Annie Langford graduated in 2016 with a perfect 50 study score for VCE English. She now studies Medicine at Monash University. To get all of your English questions answered, check out this thread!
At the beginning of Term 3, it’s time to get into gear. If you’re not happy with where you’re at, there’s still time to improve – and improvement is really the most important thing.
If you are happy with where you’re at, that’s great! There’s still time to improve, and that’s an exciting thing.
This article focuses on the experiences of Annie Langford, who achieved a perfect study score last year.
How big a toll did 50ing English have on you? Did you focus on other things in your life?
Although Year 12 was my main focus last year, I had other things that provided breaks and time away from study.
I played sport, with a regular netball training session and match each week. I also played hockey, and made sure I caught up with friends and spent time with my family.
There were other activities, including those at school, that took time away from studying.
Although it is super important to take breaks, it also takes discipline to know when and how much to study, and when to take time out.
Year 12 sounds busy for you, then. Was it hectic? How much did you study for a 50 in English?
Year 12 was honestly pretty hectic, and it was my main priority while I was doing it.
I would usually study each night from when I got home until when I went to bed. Although that probably sounds like heaps, it was my routine – and it was how I made the most of the time I had. Of course, this may be very different for you!
For a lot of people, a 50 in English is a dream. How did you do it? Did you do things differently to other people?
I put quite a lot of effort into English in Year 12. Leading up to VCE, English wasn’t one of my stronger subjects. So to do well, I really had to focus on it.
I’m not exactly sure what everyone else did or does, but I asked a lot of questions. I met up with my teacher multiple times around SACs, which I don’t think everyone necessarily did.
Our teacher really encouraged us to do this, and she was really able to help me shape my writing and ideas. She gave honest advice about what was working and what wasn’t, before I had to actually put it into practice in SACs and the exam.
I did multiple practice essays before SACs and the exam – not necessarily writing a whole essay out, but at least looking at the topic and planning what points I would raise. I’d also consider examples I could use to support my points.
Another thing I did was to have an essay framework going into SACs and the exam. I could adapt this framework to the suit the particular prompt. Additionally, I wrote these frameworks out, to attempt to cement them in my knowledge.
Writing things out, saying them out loud repeatedly, being tested on them – these are all good ways of learning in preparation for SACs and the exam.
VCE English guides, sample responses and practice exams – all free, and just one click away!
You say you weren’t that confident with English before VCE. But during Year 12, did you think you’d get a 50?
I dreamed of it, but I didn’t realise it would actually be a reality.
English wasn’t one of my stronger subjects prior to VCE. Subsequently, it was probably the subject I put the most practice and work into. I say this to show that you really can put in the effort, and achieve highly.
For English, what do you think is the difference between a 30 raw, a 40 raw, and a 50 raw?
I think that getting a high score requires you to know your texts really well. This is so that you can use a variety of examples from them, and you’re prepared if the prompt surprises you.
The real difference is probably how much effort you put in, or are willing to put in – including between now and the exam!
The age-old question: how many practice exams?
Although it sounds a bit cliché, I just looked at as many practice exams as I could.
Writing out essays in full is helpful, but it is impossible to do this for every practice exam or prompt you come across. I’m pretty sure I did a few practice exams to time for the end of the year, both separately (one hour for an essay from a particular section), and the full exam (three hours to write three essays).
I would recommend doing at least one or two full English practice exams to time. Although it seems tedious, it’s really good for knowing what to expect and how to pace yourself in the real exam.
I looked at as many prompts as I could, from heaps of different sources – not necessarily writing full essays for them, but at least planning what points I would raise and what examples I would use to support them.
Closer to the exam, I would just look at a prompt, see if it was similar to other prompts I’d used, and think briefly about the points I would raise. By this time, my potential points were linked in my mind to specific examples I could use. If there were prompts I was really stuck on, I would ask someone about it – and they could talk it through with me.
This is more in relation to Text Response, but for Argument (Language) Analysis, annotating articles (sometimes to time – i.e., giving yourself 5-10 minutes) with the language techniques you would pick up on in an essay is good practice. Generally, making vocab lists of handy words to use throughout essays is also great preparation.
Sweet, so let’s cut to the chase: what are your top three tips for perfecting VCE English?
Know your texts really well. Read them, annotate them, highlight them, make summaries of key quotes, find other resources on them, and talk about them.
Practise. Writing fluently is an art, and the more you practice this (with different vocab), the more likely you are to be able to write fluently in SACs and the exam. When you’re writing practice essays (not so much timed ones, but ones you’re trying to perfect), use a thesaurus to vary your vocabulary. This is a massive help, because you’ll often remember words and phrases just by using them repeatedly. After enough practice, you’ll probably find that you’re eventually reusing points – and you’ll have a kind of ‘bank’ of points and examples you can draw on.
Don’t overdo it. There comes a point where you will have done enough, and if you keep studying, you may confuse yourself. You’ll probably know when you’ve reached this point – you want to have your ideas clear in mind, but not go overboard and burn yourself out; you want to have some creativity left.
