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Dishita, a Year 11 student at Girraween High School, share the 5 study strategies that helped her go from being ranked in the 20s to the top 5 of her class.
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Struggling to keep up with schoolwork? These are the study strategies that helped Dishita boost her marks and move into the top 5 of her cohort. Use them to stay on top of your study.
Name: Dishita
Grade: Year 11
School: Girraween High School
Hi, I’m Dishita. A few years ago, I was just like many other high school students, trying to stay on top of assessments and make sense of subjects like Advanced Maths and Science. I knew I had the potential to do better, but I needed good study strategies and the right support.
My goals:
From early on, my goals were clear:
During high school, I developed a handful of effective study strategies that completely changed how I learn. They’ve stayed with me all the way up to now, in my senior years.
Well, yes I’ve seen great results. For example, in Science, I went from scoring 70-80% to consistently achieving 95% and above. I moved from the mid-20s in class ranking to the top 5!
More than the marks, I gained confidence. I stopped doubting myself and started walking into tests prepared and calm. I had always just wanted a sense of clarity and control over my schoolwork and now I have that.
Here are the 5 study strategies that helped me improve my marks.
Studying is a lot easier when you are genuinely motivated. One of the ways I stay engaged is by learning with others , especially with people who care.
This includes being in a class with teachers who are passionate about their subjects and about your success. These types of teachers are often great at making even difficult topics feel exciting and motivating me to strive for excellence.
Sometimes, teachers like that are hard to find. If so, try to find peers who share similar goals that you can study with.
We help each other overcome challenges, share resources, and celebrate wins together.
If you’re finding it hard to stay motivated, build a study group with friends who take their goals seriously. Having that support makes a huge difference and can make studying fun!
I found this exact learning community at Matrix, and it has made a big difference to my learning:
I remember struggling significantly with the topic of electricity and how it moves through circuits. Concepts like current, voltage, and resistance, and how they interact within a circuit, felt like a lot for me at first, and I was very confused. At school, I just couldn’t quite grasp the relationships.
But in my Matrix Physics class, the teacher used clear, labelled diagrams and real-life examples to break everything down.
It helped me visualise each concept step-by-step. Since then, I’ve made visual learning a core part of my study sessions.
Try creating your own visual notes. You can make flowcharts, mind maps, labelled diagrams – whatever suits the subject.
Don’t worry if they’re messy. What matters is that they make sense to you. Over time, this habit can really strengthen your understanding, especially for subjects with layered or abstract content like Science and Maths.
Write the perfect notes to ace your exams! 
Download your FREE Ultimate Note-Taking Kit
Don’t try to learn everything at once. Start small: Focus on mastering one basic concept, then build on it. And if something still isn’t clicking, talk to a teacher, tutor, or even a friend who understands it well.
Having someone guide you through those tricky spots can be the turning point.
It may also help to get one-to-one support. In personal tutoring sessions, the tutor can work with you at your own pace, addressing specific areas where you struggled. Ask them to give you practice problems on that topic to help you until you truly understand it.
Don’t leave practice questions for just before the test! Doing practice questions consistently will help you understand exactly what you know and don’t know, and what areas you should focus your time and efforts on leading up to the exam.
I use multiple checkpoints when exam time is approaching to test my understanding: Matrix Theory book questions → Work Book drills → weekly quizzes → topic tests.
This helps me catch any gaps in my knowledge before it’s too late to fix them.
While doing these practice questions, I keep a folder of questions I struggled with the most, which I revisit regularly. This helps me track my progress and makes revision more focused and effective.
The Matrix Theory Books also became my go-to for revision. For example, when preparing for my Year 11 Maths Extension 1 exam, I used them to revise key functions and transformations.
They summarised complex content in a way that made it easy to review, quickly but thoroughly.
Don’t wait until exam week to start doing practice questions. Build it into your weekly routine. Even doing a few targeted questions each day can help you stay sharp and reduce stress later.
If you really want to maximise your school year, here’s a great article on How to Survive Year 11.
This is the study technique that I’ve been using religiously since my Year 7 Matrix Maths teacher introduced it. The idea is simple but incredibly effective.
Teaching someone else helps you check your understanding and can highlight areas you may have missed. It also helps you retain information more effectively.
If you’re thinking about getting extra support, I recommend Matrix.
That said, no program can work without your effort. Really put your all into the lessons and homework. Matrix offers a wealth of resources and support, but it’s ultimately up to you to decide how much you want to benefit from it.
If you engage fully during lessons, ask questions when needed, and diligently complete your homework, you’ll get much more out of your time there. The more actively you participate, the better your learning experience will be. Matrix can provide all the tools and guidance, but the effort you put in is what will make the biggest difference in achieving your goals. It’s about making the most of every opportunity to learn and improve.
Final thoughts
You don’t need to be a “top student” to start improving. You just need a goal, a plan, and the right strategies. These five worked for me, and I hope they help you too!
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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