One of the main advantages of Headstart is that by teaching you the fundamentals of the year 11 course a year early, you will gain a competitive advantage on your friends in Year 11.

You will have already covered the key theory in the highest scaling subjects, leaving more time for:

Overall, this allows you to achieve a higher ATAR. In fact, our 2008 Headstart students out-performed their non- headstart peers in our standardised exams by an average of 5% in Maths and 6.5% in the Sciences. That equates to an improvement of 2.25 ATAR points!

One of the best features of the Headstart program is that it allows you to 'test' the subjects before you get into Year 11. That way you are able to see if you are capable of coping with the demands of the highest scaling subjects and you are able to make an informed decision about which subjects to pursue in your final years.

Even if you're scoring top marks in Year 9 and 10, our Headstart programs can ensure that you remain competitive in Year 11 and 12 – the years which will ultimately determine your ATAR.

Many students who do well in the earlier years of secondary school are often surprised when their rankings and scores start to drop in Year 11 and 12. There are two main reasons for this.

If you are a top student, Headstart will be well suited to you because it will extend you to a Year 11 level, and hence prepare you to score top marks next year.

Headstart is for you if you are in year 10, looking to score top marks in Year 11 and 12. By teaching you Year 11 course material earlier, it gives you flexibility in your frantic final years of school so that you can achieve top marks and still have time to pursue other activities.

Whilst Headstart covers Year 11 course material, it has been developed specifically for Year 10 students like you.

Many of the harder concepts are approached in a way that is easy for Year 10 students to understand, whilst at the same time, maintaining the standards required in Year 11.

There is in fact a big 'jump' in standards in the syllabus from Year 10 to Year 11 & 12. Students who were good at 'junior science' (a mix of biology, geology, chemistry and physics that students study in Year 7 to 10) can find the Physics and Chemistry course difficult because they are forced to specialise in one topic area of science.

Headstart hence gives you a smooth transition from the junior years to the senior years, and helps you adapt to the rigours of the Year 11 and 12 course.

Whilst there is no 'right' or 'wrong' combination of subjects to take, there are subjects that scale higher in terms of calculating your ATAR. In general, the best subjects to take are:

Doing moderately well in these subjects will ensure that you get a relatively high ATAR whilst doing exceptionally well in the lower scaling subjects will not guarantee you a high ATAR, after the marks have been scaled.

For example, if you were in the Top 1% of Standard English, your score will be scaled lower than someone who ranked in the Top 25% of Advanced English. Similarly, if you scored an average mark in 4 Unit Mathematics it will give you a higher mark than someone who came in the Top 2% for Biology, Top 3% for Economics, and Top 5% of English and Physics. For this reason, students who score an ATAR of over 99 usually take 3U or 4U Mathematics as well as Physics, Chemistry and Advanced English.

For more information on Scaling, read our Scaling FAQ