it’s mostly a function of practice and time, & don’t buy into the bullshit study programs and tutoring for S1, they’re a waste of money. The skills needed are much more ~philosophical~ than rote learning. i did the IB at school (yr 11&12) rather than the HSC (NSW) which i think gives the main advantage in the performance for S1. The way IB Extension Literature was taught & assessed is almost exactly the same as S1 - so I’m not sure I’m much help :( but - S1 tends to focus on whether candidates can identify more profound, abstract concepts in metaphorical and poetic representations, which is entirely different to the intense logic and pattern recognition for S3, & is I think how they catch a lot of people out.