Subject and unit choice in the senior school     009

Although most students seem to live through this process it can be difficult. One of the problems is that students, and sometimes their parents, want to have certainty that the very best choice has been made. While schools do provide information sessions the feeling of certainty is rarely possible because there are many possibilities and associated variables.  However here are some suggestions which can make the choice process more effective.

The purpose of subject choice is to maximise HSC performance, that is to gain the highest ATAR possible. The ATAR outcome is the ticket that students use to gain entry to the next part of their educational journey. Today very few university courses actually have definite pre-requisites. There are only statements whereby some subjects are ‘assumed’ to have been done. Of course common sense very much applies. If son or daughter wants to study maths at university, or engineering, or biomedicine then subjects such as advanced mathematics, physics, chemistry or biology are going to be clearly useful. But not always. It would be quite a mistake, for example, to study Legal Studies in preparation for doing law at university. Legal Studies at school might be helpful but only perhaps for the first 30 minutes of the university course. After this school content is left behind and also law at university covers more areas.

Generally students choose subjects which they like and feel they can do. This is perfectly sensible. It is difficult to do well when the subject is distasteful. A far trickier area is where the student has to choose the level at which a subject is studied. This often happens when choosing between Standard English and Advanced, or between say Business Studies or Economics. In NSW about 47 per cent of students study Standard English and 40 per cent Advanced, which may seem surprising.

Subjects at advanced level ‘scale’ higher than subjects at standard level, that is students gain ATAR benefits from studying the more difficult subjects. However more difficult subjects are just that, more difficult. In Advanced English, for example, there are more texts to study, and these texts are harder and longer. Examination questions are also more difficult. For some students Advanced English may take a large amount of extra study time which could be spent on more profitable subjects. These simple facts should be examined and reflected upon. Students can access past HSC papers by going to the Board of Studies website, at www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au. In general students are advised to study at the level where they can achieve their very best.

In NSW students are required to study 12 units in Year 11 and 10 units in Year 12. These are minimum levels. Quite a surprising number of students however choose to study 11 or even 12 units for Year 12, presumably to provide some type of insurance. Some few private schools actually insist that students do this. At present 58 per cent of students take 10 units, the minimum, 23 per cent take 11 units, and 18 per cent take 12 units. Any of these approaches can be effective, depending upon the student, the situation and the motivation. However taking more units than the minimum necessarily involves the student in more study, and such a decision would have to be justified by the strong likelihood of poor performance in at least one subject area.

All content copyright—Mark Thackray—Australian Educational Services