Final SAC or Trial Exam? How to Prioritise VCE English Language Study in September

Poorva Gupta

Hi everyone, my name is Poorva and I graduated from Mac.Rob in 2024, scoring a raw 46 in English Language 3/4. As we get close to finishing up with our SACs for the year and head into exam prep season, a common conflict is always whether to prioritise the final SAC in term 4 or the trial exam.

Students may feel like they need to work on everything at once, so the problem is not having a lack of things to study but instead deciding what deserves attention first.

September is less about covering everything and more about identifying where the next few weeks of study can make the biggest difference.

For students preparing for the VCE English language exam, this stage is also about refining the skills that directly impact exam performance. Building confidence with key concepts such as metalanguage and knowing how to apply metalanguage in VCE English Language analysis can help you turn your knowledge into stronger responses under timed conditions.

If your SACs are finished and the trial exam is coming up:

The focus can move from learning more content to finding where marks are being lost.

Since this just becomes pure exam prep, some things you can do are

Complete a timed section or full trial exam as a starting point
identifying recurring problems rather than immediately completing another practice paper
separating knowledge gaps from writing, analysis and timing problems

Another important area to review during this stage is your understanding of metalanguage. Having a strong grasp of metalanguage vce English language can help you explain stylistic choices more accurately and develop deeper analysis in your exam responses.

If your SAC and trial exams are almost back-to-back:

The last SAC definitely matters, but September study should increasingly favour skills that remain useful after that assessment is over.

My last SAC was an Analytical Commentary so I made sure that in all of the practice Acs I was writing, there was always at least 2-3 Identity examples in my Cultural context paragraph, because that’s what the last SAC was about.

Use your trial exam as a diagnosis for your weaknesses rather than just looking at the score:

When you get your trial exam back, don’t just read the number on the front of the page and chuck the booklet away, go through each section/the rubric to see where you need improving – this is the best guidance for your study for the next 6 weeks.

1. Section A

2. Section B

3. Section C

A Trial Exam becomes much more useful when the score is converted into a clear list of things that can still be changed.

How many practice exams should you be doing?

Sure, your school makes you do one trial exam, but how many should you be doing in the lead up to the final exam at the end of October?

For reference, I think I averaged 2-3 full exams per week, but that doesn’t mean I spent 2.5 hours doing the full paper each time.

For SAQs I did them under strict timing, replicating exam conditions exactly
For ACs I alternated between writing full Acs and just doing plans for each of my paragraphs. Towards the end I focused more on getting exposure to a wide variety of texts and how I would go about elaborating different types of examples that are commonly found in a certain text types
For Essays, I wrote only 2 or 3 during my whole exam study period, but for each practice exam I did I planned the essay I would write – which includes the 3 body paragraphs I would have.

What should you be doing after completing your practice exam?

Everyone should be reviewing their exam, including comparing it with the marking guide, your peers’ responses if they did the same exam as you, and then getting a teacher to have a look at it.

If you have access to a tutor, they will definitely be able to help you the most.

At Excel Education, our VCE English Language tutors help students review their SAC and Trial Exam performance, identify where marks are being lost and focus their remaining preparation on the areas that can make the biggest difference.

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