Camden Haven High School Year 12 students will join thousands of others across NSW and commence their HSC exams on Thursday, October 17. The first exam off the rank is english.

Year 12 students Mia Windred, Tyrone Marshall and Natalie Middleton are feeling nervous ahead of the first exam but have all been studying hard in the lead up.

They said key to their study was taking breaks and incorporating techniques to keep them from getting distracted.

Natalie said she would go for walks, Mia enjoyed the beach environment and Tyrone would take his four-wheel-drive out for a spin to take a mental rest from study.

The students found sometimes studying at home would be a challenge, due to other family members being around.

Mia said she would come into school to study and abide by the usual recess and lunch schedule to time her breaks.

Tyrone found studying at his grandparents home particularly useful, as they have air conditioning and a pool.

Natalie is aiming to get into a bachelor of education course after being inspired by art teachers at the Camden Haven High School.

She plans on taking a gap year before taking up study after school.

Mia said she hopes she can achieve high enough results to land her a place in the course for medicine at Newcastle.

However she said there are other options of getting into medicine, if she does not achieve her first goal.

Tyrone would like to do civil engineering at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.

All students want to send the message to others that it's not the end of the world if they do not achieve their desired score, as there are always other options or pathways.

Natalie, Mia and Tyrone all have six exams to complete.

On the Mid-North Coast - taking in Great Lakes, Kempsey, Nambucca, Taree, Gloucester and Port Macquarie - there are 1828 students sitting the HSC.

The top five subjects are English, 68,490 students; mathematics, 57,769; biology, 19,057; business studies, 18,013; and, personal development, health and physical education, 16,772.

The final exam is on November 11 and results will be released on Tuesday, December 17.