WHY IT PAYS TO TAKE GRADE 11 AS SERIOUSLY AS MATRIC Coughlan. 15 March 2016 “That means that taking your Grade 11 exams seriously will help you understand how you are Throughout one’s school career Grade 12 – doing and how ready you will be for your final Matric – is viewed as the ultimate year, the exams. It helps you to work out where you need year in which you have to account for what you to apply more focus. learned in the decade before, “This year’s exams provide a and the year whose results will measure of where you are, follow you for the rest of your and should be treated as part life. But what learners and parof your preparation for your ents don’t realise, is that Grade finals.” 11 can arguably be considered as important, if not more so, OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIthan one’s final year, an educaMENT tion expert says. Dr Coughlan says that Grade 11 allows some time for exper“There are at least five reasons imenting before crunch-time why Grade 11 learners should arrives. take this year very seriously, “Learn new study methods and and put as much effort into stress management methods, it as they will next year,” says and experiment with things Dr Felicity Coughlan, Director you have not done before, like of The Independent Institute study groups and mind maps. of Education, SA’s largest and Finding a variety of study techmost accredited private higher education proniques and approaches that work for you will vider. allow you to enter Grade 12 with a revision sysShe says the penultimate school year is a signifi- tem that will make you perform at your best.” cant one because it provides: OPPORTUNITY TO TEST TIMING INSURANCE If you keep “The effort you put into Grade 11 can be congood track of sidered as insurance should something go awry how long it in the future,” says Dr Coughlan. takes you to “There are an increasing number of institutions master differthat make provisional offers based on your ent kinds of Grade 11 results, and many will still admit you work, that will even if your Grade 12 is a little less strong. But allow you to if your results in Grade 11 are weak, you have draw up an nothing to fall back on.” accurate study plan next year. EXAM FOCUS “Knowing your Teachers set Grade 11 exams to mimic the pace of work format and complexity of grade 12, says Dr means you will
be able to revise with enough time allocated right from the start, so that you don’t run out of days before you run out of work to revise.”
how realistic their aspirations are and where they need to do more work, which will reduce uncertainty when applying.”
A CHANCE TO CAREFULLY EVALUATE POST-MATRIC OPTIONS Assessing their Grade 11 results and performance empower learners to make better decisions about their post-school direction, including about which options are available to them, what courses to apply for and where. “Learners should start working out their ‘points’ for higher education entrance from Grade 10,” says Dr Coughlan.
Matric does not start in your last year of school, Dr Coughlan says.
“This means they should thoroughly research the courses they want to study and the results they need for their application to be accepted. In Grade 11, learners are then able to monitor
“Matric is not a year-long event, but rather a two-year long project. If you start applying your mind to your final exams right now and take the long view coupled with a strategy, you will be able to deliver your absolute best when you sit for your finals in a year and a half’s time, and significantly improve your chances of being able to follow your dream post-Matric.”