1. Do not take on other people’s stress on the day

2. Finished reading your text? Read it again

3. Memorise three to five quotes applicable across a range of questions

4. Get a good night sleep the night before

5. Use you reading/perusal time well

6. Timing is everything – allocate times to write up each paragraph

7. A general thesis is a good thesis!

8. Study-life balance is everything

9. Sketch out a plan of how to tackle certain questions

10. Practice how to answer a concept, character, and theme question

11. Take on your teacher’s feedback from past assessments

12. Know the criteria!