No hidden nasties for HSC English students taking paper two exam

For the second day in a row, the Class of 2023 have found themselves with little to complain about from their HSC exams. See what teachers and tutors think of the tests so far.

The Class of 2023 are having a smooth run thus far, and are “feeling amazing” two days into their month-long HSC exam period after knocking over another “nice” English test.

Ahead of English paper two, pupils said they were daunted by the task ahead but relieved for the second day in a row to discover no unexpected surprises hidden in the paper.

Students were tasked with writing three essays, two on their prescribed texts and another imaginative or discursive piece inspired by a stimulus.

At the Balgowlah Boys Campus of Northern Beaches Secondary College, student Alex Hughes said he was “glad English is over.”

“It’s good to be done with the major part of exams,” he said on Thursday.

Balgowlah Boys students Will Ashton (17) Perry Cahill (17) Alex Hughes (17) have finished their English paper two exam. Picture: Julian Andrews

“I was expecting the discursive writing to be specified but we got a creative or discursive choice and the questions were pretty vague.

“Wednesday was (more stressful) because it was the first exam. Today felt nicer because I never have to touch an English exam ever again.”

Classmate Perry Cahill said Thursday’s paper was “fair” although he was “expecting more curve balls”.

“They were nice questions,” he said.

“When I was writing the essays I thought ‘I am never going to have to write these words again’.”

Will Ashton was all smiles and “happy overall” as he left the exam room.

Now the trio have Maccas and maths on the mind. Picture: Julian Andrews

“English is done so nothing but good times,” he said.

The boys had their mind set on one thing post exam – “going to get a Maccas feed.”

The students will now spend the weekend preparing for Monday’s mathematics exam.

Thursday’s paper follows a “pretty easy” English test which kicked off the exam season on Wednesday with fewer curveballs than the papers of years gone by.

Those enrolled in both the standard and advanced courses were prompted in the second section of the paper to write an essay on the statement: “‘A text can ignite ideas about collective human experiences that enrich our view of the world” and asked “To what extent do you agree with this statement in relation to your prescribed text?”

Didem Caia, a HSC tutor and writer whose work was included in the 2021 exam, said the question was “deep and nuanced”, but relative simple for the test-takers.

“Students wouldn’t have a hard time answering it - as it is inherently personal and asks them to consider their own as well as collective perceptions of the world around them,” she said.

Author, playwright and HSC tutor Didem Caia. Picture: Ellen Smith

“Having said this, an answer that blends lived experience, philosophical and cultural commentary as well analyses the way the text proposes perspective - is not easy. The stronger answers usually interrogate with the above combination of elements.”

At Cammeraygal High School in North Sydney, students trickled out of their exam room with a mix of smiles and relieved expressions and a few concerned faces.

While some perfectionists complained they could’ve done better, other responses echoed one student’s cry of “one down, seven more to go”.

English Advanced students Alexia Rigoni, Josh Herridge, Layla Ingram and Jared Atherton breezed through the unseen texts, consisting of a five written extracts from memoirs, novels, an opinion piece and poem.

Mr Herridge said the lack of visual stimuli came as a surprise, and Ms Rigoni noted there weren’t any questions asking students to draw comparisons between two texts, something she had expected to see.

Year 12 students from Cammeraygal High School (left) Josh Herridge, 18, Layla Ingram, 17 and Jared Atherton, 18 after the first test. Picture: David Swift

“Most of the texts were quite easy to interpret and understand,” Mr Atherton said.

“Text five was quite nice, being a poem … I thought it was the most interesting, and that was five marks so had the most weight, but I thought they were (all) quite straightforward.”

Alexia Rigoni, 17, Jared Atherton, 18, Layla Ingram, 17 and Josh Herridge, 18 after their first HSC exam. Picture: David Swift

“I always like to go to the essay question first, just so I can think about it for it a bit longer, and it mirrored our trial question pretty well which gave me a lot of confidence,” Ms Ingram said.

Deputy Principal Jodi Arrow was “really relieved” to see her students exit the exam hall in high spirits.

“They all came out feeling very positive, which I knew they should anyway because they were very well prepared,” she said.

“Some of the short answer questions were a little bit tricky, but nothing they can’t handle.”

Assistant head of English at Ravenswood School for Girls Josh McMahon also described paper one as a “fair” exam.

“The essay question was quite fair, accessible and a good representative of the syllabus. The short answer (questions) increased in complexity across the unseen texts (but) the questions were a good and fair representation of the rubric,” he said.

The second English exam, to be held on Thursday, is a two-hour test in which students will write three extended responses.

“Paper two is always the tricky one, and they’re a little bit nervous about (it) but they’ll … be okay,” Ms Arrow said.

“I feel a bit more nervous for the next one because it’s harder, it’s two essays and one creative (piece),” Ms Rigoni said.

“But I feel prepared and this one’s definitely given me a bit of confidence that I can complete (it).”