HSC students braced for the ultimate curveball. Instead, they received a ‘gift’

As more than 60,000 students sat down for the first HSC exams of 2026, English Paper 1, many were braced for the ultimate curveball: an essay question based on an extract from the student’s prescribed text.

“We were all expecting a trick … they were freaking out a little bit,” said Yvonne Spiers, an English teacher at Strathfield Girls High School. She, too, had a bad case of pre-exam jitters, admitting she did not sleep the night before.

Instead, Spiers said students across the state received a “gift” in the form of an easily adaptable question that could be moulded to prepared essays.

“It was a really good exam,” Spiers said. “The texts were rich and accessible. I think our girls will do it really well.”

The relief began in section one, where students were asked to answer short questions based on unseen text. In the first question, students were provided an extract from Lang Leav’s collection of poetry and micro-essays Soon It Will Be Sunday, a work discussing a storm battering a manuka tree. Students were asked how Leav invites readers to consider the human quality of resilience.

Serina Surti, a student at Strathfield Girls High, thought the question was fitting: “I thought it was very right for this exam. It’s the very beginning [of the HSC] but I am going to get through all of this. I could draw on my own feelings and experiences to answer the question.”

In another question based on an unseen text, students were asked to compare attitudes towards success. Stephani Chow, 17, said she wrote about how success is not defined by titles or accumulations of objects. “It’s defined by your character and how you end up feeling after being successful,” she said.

In section two of the exam – a 20-mark essay – students were asked how the author of their prescribed text “offered opportunities to examine assumptions about human strength and vulnerability”.

Her students having studied Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Spiers said they were primed for success. “The good answer will be that basically The Crucible explores the complexity between the two – there is no such thing as showing strength without having shown vulnerability first.”

Spiers said the question was “definitely easier than the short text but even the short text was accessible. I think they will be OK.”

For Surti, the question was easily adaptable to her prepared essay. “I liked looking at the essay question and going, ‘You know what? I can do that. Let’s go’.”

She said most of the questions related to “pretty standard human experiences”.

Laila Graham, 18, agreed. “It wasn’t anything out of the blue. It’s just new text, new questions. You’re just applying the techniques, your pre-memorised quotes, and you just go,” she said.

The NSW Education Standards Authority said there was only one significant disruption to exams in the state. Rosebank College in Five Dock was evacuated about a minute into the exam. Students left the exam room for about 20 minutes before returning. They received the full time to finish their exam and have the option to apply for illness or misadventure.

HSC exams will continue until November 5.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.