Year 12 exam marker's controversial advice to students
A Year 12 exams marker could turn students' plans on their heads with a piece of advice many had not considered.
Martina Cooper has marked thousands of Year 12 exams over her 20-plus decades in education.
She is currently the Acting Director of Curriculum at Waverley College and has worked as the Supervisor of Marking for Studies of Religion from 2019 until 2023.
In other words, she knows what she's talking about.
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Martina Cooper has marked thousands of Year 12 exams over her 20-plus decades in education. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Cooper tells 9honey that students should complete their exams out of order to ensure they have ample time to complete their essays, which are typically included as the last item in exam papers.
"I would not be leaving the essay until the last question," she advises.
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"You might do a set of multiple choice [questions], and then you might do an essay. It sort of helps with the handwriting as well and with the flow of the paper, but it certainly helps with having enough time to address the entire paper."
Cooper says a common mistake made by students is "they don't have a game plan."
Cooper tells 9honey that students should complete their exams out of order. Getty
"With a usual two-hour paper that's three hours, 180 minutes ... certainly break down how long you should be spending on each topic," she says, adding that suggested times are normally on the paper anyway.
"Quite often I marked the last question on the paper, which was an essay on our paper, and you saw students running out of time."
Having completed the essay earlier in the exam, Cooper said it tends to be easier for students to complete short responses quickly if time is running out.
"You can kind of grab marks more easily than an essay," she says, "and also, if you're panicking in an essay, you know, it's not great."
She also advises students to take care with their handwriting, "because they have been using laptops all the way along and then the switch to handwriting, three hours of handwriting.
Writing test in exam with behind girl Asian students group concentrate in high school, serious taking final examination desk at classroom with Thai student uniform. Education evaluation back to school Getty
"I know I've seen a decrease in handwriting skills as such. So my advice would be to try to remember that somebody is marking it," she says.
"If you can't read it, then unfortunately it does impact the mark."
She also advises students to "practice, practice, practice", adding, "Not just writing it out, but writing it out in a timed response."
Cooper added that students should have some idea of "how their essay will look" before they start it.
In terms of changes she has seen over the decades.
"In terms of actually what's expected of students, the questions today are a lot more broader," she says.
"The students need to engage more with the questions rather than simply dump content."
With subjects such as Religion and History, Cooper advises students to be "up to date with what's contemporary."
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She also advises students to take care with their handwriting. Getty
"You're looking for them being able to show that they're engaging with the world and how things are changing, so that's what makes it quite interesting too."
And when it comes to subjects such as Religion, Cooper says students are taught to keep their personal beliefs out of it.
"It's something that you have to teach them from the start," she says.
"It's an objective subject and it's definitely something that you specifically teach ... you never speak in the first person."
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