HSC Archives - Khan Academic Tutoring

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You’ve just started university and you are finally out of school. Congratulations!

It is the start of a new era on your learning journey but wait – what is everyone talking about? If you are confused by the uni jargon flying around your ears, here is your one-stop shop to get it translated.

If you are looking for something in particular, make sure to control F or Command F your way through this page to find the appropriate definitions.

If there’s a word you’d like translated – and it’s not in this list – let me know in the comments, I’ll give its meaning and update the list.

Bachelor Degree: Usually awarded after completing an undergraduate course. It is recognised worldwide and probably will be your first degree . Most Bachelor Degrees are 3-4 years, but there are exceptions to this.

Bridging Course: This is a short, intense course designed for students before university starts (in the summer break ), to help them reach the proficiency required in a subsequent unit they may be studying in the year.

Bridging Unit: This is a unit of study that helps provide students with the required level of proficiency in a subject area or skill before undertaking further study.

Census Date: The last day you can withdraw from a subject without financial or academic penalties. So, if you can’t stand a subject, get out while you can!

Course: Is a structure of units that allow you to achieve a certificate of completion in a particular discipline. A typical undergraduate degree is 3 – 4 years of fulltime study.

Credit Points: Are allocated to each successfully completed unit. They are an indication of how much study you have completed.

Credit Transfer: Recognition of prior study at another university or work experience, that can be used as credit points – meaning that you have to do fewer subjects!

CSP: CSP stands for Commonwealth Supported Place. This means that the government subsides your fees by paying a part of it. If you are a full fee-paying student, then as the name suggests, you pay for your fees completely. The difference is quite large, sometimes in the thousands per subject.

Deferred Study: Taking a 6- or 12-month break after high school before starting your study at university. It is also commonly known as ‘Gap Year’.

Degree: Is the award given by the university after completing a course – normally for undergraduates it is the bachelor degree.

Double Degree: Combining two degrees simultaneously, so that students complete two courses effectively – but in less time. Still longer than a normal degree though.

Enrolment: The process of registering into a course.

External Study: Study that is done remotely from university. You have to come into uni very rarely for lectures, tutorials or practicals, and often if you do, these classes are bundled up.

Faculties: The academic division within which teaching and research at uni are conducted. Think of it as the subject faculties you had at school – except these include a whole diverse range of areas of learning.

Gap Year: Same as deferred study.

GPA: Grade Point Average (GPA) represents your academic standing (your marks perse). It is calculated out of 7 or 4, depending on the uni and can be important in getting into postgraduate courses. Find out more about GPA here.

Graduate: A person who has successfully completed a course at uni.

HECS: HECS is short for Higher Education Loan Program, which is a loan you can get from the government if you are enrolled in a CSP. The loan can be used to pay your tuition fees, but not accommodation, laptops or textbooks. You will need a TFN to apply for HECS. You can find out more about HECS-HELP here.

Honours: Is another award that can be earned after a year of study that is additional to the bachelor degree. It is normally as an outcome of an honours program but sometimes is based on academic performance in your studies.

Labs/Practicals: Now, labs and practicals are different depending on the universities and the courses you are completing. But basically, they can vary from anatomy labs, computer simulation lab and your typical science labs for biology, chemistry and physics (though these labs may be larger and more technically savvy than those at school!)

Lecture: Is a presentation given by a lecturer or professor on a specific topic. It often occurs in a lecture hall and there are many students (can even be in the hundreds!) You are expected to listen carefully and take notes whilst the lecturer speaks. There is little guidance from the lecturer. Some lectures are recorded, depending on the university and the unit.

Lecturer: The person who delivers the information in the lecture to students.

Major: A collection of units that are recognised by the university to substantiate that you have specialised in a certain area.

Minor: A smaller collection of units in an area of study.

Non-School Leaver: A student who begins university after more than a year of completing high school.

Online Courses: Courses that are delivered online, with little to no face to face contact between the lecturers and student.

Overloading: To enrol in more than the usual number of units in a semester (normally that is more than 4).

O-Week: Orientation Week! Your first taste of uni before those lectures start! It’s a whole week where you get to experience the uni campus, different societies and association and get free stuff. Each uni does it slightly differently but generally, you will get your enrolment sorted, along with an ID card, get to have a uni tour, an introduction lecture from your Faculty, sign up to the various clubs and societies at the uni (they will have their stalls) and get free food and goodies.

Postgraduate Student: Students that have already completed an undergraduate course and have continued their studies in another course.

Prerequisite: A subject or unit that is required before you can move onto anther unit.

Scholarship: Awards that have financial advantage, either through full or partial payment of fees. They can be awarded for a variety of reasons.

School Leavers: Students applying for admission based of their school results, that is your Year 12 ATAR.

Semester: An academic teaching period. Most universities have 2 semesters of about 18 weeks (12 – 13 weeks of teaching, 2-week holiday, a study week and 2 – 3 weeks of exam period). Some universities have trimesters, meaning there are three semesters in a year (I know! ), but they are shorter in length. Still quite intensive.

STUVAC or SWOTVAC (Depending on where you are from): STUVAC meaning study vacation as it is called in NSW, and SWOTVAC meaning studying without teaching vacation as it called in Victoria, is a just a study week. It is usually a week before the exam period starts and gives students an opportunity to study before the finals. Use it wisely!

TFN: Tax File Number (TFN) is needed to apply for HECS-HELP loan and if you ever want to work. There is a processing time for this, so don’t leave to the last minute – best to get it done in the summer holidays before you start uni (I know you want to relax after Year 12, but things have still got to be done). You can apply for it here.

Timetable: The timetable is your weekly guide as to what classes you have to attend every week for a semester. Depending on the unit, some classes will be allocated (i.e there is no other time or date for that class), whilst in others you will have flexibility. Make sure you choose a good timetable – because you will likely be stuck with it for the semester!

Tutor: Is a teacher who supervises and runs tutorial classes for a small number of students (much smaller than lectures).

Tutorial: Tutorial can differ between universities and units, but generally they are similar to a high school class. There are a smaller number of students, compared with lectures, that participate in discussion and activities.

Undergraduate: A student studying a bachelor degree is deemed an undergraduate or an undergrad.

Underloading: To enrol in less than the usual number of units in a semester (normally that is less than 4).

Unit: Is a component of study focussed on a particular subject or topic. Successful completion of a unit gives you a certain number of credit points (depending on the uni) that go towards completing your course. Basically, the equivalent of a subject at school.

WAM: Weighted Average Mark (WAM) is the average of the marks you achieve in all your completed units in your course. It is another measure of academic standing often used by certain universities instead of GPA. You can find out more about WAM here.

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Starting university is exciting, but it is important to make sure that you are organised. Part of being organised is making sure that you have all the required books for the units or subjects that you have enrolled in.

There are various aspects to consider when going to purchase your books for uni; the price being an essential thing to consider, with university not being cheap.

Individual books can cost up to $200 for each unit or subject, and it’s imperative you don’t end up broke after your first semester.

First off, you need to consider which books you need for a subject. These are usually found in the Unit Guide on your university’s website or your university portal. Make sure that you are looking at the updated list, as required textbooks do change from year to year.

The other thing to look out for is whether a textbook is required or recommended. Required textbooks are essential in completing the unit or subject, whilst recommended textbooks are a good resource to consult during your studies, but are not essential. Whether you require the extra help from the recommended textbooks would be dependent on your confidence in the unit you are attempting, and whether the extra help from the recommended textbooks would be beneficial.

Once you have worked out what textbooks you need, the hunt begins.

New Textbooks

Buying brand new books directly from bookstores is an expensive option, but means that you will have a brand new textbook. Often these books come with an eBook which can be handy. However, you will need to ascertain whether the cost is justified.

Second Hand Textbooks

The second option is to buy second-hand textbooks from other university students. There are various forums where students sell their old textbooks. One such site is StudentVIP, where you can purchase textbooks, notes and find tutors. Gumtree, eBay and Facebook are also great places to search for a bargain.

Libraries

University libraries often have physical textbooks that can be loaned. However, these loan periods may not cover the entire semester and therefore require careful planning. Some university libraries also have electronic copies that can be accessed. Some university libraries even allow students to download certain chapters of textbooks. This can be a great option if you don’t require the whole textbook. Don’t forget to check out your local libraries, who may have your textbook available.

Whatever way you choose to buy or borrow your textbooks, it is important to get organised before the semester begins. This will ensure that you can start the year smoothly and without a hitch.

If you have any comments or questions, please leave a comment down below.

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When you are starting university, you will often hear the phrase, O Week. But what is O Week, what does it entail and why should you participate?

O Week stands for Orientation Week. It is a week of various programs run by the university and student associations before the start of Semester 1. Each university has its own individual set up, however, most universities generally encompass the same activities.

O Week is an opportunity to get your ID card.

You will have to go to the Student Services (each Uni uses a different name, but it is the Admin) building in your university, where you will be able to take a photo, and get your ID card. This varies from uni to uni, but your ID card is very important. It gives you access to library content, is necessary to have for exams and is your proof of being a university student. You can also verify your student Opal Card here. You can also get an introduction tour of the university campus. Again, it is important to check this on your university’s website to work out when these tours are being run.

The various faculties at the university also run numerous introductory lectures and tours. This is faculty dependent, and so you will need to check if your faculty is running such programs and their timings.

You will find that there will be many stalls set up around the university campus. These stalls will be manned by various student associations. You can sign up for them and get freebies. Some associations are religious, while others may be sporting or pertaining to hobbies.

Most importantly, there will be food that you can purchase. There also is free food and other freebies from a great variety of companies prompting their products.

Basically, O Week is an opportunity for you to get yourself organised with your ID card, verify your student Opal Card, explore your campus, get to know your faculty and discover student associations and clubs you might be interested it. It is also a great chance to meet people and make new friends at uni.

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A common misconception is that the ATAR is an average of your HSC marks or that it’s a mark in general. It’s not! It’s a rank and here’s why it’s important.

Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is a rank calculated by the University Admission Centre (UAC) – not a score. It ranks you against all the other students who complete the HSC in your year. To put that into perspective, 67,915 students completed the HSC program in 2019! You are being ranked against that competition. The ATAR ranges from 0 to 99.95 and increases in 0.5 increments.

But what does the rank really mean? Let’s say you got 95% on a test in a class of 10 students – that’s pretty good, right? But with the ATAR you are going to be ranked against the rest of the competition. So, if everyone else got a mark higher than 95%, your rank would be last and your ATAR 0. Alternatively, if you got something like 55% and ranked first, your ATAR would 99+. What you need to take away from this is that, it’s not just how well you do – it’s how well you compared to others sitting the HSC. That is, the other 60 odd thousand students!

So, to recap an ATAR of 80 means that you have performed better than 80% of the students sitting the HSC, or are in the top 20% of students attempting the HSC – whichever way you want to look at it.

The average ATAR is usually around 70.00. This is because many school students leave school early and therefore don’t receive an ATAR. If every student stayed at school the average ATAR would be around 50.00.

Now calculating the ATAR is a really complex process, considering that many students choose different subjects of varying difficulties. In fact, there are roughly 27,000 different combinations of subjects selected by HSC students! How can you get them all on the same ranking system? This is where Math comes in handy. So, to be able to rank students with different subjects, your HSC marks are scaled to reflect what the marks would have been had all courses been studied by all students and all courses had the same mark distribution using a scaling algorithm. Your ATAR is calculated using these scaled marks, which are not released to students. Your scaled marks of your best 2 units of English, and the scaled marks of 8 units from your remaining units (only 2 units from Category B courses) are used to calculate your ATAR.

Most students get marks in the 70 to 80 range, and therefore students who get marks in this bracket vary in ATAR considerably, sometimes even from 50 to 80. So, if you are getting marks in the low 70s, it is important to try and push that mark towards 80, as every mark you earn may bump you up several ranks in the ATAR. Now, this is obviously dependent on the subject you are studying and how it scales and how the competition is like in your HSC year (so these numbers aren’t set in stone and can change from year to year, and should be used as an estimate). Anyhow, it’s probably best you push yourself as much as possible!

The ATAR is important as a tool used by universities in selecting students for courses. Your admission to a tertiary education course is based on your selection rank (ATAR + any adjustments), though some universities use other criteria such as personal essays, interviews, portfolios and extra-curricular activities, to help select students for a course. So, while getting a good ATAR is helpful, it is not the only thing that counts.

It’s important to remember that your ATAR is a key for you to get into your desired course. But all is not lost if you don’t get the ATAR you strived for. You can start another undergraduate degree and reapply the next year with your university marks (you will have to keep them up!).

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As Year 10 students, university and even Year 12 can feel like a lifetime away. But the choices you make in your subject selection in Year 10 for your HSC course, will set you up a long way in reaching your goals. The following tips are to help you choose your subjects as you enter the final stages of your schooling journey. These tips are also useful for parents to help guide your children through this uncertain journey.

Choose Subjects that you are good at or enjoy

For the first time in your schooling journey you have a choice as to what subject you want to complete (apart from English – its compulsory), so you can choose subjects that you are good at or enjoy. Even within those subjects you can choose different levels to tailor your learning interests.

2. Choose Subjects you may need as Pre-requisites for your Preferred University Course

It may feel like university is very far away, but may universities require certain HSC subjects as pre-requisites for certain degrees. So, if you have an idea of what degree or area you want to study at university, check the pre-requisites, if there are any, and make sure that the subjects you pick meet those requirements. You can search courses at UAC: https://uac.edu.au/.

3. Choose Subjects according to your ability

Don’t choose subjects because you think it will give you a better ATAR – be realistic and choose subjects you can do well in.

4. Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) is a rank NOT a mark

Don’t fall into the trap that the ATAR is a mark – it’s a rank. It ranks you against all the other Year 12 students in Australia.

5. Make sure you are ATAR Eligible

Ensure that subjects you pick will allow you to receive an ATAR after Year 12. Some subjects don’t contribute to your ATAR, and may mean you have less ATAR eligible units than you need. Be sure to speak to your Careers Advisor at school to confirm if the subjects you are picking will give you an ATAR at the end of Year 12.

6. Universities may increase your Selection Rank if you do well at certain Subjects

Universities may increase your selection rank*, used to compare students applying at university, if you perform well in a particular HSC subject. So, try to get those extra marks and push yourself at school! But remember this is dependent on the degree, university and subject(s) you complete. Some universities, degrees or subjects are not eligible for increases in selection rank, particularly if it is a lower level course. Head to UAC or the university’s website to find out if your selection rank will increase if you excel in a particular HSC subject.

7. If you are not sure what level of Mathematics or English to take, choose the level that suits your ability and future plans best

It’s important to choose the level of English and Maths based on your ability, so that you are able to excel, or based on your future plans so that the subject can help you in your university endeavours.

8. Try and push yourself to get Higher Marks

Roughly speaking, if you get marks of around 70 in your HSC subjects, you may end up with an ATAR in the 50s, but if you get marks closer to 80, you can get an ATAR closer to 80. This is because most students’ marks are in the range of 70 to 80, and when these students are ranked it really spreads out. Make sure that you work hard to get your marks as high as possible because every mark counts in getting a better ATAR.

9. To maximise your ATAR you have to Work Hard

Every little mark counts, so establishing good study habits and working to the best of your ability, will ensure that you can get the highest possible ATAR to achieve your university dream.

*Selection Rank: Your selection rank takes into account all the criteria you are required to meet in order to gain entry to a course. As a Year 12 student, your selection rank is usually your ATAR plus any adjustment factors for which you are eligible, such as doing well in an HSC subject, portfolio marks or interviews.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask below

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Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) is the place to go if you are a Year 12 student looking to apply for university entrance in 2021. It might seem early, but it is prudent to get started with your application now.

To start, head to UAC’s website.

On their website there is information on various courses offered by universities, their start dates and information on prerequisites and academic requirements. Be sure to check these out to help inform your choice of university course.

To start an application, click the ‘Apply or Log in’ tab on the top right of the homepage. From the drop-down menu, select undergraduate application.

Read the information, then click “Start” to begin your undergraduate application.

Select your citizenship status, and click Yes to the next question as you will be completing Year 12 this year.

For HSC students, enter your Year 12 student number and UAC pin, which would have been emailed to you by UAC.

For IB students, use your personal code and birth date as your pin (e.g. 1st of May is 0105).

You will then be taken to the personal details page. Some details may have already been added; ensure that they are correct and fill out any remaining fields.

When entering your email, ensure that you enter a personal email, as this email will be the main way UAC will contact you. Your school email may expire, so it is important that you use a personal email account.

When you click next at the bottom of the page, a UAC application number will be generated. Your UAC application number and PIN will be emailed to you. Keep them safe as you will need them to update your application in the future or whenever you contact UAC.

After clicking continue, you will be directed to the qualifications page. Your Year 12 qualification would have already been added. You have the option to add other qualifications such as employment experience and online open courses, though they most likely won’t apply to you. Don’t add employment experience unless you’ve worked full time for 1 year or more.

The next step in the application is the selection of your courses. The course preferences page is where you can choose up to 5 courses you’d like to apply for. You can always update this list later. Click ‘Search for Courses’ to get started. First, select an institution (you can select all or simply select the institutions you are interested in). Then search your course by using the six digit course code or course name to refine your search.

Select the start date for your course choices to add them to the preference list. Once you are done, you can review your choices. Put your preferences in order of what you most like to do, as they will be considered in order. When you are done, save your changes to continue.

Now, you need to review your application to ensure that all details are correct. Click the pencil icon, to edit any details. Once you are finished, click the ‘Submit’ button, read through the Declaration, and click the box to agree with the terms. Now, you need to make the payment, either through PayPal or Credit Card, or if you choose to pay later through POSTbillpay or BPay. If you choose to pay later, UAC must receive your payment before any offers can be made.

Once you pay, your application is complete. Now, you can manage your application using your UAC application number and pin, apply for Educational Access Scheme (EAS) if eligible or upload documents. It is recommended that you download the confirmation package to ensure that all your details are correct.

You can manage and edit your application whenever you like using your UAC application number and PIN by going to Undergraduate Application from the drop-down menu. From here you can track correspondence, change your pin or download your confirmation package.

Make sure to check the UAC website for up to date key dates such as Offer Round Dates.

If you have any questions about applying to uni or are having problems trying to start your application, then let me know down below.

Tag: HSC