I didn't know what to do with my HSC Physics tutoring content (aka free notes)

Ok I’m going to hope that you clicked on this blog post because you are, or are about to be a HSC Physics student. If not, please head to some far more relevant content here :)

Basically, when I graduated high school and realised earning some extra money would be nice, I started a few jobs in the high school tutoring realm. One of those jobs was creating and giving free online lectures for… a company I will not name for possible legal reasons.

I’ve since stopped working there, but given that I put a whole lot of time and effort into making slide decks that give a full crash course on HSC Physics, it seemed like a shame to let them waste away in the depths of my hard drive. So… here they are 😊

HSC Physics Revision

HSC Physics Mod 7 (Nature of Light)

I want to make it clear that I HAVE made revisions to the slides so they ARE NOT exactly the same as the slides I made while at the company (pls don’t sue me). Also, while I am pretty confident in the accuracy of these notes, I am also just some person on the internet. Please let me know in the comments if you spot anything sketchy.

Other awesome resources

I was a bit stubborn back in high school and made up my mind that I was gonna make it through Year 12 without getting any form of tutoring/coaching. I wouldn’t say I recommend this approach, but if you also don’t have a tutor for any reason, here’s some free/low-cost resources that basically carried me:

• PhysicsHigh - I genuinely learned the entire course from this one Youtube channel. Everything is super well-taught and tailored to the NSW HSC syllabus.
• Cambridge Checkpoints NSW Physics Year 12 - this has some really well-written questions that properly challenge your understanding of every concept. Also the questions are organised by topic, so it makes it easy to work on specific areas!
• Excel Year 12 Physics Study Guide - solid set of notes, and plenty of practice questions.

BONUS: How to get a band 6

I should start with the disclaimer: the HSC isn’t everything in life, you aren’t defined by your marks, etc. etc. But given that I just dropped a bunch of notes, it probably makes sense to also mention some study tips that helped me a lot in Year 12:

• Attempt to teach the content to someone else - you will very quickly find out where you don’t fully understand concepts.
• Practiceeeeee - do every past paper/trial paper you can get your hands on. Then write questions for your friends and get them to write questions for you.
• Keep track of every mistake you make - I just had a massive Google Doc for this. It makes it very easy to spot common weak points so you know where to focus your revision. It also means you can come back and redo questions so you know you’ve ACTUALLY learned from them.
• Don’t do your homework - okay hear me out on this one. You’ve probably heard the phrase “work smart not hard”. To me, that means being intentional with the study that you do. Teachers are awesome, but sometimes they assign homework that is
  1. not that relevant to the HSC,
  2. not on the topics where you know you need to focus on,
  3. not the right level of challenging, or
  4. just plain tedious.

  You don’t have a huge amount of time in Year 12, so spend it with friends, family, and practice that will actually challenge you in the right areas to help you get better. If that doesn’t include some or most of your assigned homework, so be it 🤷‍♀️

• Make your own notes - collecting other people’s notes is all well and good, but it will only be locked in your head when you make your OWN. That being said, time spent making notes should not get in the way of time spent doing practice.

This is just what I found useful, so of course it will take a bit of experimentation to figure out what works best for you.

But at the end of the day, physics is a very cool subject that makes you look at our world with a bit of extra awe and wonder. So to all the current and prospective Year 12 students who have made it here, have fun and good luck :)