In VCE Legal Studies, time management is not a secondary skill. It is embedded into the design of the exam itself.
The Exam Specifications make it clear that students are required to complete a compulsory paper with a mix of short-answer, extended-response and stimulus-based questions within a fixed timeframe. The 2024 Examiner’s Report shows that many students struggled not because they lacked understanding of the course, but because they misallocated their time across the paper.
This misallocation followed clear patterns.
Where students lose time early in the exam
One of the most consistent issues identified in the Examiner’s Report was excessive time spent on lower-mark questions in the opening sections of the paper.
In the 2024 exam, several early questions required short explanations or identification of legal concepts. These questions were deliberately limited in scope and mark allocation. Despite this, many students wrote extended responses, including multiple points and detailed examples that were not required.
Assessors noted that while these responses were often accurate, they did not attract additional marks. The cost of this overinvestment became apparent later in the exam, where students rushed extended responses or left higher-mark questions incomplete.
Students who performed strongly treated early questions as precision tasks. They answered exactly what was asked, in line with the marks available, and moved on.
Reading time and scope control
The exam specifications provide reading time for a reason. The Examiner’s Report suggests that stronger students used this time to identify scope restrictions embedded within questions.
Across the 2024 exam and the Sample Questions, many questions included deliberate constraints, such as focusing on a particular institution, a specific principle of justice, or a defined aspect of a scenario. Students who missed these constraints often wrote broadly, introducing correct but irrelevant material.
For example, in extended responses that asked students to evaluate the effectiveness of a single institution, many students wrote about several institutions. Only material relevant to the specified institution was credited. Time spent writing beyond the scope of the question was effectively wasted.
Students who used reading time to identify these limits were able to plan responses that were both focused and time-efficient.
Rushing extended responses later in the paper
The Examiner’s Report repeatedly refers to extended responses that were underdeveloped, lacked conclusions or showed signs of being rushed. These responses often appeared in later sections of the exam, suggesting that time pressure had accumulated earlier.
In the 2024 exam, higher-mark questions required sustained reasoning and, in some cases, evaluation. Students who arrived at these questions with limited time often resorted to brief explanations or undeveloped assertions. Even when the content was relevant, the lack of development limited access to higher mark ranges.
Stronger students appeared to plan backwards. They allocated sufficient time for extended responses and ensured that these questions were answered fully, even if that meant writing more concisely elsewhere.
Reading time in stimulus-based questions
Stimulus and scenario questions place additional demands on reading time.
In both the Sample Questions and the 2024 exam, Section B required students to interpret stimulus material before responding. The Examiner’s Report indicates that some students rushed this process, leading to responses that summarised the law accurately but failed to engage with the details of the scenario.
Students who used reading time to identify what the stimulus was directing them to focus on were better placed to write targeted responses. They did not rewrite the stimulus. They selected relevant details and used them to support their reasoning.
This approach saved time during writing and improved relevance.
How high-scoring students used reading time differently
The Examiner’s Report describes stronger responses as those that were clearly shaped by mark allocation and task demands. These students used reading time to identify three things consistently: the command term, the marks available, and any scope restrictions.
They made decisions before writing. They knew which questions required brevity and which required development. Their writing reflected those decisions.
Reading time functioned as planning time, not rest time.
Practical implications for current students
The documents guiding VCE Legal Studies assessment point to the same conclusion. Time management improves when students practise allocating depth deliberately.
Students should practise completing full exams under timed conditions, with a focus on regulating how much they write per mark. They should practise stopping once a question has been answered sufficiently, particularly in short-answer questions. They should practise leaving themselves enough time to fully develop extended responses.
Reading time should be used to identify constraints and priorities, not to reread content aimlessly.
The takeaway
In VCE Legal Studies, time management is inseparable from performance. The 2024 Examiner’s Report shows that many students lost marks not through misunderstanding, but through misallocation of effort.
Students who learn to use reading time strategically, regulate depth in line with marks, and protect time for extended responses place themselves in a far stronger position to convert their understanding into results.
Where ATAR STAR can help
Time management issues in VCE Legal Studies rarely come from a lack of effort. As the Examiner’s Report shows, they arise from misjudging how to allocate depth, attention and time across different types of questions under exam conditions.
ATAR STAR works with students to develop this judgement deliberately. Our Legal Studies support focuses on how to read the exam strategically, how to use reading time as planning time, and how to regulate responses in line with mark allocation. This includes practising when to be concise, when to develop ideas fully, and how to protect time for extended and stimulus-based questions.
We work with students across a range of starting points. Some need help breaking habits that lead to overwriting early in the paper. Others need support planning responses backwards so that higher-mark questions receive the time they require. In both cases, the focus is on making better decisions under pressure.
For students who understand the course but feel that time works against them in exams, this is often the most effective area for improvement. ATAR STAR helps students build the skills and discipline needed to manage time confidently, so that understanding is reflected accurately when it counts most.