How does the extension work? I need more than 6 months — It's great that you're planning ahead. Once you buy a course or a course package, you can access your online study materials for 6 months from the date of purchase. You can extend your courses online. The pricing for renewing your access to study materials (beyond the original 6-month term) is as follows: for individual courses - $20.90 per month and for originally purchased course package - $42.90 per month.
How do we get more practice worksheets to work on? The videos are helpful but we need more practice material to practice under time constrraints [sic]. — Each course includes a minimum of 10 questions x 17 checkpoints = 170 questions (some courses/checkpoints have more). The final checkpoints (Checkpoint 18) is the practice exam with approximately 30-45 questions for the Year 7 exams and 50-65 questions for Year 9 exams (the exact number of practice questions depends on the course). Each course is designed to provide all the practice questions you require to prepare effectively for the competitive exam.
Parents don't often realise that doing too many practice questions is not always a good thing.
First, students are more likely to skim over the question and 'do it' when faced with hundreds of practice drills as opposed to understanding the logic more deeply. Understanding the logic leads to Exam Success!
Secondly, doing too many practice questions is overwhelming. Some tuition centres focus on doing practice exam after practice exam, leaving their students frustrated and tired.
I've seen this problem happen a lot where parents buy heaps of practice material and become confused and stressed, not knowing where to start. Focus on quality of practice questions over quantity, and your child will be less stressed, more focused and better prepared for the exam. It's about studying smarter, not harder!
Who is checking the completed tests/worksheets? Also how do we get feedback and further improvement points and areas? — Exam Success online courses are self-paced and offer you or your child the freedom to work independently. Thus, they should be the ones checking through the completed tests/worksheets. The checking process is very simple yet powerful: (1) Complete the worksheet and (2) Watch the explanatory video with a solution.
The explanatory videos will show the correct answer and, most importantly, how to get to the right answer.
If the student made a mistake, the video will help them pick up where they've gone wrong in their solutions to help them improve next time they are faced with a similar question.
It's really important that students go through explanatory videos because it's the understanding that helps them in the exam.
Some tuition centres never fully explain their solutions (we've helped students that used to go to these centres). They simply correct homework sheets with a tick or cross, so the only feedback that students get is a number. That's useless because how will they know where or how to improve? Instead, we go in-depth into EACH question to help students understand how to get to the answer.
What about the explanations for any incorrectly answered questions? — Again, students will get an explanation on how to get to the correct answer as they go through the solutions video. Naturally, they will see why a certain answer is wrong or why their reasoning was incorrect.
If you wish to purchase whole package, how much time (approx.) should it take for my 10yr old to complete all the units? I understand it is go at your own pace, but considering he would have to sit academic merit test for state high (Brisbane) mid next year ((I think), need to be mindful of time — If you have the time to spare (for example, 6 months), I'd recommend 3.5 hours each weekend. Each course has 18 checkpoints, and there are 7 courses altogether.
If you have 3 months until the exam, I'd recommend doing a checkpoint per day (if doing the full package of 7 courses).
Some students say it takes on average 37 hours to complete one course (for 7 courses, that would be 210 hours). So potentially, your child could do the course full time during the summer holiday period and beyond.
How does your writing scoring & feedback work? — After purchase, we'll get notifications of any essays that you write when you click on the button to request your scoring. Once we get your request online, we'll score and provide feedback for those essays up until the quota or until your course package expires - whichever comes first. Details about how to do this are provided in your dashboard after purchase.
Are your online courses helpful for ACER exams? — Yes, because past students who have sat ACER exams have used our courses and successfully obtained scholarships or school offers. ACER style competitive exams focus on reasoning and thinking while incorporating quite simple patterns/mathematical questions. All our online courses focus on strong thinking skills.
Your information says it covers NSW Selective and Yr 5 and 6 merit test for brisbane....how do I know the whole package is relevant for Melbourne High exams and not just a part of it? Because NSW exams are tougher and the yr 5 & 6 may be easier? — The course covers everything we think you need to know to sit the exam and do well. It covers the base knowledge and then extends for additional components e.g., the Year 9 extension.
Actually, things like reasoning are based on rigour and logic. These skills are not curriculum-based, like in schools (where you learn by grade - except for maths). Once you master the skills, you can apply them at all levels.
When you say the NSW exams are 'tougher', that's because the NSW exams really focus on logical rigour and 'thinking for yourself' as opposed to learning a curriculum, which anyone with a textbook can do.
That's where we differ and get results - our focus is on developing rigorous thinking skills.
If we complete certain units but want to go back to previous units, can we do that? How long are the videos available to us? Can they be downloaded? — We understand that students often have to reinforce their knowledge, which is why we made our test prep courses truly flexible. You can revisit the unit whenever you like. It's like having the ultimate textbook in video format, and you can flip ahead or back whenever you need it.
Access is granted for a period of six months. You can extend your access for $20.90 per month for an individual course or $42.90 per month for the whole course package.
No, the videos cannot be downloaded. Everything is available to access on the site.
Is there a discount if we want to buy more than 2 courses? If I plan to buy all courses, it comes up to almost $700/- which is quite pricey — There is a plan that includes all 7 courses in 1 package (full package) providing a saving of around $600. If you buy individual courses, it comes to $1000+.
Individual courses are there as sometimes, students may only need to polish up on only one study area.
We price our products based on the work involved to prepare them, and we put in a lot of effort, as shown by our results and reviews from students and parents. When you think about it, our online courses are value for money compared to other exam preparation providers as:
1. Hendersons charge around $215+ for a 1-day workshop on 1 subject only. Our courses are ~$160, and students have access for six months, AND they can revisit whenever they need.
2. James An's selective trial test course cost around $1200 (2020), for four subjects over a 10-week term (Herald Sun 2013). Exam Success' full package is ~$500, which includes +3 more subjects but also ~$600 LESS expensive than James An.
3. According to a Sydney Morning Herald article, "Mr Mysore said he had spent about $3000 to help prepare his son, who went to coaching for four hours a week, for the selective exam." (Herald Sun 2013). Exam Success' course is less than 1/3 of the cost, and doing the full package (7 courses) over 6 months would take around 3.5 hours per week.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to the teacher. I've heard stories where students have a good teacher at a tuition school, but when they don't, they don't really learn much.
At Exam Success, we make sure that what your child is watching is effective so that they get the best learning possible and preparation for their competitive exam.
I wonder if you've any way to check the student work and help to rectify he / she may be making ... — Each course includes detailed solutions and explanations via video for each practice question. We encourage students to compare their answers against the provided solutions.
Online course packages also include scoring and written feedback on a set number of your child's essays.
One of the best ways for your child to learn is to check their own work and understand why a particular answer is correct. I've actively encouraged my past students to do this, and this strategy helped them win school spots. Beyond academic achievements, they also developed an interest in life-long learning.
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