AFTER four weeks of scanning study notes, and anxiously scribbling down answers as the sound of the clock ticks softly in the background, students were relieved to step out of the exam hall for one last time.
Thirteen years of schooling are finally over for thousands of students across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter.
Today marks the last day of a month-long of HSC exams with students sitting the Food Technology course exam.
St Francis Xavier's College Hamilton students Harriet Armstrong, 18, and Angelina Dolan, 18, said they thought overall the exam was "pretty easy".
"I think it was a pretty easy test, but the last 15 marker - I thought was a bit tricky because it asks specifically on legislation, which I think is hard to pinpoint," Ms Armstrong said.
"I found that question a bit difficult as well as to elaborate on but I found the multiple choice quite. I reckon it was easier than trials," Ms Dolan said.
For Kotara High School students Sophia Marendy, 18 and Anna Jackson, 17, they completed their HSC on Thursday, October 2 with their Physics exam and were feeling nothing but "relieved".
"(Feeling) so good now that it's over," Ms Marendy said.
"It's time to have fun."
Ms Jackson said she was scared and nervous pre exam but found it to be better than she expected.
"The questions towards the end were definitely the hardest ones," she said.
The Physics paper consisted of two sections, the first consisting of multiple-choice questions worth 20 marks and section two, written answers worth 80 marks.
Ms Marendy said there was an extended response question that threw her off and she "felt like that was her weakness point".
"Overall it was better than I thought," she said.
Now that their exams are over the girls are looking forward to "free time and no pressure", with plans to travel overseas and enjoy the holiday break.
They both received early entry offers to the University of Newcastle and plan to return to study next year.
"I got early entry for maths and data science but I also applied for civil engineering," Ms Marendy said.
"I got early entry for medical engineering but I'm trying to get into UNSW as well for biomedical engineering," Ms Jackson said.
Their advice to future students was to do practice papers and work hard during the year to build on their knowledge.
With exams wrapped up on November 3, more than 68,000 Year 12 students have sat for more than 400,000 unique exam sessions.
