Matrix Blog
Year 12 Success Secrets Year 11 VCE

James’ 98.05 ATAR Study Tips: How to beat VCE Biology

Feeling overwhelmed by the VCE Biology study design? Matrix teacher James Bu has been there—and he's here to share real, practical tips to help you conquer the VCE Biology exam.

Written by:
Guest Author

What do you do when you see a busy VCE Biology diagram, filled with amorphous structures and seemingly nonsensical abbreviations? 

If it makes you want to cry, shudder, feel the urge to throw your textbook/laptop around…I’ve been there. Sometimes, I’m still there.  

But today, let’s talk about strategies to overcome all the…challenges that come with Year 12 Biology and how to approach the VCE Biology study design to make sense of all the overwhelming content. 

Me, Myself and I

Name: James Bu

School: Melbourne High School

ATAR: 98.05

University: Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Honours), Biomedical Sciences, General, Monash University

Table of contents:

matrix education may 2025 success seminar

Challenges I faced in VCE Biology

Information overload

VCE Biology is a lot.

CRISPR/Cas9 diagrams, cellular respiration pathways…often labelled with all kinds of weird combinations of letters.

Sometimes it’s not necessarily the complexity of the concepts in the VCE Biology study design (and they can be complex!) that makes it challenging. It’s the sheer volume of content you’re expected to memorise.

You’re already a fighter for choosing VCE Biology.

Distraction

Sometimes, that information overload leads to frustration, which in turn (for me) affected my motivation. 

Then you add on the mobile phone-centric world we live in? When you’re already stressed enough, and tired enough, you don’t need more distractions to stop you from locking in on the task ahead.

But for me, studying for the VCE Biology exam often required intense concentration. And that was tough.

matrix education class

How should I study?

The sheer information overload complicates things.

You can’t succeed in Biology without rote memorisation of certain facts. 

However, that’s not nearly enough to do well, either. So much of Biology is about deeply understanding a concept so that you can apply that knowledge to exam questions.

VCAA loves to mix things up. You can answer those questions, but they’ll often confuse you at first glance.

That’s why I found having a clear structure to my learning process really helpful. I found Matrix term courses offer a clear week-by-week study approach – it helps you stay on top of memorisation and deeper understanding without feeling overwhelmed.

Try Matrix for free!

Experience the Matrix advantage for yourself, risk-free. Book a free trial and join a class!

 Try Matrix free

How I overcame the challenges of the VCE Biology Study Design

Mindset: Acceptance and positive framing

The first thing I would tell a Biology student is to accept that confusion is a natural part of learning the VCE Biology study design. 

Confusion is an inherent, inevitable part of learning Biology.

Over time, that initial annoyance—fear, confusion, frustration—will fade, and you’ll reset and get back on task.

Mistakes in SACs, like using the wrong keyword or misphrasing an answer, can feel disheartening. But that frustration comes from a good place—it means you care.

To do well, you need high standards. And honestly, it’s way better to make those ‘stupid’ mistakes now than in the final VCE Biology exam. 

I’m not a big fan of using war analogies, but VCE Biology is a 9-month, if not much longer, period of your life (what you remember from junior years can make a slight impact too!). You’re going to feel so many ups and downs throughout those 9 months; you might get vertigo (just joking). 

Don’t let a suboptimal SAC score or an off day knock you off course. View every bump as a lesson well learnt for the final VCE Biology exam.

Keep fighting, fighter.

matrix education classroom

Keep yourself recharged

Your brain works better when it’s recharged. Your body works better when you are getting proper sleep and eating properly. 

Keep yourself mentally recharged too. If you’ve had a busy two weeks cramming for SACs, give yourself that night off afterwards to get into your flow and enjoy a hobby. 

Maintain this mindset throughout the holidays. I think a holiday where you don’t slow down at all is a holiday wasted. 

Now, that’s not to say you completely relax to the point of doing nothing. I’d recommend trying to fit in some work on the first day of your holiday, even if it’s just watching a couple of short Ted Education animations and taking some notes.

Keeping up SOME level of routine during the holidays helps so much with the year-long grind of the VCE Biology study design. 

Structured tutoring like Matrix Holiday Courses can help you stay consistent without burning out.

Try Matrix for free!

Expert teachers, detailed feedback and one-to-one help. Book your free trial today and join a class!

 Start free trial

VCE Study Tips

You may have seen some of the ideas below on Reddit, AtarNotes, or Matrix about how to ace VCE Biology.

But I think there’s a multi-step process to acing Biology, and there are different study strategies for each step of that process.

Step 1: Understanding the concept 

A key part of this process is being able to comprehend and explain VCE Biology topics and concepts in your own words. 

The most common study strategy for this part of the Biology studying process is taking notes, but there’s more to it.  

Annotate notes with analogies that make sense to you and your interests. Maybe you’re making an analogy between Biology and your favourite Netflix show’s universe or a hobby. That’s what’s best for YOU. 

Search multiple school and Matrix textbooks, YouTube, and Google for diagrams of a concept, and find the one that makes the most sense for YOU. Or, draw your own diagram.

I like making mind maps of a few key ideas from a concept, too. A lot of Biology is interconnected, and mind maps can help you make those connections between concepts.

Step 2: Memorising concepts

It’s boring, but it’s unavoidable for certain parts of Units 3/4 Biology (e.g. Immunology in Unit 4, Area of Study 1).

A key idea here is Active Recall. By challenging yourself to recall things that you’ve previously learnt, you’ll strengthen neural connections and improve your long-term retention of content.

Active Recall techniques include:

  • Flashcards: Great for filling in otherwise unproductive time such as on the train to school etc.
  • Feynman technique: Where you try and write down an explanation of a concept as if you were about to teach it to a classmate.

The key here is not to refer to your notes and write the explanation from pure memory.

After attempting active recall, you can then identify gaps in your memory. Maybe this means you need to find an analogy for a certain concept or crank out a few more flashcards.  

I’ve found Matrix courses are great at giving students exposure to active recall techniques built into lesson reviews and quizzes—making it easier to stay sharp between SACs and exams.

matrix educaiton classroom

Step 3: Applying concepts to exam-style questions

Newsflash for your classmates who brag about doing their 45th past exam on the weekend: You don’t get bonus points for that!

To make the most of practice papers, you have to approach answering exam questions very systematically.

I recommend making a database for exam questions you’ve attempted as part of school or at home (in Google Docs, OneNote etc). Each time you do a past exam question and get it wrong, add that question + WHY you got the question wrong to the database.

In Units 3/4 Biology, it’s not about wrong and right. There’s a science to answering VCE Biology questions correctly. There are various reasons one could get a question wrong (particularly Short Answer). You might have:

  • Missed specific keywords or lacked some detail
  • Written an answer that was a bit hard to follow and could’ve benefited from using dot points, numbers and arrows
  • Had messy handwriting

If you’re not sure, ask your school teacher or expert Matrix teachers for feedback.

By building a database over time, you can start to pinpoint certain parts of your exam responses that need work. 

When you’re attempting past exam papers in full, treat marking extremely seriously.

Open the examiner’s report and mark your responses patiently and critically.

  • Was this response clear and sequenced well enough so a tired VCE examiner could understand?
  • Are all the right keywords included?

Don’t just rush marking and see what number mark you achieved on this past exam.

If you can identify your own areas for growth with exam response, you’re setting yourself up for success. 

— 

Year 12 in general is a year for hard work, but it’s still a year to enjoy yourself when you can too. Having the right guidance—whether through school or tutoring programs like Matrix VCE courses—can help make that balance easier to manage.

Once this year’s up, there’s no more high school ever again. Make the most of it.

Try Matrix for free!

Expert teachers, detailed feedback and one-to-one help. Book your free trial today and join a class!

Start free trial

Written by Guest Author

We have regular contributions to our blog from our Tutor Team and high performing Matrix Students. Come back regularly for these guest posts to learn their study hacks and insights!

© Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2023. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Related articles

Loading