BlogStudyThe Comprehensive 7 Day HSC Biology Study Plan

The Comprehensive 7 Day HSC Biology Study Plan

You’re 7 days away from your Biology exam, what should you do? Create a 7 day HSC Biology study plan!

Don’t worry, if you haven’t started studying yet, it’s not the be all or end all, in fact this 7 day Biology study plan should have you on track to performing well in your exam!

First, don’t forget that starting to study with 7 days to go before your exam is actually much better than starting the night before!

However, this means that you’re still coming a little bit later to the table, so you do need to pull up your socks to catch up!

If you’re able to study for at least 2 hours each day for Biology alone, I can guarantee that the following 7-day study plan will ensure that you will perform at your absolute best in the exam.

Day 1: Figure out your needs and notes
Day 2: Teach everyone!
Day 3: Summarise your study
Day 4: Complete practice papers
Day 5: Time yourself
Day 6: Give yourself 10% less time
Day 7: Review everything

Day 1: Figure out your needs and notes

Day 1 is for you to prepare yourself for the sprint. It is the equivalent of your warm up for the big race.

This means that your starting point is to do a needs assessment.

Grab yourself a syllabus and rate your understanding of each of the dot points between 1-5, where 5 is ‘I can teach you this dot point’ and 1 is ‘okay, you’re going to have to tell me everything’.

Make sure that you do this rating in pen so that you can see how you improve over the 7 days!

From here, you should rearrange the dot points into a list in order of priority. The dot points which are 1s and 2s should be at the top of the list, whereas the 3s, 4s, and 5s, can go to the bottom of the list.

This is now your list of topics to cover over the next 7 days.

The next order of business is to look at all of your notes for each of the dot points, and compare the quality of your notes for the 3s, 4s, and 5s, against the notes for the 1s and 2s.

Tip: You might notice something a correlation between the quality of your notes and the dot points which you rated 1 or 2. If those notes are significantly lower in quality than your notes for your 3s, 4s and 5s, don’t sweat! We’re going to transform those 1s and 2s into 4s and 5s!

Your next logical step, then, is to write brief exam notes for your 1s and 2s! Write them according to the syllabus so that you can be sure that you’ve covered all of the information that you need.

Check out our guide on how to write effective Biology study notes here!

comparison

On the left are my study notes. On the right are my exam notes — see how brief they are in comparison to the study notes?

They took way less time to write because I didn’t need to re-write all of the explanations; they were already in my head!

Refer to your notes from class, any handouts or PowerPoints that your teacher has given you, as well as the textbook that you guys are using in the class. If you feel like you don’t have enough information for a particular dot point, don’t hesitate to look for some additional resources!

Day 2: Teach everyone!

Today, you should continue your notes for the dot points which you rated 1-2.

By the end of today, you want to have enough information to bring those 1-2s into at least a 3, preferably a 4.

A good test for your understanding is whether you can teach it back to someone else! If they know nothing about what you’re studying, but are able to understand what you’ve taught by the end of their ‘mini lesson’, you’ve managed to do it well!

Why?

  • You have communicated with clarity;
  • You have covered all the essential information;
  • You have been logical and systematic with your explanation.

Your dog might not understand everything, but that’s alright – you will be practising all the above skills anyhow! Who knows, you might be onto something!

What if there is no-one to teach? 

Teach Yourself!

Record yourself using Vocaroo as if you were teaching someone.

When you’re done, take a few seconds to clear your mind and refocus yourself.

Listen to the recording and give yourself a rating out of 5 for each of these:

  • Clarity: How clearly did you state your facts and assert your statements?
  • Logical sequence: Was it logical? Was it A-B-C-D rather than B-C-A-D?
  • Focused: Was it to do with the Syllabus Dot Point, or did you ramble about something else?
  • Specificity: Was the information accurate and specific, or was it very general?

If you’re sitting below 15 in total, do it again!

Day 3: Summarise your study

Now that you have spent some time bringing your 1s and 2s into the realm of the 3s, 4s, and 5s, it’s time to draw your attention to the 3s, 4s, and 5s to make sure that you don’t let them slip away!

Today, your goal is to brush up your knowledge for these dot points. The best way is to create a summary of your study notes. You should aim to shorten your notes to no more than five words per dot point.

Your notes for all of these dot points should fit into a single A4 page.

You should also check out HSC Together which has FREE video resources on every single HSC Biology syllabus dot point so that you can consolidate your knowledge!

Don’t just rewrite what you’ve already got! Re-visualise them! 
  • Rewrite key definitions
  • Write out key points
  • Draw pictures
  • Draw flow charts
  • Draw diagrams
  • Write out model responses/answers.

Image sourced from Technology Networks

Day 4: Complete practice papers

It’s Day 4 of your HSC Biology study plan, which means it’s practice papers and practice questions day!

If you happen to be looking for some, check out our master list of past HSC Biology exam papers!

Today you should aim to do as many practice questions as possible. Remember to mark your answers and ask yourself if you have clearly explained the concepts in your answers or not.

Then, look back on your notes and see if you need to draft and re-draft your answers.

Check out this article on how editing your Biology extended response could actually gain you some extra marks!

For example, take a look at the difference between these two responses:

Versus…

The first is a 4/8, the second is an 8/8. With practice, 8/8 responses will come naturally to you, and the only way you’ll up your marks is by drafting and redrafting.

You won’t get to do it during your exam, so you need to be able to know what makes a killer response when you practice!

Next up, make a list of any of the dot points which you are still unsure about — any 2s or 3s still lingering on your page. These will be revised at the beginning of your study time tomorrow!

Day 5: Time yourself

It’s Day 5 of your HSC Biology study plan, which means it’s all about timing yourself in exam conditions.

But first, let’s revise the dot points which you were uncertain about yesterday. Again, revise your notes and add more details and diagrams until you understand and remember them.

Check out this guide here to memorising all that content for Bio!

Next, you will continue to work on the Past Papers and Practice Questions. However, today, you should time yourself.

Why practise in timed conditions?

Timing is everything. It’s critical that all your practice responses occur under timed conditions. Why though?

  • You’ll be familiar with the types of questions they could throw at you as you’ll develop pattern recognition;
  • You’ll be able to respond to these questions quickly and adapt all your knowledge to the specific question;
  • You’ll have all your formulae, examples and more memorised; and…
  • You’ll have time to spare to check your answers!

The most effective rule of thumb is to use the One Mark, One Minute rule: the number of minutes that you spend on each question should be equivalent to the number of marks available. For example, if it is a 5 mark question, only spend 5 minutes on it.

If you are finding that you are able to finish with time to spare, be a bit brave and try to complete a past paper with -5% of the time.

Err…what?

Sorry, I forgot to explain myself. Take the amount of time the Past Paper should take and subtract 5% of that total time. That is the amount of time you should aim for today.

Okay that sounds ridiculous. That’s like…2.5 minutes’ difference!

Yes I know it might seem silly, but trust me. In an exam, those few minutes can be the difference between doing your best and throwing away marks for no reason.

If you get comfortable completing your responses in 47.5 minutes in practice, when you get into the exam you’re going to feel like you’ve got all the time in the world!

Again, make note of any dot points that you are not confident with. These will be revisited tomorrow!

Check out our 25x HSC Biology Module 5 Practise Questions to get started!

Day 6: Give yourself 10% less time

Like yesterday, your first order of business is to review the topics that you were uncertain about yesterday.

Then, you should work on Past Papers and Practice Questions just like yesterday.

However, (you guessed it!) you should aim to complete the questions in -10% of the time allocated per mark.

Think of it like training for a running race. If you can complete it in shorter time than what is allocated, you’ll find that you have extra time in your exam to take a few deep breaths and properly break down each question.

Again, make note of any dot points which you are uncertain about.

Day 7: Review everything

Today is your last chance to review anything that you are not sure of. I recommend you put those little details on to palm cards or a single sheet of paper.

Run through the syllabus and write a maximum of five words for each dot point. Once you can do this, you are ready!

Plus, here’s a quick breakdown of What to Do the Night Before HSC Exams to make sure you’re prepared and well rested!

You can do this!

Remember that you will likely have to study for more than one subject at once, especially for the Trials and for the HSC.

This means that you will need to make a mega plan that includes 7 days before each subject so that you have enough time to do everything!

You can do this. Take it one step at a time and you cannot go wrong! Good luck with your 7 day HSC Biology study plan!

Need someone to help you with your HSC Biology study plan?

We have an incredible team of HSC Biology History tutors and mentors who are new HSC syllabus experts!

We can help you master the HSC Biology syllabus and ace your upcoming HSC Biology assessments with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at one of our state of the art campuses in Hornsby or the Hills! If you’re in the Hills area, get some support from our team of Bella Vista tutors.

Stay accountable to your study plan by partnering with one of our expert HSC tutors in Campbelltown!

We’ve supported over 8,000 students over the last 11 years, and on average our students score mark improvements of over 20%!

To find out more and get started with an inspirational HSC Biology tutor and mentor, get in touch today or give us a ring on 1300 267 888!

Gia-Yen Luong has been an Art of Smart coach for 3 years, coaching a range of subjects including HSC English, Legal Studies, Biology, Chemistry and General Maths. She is in her final year of a mega double degree in Law/Science (Neuroscience). She graduated high school with an ATAR of 99.9 and spends most of her time trying to convince people that it’s wholly possible to get such a mark while still having a normal life during YR 12. She enjoys reading, podcasts, and making fun resources for her articles.

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