Scoring 40 in My VCE English Exam By Beating My Fear of Essays

From C+ to raw 40: How Matrix teacher James turned his biggest fear (writing essays for the VCE English exam) into his biggest achievement.

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Like many students, James struggled with VCE English, battling self-doubt. So how did he overcome his struggles with the VCE English exam to get a raw study score of 40? And how can you do the same?

Table of contents:

Me, myself, and I

Name: James Bu

School: Melbourne High School

ATAR: 98.05

University: Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Honours), Monash University

It’s not an exaggeration when I say that getting a raw study score of 40 in VCE English is one of my proudest achievements. That might sound a bit sad… but, I continue to use some of the learnings and confidence I gained from that experience today.

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VCE English exam was my biggest challenge

I was never a great English student. I wasn’t horrible either, but I hovered around C+ most of high school. Once, I even cried instead of giving a speech in Year 10. 

VCE English was a whole other beast. As a “core four” subject, a C+ (even a B+) was not going to get me to the promised land.

I needed to completely level up my ability to read, analyse, and write.

That fear of English…that fear of the word “essay”. I’m sure if you’re reading this, you know it well. Those feelings had to be overcome for me to succeed in VCE English. Here’s how I did it.

Finding self-belief as a writer 

All I can remember about writing essays in high school was scrambling to get to the word limit. I’d write one line for each letter in TEEL (Topic, Evidence, Explanation, Link), then spend night after night stressing about how I was supposed to turn that into quality body paragraphs. Meanwhile, my mates were churning them out like it was nothing.

The first time I truly thought “I’ve got this” was the day of the Year 12 English exam.

I walked into my teacher’s office to get my dictionary approved, and out of nowhere, she said, “You’ve got this. You’re a superstar, James.”

I went into the English exam pretty relaxed. The surrounding teeth chattering and foot-tapping rolled off me like a drop of water rolling off a leaf’s waxy cuticle (sorry, I’m a Matrix Biology teacher by trade now, I had to).

But, that wasn’t an instantaneous thing.

How I built up confidence in the VCE English exam

Here’s what helped me go from a solid C+ to a raw 40 in VCE English.

1. Write every week

Year 12 English tutoring forced me to write essays regularly.

In Term 1, I was still getting knocked down by average scores. Even though my writing was getting better, my confidence was slow to catch up.

But I kept showing up, writing more, and trying new vocabulary and techniques.

Sometimes I’d FAIL at using big words to learn their correct context (I once used “indubitably” just because I heard it in a basketball ad… thanks, Kawhi Leonard).

But I learnt from those mistakes and those scores slowly started to improve. I was still disappointed when I got my SACs back, but writing had become easier. With every essay, I added more tools to the kit.

Confidence is a positive feedback loop

The first time I got an A on a SAC in Term 3, something clicked. I felt more motivated than ever and started writing two to three times as much. That extra effort paid off fast.

matrix education james by
James Bu now teaches Biology at Matrix Education

2. Start small

If writing a whole essay feels impossible, start with one paragraph a week.

A lot of the most important skills (ocabulary use, grammar, single paragraph structure, argument construction) are just as effectively practised in single paragraphs

One paragraph every week is wayyyyyy better than only cramming practice essays once your SAC is days away. 

Go from single paragraphs, to multiple paragraphs, then to full essays. 

By mid-year, I could finally write essays in one sitting. And I actually started enjoying it.

3. Review and use feedback immediately

Once you get feedback on your writing, note down exactly what your teacher said you could improve. Next time you write, focus on fixing those things.

Without identifying + targeting + actioning areas for improvement, your improvement will be a lot slower. 

4. Shift to a growth mindset

Getting a low mark doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It’s just a sign of where you need to improve.

The more you see the room for improvement as a “positive” experience, the less extreme your emotions, and the easier it is to move forward.

You’re going to suffer setbacks in VCE English, but they won’t to determine your eventual score. It’s your ability to move forward that matters. 

To prepare for the VCE English exam, improvement doesn’t happen overnight. It’s slow. Sometimes you have to take even FURTHER hits to your confidence before it gets better. Stay consistent and open to learning – you’ll get there.

Once you believe in yourself as a writer, everything changes.

Improve your VCE English marks, just like James

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Written by Guest Author

We have regular contributions to our blog from our Tutor Team and high performing Matrix Students. Come back regularly for these guest posts to learn their study hacks and insights!

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