This question has come up so many times now that it's starting to get on my nerves, as well as the nerves of others, so I'm making a post to address the matter for once and for all. If this question is posted elsewhere, just link them here, because these posts need to be stamped out for once and for all.
To those who are stressing out about your Further results, I can totally sympathise with you. I walked in your shoes last year and I'm fairly certain I was asking the same sort of questions after dropping a mark on my first SAC. I understand that a lot of the responses you get from users here are really dismissive and don't validate what you're feeling - I get why they do it, but it can be seen as somewhat insensitive. I certainly know that being abruptly told to "get over it and move on" didn't work for me. I wanted someone who could empathise with me and actually provide me with some proper advice. This is the purpose of my thread.
Believe it or not, but most strong Further students will not get through the year scoring 100/100 for SACs. I didn't. This myth has predominantly arisen because people think that Further is "really easy" and that you need to have completed the course in the holidays, have learnt all the modules, have perfect results and have 80 practice exams under your belt to get a perfect score. What doesn't help is when people who haven't even taken the subject chime in and think they know it all because they did Specialist and/or Methods. I'm here to tell you that this is absolutely untrue - Further is simple in terms of the theory behind the Mathematics, but it is definitely not "easy." This is where the issue really stems from.
A lot of people think that they will easily be able to get 45+ and then start the subject and realise (some sooner rather than later) that Further is not a walk in the park. I think that part of the solution is reassessing your goals and remaining realistic from the onset, whilst still remaining positive and aiming for the best. It is definitely not necessary to be rank 1 in order to do exceptionally well, especially if the people who are above you are strong and are likely to perform well on the exams. I had a fairly strong cohort and nearly all of us were aiming for 45+. Only six of us (whose ranks varied significantly, might I add, and we did not achieve study scores that reflected our order in the rankings) managed to achieve this, but the number of students who got between 40 and 45 was phenomenal. I think that there's this mentality that a 40-45 in Further is not that special compared to other subjects, but it really is. It places you between the top 9% to the top 2% of the state, which is no easy feat.
The year is not over just yet and there are still opportunities for you to improve your marks. Additionally, your exam results are more heavily weighted than your SACs. The VCAA exams are starting to hit the nail on the head right now because while the level of difficulty is still appropriate for the average Further student, the more challenging questions are structured in such a way that they really separate the top students quite well. On last year's exam, the A+ cutoffs rose, but several students reported losing two marks overall and still achieving a perfect 50 - this has not occurred very often in previous years. There is still some scope for error, despite the popular belief that everything needs to be meticulous.
Honestly, the best way you can work towards getting in the right mental state is to come to terms with the fact that Further is more difficult than it may initially seem and realise that you don't necessarily have to be a perfect student to achieve a perfect score. I know that having that thought in the back of your mind that you need everything to be spot-on during a SAC does not help. Learn to accept that perfection is not a must and you'll see that your nerves will significantly decrease, you'll relax a little bit more and your marks will probably improve. It's all in that mindset.
I would tell you not to play the numbers game, but I know that won't cut it for some of you. I get that these numbers mean the world to you right now. They did to me too. But don't let that get in the way. You really should just be aiming to do your best. The game is not over until you say it's over.
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