How to Get a Band 6 in HSC Physics

[pikachu975]

Why are you getting below 10?

[jamonwindeyer]

Sorry for the late reply!! But it is definitely very possible to still get a Band 6 in Physics, but you'll have to work really hard to improve a heap from this point forward. You really won't be able to afford to get another score below a pass good luck!

[jamonwindeyer]

I had a look at the 2015 past hsc physics paper... It somehow reminds me of 'The World Communicates' module from year 11... My year 11 physics is terrible and I heard that most of the year 11 stuff won't come out... How much of the prelim knowledge do I need to excel in physics?

Hi! They'll never assess prelim content directly, you only need as much of it as is necessary to understand the Year 12 content. So, some of your formulas from Moving About (that are on your reference sheet anyway), some basic ideas on things like energy, what a wave is, etc etc. But nothing substantial - You could skip the Prelim course altogether and still get a Band 6.

What question(s) in the 2015 Paper had you concerned?

[Joseph.Ryan]

Hi, I was just wondering whether extensively using past papers is a good idea or not in 2019, considering that the physics course has changed a fair bit.

Is it still useful to do a lot of past papers, and is there other ways to find practice questions?

Thanks in advance,

[jamonwindeyer]

Hi, I was just wondering whether extensively using past papers is a good idea or not in 2019, considering that the physics course has changed a fair bit.

Is it still useful to do a lot of past papers, and is there other ways to find practice questions?

Thanks in advance,

Hey there Joseph! So it's true that there isn't as much useful practice out there now as there was last year, but yep - Past papers should still be your primary go to. There is a lot of overlap; get a teacher or someone else knowledgeable to pick out the relevant questions from old exams and use those as revision. NESA also released a sample exam here. Beyond that, your textbook should have a tonne of useful exercises in it - I'd be going to those if you get stuck

[Joseph.Ryan]

Ok, thanks

Also, do you know if topics such as electric circuits which we covered in yr 11 and only briefly revised in yr 12 are examinable?

[jamonwindeyer]

Ok, thanks

Also, do you know if topics such as electric circuits which we covered in yr 11 and only briefly revised in yr 12 are examinable?

They aren't directly examinable but are allowed to be assessed indirectly - For example, you can be asked to use Ohm's Law in a HSC exam, but you won't necessarily be asked to do detailed circuit analysis