Eight teenagers huddle around a table inside an echoing library at Moorebank High in Sydney’s south-west.
asserted
teenagers → huddle → west
It’s a warm spring day, the kind that taunts fluorescent lights and stuffy classrooms.
asserted
that → ’ → lights
Class ended weeks ago, but these high school graduates have returned to school for a final study sprint.
asserted
graduates → end → sprint
It’s crunch time for this year’s recently graduated year 12 students.
asserted
It → ’ → students
On Tuesday, the biggest exam of a student’s school experience, the HSC, will begin.
asserted
exam → begin → experience
More than 60,000 students will sit their first exam, English paper one and exams will continue until November.
asserted
exams → sit → November
As the clock runs down, graduates have flocked to libraries and classrooms.
asserted
graduates → run → libraries
Like many schools, Moorebank High runs holiday study camps – practice tests, exam revision and study sessions to help students stay on track.
asserted
students → run → track
Others find haven in public libraries.
asserted
Others → find → libraries
Patronage at Marrickville library has swelled.
asserted
Patronage → swell → library
Teens flood the study rooms, sipping from free sparkling water supplied by the library cafe.
asserted
Teens → flood → cafe
Councillor Jo Carlisle moved to extend the library hours in time for the crucial exam block.
asserted
Carlisle → move → block
Teens arrive from morning and stay until closing, as late as 10pm on Thursday.
asserted
Teens → arrive → Thursday
“It has become this fantastic meeting place,” she said.
asserted
she → become → ?
“If one of … them is starting to struggle or have problems they’re among friends so that they can get that support,” she said.
asserted
she → start → support
Sessions and spaces like this have become a lifeline for teenagers caught in a strange limbo.
asserted
Sessions → become → limbo
Free from bells, timetables and teachers, but tethered to looming exams, Moorebank High student Tejal Ingale found structure inside her former school’s gates.
asserted
Ingale → tether → gates
“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” Ingale said.
asserted
Ingale → ’ → ?
She flicks through her notes – handwritten, of course, so they stick in her brain.
asserted
they → flick → brain
She’s raring to go, but beneath it all Ingale admits she is scared.
asserted
she → rare → it
“I have to keep going forward.
asserted
I → have → ?
There is no point in losing myself because then I know I am not going to get anything done.
asserted
anything → be → myself
Even if I am tired, I just have to push through.
asserted
I → have → ?
Unlike many, Ingale has not obtained early entry to her dream course.
asserted
Ingale → obtain → course
The highly competitive course is ineligible for early access, so Ingale must do it the old fashioned way; through voracious study.
asserted
Ingale → do → study
Early entry – the practice of a university offering students a place at their institution before they sit their exams – is an increasingly common trend that sees three in 10 school leavers using a non-ATAR pathway to go to university.
asserted
leavers → offer → university
This year, the University Admissions’ Centre (UAC) received its largest ever number of applications for its Schools Recommendation Scheme.
asserted
Centre → receive → Scheme
More than 28,000 students applied for the early offer initiative, which guarantees some students’ entry into university based on their year 11 results.
asserted
which → apply → results
Offers will be made in November.
asserted
Offers → make → November
This number has steadily risen over the past decade: there were just 9804 applicants in 2015.
asserted
number → rise → 2015
Ingale believes the system is a game changer for HSC for students from low-SES or underrepresented backgrounds, such as Indigenous students.
asserted
system → believe → students
At her school near Liverpool, the majority of her grade applied for such programs.
asserted
majority → apply → programs
“Because of early entry, we can have the same access as students at schools like North Sydney Girls,” she said.
asserted
she → have → Girls
“It makes it much easier.”
asserted
it → make → ?
Her classmate, Jessica Alkuhaili, will walk into her exams knowing that whatever happens, her future is certain.
asserted
future → walk → exams
She will study commerce at UNSW under its early entry scheme.
asserted
She → study → scheme
Her shoulders are light, though she notes early acceptance affected her motivation.
asserted
acceptance → note → motivation
“I still want to do good to compound the effort I’ve already been made,” Jessica said.
asserted
Jessica → want → effort
“I don’t want it to all go to waste.”
asserted
it → want → waste
UNSW said round one applications for its gateway program, which supports entry for students from underrepresented backgrounds, were 23 per cent higher than at the same stage last year, while conditional offers were 21 per cent higher.
asserted
offers → say → stage
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
