More than 60,000 NSW students sat the compulsory English exams on Monday, marking the start of the 2017 HSC exam period.

The Moree Champion caught up with local students as they left the exam room on Monday after sitting the very first two-hour English standard and advanced paper.

While all students were glad the first exam was over, most agreed that it was better than they expected.

“It was really good, it was easier than what I expected and I feel like I was pretty prepared for it,” Toneisha Ugavule said.

“It was stressful, glad it’s over,” Sam Penfold said.

“[But] it was easier than I thought it would be, it was good. The questions were a lot easier than we’d prepared for at school.”

Meanwhile others felt like it was a challenging start to the HSC.

“It was interesting,” Jake Muggleton said.

“It could have been better I guess but it went alright,” Tim Kramer added.

Now that the first exam is over, relief has set in and most students were feeling more confident for the remainder of their exams.

“I think it’s a relief now that we’ve done the first one,” Jake said.

“I’m feeling like I can do this, I’ll get through it,” Hayley Johnston said.

“I feel like I can actually finish them and it’s not as sterile a process as I thought it would be,” Sam added.

Exams will continue until Tuesday, November 7, with plenty of last minute study and revision expected to be crammed into the next few weeks.

Students will sit their second English exam today (Tuesday, October 17).

All up more than 70,000 students, including 69 from Moree Secondary College, will complete their HSC this year.

Moree students’ best study tips: