HUNTER students say they feel “like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders” following the content-heavy Ancient History Higher School Certificate exam, which they said included questions similar to ones asked in past assessments.
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Lambton High students Charlie Ekin, Sophie Carson and Emily Parkes, all 18, were among the 8378 across the state to sit the three hour paper on Tuesday.
“There’s so much content to learn that I’m relieved it’s over,” Emily said.
“It was a decent exam – it wasn’t easy, but it was a lot easier than last year’s exam.”
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Sophie said she “surprised myself with what I knew and remembered when I got in there”.
“But I’m also very happy I never have to do it again.”
Charlie said there was also “a sense of pride we made it this far”.
“Our teachers were really supportive and we came in well prepared.”
The students said the first section, comprising multiple choice and short answer questions about their core study Pompeii and Herculaneum, was one of the hardest parts of the paper and “deceptive”.
Charlie said the last question was “ambiguous”, although Emily said this meant “there was a lot you could do with it”.
Sophie said a question in the second section, about Spartan society, was “too specific” and Charlie said the questions were “from a tough part of the syllabus”.
They were all “very happy” to see the questions in the third section – the girls studied Alexander the Great and Charlie focused on Akhenaten – and the fourth section, in which the girls wrote an essay on the Greek world from 500 to 440 BC and Charlie focused on New Kingdom Egypt from Amenhotep III to the death of Ramesses II.
“I was cheering internally,” Sophie said.
Helen Gregory
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
