The written exams begin with English – standard, advanced and as a second language (ESL) – on Thursday.

Like many in the region, Riley Catts and Amy Kermode have divided their “stuvac” between studying and working on their respective family farms.

The Calrossy Anglican School students both have two exams on their first day, backing up the 130-minute English session with the 125-minute Primary Industries test that afternoon. 

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Riley, 18, is from Baradine and Amy, 17, is from Walcha – and they’ve both returned to school in recent days for last-minute preparations after their study vacation.

Riley said he’d been in a “fairly solid” routine of studying about six hours daily, interspersed with helping his father feed cattle or with his AI program.

A few days at Keepit, doing some fishing and waterskiing, had provided some R&R.

Amy had also been helping with the farm jobs while “trying to get in a couple of hours a day” of study.

“When I went home, we were lamb-marking for the first couple of days, and then feeding all through the holidays – sheep and cattle,” she said.

Back at school, they’ve been doing past papers, revision classes and mock exams with their teachers’ help.

Both said their strongest subjects were agriculture and primary industries.

“It’s in my life constantly – a lot of practical experience, not just out of a textbook,” Riley said; maths, however, was just “alright”.

“I sort of got a bit slack towards the start of the year and it snowballed,” he said.

For Amy, geography and maths were the subjects that “need some work”.

Next year, Riley wants to study vet science at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga – he said he’d need an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) of 90.

Amy will head to the Alberta area of Canada to work on a cattle property for two years and, when she returns, she plans to train as a stock and station agent.

As she’s not heading to university, she was “not really that fazed” about her results, “because I don’t have anything riding on it”.

“I don’t need a specific ATAR, so what happens, happens.”

Riley, meanwhile, said he’d “stressed a fair bit at the start of the holidays”.

“Now I’m just ready for it – what it is is what it is.”

His exams finish on November 5 with chemistry.

Amy’s exams finish on November 8 with geography – 10 days after her previous exam, “which isn’t too fun”.

After it’s all over, Riley and a group of friends will spend a week at a beach house near Newcastle.

Amy will head to Melbourne with a friend for a week.