The Full Run
Nothing predicts the exam like doing the exam. Four full runs and three plan sprints sit between now and October, alternating, so something happens every fortnight. The sprints are 15 minutes on planning paper, the runs are the whole thing under real conditions, and every one of them ends with one named fix.
- Read both questions once, slowly. You are not choosing yet, just reading.
- Run the 60-second choice from the questions page: which one can you state a position on right now, which one do your quotes serve. Decide. Never look back.
- Underline the question's exact words on the paper.
- On the planning paper, write a thesis skeleton: your position in one rough sentence, even a bad one. You will sharpen it as the plan grows.
By step 4 you are already working. That is the whole point: the run starts with steps you execute, not a blank page you face.
The conditions checklist
Every full run copies the actual exam room. If a rule is not on this list, it is not part of the run.
15 minutes planning on separate planning paper. Nothing gets written in the response book during planning.
120 minutes writing after the planning time ends.
No notes, no text, no dictionary. Whatever is in his head is what he has.
Blue or black pen, handwritten. Not typed.
800 to 1000 words. The real exam length.
One question chosen from two, exactly as it happens on the day.
Phone in another room. Not face down, not silent, gone.
A real clock he can see, so the planning and writing splits are honest.
The four runs, and the sprints between them
Dates are already set. Tick each one off as it happens, log the date it actually ran, the score out of 45, and the one fix to carry forward. Everything below saves itself as you type.
Quote sheet allowed on this one only. You will have about six quotes by now, from a standing start, so run 1 is about the shape of the thing, not the memory. Everything else is exam conditions: plan 15, write 120, phone gone. Self-mark the next day, then Nat moderates the marks with you. From run 2 onward, nothing on the desk.
Between run 1 and run 2. The first one on your own, so the goal is finishing 15 minutes with something on the page, not brilliance.
- One unseen question, chosen for you.
- 15 minutes on the clock, planning paper only, nothing written in prose.
- What comes out: a thesis you could defend, three arguments that build it, and which quote goes in which paragraph.
- Photograph it or type it into the box below and send it. Two minutes of Nat's time to mark, and it is the exact 15 minutes the real exam starts with.
Retest run 1's fix. New question pair, chosen by someone else.
Holidays. Fifteen minutes is a small ask on a day off, and it keeps the muscle from going cold across the break.
- One unseen question, chosen for you.
- 15 minutes on the clock, planning paper only, nothing written in prose.
- What comes out: a thesis you could defend, three arguments that build it, and which quote goes in which paragraph.
- Photograph it or type it into the box below and send it. Two minutes of Nat's time to mark, and it is the exact 15 minutes the real exam starts with.
Halfway to the exam. Conditions are non-negotiable by now, no soft edges.
Two weeks out. By now the thesis should arrive in about four minutes, not fourteen.
- One unseen question, chosen for you.
- 15 minutes on the clock, planning paper only, nothing written in prose.
- What comes out: a thesis you could defend, three arguments that build it, and which quote goes in which paragraph.
- Photograph it or type it into the box below and send it. Two minutes of Nat's time to mark, and it is the exact 15 minutes the real exam starts with.
Last run before the exam. Start it at 9am if the week allows it, the exam's own start time.
Why four, not more
A full run is heavy: 135 minutes, real conditions, then honest marking the next day. Four between now and October is enough to build the habit without burning him out before the day that actually counts.
Question source
The choice drill only works if it is real. Josh does not pick his own two questions.
From the question bank, choose two questions he has never planned before, ideally two different shapes. Someone else does the choosing, not Josh, so the "pick one of two" moment is a genuine decision under pressure, exactly like the exam.
Open the question bank →Past external assessment papers exist too: QCAA publishes the real EA question books from past years, and Nat has copies on file. When a full run wants the genuine exam wording rather than the practice bank, pull the Othello pair straight from a real paper. Same rule applies: someone else chooses which two.
The self-mark sheet
Mark it yourself against the real spine, using the band tells below. Cold eyes are honest eyes: wait until the next day, when the writing is not fresh in his head and he can read it the way a stranger marker would.
| Criterion | Band tell | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Ideas | Summary vs interpretation vs authoritative interpretation. Every paragraph should carry all three elements: what the text represents, the value underneath it, and the stylistic choice that builds it. | /18 |
| Structure | A discriminating thesis vs a merely credible one. Evidence that strengthens the argument vs evidence that only supports it. Cohesion, does the essay move as one argument or read as separate points. | /16 |
| Craft | Sentence control, vocabulary chosen with discrimination (not just varied), punctuation that is purposeful, spelling under control throughout. | /11 |
Not three, not five. One. The single thing that would win the most marks if it improved next time. That fix goes straight into the run card above.
After the run
The one fix does not sit in a drawer. It feeds straight into the weekly 20-minute block, then gets retested inside the next full run, so every run is proof the last fix landed, not just another essay.
Rough day fallback
If the day is not there for a full run, the half run still counts: 15 minutes planning, 45 minutes writing, just the introduction and one body paragraph. Log it below with a note so it is not lost, just smaller.
Four dates, one fix each time, cold-eyes marking the next day. That is the whole engine for the run-in to October. If a week goes sideways, the half run still counts, so nothing here is a reason to feel behind.