‘Didn’t touch a single textbook’: 18yo ignores teacher’s advice, gets big ATAR

A young Aussie has revealed the insane ATAR result he got by creating a method that made his teachers say, “What?”

Jed McDonald-Singh aced the HSC and got an ATAR of 99.7 – but the method he used to get those impressive results had his teachers and friends worried.

Mr McDonald-Singh, 18, is studying medical science at the University of Sydney. He has amassed over 100,000 likes on social media by sharing his results-driven study method.

The 18-year-old told news.com.au that he was always “naturally good at school,” but he had to push himself to become more rounded, and by the time he was in year 12, he was playing footy, studying and was also school captain.

It was a tough workload, and considering he wanted to get into medicine, he needed to knuckle down and study. But he admits he found the stock-standard methods time-consuming and largely unhelpful.

“I had so much going on! I was playing footy, I was school captain, I didn’t have time to waste,” he explained.

Mr McDonald-Singh was school captain and playing footy and trying to study for the HSC. Picture: TikTok/jedmcdonaldsingh

Because he was time poor, he came up with a plan. Picture: TikTok/jedmcdonaldsingh

Mr McDonald-Singh devised an entire study system to save time and get ahead without giving up anything he enjoyed.

The method is simple: Instead of taking notes, he uses the app Anki, where he creates flashcards that he can review.

He’d make a game using the Anki app and constantly review his flashcards until he could pass with flying colours.

When studying for the HSC, instead of cramming his head with information, he retook previous exams to improve his performance on the actual exam.

“I didn’t touch a single textbook and I just did past papers,” he explained.

The 18-year-old swears by “active recall” and advises that you don’t need a massive list of notes; you need to learn how to retain information.

“My teachers were like, ‘what are you doing? I tried to get all my mates on to it; I’ve never wanted to gatekeep.”

He worked out how to study smarter, not harder. Picture: TikTok/jedmcdonaldsingh

He wasn’t doing homework. Picture: TikTok/jedmcdonaldsingh

Mr McDonald-Singh said that he “wouldn’t even do homework”. He’d only do work that would help him practice and prepare for exams.

The rugby star said he was “stoked” when he got his HSC results but also thrilled to have proof that his method was working.

He has now created an online group called High Achievers, with over 13,000 members, that gives young Aussies a step-by-step framework for achieving academic success.

The university student created the group because he also doesn’t believe in tutoring; he thinks it’s a waste of money.

Instead, he believes school students need to learn how to study for exams.

He doesn’t believe anyone is “dumb” – just some people don’t know the correct method to prepare for the HSC.

“I’m not very traditional but the results people are getting are insane. My whole philosophy with studying is when you suck at maths getting tutoring is just a Band-Aid solution,” he argued.

“If you’re not good at maths, it is not because you’re dumb. It is because you’re not studying properly,” he said.

Mr McDonald-Singh claimed that once you learn how to study, “you can teach yourself” and don’t need to waste hours studying or hire someone to go through your homework with you.

He still doesn’t overstudy at university. Picture: TikTok/jedmcdonaldsingh

The teen said that he practices what he preaches, and his university results so far are “good” and he only studies for an hour and a half daily.

Mr McDonald-Singh said he is passionate about teaching other young people how to ace the HSC because he understands how stressful it is.

Even though he believes it is “only a number on a piece of paper”, he also understands the pressure young people put on themselves and wants to help them learn a method that makes it easier.

He said that when he was in high school, he thought the HSC was “the be-all and end-all,” and now he has the hindsight to know it isn’t.

The uni student believes that learning his studying method means that year 12 students can get good results with less stress.

Originally published as ‘Didn’t touch a single textbook’: 18yo ignores teacher’s advice, gets big ATAR