The Higher School Certificate (HSC) begins Monday, Oct 14. Interestingly, the exam reflects that gender gap - from Julia Gillard to Tony Abbott, from Tony Abbot to his male-dominated cabinet members - is also apparent among the Aussie teens taking the HSC.

Approximately 70,000 students began the gruelling 18-day HSC exam period with the English exam paper.

English is the only subject required for all students taking the HSC, and students shared their different approaches in reviewing for the subject.

''It comes down to your learning style," Tom Falkner, 18, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Falkner, a Newton High School of the Performing Arts student, said that in order to ace the English subject, he memorised 25 to 30 quotations for his English papers, but he did away with memorising essays. He said that it is more important to know the basic foundations of the English language to build a formidable knowledge.

On the other hand, Christina (surname withhold) told The Sydney Morning Herald that she memorised essays to answer the English exams confidently.

''All my friends in my class do ... the questions they ask are very easy to predict - they all follow the same topic," said Christina.

She said that during their practice exams, she used the same Hamlet essay twice with few variations and she got a top band mark.

She said she needed to do this to beat the time limit for the English exam.

''It's not easy to write a 1,200-word essay in 40 minutes if you have no idea what you're writing about," she explained.

Interestingly, the approach in studying was not the only factor that divides the students who are taking the HSC exams.

Enrolment figures for the 2013 HSC exam showed a broader gender gap among the young Australians, The Telegraph reports.

Boys dominate subjects like physics, engineering and math. Girls outnumber boys in subjects like advanced English and visual arts.

Boys had the tendency to "over estimate their abilities, irrespective of achievement; girls are more realistic, but sometimes they underestimate their abilities," explained University of Western Sydney lecturer Jessy Abraham.

Dr Abraham also observed that girls have the tendency to shun off physics, math and engineering because there can only be "jobs for boys" after graduation.

In NSW, there were only 16 girls who enrolled to an electrotechnology Vocational Education and Training course as part of their HSC.

India Matthews-Whelan was among these 16 girls, and she topped her male-dominated class.

"I knew I'd probably be one of only a few girls, but that was fine," she said.

On the other hand, Blake Smith, from De La Salle College in Revesby, was one among the 45 male students to enroll human services for the HSC. Human services has 92 per cent of female enrollees.

For Smith, being one of the only thorns among the roses is a "good experience."