For students in Victoria, the VCE English exam will likely be one of the most important exams they've taken so far in their academic career.
Preparing for the VCE English exam may seem daunting or even overwhelming initially. Still, you can make it much easier by choosing the right strategies, working hard, and revising for it.
In this guide, we'll provide practical steps to help you prepare for your VCE English exam, an overview of the exam format, and advice on getting extra support from a private English tutor.
1: Understand What's Expected of You
Before you can start studying for your VCE English Exam, check what's expected of you by referring to the VCE English Study Design, not to be confused with the other VCE English subjects like Literature, Language, or EAL. The study design is the document and plan outlining what you'll be assessed on.
Knowing what is expected of students in each section of the exam can ensure the best possible marks, as it's very easy to lose marks by doing the wrong thing.
The VCE English exam typically involves three main essays:
- An analytical interpretation of a text
- A comparative analysis of two texts
- An argument and language analysis
Each section has specific requirements, so understanding them is paramount to completing the exam and meeting the examiners' expectations.
Luckily, the study design will detail these expectations. Just remember that they can change. For example, many changes were made in 2020 due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic, resulting in changes to the format.
Always look for the latest version of the study design to ensure that you're studying the right things and that any past papers or practice papers you use don't have irrelevant parts.
2: Look at Past Exam Prompts and Texts
Reviewing past exam papers is one of the most effective ways to prepare for any exam, including the VCE English exam.
Give will give you an idea of the kinds of prompts and questions that typically appear in the exam (provided the study design has stayed the same) and allow you to practise the exams in exam conditions, working on your timing and the quality of your answers.
You can also look at past papers to understand which English course to pursue before taking VCE.
3: Read Past Exam Reports
Exam reports, created by the top examiners and VCE English teachers, are an excellent way to prepare for any exam.
They can show you what examiners are looking for and what kinds of students and responses gain the highest marks. They're also helpful for seeing what to avoid.
Past reports have stressed the importance of effective language use and coherent argument development, areas that you may need to focus on yourself.
Examiners and teachers literally write reports detailing what students need to do to improve their VCE exam scores.
4: Do Lots of Practice Essays and Exams
Past papers, practice papers, practice essays, and practice exams are all incredibly useful for preparing for any exam.
Practice makes perfect, especially regarding VCE English exams, which are writing-intensive. The same is true of the VCE Literature exams, too.
The more practice essays and exams you do under timed exam conditions, the better you'll get at time management and structuring your essays.
You can also seek feedback from a teacher or tutor, who can help you refine your arguments and identify areas for improvement.
Writing regularly will also help you develop the stamina needed to write and concentrate for several hours, as is required during the VCE English exam.
Where possible, try to simulate exam conditions as closely as possible. Sit down for the full length of the exam and work in silence.
5: Prepare Template Essays for Different Prompts
You'll always need help to predict precisely what will be asked of you in your VCE English exam. Still, you can prepare template essays based on common themes and regular prompts.
These templates are useful as a starting point for your answers, but you'll have to work on adapting them. Remember that there are different English subjects like Language, Literature, and EAL.
Templates can go a long way to ensuring you're confident during your exams because you won't feel like you're starting an answer from scratch. Just remember that your template essays are a guide, not a crutch. They're not a silver bullet for good answers, but they are still worth practising.
6: Build Up a Quote Bank Throughout the Year
Every VCE English student should build up a collection of important quotes from the texts they're studying. These quote banks, as they're called, will help you, particularly in analytical and comparative essays, allowing you to back up arguments with concrete examples from the text.
The quote bank isn't just a list of quotes, though. You need to unpack each quote and consider its themes, the characters involved, the author's intention, etc. The goal of your quote bank is to enable you to use quotes more effectively in your essays.
7: Review and Internalise Past Essays
Remember that you can review and remember your past essays. Whenever you do an essay, a practice prompt, or a paper, you should re-read your answer (as well as the feedback from a teacher or tutor).
For the text response section, for example, you should carefully read your answers and look to recall key arguments. In the language analysis section, you can study your best essays to better remember how to structure your answers and effectively analyse arguments.
8: Don't Spend All Your Study Time on VCE English Units 3 and 4
English is one of the subjects that will likely contribute to your top four subjects for your ATAR, but remember that you can't spend all your time studying it.
Many students place too much importance on English without finding a good balance between their other subjects.
Where possible, study smarter, not harder. Be sure to focus on quality over quantity in your studies and ensure it's not at the expense of your other subjects.
You'll hone your reading, writing, and analytical skills throughout the year, so don't burn yourself out by cramming with a bunch of last-minute essay writing.
Review quotes, read examiner reports, and memorise the strong arguments you've made in the past.
Remember that the law of diminishing returns applies to everything. So, you can always look for the low-hanging fruit and strategies to yield the most significant results with the least effort.
Do this for all your VCE subjects first, and then you can start on more time-consuming approaches to achieving good and excellent results.
9: Get Yourself Mentally Ready for the Exam
Your mindset is hugely important. Students can quickly get disappointing results simply because they weren't in the right frame of mind on the day of their exams.
Make sure you get enough rest. Sleep and relaxation in the lead-up to your exam are vital. You want to arrive at your exam rested, focused, confident, and ready to do your best.
The exam is a culmination of all the work you've done up to that point, not just the work you did the night before. Give yourself the best possible chance of doing well by consistently preparing throughout your study.
Find the best english tutor vce for you on Superprof today! Your tutor can help you get mentally prepared and find the confidence you need to face exam.
of sleep per night.
Overview of the VCE English Exam
You have to understand the VCE English exam format if you want to do well. There are three sections, each requiring a different kind of written response.
Section A: Analytical Interpretation of a Text (20 Marks)
In Section A, you'll be asked to write an analytical essay on one of the texts you studied. There will be two topics for each text, and you'll be required to choose one. Your response should include a reference to the text and an in-depth analysis.
Section B: Comparative Analysis of Texts (20 Marks)
Section B requires comparing two texts and identifying similarities, differences, and connections. Like with Section A, you'll have two topics to choose from. You'll have to draw upon both texts to support your analysis.
Section C: Argument and Persuasive Language (20 Marks)
Section C includes an unseen text focusing on how the author uses persuasive language. You'll have to identify the author's key arguments and persuasive techniques to convince the audience. Of course, if you're more interested in linguistics, you may consider VCE English Language.
Analytical Interpretation of a Text
(20 Marks)
Comparative Analysis of Texts
(20 Marks)
Argument and Persuasive Language
(20 Marks)
The Benefits of Getting Help from a VCE English Tutor on Superprof
Whether you're struggling with VCE English or a gifted student hoping to get the best possible marks, a private tutor can help you do your best on your exam.
On the Superprof website, there are plenty of private VCE English tutors out there who can help.
Are you looking for english tutors? Superprof helps you get in touch with English teachers all over Australia.
Many offer the first session for free, so try a few potential tutors before choosing the one right for you. If you are looking for local English lessons in person, or english tutoring online anywhere in Australia, visit Superprof and find the best English tutoring today.
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