Close to 75,000 students will put pen to paper over the HSC written exam period, which started yesterday morning with the English Paper 1.

HSC written exams mark the conclusion of 13 years of schooling for students, providing them with an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned during their education.

For two Lismore High School students, the start of the HSC is less stressful than they thought it would be.

Amy Salmon and Retrouvailles Banza told the Lismore App they felt good after the English exam.

"I walked in feeling really prepared. I know the text. I know my opinions of the text, and that's all you can really have," Amy said.

"I'm pretty similar to Amy, to be honest," Retro, as she likes to be called, added. "I feel like the trials were a really good starting point. I felt very prepared, like I knew my quotes, I knew what I wanted to talk about, and I knew that I was able to adapt my quotes to fit to any question."

"I think the trials were a lot more stressful. I don't know if you feel the same way, but for me, I feel a lot more relaxed. Like yesterday, you would have thought I didn't care like I do, but the way I was behaving, you would have thought she doesn't care at all."

"I haven't felt very stressed out. I think I just have to believe that I know what I'm doing and that I can execute it in the exam room and the trials, again, they pretty much just gave me a lot of confidence in myself. They gave me confidence that I do know what I'm doing, and I'm just excited for what comes after the exams. I'm so excited for my life after the exams that I'm just not scared," Amy said.

When the written exams finish on Friday, 7 November, with Food Technology being the final examination, HSC students will have sat over 400,000 exam sessions in 123 different subjects from Mathematics to Construction.

Students have already completed language oral exams, practical performances, and major projects during Term 3.

Thousands of dedicated teachers, principals, and support staff are working behind the scenes during the HSC, ensuring written exams run smoothly and delivering a fair outcome for every student. Students will receive their HSC results and ATAR on Thursday, 18 December.

"At this stage, I feel like it's so far away I'm not even thinking about it," Retro explained. "I imagine, the night before, I'll be wired and so stressed at the time, but, you know, what can you do.

"It'll just be me first (opening the ATAR result). I'll tell my family, but I think I'll have to process that first, just in case it's not what I'm hoping."

For Amy, it will be a similar scenario.

"I'll definitely be looking at it by myself, just in case, but at the end of the day, like this is only the beginning of my life, and it's my ATAR. While I do want it to be high, it's not going to dictate whether or not I'm happy or sad. Like it's just a part of life, and I've got so many things to look forward to. The ATAR is the least of my worries. And really, once you've done the exam, that's all you can do. I'm the type of person who just doesn't stress about things that aren't in my control, like it's going to be what it's going to be."

With such a mature approach to life at such a young age, the future looks bright for both young women. What lies ahead in 2026?

Both Amy and Retro have early acceptances to different universities.

"It's not fully sorted out," Amy said. "I've gotten a few acceptances into universities. I'm still deciding on which one I want to go to, but I have my plan figured out. I kind of know what steps I'm going to take after this. It relaxes me to know that I've got something to aim for, and it relaxes me to know that I do have options out there, and that there are multiple ways to do it, and I'm not locked into anything. Vaving early offers that are unconditional makes it a lot easier, knowing that it doesn't all depend on these exams.

"I'm doing a Bachelor's Degree in Primary Education. So I've gotten an unconditional offer into UNSW, and then I've gotten an offer to UNE (University of New England), and then I've applied to Griffith and SCU, so plenty of options out there."

"It's not dependent on the school; it's dependent on the location. And I would rather move to the Gold Coast. If I get a really good offer there, I'll go there."

Retro said she is in a similar boat to Amy.

"I'm going to study a Bachelor of Laws. I'm not too sure if I'm going to do it with honours yet, or if I'm going to do it as a double degree with international relations.

"Similar to Amy, I want to move to the Gold Coast, but everything's so expensive. I won't be moving next year. I've been accepted into Bond, and I've been contacted by Griffith about their early offer program for the International Relations degree. So at this stage, I'm looking towards Bond, but I've also got applications through UAC and QTAC to come out early next year."

The difference between the two students is that Retro is having a gap year, whereas Amy will roll straight into university.

"I want to work as a teacher's aide at a primary school just around town. That way, I'll have something to fill my time in, and I play a lot of Netball, so I've still got time on the weekends and after school for my training as well.

"I've worked quite consistently in Year 12, so lots of time where I've chosen not to go out places and chosen to study. It's been so much consistent work to be followed by, well, obviously I'm not in university yet, but I presume law is quite a pressing degree, and I feel as though I need that break to kind of refresh, learn who I am as an adult outside of school, being told what to do and be able to get a bit of real life experience in the workforce.

Good luck to Amy, Retro and every Year 12 student sitting their HSC over the next sixteen days.

With an additional 9,000 students undertaking at least one exam as part of an accelerated pathway, or completing the HSC over multiple years, it means around 84,000 students will complete an HSC course in 2025.

The 2025 HSC written exam timetable can be found on the NESA website, along with the 2025 HSC enrolment snapshot.