Subject selections

Revan

I did englang and it was amazing, apparentley if you are a maths based student englang is supposed to suit you better. You analyse the language choices of individuals and its purpose mainly. Theres no reading material and the only work you do is just improving your analyses.
I also did spec and yes you do end up doing more work for it but it makes methods a piece of cake.

AngelWings

Here’s some subjects I’d recommend but ideally you should have a look at the study designs to choose what you think is best:

General/ Further: though a “chill” subject, the main problem students face is accuracy; losing marks can easily drag your SS down. If you’re accurate and able to answer to Further standards, which is different to Methods standards, then you’ll score well.
Spesh: you said you’d like to do it. From memory, this builds on methods knowledge but with a little overlap. Also used as a prereq sometimes for medical-adjacent courses, so if you’re careful with the workload, it should be fine.
physics: also another prereq for some medical-adjacent courses, if you don’t do either spesh or chem. It’s a slightly bigger workload but will pair nicely with your other subjects. Also useful if you go via the GAMSAT pathway (postgrad med).
psych? Depending on what specialisation you’re after, psych might be a nice addition. Popular subject, but content heavy, this subject is actually quite interesting for the med-hopefuls, particularly those hoping to go into psychiatry or neuroscience later.

Hopefully that helps!

TSE-Tuition

Our last newsletter/blog post was all about the different VCE Englishes! 🙂

Overall, I would say that mainstream English (the new study design, anyway) is really about learning to master different kinds of writing and analysis for a variety purposes, audiences and contexts, while English Language is learning about English as a language system.

In English Language, students systematically examine the English Language as a language system, so it's really a study of linguistics. There's a lot of metalanguage you have to learn (which can be a pro or con, depending on your brain), and students are required to explain what is going on in terms of language features, processes and purposes in a given text. You still have to write essays, one of which is quite different to anything you may have written before, called an analytical commentary. It is less subjective than English or Literature because there are right and wrong answers, but there is still a high degree of analysis that's required.

In the current study design for mainstream English, the focus is on the student’s ability to analyse very wide range of texts as well as writing for clarity, accuracy, expression and sophistication. So there are quite a few texts you'll have to master, analyse and demonstrate fantastic knowledge on. Some students really enjoy this variety and others really struggle with the breadth required.

Unfortunately I don't know very much about other subjects, but I hope this helps you decide on your English one!